RSSOutcomes from the auDA Foundation Review
auDA has recently completed a review of the auDA Foundation to evaluate the effectiveness and reach of the Foundations’ grants and operations.
The outcomes of the review indicated that the Foundation has overall been effective and efficiently managed. The auDA Board have approved the recommendations made in the final report arising from the outcomes that should assist in enhancing and improving the Foundation program.
A major recommendation is to create a ““Knowledge Centre” to be made available on the auDA Foundation website. The website will include outcomes, benefits, reports and relevant links. The research auDA undertook during the review highlighted the standout challenge for grant makers; evaluating the impact of their grant giving. One of the recommendations made in the Westlake Consulting Limited’s Report on the Independent Review into the Governance of .au was for auDA to audit the outcomes of funded projects and making these publicly available. By implementing this new “Knowledge Centre” - a public repository of project outcomes with appropriate links – it will not only evaluate the impact of the Foundation grant giving, but also help to share knowledge and build networks through which innovation can be fostered. To ensure this information is collected from grant recipients, this will be included in the new reporting requirements as a medium to long term outcomes/benefits report.
Some of the other significant recommendations that will be implemented include:
- Allowing for consideration of 3 year PhD student funding - to assist in increasing the current rate of grants given to PhD students.
- Increasing the top range of what the Foundation typically offers to $25,000 - which would bring it more in line with the Federal Government’s typical PhD Scholarships funding
- Produce a 2 step/on-line application process which will more than likely improve the applicant success rate in addition to assisting in increasing the current rate of grants given to PhD students.
To learn more about this review and the recommendations, go to: http://www.auda.org.au/about/foundationreview/