he following is from Vice Chancellor and President Glenice Hancock.

Our current enterprise bargaining agreements expire on 30 June 2003. Parties to those agreements undertook to commence negotiations, for the next agreement, 6 months prior to that date. The University is therefore inviting staff to give consideration to those issues which you feel should be discussed during enterprise bargaining negotiations next year.

You may view academic and general staff agreements at http://www.cqu.edu.au/personnel/eba3/> .

Why is enterprise bargaining (EB) important to me?.

EB provides an opportunity for staff of the University to have input into the setting of conditions of work, work practices and salaries - with the overall aim of CQU remaining a prosperous and harmonious workplace. EB negotiations at CQU occur between management and staff unions through a Single Bargaining Unit (SBU).

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Initiatives negotiated through an enterprise bargaining agreement have a direct impact on how we work, how much we get paid and on our ability to achieve the strategic goals of CQU. It is therefore in our best interest to be involved in the process.

How can I be involved?.

The University is working to the following schedule:.

1. Week commencing 7 October: information forums, conducted by staff from the Division of Staff and Student Services, with organizational area managers to be conducted over the next few weeks.

2. 14 - 31 October: information forums, conducted by staff from the Division of Staff and Student Services, to be held with staff from each area (eg. Faculty/Division/Campus/Organisational area). 3. October: EB Web Page, Email discussion and feedback lists to be created for utilisation by staff.

4. 25 November 2002: cut-off for receiving initial feedback from staff on employment-related issues that you would like the University to give consideration to prior to the next round of EB (please note that staff will continue to be involved in the process after this date).

5. Early December 2002: Planning Day, which will include representatives from Divisions/Faculties/Campuses/Organisational areas, to discuss feedback received from staff and prepare a list of initiatives/terms and conditions for consideration by the University Senior Management.

6. Late December 2002: information collated will assist the University in preparing its log of claims and in reflecting against the log of claims served upon it by the respective unions.

7. Early 2003: negotiations commence between staff unions and University management. Staff will be kept informed of, and involved in, the progress of these negotiations.

Below, is an overview from the Vice Chancellor providing more details on enterprise bargaining and on issues facing CQU and the higher education sector.

If you have any questions on the enterprise bargaining process at CQU, please contact any of the following people:.

Kim Morris, Acting Personnel Services Officer, ext. 6430, email - k.morris@cqu.edu.au.

David Swann, Director - Staff and Student Services, ext. 9389, email - d.swann@cqu.edu.au.

Jacinta Cumming, Staff Relations Officer, ext. 9398, email - j.cumming@cqu.edu.au.

Lisa Penman, Staff Relations Officer (available Tues - Thurs), ext. 9644, email - l.penman@cqu.edu.au.

Bill Granville, Manager - Staff Relations, ext. 9439, email - b.granville@cqu.edu.au.

_________________________________________________________ Enterprise Bargaining at CQU, The 4th Round:.

CQU's current enterprise bargaining agreement, EBA3, expires on 30 June 2003. The parties to that agreement are committed to commencing negotiations on the next agreement 6 months prior to that expiry date. The University will be seeking your input into this process in the near future. This briefing paper provides you with an overview, highlighting major issues currently faced by CQU and the higher education sector which will impact on the initiatives negotiated during the next round of enterprise bargaining at this university.

Where CQU is now?.

As we all know, CQU has recently gone through a period of rapid internal change, including the following:.

- Attainment of University status;.

- Faculty restructure, resulting in 7 faculties becoming 5;.

- Increased emphasis on research activities;.

- Senior Executive staff changes;.

- "International" campuses opened (Sydney - 1994, Melbourne - 1997, Brisbane - 1998, Fiji - 1998, Gold Coast - 2001);.

- International delivery through "Hartford" operations in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia, as well as possible delivery in China;.

- Increase in student numbers (student load in 1992 was 7 816, in 2001 it was 19 544, an increase of 150% over 9 years), mostly attributable to an increase in the number of international students;.

- Year-round teaching (guidelines for managing academic staff workloads to accommodate a 4-term years were introduced in EBA2 1997):.

- Introduction of quality assurance;.

- Regional Campus growth; and.

- Introduction of PeopleSoft as the core administrative computer system for the university.

It is acknowledged that the above factors have had a significant imp