Description Of Structure And Management

• The Board
• Board membership for 1999/2000
• Management Committee
• Management Committee membership for 1999/2000:
• Advisory Committee
• Centre Visitor
• Centre Programs
• General

Description Of Structure And Management

The Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Rice Production is an unincorporated joint venture established in 1997 by an Agreement between the Centre parties:-

• Charles Sturt University
• The University of Sydney
• CSIRO
• NSW Agriculture
• NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation
• Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation
• Ricegrowers' Co-operative Limited and an
• Agreement with the Commonwealth of Australia.

The organisational structure of the Centre is outlined below. The management structure consists of the Board and the Director. The Board and Director are advised by Committees and supported by an administration office dealing with administrative and financial activities. The Board is responsible for the strategic direction of the Centre and for ensuring Centre management. The Director is responsible for day-to-day operations of the Rice CRC. He is assisted by a Management Committee, which includes key staff, and Program Leaders. The Rice Research and Development Committee of RIRDC is an advisory committee to the Rice CRC. The Centre Agent is NSW Agriculture and it provides financial and research program/project service and support for the Centre. The Centre's administrative office is located at the Yanco Agricultural Institute (NSW Agriculture).

The Board

The Centre is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of an independent chairperson, a high level nominee of each of the participating core partners and two persons to represent the interests of the Centre Associates and the Riverina community.

The Board meets a minimum of four times a year, usually two weeks after a Committee meeting so any issues requiring consent of the Board can be dealt with promptly.

The Board has the following functions and powers.

1. To establish policies for the Centre which cover research, education, training, intellectual property, commercialisation, planning, staffing, finance, accounting, reporting and such other matters as the Board considers necessary for the conduct of the business of the Centre, and its accountability to the Commonwealth and the participants pursuant to the Commonwealth and Centre Agreements.
2. To approve the activities of the Centre annually and the subsequent Annual Budget as described in Schedules 1 and 4 of the Commonwealth Agreement.
3. To monitor, measure and approve the performance indicators for the Centre.
4. To appoint, oversee and review the performance of the Director.
5. To take account of the relevant policies of each of the parties when considering any matter.
6. To authorise others to act on behalf of the Board and of the Centre.
7. To review the parties' contributions and seek to amend the Schedules of the Commonwealth Agreement provided that affected parties shall have agreed to any change in or any change to their intellectual property arrangements. Such changes will require the approval of the Commonwealth.
8. To consider and, if appropriate, approve new Programs recommended by the Management Committee. Such new Programs will also require approval by the Commonwealth and appropriate changes to the Schedules of the Commonwealth Agreement.

Board membership for 1999/2000

Dr Ian Davidge	Chair
Dr Laurie Lewin	Director, Rice CRC
Prof Kath Bowmer	Charles Sturt University
Alternative:
Prof Jim Pratley	Charles Sturt University
Prof Don Napper	The University of Sydney
Alternative:
Prof Don Marshall	The University of Sydney
Dr Graham Harris	CSIRO Land and Water
Alternative:
Dr Jim Peacock	CSIRO Plant Industry
Ms Helen Scott-Orr	NSW Agriculture
Alternative:
Mr Martin May	NSW Agriculture
Mr Geoff Fishburn	NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation
Alternative:
Mr Adrian Thompson	NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation
	[from July 1999]
Dr Keith Hutton	Ricegrowers' Co-operative Ltd
	[from July 1999]
Mr Jim Kennedy	Prime Minister's Supermarket to Asia Council
Mr John Herbert	Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC)
Alternative:
Mr Peter Core	Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation
Mr Peter Draper	Rice Research and Development Committee (RRDC)

Management Committee

1999/2000 Rice CRC Management Committee (from L to R)

• Dr Laurie Lewin (Director),
• Dr Philip Eberbach (Charles Sturt University),
• Dr Liz Humphreys (CSIRO Land and Water),
• Dr Jeff Davis (RIRDC),
• Mr Gordon Hart (Executive Officer),
• Dr Liz Dennis (CSIRO Plant Industry),
• Dr Bruce Sutton (University of Sydney)
• Absent:
• Dr Ian Davidge (Chairman, Rice CRC Board),
• Dr Yunus Khatri (Ricegrowers' Co-operative Ltd),
• Dr Graeme Batten (NSW Agriculture),
• Mr Ary van der Lely (Dept Land and Water Conservation).

The Management Committee is comprised of the Director, the Program Leaders, the Executive Officer and representatives of the parties, not otherwise represented.

The Management Committee assists the Director in attaining the objectives of the Centre through the implementation of the policies of the Board in relation to research, education and training, technology transfer, publication of research outcomes, finance and staffing.

The Committee coordinates the Centre's activities and prepares new programs and policies for consideration by the Board.

The Committee meets a minimum of four times a year, usually two weeks before the next Board meeting so that any issues requiring consent of the Board can be dealt with promptly.

Management Committee membership for 1999/2000:

Dr Laurie Lewin	Chairman
Mr Gordon Hart	Executive Officer, Rice CRC
Dr Liz Humphreys	CSIRO Land and Water [Program 1 Leader]
	[from July 1999]
Dr Liz Dennis	CSIRO Plant Industry [Program 3 Leader]
Mr Graeme Marteene	Ricegrowers' Co-operative Limited [Program 4 Leader]
	[to September 1999]
Dr Yunus Khatri	Ricegrowers' Co-operative Limited [Program 4 Leader]
	[from September 1999]
Dr Philip Eberbach	Charles Sturt University [Program 5 Leader]
Dr Bruce Sutton	The University of Sydney
Mr Ary Van der Lely	NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation
Dr Jeff Davis	Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation
Dr Graeme Batten	NSW Agriculture [Program 2 Leader]
Dr Ian Davidge	Chairman, Rice CRC Board

Advisory Committee

The Advisory Committee function to the Centre is undertaken by the Rice Research and Development Committee (RRDC) of the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC).

As the Advisory Committee to the Centre, the RIRDC Rice Research and Development Committee assists in providing broader input to the policies, planning and Programs of the Centre and to ensure coordination of research projects and functions.

Interaction between RRDC and the Rice CRC has been facilitated by cross-representation on the Board, Management Committee and the Rice Research and Development Committee. Details of Rice CRC Programs are conveyed to RRDC members through the annual Rice CRC Symposium and regular newsletters. This was not found to be sufficient, however, and members of RRDC have been allocated to liaise with the five Rice CRC Programs (as shown below). These are all rice grower members of RRDC.

Program 1 - Sustainability of Natural Resources
Mr Noel Graham, Mr Leigh Vial

Program 2 - Sustainability of Production Systems
Mr Peter Sheppard, Mr Russell Ford

Program 3 - Genetic Improvement for Sustainable Production
Mr Randall Williams, Mr Ian Mason

Program 4 - Product and Process Development
Mr Daryl Gibbs, Mr John Hemley

Program 5 - Education, Skills Development and Technology Transfer
Mr Peter O'Connor, Mr Stuart Nixon

Centre Visitor

The Rice CRC's Visitor is Mr Jim Miller. He is appointed by the CRC Secretariat to liaise with and assist in monitoring the CRCs he has been allocated. He acts as an independent adviser and helps establish constructive links between the Secretariat and the CRCs.

Centre Programs

The research Programs are broken into five main areas, these are :-

1. Sustainability of Natural Resources in Rice-Based Cropping Systems.
2. Sustainable Production Systems.
3. Genetic Improvement for Sustainable Production.
4. Product and Process Development.
5. Education, Skills Development and Technology Transfer.

Each Program has a leader to direct and monitor the research activities. The Programs are further divided into Sub-Programs which also have a nominated leader. Beneath each Sub-Program are the research projects which all have a Project Leader who is the principal researcher.

General

The Rice CRC is a distributed organisation with participants located with partners and associates throughout NSW and Queensland. It is therefore important that Management addresses the need to build a Rice CRC spirit amongst the participants. This has been partly achieved through representation on the Board and Management Committee.

The annual Symposium has been essential in fostering the cohesion that is necessary in the organisation. Other important mechanisms have been the "Chairman's Tours", the newsletter "Rice CiRCle" and various Program meetings and specific workshops.

The appointment of a Communications Officer for the Rice CRC has been very important in assisting the dissemination of information and the establishment of a CRC identity.