Community Panel Terms of Reference
Background
The University of Tasmania is consolidating its presence in Hobart’s CBD. It is doing this for a range of reasons, but the most important is this: it’ll make it easier for more young Tasmanians to access higher education, especially those in the greater Hobart area.
The University, with input from the community, has already prepared an Urban Design Framework for its city campus that includes a high-level master plan.
You can find out more information about the Hobart CBD Campus Urban Design Framework and master plan here: https://www.utas.edu.au/about/campuses/southern-transformation
The University is doing further community engagement to inform its master plan. This engagement will also help build a broader shared understanding within the community about what the University is doing.
One way this engagement will occur is through the establishment of a community panel called The Shake Up. Its aim is to ensure the community contributes to how the University’s campus in the CBD comes together. For this consolidation to be as successful as possible, input is needed from everyone it will affect. Only then will Hobart and the University be able to thrive together.
This panel has been established through a combination of a public Expression of Interest and active recruitment process. The selection of the panel has been conducted by Enterprise Marketing and Research Services Pty Ltd (EMRS), Hobart. EMRS has directly managed the selection of seventy participants, while the University has directly invited ten participants to contribute to the panel.
To ensure a robust engagement process, it’s vital that a wide range of perspectives are present on the community panel. As such, the seventy participants that have been recruited by EMRS have come from a range of stakeholder groups, including:
Business owners
Mix of CBD, and Southern Tasmania
Workers
Mix of CBD, and Southern Tasmania
University students
Based in Southern Tasmania
Parents of year 10/11/12 students
Based in Southern Tasmania
Year 10/11/12 students
Based in Southern Tasmania
Residents
Of Greater Hobart
University staff
Mix of CBD and Sandy Bay based
Purpose of the Community Panel
The purpose of the community panel is to:
- Shake things up and have an unvarnished conversation with the Uni about its move to the CBD and how to make it a good move that works for all.
- This includes understanding how the Uni can contribute to the vibrancy, culture and life of the CBD and create a civic place where all of our community feel welcome.
- Contribute information to support the ongoing development of the University’s master plan for the city campus. This includes reflecting on the principles and strategies contained within the Urban Design Framework to help further develop the master plan and identify anything new or emerging to be considered by the University as it progresses its master planning process.
- Consider what innovation looks like as the Uni makes this move.
- Contribute information to support the ongoing development of the Uni’s master plan for the city campus.
- Provide a sounding board for insights and feedback on other project related matters, such as ideas for future engagement by the Uni.
- Provide a connection to others in the community, passing on accurate and up to date information and being a conduit for other voices to be heard by the Uni.
Operation of Community Panel sessions
Support for the community panel will be provided by a team from The20. This includes developing agendas, managing the development of briefing materials and reporting back on the outcomes and actions from previous community panel sessions.
Senior team members are: Matt Fishburn, Strategy Director; Nicole Halsey, Lead Facilitator; and Sara Sharif, Project Director.
The community panel sessions will commence on Friday 2 September 2022.
The community panel process will include an induction session and will meet on a minimum of 4 occasions. These sessions will be a combination of face to face (in Hobart CBD and outside of CBD) and online.
It is anticipated that approximately 20 hours will be associated with meeting attendance.
Pre-reading, preparation and summary outcomes
Agendas and briefing materials will be distributed to all members in advance of the community panel sessions, allowing sufficient time for materials to be read and considered. Core pre-reading will include the UTAS Strategic Plan (2019-2024), the Southern Campus Transformation Preliminary Urban Design Framework and the Future of Higher Education for Tasmanians.
Content generated by members at the community panel sessions will be synthesised and summarised and session reports provided to panel members for their records.
Frequency of meetings
The exact dates and times of meetings is yet to be determined, but is likely to comprise the following format:
| Community Panel session | Indicative timing | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Induction of the Community Panel | 2 September 2022 (6:00pm – 8:00pm) | Face to Face |
| Session 1 | 3 September 2022 (9.00am to 5pm) | Face to Face |
| Session 2 | September (up to 2 hours) | Online |
| Session 3 | October (up to 2 hours) | Online |
| Session 4 | Late October (up to 2 hours) | Online |
| Session 5 | November 2022 (half day) | Face to Face |
Community panel session attendance
Session dates and times will be scheduled in advance. While it’s encouraged that community panel members attend all meetings, there may be instances where members may be absent due to conflicts in schedules. Meetings are only open to appointed members of the community panel.
Membership
Membership of the community panel will be confirmed prior to the first meeting of the group.
The membership term is expected to be for the schedule of sessions as outlined above.
Member responsibilities
All Community Panel members will:
- Agree to work within the framework of this Terms of Reference
- Contribute in a positive way to finding solutions to aspirations, issues or concerns
- Be comfortable talking and working in a group
- Communicate in a manner that is collaborative and non-confrontational or degrading in approach
- Respect other members’ rights to express a differing opinion to their own
- Help create an environment where all members feel comfortable to participate
- Commit to attending and participating in all community panel meetings and providing advance notice of non-attendance at meetings
- Permit use of their image and name to be posted on the University webpage detailing the composition of the Community Panel
- Permit themselves to be filmed at panel sessions which may be edited and posted to the University website
- Agree to media protocols
Term of membership
Members may resign from the community panel at any time during the term by providing their resignation to Phil Leersen, Executive Director, Campus Transformation in writing. The University of Tasmania may terminate appointed members under the following circumstances:
- Failure to attend two consecutive meetings of the community panel without prior approval
- Unacceptable behaviour towards fellow community panel members, facilitators and/or University of Tasmania staff
In the event of a resignation or termination of membership, the appointment of a new member may be sought.
Independent facilitation
External facilitators have been appointed by the University of Tasmania to lead, manage and coordinate participation of the community panel. The facilitator will be responsible for:
- Setting the agenda with input from the University of Tasmania
- Leading the community panel sessions
- Facilitating the discussion, ensuring fairness and equality in member participation
- Reporting on the participation and inputs/feedback gathered (report by end of November 2022)
- Ensuring the Terms of Reference are followed
University of Tasmania representatives will be engaged to facilitate sessions as required.
Speaking with the media
In keeping with the University of Tasmania’s media and social media procedure, the University requires that any media enquiries relating to the community panel are referred to Ben Wild, Director, Media on 0438 510 616 or ben.wild@utas.edu.au.
Public facing
To enable the University to communicate about the community panel process and respond to interest in the engagement being undertaken, it is intended that a webpage be posted about the community panel, its membership, information generated from the panel sessions, and at times short edited films of panel sessions.
Members will need to consent to the representation of their name and image in these public forums.
Conflict of interest
The aim of the community panel is to represent a diversity of viewpoints. It is not a requirement that consensus be reached among community panel members on issues of discussion. Given the diversity of issues likely to be addressed at the panel sessions, community panel members will at times need to consider a wider range of perspectives not limited to their own personal views.
If a member of the community panel believes they may have a conflict of interest in relation to a particular issue or item of discussion, the member should make this position clear to the facilitator and the other panel members. The panel member will not be excluded from discussion on this issue.
Reimbursement of expenses
Members’ time and contribution to the community panel sessions will be recognised with payments totalling $600 for attending and participating in all sessions. This figure has been determined by EMRS and represents an industry standard. Payments will be paid over the course of the sessions. Members will also be offered the option to donate some or all their payment to a registered charity of their choice.
Members will also be reimbursed for travel to attend the community panel face to face sessions at $0.80 per km above 22kms.
All payments will be handled by EMRS.
Refreshments/meals will be provided at community panel face to face sessions.
Feedback to the wider community
While the University of Tasmania will lead a communications program with the wider community, community panel members are also encouraged to discuss issues raised in the panel environment with members of the wider community to inform further discussions.
Contact details
Contact the Southern Transformation Team on +61 3 6324 9737 or southern.future@utas.edu.au regarding questions about the establishment and operation of the community panel.