Colleagues,
As part of the University’s ongoing commitment to agility, empowerment, and coordinated institutional responsiveness, the Executive is pleased to announce the implementation of the:
Strategic Framework for the Centralisation of Decentralised Decision-Making (SFCDDM)
This initiative reflects our shared recognition that decentralised decision-making functions most effectively when guided through a coherent centralised structure.
1. Background
Recent reviews have demonstrated that decentralised decision-making has produced:
- Increased local autonomy
- Greater contextual responsiveness
- Variable institutional alignment
- Multiple simultaneous interpretations of policy reality
While these outcomes have generated innovation, they have also led to inconsistencies in:
- decision visibility,
- approval pathways, and
- strategic synchronisation across decentralised units.
Several faculties were found to be making decisions independently without central awareness that decisions had occurred.
2. Purpose of the Framework
The SFCDDM aims to preserve the benefits of decentralised decision-making while ensuring that all decentralised decisions are:
- Centrally visible
- Strategically harmonised
- Operationally aligned
- Retrospectively confirmable
This will allow units to continue exercising local autonomy within an appropriately coordinated framework of central oversight.
3. New Decision-Making Structure
Effective immediately, all decentralised decisions will proceed through the following process:
Step 1: Local Decision Identification
Units identify a decision requiring local determination.
Step 2: Preliminary Autonomy Notification
A notification is submitted to the:
Central Office for Distributed Decision Awareness (CODDA)
This confirms the intention to undertake decentralised decision-making.
Step 3: Strategic Alignment Review
CODDA assesses:
- alignment with institutional priorities,
- compatibility with parallel decentralised decisions,
- and the degree of acceptable local variation.
Step 4: Conditional Decentralisation Approval
Upon approval, units may proceed with locally determined decision implementation, subject to:
- central visibility,
- ongoing reporting,
- and retrospective harmonisation if required.
4. Levels of Decentralised Autonomy
To ensure consistency, autonomy will now operate across four approved tiers:
| Tier | Description |
|---|---|
| D1 | Fully centralised decision presented locally |
| D2 | Centrally guided local implementation |
| D3 | Locally adapted decision within central parameters |
| D4 | Experimental autonomy (pilot basis only) |
Units seeking D4 autonomy must submit an:
Enhanced Decentralisation Justification Statement (EDJS)
5. Governance Arrangements
Oversight will be provided by the newly established:
Central Steering Committee for Distributed Governance Alignment (CSCDGA)
Supported by:
- The Decentralisation Coordination Working Group
- The Local Autonomy Harmonisation Taskforce
- The Advisory Panel on Strategic Distributed Consistency
To maintain distributed participation, all meetings will be centrally scheduled.
6. Reporting Requirements
All decentralised decisions must now be recorded in the:
Institutional Register of Distributed Decision Activity (IRDDA)
Entries must include:
- rationale for local variation,
- anticipated impact,
- degree of autonomy exercised,
- and whether the decision still feels decentralised following implementation.
Quarterly summaries will be prepared for Executive review.
7. Staff Guidance
Staff are reminded that decentralised decision-making does not imply unstructured independence. Rather, it reflects a collaborative institutional model in which local autonomy is exercised responsibly within centrally coordinated boundaries.
Where uncertainty exists regarding whether a decision is sufficiently decentralised, staff should consult CODDA before proceeding.
8. Closing Remarks
The University remains deeply committed to empowering local units while ensuring institution-wide coherence, visibility, and strategic alignment.
The SFCDDM represents an important milestone in achieving a more integrated approach to distributed autonomy and coordinated independence.
Further clarification sessions will be scheduled centrally across all decentralised units in coming weeks.
Attachment: Decentralised Decision Escalation Pathway (Central Version)
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