AGY-3178 | Riverina College of Advanced Education Council (1972 -1985) / Riverina Murray Institute of Higher Education Council (1985 -1989)

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The first meeting of the Riverina College of Advanced Education Council, which replaced the Interim Council, was held on October 26, 1972. This change was precipitated by the college achieving corporate status in October 1972 (1). The initial focus of the new Council was to consolidate the work achieved by the Interim Council, particularly in the academic area. Of equal importance was the need to consider and adopt By-laws for the college, which would undoubtedly play a huge role in the future direction of the college (2). Like the Interim Council, the new Council was charged with deciding policy on the more significant aspects of the college’s development. To assist the Council in this regard the following committees were created to report directly to Council; the Legislation Committee (dealing with college rules and by-laws); the Finance and Personnel Committee (advising on monetary and staffing issues); and the Buildings and Grounds Committee (dealing with building projects and amenities) (3). The composition of the RCAE Council in October 1972 consisted of those members appointed to the Council, plus three official members and four elected members. The official members comprised the Principal, one Dean of the College to be elected and one person nominated by the Council because of their public stature, qualifications or experience in fields relevant to the work of the college. The four elected members were; two persons elected from, and by, the academic staff of the college who held the position of Senior Tutor or above; one person elected from the student body; and one person form the general staff of the college (4). The first job undertaken by the RCAE Council was a review of the academic structure of the college. Subsequently, on November 25, 1972 the Council approved a new structure to be implemented in 1973, which included the creation of a College Board (which reported to Council), Schools within the college, Boards of Study for each approved course and other new committees including the Admissions and Assessments committees (5). In late 1972 the Council also approved the establishment of a Standing Committee of Council which would meet between Council meetings to pass resolutions concerning the everyday operations of the college, and to address those matters which required urgent attention on behalf of the Council (6). The Council also approved the establishment of study centres in both Albury and Griffith to benefit external and part-time students (7) . On the 17th May 1974, the College By-Laws, proposed by the Council, were approved by the Governor (8). Subsequently, in 1975 the Legislation Committee was disbanded as a Council committee (9). Also in 1975, the Council played a major role in the integration of the Wagga Agricultural College into the Riverina College of Advanced Education, as the School of Agriculture, effective from January 1,1976 (10). In 1978, the Council had established a new Council Committee called the Community Affairs Committee which was charged with developing and enhancing the College’s liaison and working relationship with the community (11). However, by 1980 the Community Affairs Committee had also been disbanded, and replaced by another committee of Council, the Albury-Wodonga Committee. This committee was created to advise Council on all matters relevant to the College’s activities in the Albury-Wodonga area, and consisted of both local business leaders and senior government officials (12). The Student Affairs Committee of Council was formed in 1981 to provide Council with advice on matters pertaining to the students and their welfare (13). 1982 saw the number of Council committees rise to seven with the inclusion of the Goulburn Advisory Committee, after the Goulburn College of Advanced Education was dissolved and then incorporated into the Riverina College of Advanced Education as the Goulburn Campus. Thus by 1982, the seven Council committees were: the Executive Committee (formerly the Standing Committee of Council); the College Board; the Finance & Personnel Committee; the Building & Grounds Committee; the Albury-Wodonga Advisory Committee; the Goulburn Advisory Committee; and the Student Affairs Committee (14). These seven committees of Council continued to function until July 1984 when the Goulburn Campus Advisory Committee was disbanded after the New South Wales Police Academy assumed responsibility for the Goulburn Campus (15). In its place the Council established the Riverina Campus Advisory Board to advise on all aspects of the Wagga Wagga campus (16). The year 1985 saw a good deal of change, not only for the Council, but for the Riverina College of Advanced Education as a whole. The Council passed a series of resolutions, which included a name change for the college to reflect and emphasise the growing role of the Albury-Wodonga Campus. Consequently, from March 1st 1985, the College was known as the ‘Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education’ (17). To better represent this change in direction the Council made a number of changes to its constituent committees. Thus, by the end of 1985 the Institute had the six following committees of Council; Executive Committee, Riverina Campus Advisory Board, Murray Campus Advisory Board (Albury-Wodonga), Personnel Committee, Finance Sub-Committee and the College Board (18). These committees continued to function under the guidance of the Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education Council until July 19th 1989, when under the Charles Sturt University Act (1989), the Institute was replaced by Australia’s 26th University - Charles Sturt University (19). The Institute Council continued to function until its final meeting which was held on the 22nd November 1989 (20). After this date, the functions of the Council were taken over by the Interim Board of Governors of Charles Sturt University. End notes:
(1) RCAE Annual Report to the NSW Minister for Education, 1972, p. 1
(2) Minutes of the Inaugural Meeting of the RCAE Council, October 26, 1972, p. 2
(3) Ibid., p. 3
(4) Ibid., p. 2.
(5) RCAE Handbook, 1973, pp. 18-24
(6) Minutes of the Meeting of RCAE Council, November 28, 1972, p. 2
(7) RCAE Annual Report 1973, p. 3
(8) RCAE Annual Report 1974, p. 3
(9) RCAE Annual Report 1975, p. 2
(10) Ibid., p. 10
(11) RACE Annual Report 1979, p. 5
(12) RCAE Annual Report 1980, p. 3
(13) RCAE Annual Report 1981, p. 2
(14) RCAE Annual Report 1982, p. 4-5
(15) RCAE Annual Report 1984, p. 8
(16) Ibid., p. 8
(17) Ibid., p. 8
(18) RMIHE Annual Report 1985, p. 6
(19) CSU-Mitchell Handbook, 1990, p 10.
(20) Minutes of the Meeting of RMIHE Council, November 22, 1989, p. 8