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FACULTY OF LIFE AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES

MARKETING AND INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIES COMMITTEE MEMBERS Faculty Manager Jenny Gamble (Chair) Dean George Stewart Overseas Development Manager Shaun Wellbourne‐Wood Marketing Manager Jenni Wallis Representatives from Schools: Geoff Stewart (BBCS) / Jennifer Stevenson Elliot Wood (Psychology) / Vance Locke Ian McArthur / Jegatheva Jegathesan (Physics) Heather Morton (Anatomy and Human Biology) Ron Kelly / Marion Bleakley (SSEH) Arun Dharmarajan – Associate Dean (South Asia Research Initiatives) Mohamed Makha – Associate Dean (Middle East Research Initiatives)

FNAS – Faculty Manager Christine Richardson FNAS – Prospective Students Officer Chris Hale International Centre Kelly Smith This is to confirm that the next meeting of the Marketing and International Strategies Committee will be held in the Faculty Function Room (Rm158), on Thursday 25th June at 2.00pm.

A G E N D A

1. MINUTES

Confirmation of the minutes of the meeting of the Marketing and International Strategy Committee held on Thursday 19th March 2009.

2. DECLARATIONS OF POTENTIAL FOR CONFLICT OR PERCEIVED CONFLICT OF INTEREST The Chair invites members to declare interest in relation to any item on the agenda.

3. ITEMS/BUSINESS IN PROGRESS FOR NOTING SINCE PREVIOUS MEETING

Item/Business in Progress Progress Update Status

OPP – External Relations School reps to provide

priorities, and also

research areas with

potential for

collaborations with

overseas institutions.

See Item 9

School International Advisers School reps to provide a

representative to be a

point of reference for

international

recruitment / marketing

Completed

Enrolments through foundation programs Overseas Development

Manager to schedule a

In progress

of 3

meeting with the new

manager of the UWAFP

partnership.

See Item 4

Middle East Research Initiatives Overseas Development

Manager to schedule a

meeting with Mohamed

Makha and other

academics with links

into the Middle East

In progress

Postgraduate Living Allowance Faculty to lobby

Scholarships Committee

to allow self‐funded

applicants to hold a SIRF

Scholarship

In progress

Guide for research students Overseas Development

Manager to draft a

guide for FLPS.

See Item 8

Faculty research web pages Schools to provide a

paragraph describing

their top three research

groups and the research

achievements of those

groups, for a new

Research webpage.

No response

received

from

Schools.

Part I – Items for Communication to be dealt with en bloc

4. ENROLMENTS THROUGH FOUNDATION PROGRAMS At the last meeting the Overseas Development Manager reported on enrolment through

Foundation Programs. Concern was expressed at the low numbers of science enrolments from students completing the UWA Foundation Program through Taylor’s College (UWAFP). It was agreed that the Overseas Development Manager would write to the UWAFP Management Committee via Don Markwell, and ask for Faculty representation on this committee. Since the last meeting changes have occurred in the management team for the UWAFP. The Overseas Development Manager is intending to meet with the new program manager, W/Professor Jane Long to discuss the low conversion rate to UWA Science courses. Overseas Development Manager will provide an update at a future meeting of the Committee.

5. FINAL ENROLMENT STATISTICS FOR SEMESTER ONE 2009 Report on the final enrolment figures for Semester One 2009. (ATTACHMENT A) 6. SCIENCE COURSE AND CAREERS IN FORMATION EVENINGS Report on the joint faculty Science Course and Careers Information Evenings held on 2nd & 3rd

June. (ATTACHMENT B)

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7. UWA POSTGRADUATE EXPO Report on the Postgraduate Expo held on 14th May 2009. (ATTACHMENT D)

Part II – Items for Decision to be dealt with en bloc

Part III – Items for Discussion and Decision

8. GUIDE FOR RESEARCH STUDENTS At the last meeting the Overseas Development Manager raised the issue of academics not

getting back to prospective postgraduate student enquires within a reasonable amount of time. It was noted that the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences has developed an online proforma/guide for research students, and that something similar needed to be developed for FLPS. The Overseas Development Manager agreed to develop a proforma/guide for this Faculty. This Guide will be tabled at the meeting.

9. EXTERNAL RELATIONS – OPERATIONAL PRIORTIES PLAN (OPP)

The Faculty OPP is in the process of being finalised with the inclusion of strategies to achieve goals that this Committee identified for inclusion in the Plan. An extract of the OPP relating to community activities and External Relations is attached (ATTACHMENT C). Members’ views are being sought on the strategies and targets that have been proposed for community and external activities in the OPP.

ATTACHMENT A Final Semester One Course Enrolments for Life & Physical Sciences Jan-June enrolments for each year only Broad Course Type Broad Funding Group 2006 2007 2008 2009 HD Research Domestic - RTS 75 69 52 60 International - On-shore 16 25 28 28HD Research Total 91 94 80 88Other PG Domestic - C'wealth Supported 4 28 34 32 Domestic - Fee-Paying 76 52 82 70 International - On-shore 14 13 50 31Other PG Total 93 93 166 133Undergraduate Domestic - C'wealth Supported 717 643 655 827 Domestic - Fee-Paying 1 1 International - On-shore 79 64 64 77 International - Off-shore 77 85 127 106Undergraduate Total 873 792 846 1,009Grand Total 1,057 979 1,091 1,230

Created by jwallis Page 1 26/10/2009

ATTACHMENT B

Report on Science Courses & Careers Information Evenings, June 2009 Page 1 of 3

Faculty of Life and Physical Sciences and Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Science Course and Careers Information Evenings

Date:

Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd June, 6-8.15pm

Objective:

To give prospective students and their parents an opportunity to visit UWA and hear about selected science courses and career pathways by science staff and students. To provide information by way of talks, course and careers information stands, and academic advice.

Key message:

Science courses and careers - what’s on offer at UWA and where does it lead?

Venue:

Molecular & Chemical Sciences (MCS) building atrium, MCS Lecture Theatre, Wilsmore Lecture Theatre and MCS Seminar Room

Target audience:

Year 10, 11 and 12 students and families, mature age students, and deferred science students.

Promotion:

Advertisements (and editorial in Subiaco Post) placed in the following community newspapers: o Post Newspapers o Guardian Express o Melville Times o Eastern Suburbs Reporter

Media Release sent on Friday 22 May. Emails were sent to Secondary Schools in advance for inclusion in School newsletters Five x A3 posters mailed to 183 Secondary Schools (with year 11 & 12 subjects) with a letter

asking for distribution in staff room, science department and career advisers offices. Plus Canning, Tuart, Taylors and Murdoch Colleges.

Invitations by letter mailed to 176 x current year deferred science students Faculty websites, UWA Events listing, Catalist (WA science teachers email list) Prospective Students Office – via the Prospects e-newsletter, school visits and posters.

From information collected on the night it was apparent that all promotional avenues were accessed. Students from a wide variety of schools attended, both public and private, including a number of deferred science students.

Responsibility:

The event was planned and coordinated by Mrs Jenni Wallis (LPS) and Mrs Chris Hale (NAS). Staff and student presenters and Academic Student Advisers from both Faculties attended the evenings.


Program:

Tuesday 2nd June – 6.00-8.15pm

Start time

WILS LT (seats 240) MCS LT (seats 90) MCS SEM (G35 – seats 40)

6:00 Anatomical Sciences, Human Biology and Neuroscience (35) Presenters Dr Jan Meyer

Environmental Sciences (30) Presenter Prof Tony O’Donnell

Urban & Regional Planning and Geography (10) Presenter Dr Matthew Tonts

6:45 UWA science courses and careers overview (70) Presenter Prof Tony O’Donnell

7.15 Refreshments and advising in MCS atrium

7:30 Sport Science, Exercise & Health (40) Presenter Prof Bruce Elliot

Marine Sciences (10x) Presenters Dr Euan Harvey

Wednesday 3rd June – 6.00-8.15pm

Start time

WILS LT (seats 240) MCS LT (seats 90) MCS SEM (G35 – seats 40)

6:00

Biomedical Sciences (biochemistry, physiology, microbiology, molecular biology and genetics) (40) Presenter Prof Geoff Stewart and student

Psychology (25) Presenter Dr Mike Weinborn

Wildlife Management & Zoology (8) Presenter Prof. Graeme Martin

6:45

UWA science courses and careers overview (80) Presenter Prof George Stewart

7.15 Refreshments and advising in MCS atrium

7:30

Nanotechnology and the Physical Sciences (biophysics, chemistry, green chemistry and physics) (40) Presenters Adj/Prof Leonard Wee

Conservation Biology (9) Presenter Dr Pieter Poot

Agricultural Science – serious science to feed the planet. (NIL – SESSION CANECLLED) Presenter Prof Graeme Martin

Changes to the program based on recommendations from the 2008 event report:

Biomedical Science was shifted to the second night, so that it was not co-scheduled with Anatomical Sciences, Human Biology and Neuroscience.

Anatomical Sciences, Human Biology and Neuroscience session was shifted to a larger venue being the Wilsmore LT.

FNAS changed some of the session names and mix of content. Posters and web advertising showed more clearly that we were running three separate concurrent

sessions for each timeslot.


Performance: The Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (NAS) have held this event for a number of years running. Since 2008, with the increase in places allocated to science and the historic difficulty in attracting students to study science, the Faculty of Life and Physical Sciences (LPS) joined forces to put on a joint UWA science event.

Attendance was down on 2008 numbers by approximately 50%. On the Wednesday night it became apparent talking some of the parents and academics (with children doing TEE) that for some schools it was exam week. Approximate attendance for each session is recorded in the program tables above (in bold), which included at least 50% accompanying parents.

Holding the sessions during UWA Study Week is the best option available to us because of the difficulty in booking venues, as well as from an organisational point of view and having early access to clean, set up and leave brochures/tables/panels in the atrium throughout the period.

If we wait until all venues are empty during the vacation period it runs into the last week of the school term (not a good time from a student’s perspective) and the schools’ holiday period. After that it is too close to UWA Open Day.

Talks were presented by academics and students along a similar style to the UWA Open Day program, with an overview session in the middle of the program and advising and refreshments (sandwiches, biscuits, juice, tea and coffee) in the MCS atrium after the overview session.

Job advertisement boards were displayed to show examples of jobs for science graduates.

Direct costs:

Display board hire $ 268 Catering $1605 Newspaper advertising $1500 1000 x advert posters $ 670 Mail outs $ 183 Directional signage $ 110 TOTAL $4336 (split 50/50 between FNAS & FLPS i.e. $2,168 each)

Indirect costs:

The indirect or in-kind costs included two event organisers, three academic student advisors, twelve speakers, plus three other faculty staff.

Summary:

Due to improvements in the Future Students website and information available to prospective students online, plus a time poor public, the Marketing Managers feel that this event does not create a big enough turnout for the costs and staff time involved.

Therefore both Faculties have decided not to run with this event again in 2010. It has been decided to instead focus on outreach activities.

ATTACHMENT C

EXTERNAL RELATIONS Operational Objective ERCE1 LPS: Raise community awareness of Science

Implementation Strategies Actions Targets Responsibility

ERCE1.1 LPS: Improve interaction between Community and Faculty

Continue to support the SEEK programme Through Science Futures Foundation, increase contacts with business and industry Hold public lectures for the community for example by continuing to support the Dean’s lecture series Hold exhibitions that raise awareness of developments in Science e.g. SKA Continue to develop and support the SPICE program

By 2010 increase of 10% in applications to enrol in science programs, e.g. SEEK Increase of 10% of science teachers enrolling in professional development programs within the Faculty

Dean/Director of CLT/ Overseas Development Manager/HOS

Operational Objective ERCE2 LPS: Develop and strengthen international linkages

ERCE2.1 LPS: Set targets for each school to develop external relationships

School’s to set targets Increased research collaboration with overseas institutions

Dean/HOS/ Overseas Development Manager

Operational Objective ERCE3 LPS: Continue professional development programs for Science teachers

ERCE3.1 LPS: Enhance skills of Science teachers

Director of CLT to Encourage Science teachers to participate

Increase of 10% of science teachers enrolling in professional development programs within the Faculty

Dean/Director of CLT

ATTACHMENT D

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UWA Postgraduate Expo 2009 - Report

Summary: The inaugural postgraduate coursework and research expo was held on Thursday 14 May in the University Club from 1-5pm. The aim of the event was to provide all undergraduate and Honours students at UWA an opportunity to learn about higher degrees on offer at UWA, through an expo style event with information booths, and a timetable of talks running through out the afternoon. Information on Honours, general fee information, details on the application process and postgraduate scholarships was also available. Rationale: The UWA OPP 2009-2013 states that Operation Objective ED1 is: To recruit and graduate a diverse student cohort of the highest quality. Implementation Strategy ED1.1 states: Formulate an integrated approach to student recruitment (locally, nationally and internationally), including postgraduate coursework, and mature age students. One of the main reasons for hosting a university-wide UWA Postgraduate Expo in 2009 is to begin a co-ordinated approach to planning and executing postgraduate student recruitment aimed at current students. It is anticipated that the co-ordination of this event in future will fall under the responsibility of the Director of Student Recruitment. Several Faculties currently run their own postgraduate information evenings at different times throughout the year, the aim of the UWA Postgraduate Expo is to combine as many of these events as possible into one event, to save on costs and present a ‘one-university’ approach to postgraduate promotion. By holding the event early in the year, students would have the opportunity learn more about postgraduate study options prior to making decisions about graduate programs and being recruited by employers. It allows a greater lead time for developing their career pathways and further study applications. The aim would not be primarily to attract mid-year enrolments, but to plant the seed of continuing study amongst current students. The timing of the event will be reviewed based on feedback from staff and students. Program: Booths Faculties, Graduate Research School, Scholarships Office, Admissions and Student Administration, Student Services, International Centre and Postgraduate Students Association booths. (See attached layout map) Information Sessions A timetable of talks on specific topics was held throughout the afternoon in the three University Club seminar rooms. Faculties/divisions were given the option to become involved in this program on a needs basis. (See attached program for final timetable)

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Promotion (advertising and web): An announcement email was sent to all undergraduate (including Honours students) three

weeks prior to the event and a reminder email was sent four days prior to the event A PowerPoint slide and a pdf version of the flyer was provided to Faculty Marketing Managers

for use during lectures and on LCD displays Web pages were developed along with webstamps and a ‘register your interest’ online form

with discipline area tick boxes to help gauge numbers before the event A2 posters were displayed around campus two weeks prior to the event A5 flyers distributed to schools/divisions prior to the event Directional signage displayed around the University Club on the day Volunteers handed out copies of the A5 flyer to students on the morning of the event Budget: Venue - Half Banquet Hall + 3 seminar room hire

$1350

Audiovisual equipment hire for each seminar room

$300

Catering (compulsory charge) $1950 Display equipment – one pin-up board supplied per section

$850

A2 Promotional posters and A5 flyers**

$800

Section header boards ** $1200 Additional promotional costs – A2 and A3 signage for the event. A0 timetable posters

$593

Feedback forms $135 $7178 Uniprint sponsorship -$2000 Faculty contribution -$1491 GRAND TOTAL

$3688

** Uniprint agreed to provide sponsorship to the value of $2000 which covered the design and production costs associated with the promotional posters, A5 flyers and the section header boards. Some of the additional expenses of the hire of seminar and case study rooms were passed onto the Faculties and divisions involved. A total amount of $1491 was re-couped from the Faculties. The Registrar’s Project Fund contributed $2600 to the Postgraduate Expo. The remainder of the costs were covered by Public Affairs. Resourcing: The Postgraduate Expo was co-ordinated by a committee including Wayne Betts, Admissions Manager, Narelle Molloy, Marketing Manager FECM, Jenni Wallis, Marketing Manager FLPS, Natali Morgan, Communications Officer Public Affairs, and Tara McLaren, University Marketing

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Manager Public Affairs. Support was sought from the Faculty Marketing Managers, the GRSO, International Centre, Admissions Centre, Student Services and the PSA. The organisation of this event was managed by Public Affairs. It was estimated that the total time allocated to event which involved three Public Affairs staff members was approximately 12 days FTE. Attendance: It was estimated that approximately 300 people attended the Postgraduate Expo over the duration of the event. Numbers peaked at 1.30pm and eased off throughout the afternoon with few visitors after 4pm. Future events: Based on the success of an event in first semester, it is proposed that a second Postgraduate Expo is held semester two (October), targeted at attracting a larger external audience. Funding for future events is yet to be determined. In future years this event will run annually in September/October. This timing period is recommended to leverage off national advertising and supplements containing information regarding postgraduate studies. Additionally, this is generally the time when external prospective postgraduate students think about postgraduate study, with scholarship applications closing at the end of October and admissions closing in November. Current UWA undergraduate students would be encouraged to attend. This will become even more important to current students with the implementation of the Future Framework. Feedback Faculty/Division general feedback: “It was well-organised and really effective for us – we would love to have another one” – Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics “The day went really well on Thursday (better than expected!)” – Business School “Our opinion is that the event was very well organised and worthwhile” – Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences “Overall it was a brilliant idea and I hope there will be others in the future: we’d really like to be involved in them” – School of Population Health “The event ran smoothly, professionally and we were happy to be involved” – Faculty of Life and Physical Sciences Specific feedback from all Faculties/divisions: Did you feel that the venue was an appropriate choice? Why/why not?

There was general agreement that the venue was appropriate in terms of; size, central location, ability to have the booths and the information sessions in close proximity. More attention would need to be paid to signage in future events.

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Did you feel that the timing (date, hours) were appropriate for this event? There was mixed feedback on the timing of the event. Suggestions included:

It was great for mid-year enrolment and for current students The event could run from noon – 3pm with a separate evening event for part-time and

external visitors. Suggestion the event could start mid-afternoon and end later to capture more people

from business and other universities.

Was the layout of the event suitable for your needs? Are there any improvements you can suggest?

A few participants commented that the event was a somewhat crowded and that there could have been more space while others commented that the venue/layout created an atmosphere of feeling busy. A suggested improvement for next time would be to increase the signage between the display booths and the seminar rooms. It would also be useful to have a staffed help-desk located at the front and rear entrance for directing visitors to the correct venue if the event is to remain in the same location.

Did you feel that the event was adequately promoted centrally? (Website, web-stamps, posters, flyers, all-student email). How did you promote the event within your area?

Most agreed that the event was promoted well centrally, although the promotional material should be distributed internally earlier. Most felt that the all-student email was an important way to communicate the event to current students and it was suggested that perhaps an all-staff email should also have been sent. It was noted that some Faculties/divisions were much more pro-active about promoting the event internally to their students than others. Some of the communications which were undertaken by Faculties included:

Displaying of flyers showing both sides – the event information and the session timetable.

Promoting the event through Schools. The central organisers provided a PowerPoint slide of the event and lecturers were keen to use this to promote the event during their lectures.

Internal LCD displays Placed the event on WebCT along with the lecture notes

Do you feel that this was a worthwhile event for your Faculty/division? Why/Why not?

All Faculties/divisions reported that it was a very worthwhile event and that they would like to be involved in future events.

Would you support a proposal to hold a second event later in the year focusing on external prospective postgraduate students?

All agreed that they would support holding a second event later in the year which focused on external prospective students, but that still catered for internal students.

Would you support a proposal to hold a single central postgraduate recruitment event aimed at both internal and external enquiries in the coming years?

All agreed that they would support this. Two areas commented that they see value in holding two events per year.

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Do you have any suggestions for improvement for the next event? More control over the timing of the information sessions to ensure that sessions do not

run over their allocated time. A timetable of 45 minute sessions with a 15 minute turn around is a better model.

Posters need to clearly target undergraduates who are considering postgraduate study, including honours – suggestion that it could be called the Postgraduate and Honours Expo?

Larger space for the display booths. More staff available to answer questions. General information available either at each booth, or at a help desk. Faculties had specific ideas on how to improve their area for the next event, e.g.

ensuring that there was information available for Honours enquiries, having more staff/postgraduate students available to answer queries on the day.

Study Abroad requested a separate booth from the International Centre, or at least additional signage identifying their presence as there was some confusion about whether the International Centre was providing information for international students only.

Did you feel that you were adequately prepared for the enquiries you received on the day? Was there anything in addition that could be done centrally to better prepare you for event?

All commented that they felt they were adequately prepared and that the event was well organized centrally.

Total estimated number of enquiries across all booths (noting not all booths estimated): 410

Attendee Feedback: Feedback forms completed during information sessions How useful were the session attended on a scale from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree? 93% of responses indicated that they Strongly Agreed or Agreed that the sessions were useful. There were no responses that indicated Disagree or Strongly Disagree. Local/International students 22% of feedback form responses indicated they were enrolled as International students. Are you currently an undergraduate, postgraduate, staff, other The majority of the responses were final year undergraduate students or Honours students. There were also several responses from individuals outside of the University (ie, working in industry, graduate of other university, UWA Extension student) How did you hear about the Postgraduate Expo? Most of the responses indicated that they heard about the event through an all-student email. The UWA homepage of website was also identified as a significant pathway for information suggesting that the webstamps were effective in promoting the event. Are you considering postgraduate study immediately following graduation or are you considering it as an option for later? Half of the responses indicated that they were considering study immediately following graduation while a third of responses indicated that they were considering it as an option for later. The reminder did not respond.

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Are you considering coursework or research? Half the responses indicated they were unsure, 25% indicated they were interested in coursework and 25% indicated that they were interested in research Website: www.studyat.uwa.edu.au/postgrad/expo Webstamp:

Statistics: - Click Through Rate (CTR): The webstamps appeared on the UWA homepage, all Faculty homepages, current student homepage, postgraduate student homepage and the studyat (future students) homepage. The CTR for most pages was fairly consistent. Most click throughs came through the UWA homepage and some faculties had a good CTR. There were 1,952 click throughs in total across all webstamps for the duration of the campaign from April 5 to May 15. There was a steady rate of increase in visitors over the campaign. It was suggested by the UWA Web Analytics Specialist that the CTR would potentially be higher if the stamps were re-designed to look more like an advert and which had a call to action, e.g. “Postgraduate Expo – timetable of events” or “Postgraduate Expo – register here”. Average time on site: The average time on site was 05:04 visiting an average of 6 pages within the site (www.studyat.uwa.edu.au/postgrad/expo). This represents a good measure of success as visitors were spending a considerable amount of time on the site searching for information. The longest average time on site was 09:00 from visitors coming in through the FECM webstamp. Information session registrations: Overall there were 266 signups for the 16 sessions resulting from 1952 clicks. This represents a conversion rate of 13.63%. The average conversion rate across all websites is 1-2% so a conversion of 13.63% is excellent. It should also be noted that the actual attendance at the information sessions was much higher than the registrations suggesting that a number of prospective students may have found out about the event through a different promotion. Issues to consider next when planning for the next Postgraduate Expo

Date, timing and frequency of the event Use of University Club or alternatives venues

http://www.studyat.uwa.edu.au/postgrad/expo

http://www.studyat.uwa.edu.au/postgrad/expo

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Establish funding sources using the budget from the initial event as a guide for future planning

Responsibility for organization/co-ordination of the event – the initial event fell to Public Affairs, in future it should fall under the Director of Student Recruitment

Value of promoting Honours within the event or as a separate event Value of increased advertising/communications (reach, timing and cost implications).

Estimated cost for a basic advertising campaign including creative design and media fees ~ $30k

Review the effectiveness of the timetabled information sessions (suggestions for improving format of the program – 20 or 45 minute sessions, as well as the content for the sessions)

Promotional material – should print material feature more details of the information sessions, or continue directing interested parties to the website for further information.

Encourage Faculties to increase promotion within their student and staff cohort. How to reach/communicate with external audiences. Should more of the University (grounds, facilities, etc) be showcased if there is an external

focus? General information sessions (admissions, fees, scholarships, etc) should not overlap

Faculty/School information sessions. Should there be a centrally co-ordinated postgraduate publication. Looking forward to future postgraduate recruitment activities, how do we cater for student

who may fall not fall into the undergraduate and postgraduate category, for example, Honours and graduate-entry students?

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Information Sessions – Program Topic Venue

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Banquet Hall – Layout plan

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