The Institute Board of the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) is accountable for making institute-wide strategic decisions to shape the direction and practices of the institute.
Contact
Sarah Walter
Executive Assistant and Committee Officer, ISF
email Sarah.Walter@uts.edu.au
Board details
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The length of membership term, including for boards of studies, appointed and co-opted members, will be 2 years for staff and one year for students, commencing from 1 January, consistent with the term of membership for members of faculty boards. (AB/17-1/18.3).
Gender balance and diversity of the membership of the board will be supported through encouragement of nominations from across the organisation.
Composition Membership term Director, ISF (Chair) Stuart White ex officio Deputy Chair Alison Atherton 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 Head of Operations (Secretary) Dan Gollan ex officio Two associate directors Chris Reidy
Melita Grantex officio Climate KIC Australia CEO Christopher Lee ex officio Program lead: appointed by the Director, ISF from the cohort of term-based ISF program leads Alison Atherton 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027 Three research staff: elected by and from continuing and fixed-term research staff of ISF, with at least one being a mid-career (levels B or C) researcher and at least one being an early career (levels 5-7/ A) researcher Jay Falletta
Nodoka Nakamichi
Monique Retamal
1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027 Two professional staff representatives: elected by and from continuing and fixed-term professional staff of ISF, with one representative from levels 7-9 and one representative from levels 5 or 6 Amber McCulloch
Wendy Wang
1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027 One staff representative elected by and from continuing and fixed-term research and professional staff of ISF Caitlin Eisermann 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027 One graduate research program (GRP) student, elected by and from the GRP students of ISF Safaa Aldirawi 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 Co-opted members* Chris Lee 1 May 2026 to 30 April 2028 * On the recommendation of the chair, the board has the power to approve the co-option of members on the basis of their skills and experience and as may be needed to progress the board’s purpose.
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The board provides governance oversight for matters relating to the institute at UTS on behalf of Academic Board. The board is responsible for considering the following matters and making recommendations to the applicable decision-making authority:
- within the framework of the UTS Rules, including, with the Vice-Chancellor's designation under Rule 1.3 as being equivalent to a faculty board for the purposes of UTS Rules, doing all things required by a faculty board under UTS Rules in relation to the students and functions of the institute
- leading the development and oversight of the institute’s strategy, including research and teaching and learning strategies and business planning and implementation
- overseeing governance of the Research Leadership Committee, the Learning and Development Leadership Committee, strategic initiatives and working groups
- informing institute planning and decision-making
- evaluating benchmarks and monitoring performance.
Academic Board approved amendments to the board's governance structure at its 26/4 meeting held on 22 July 2026. Further information is available at Institute Board: Terms of reference (PDF).
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If the Chair is absent for a meeting(s), the Deputy Chair will have all of the Chair’s functions for the duration of the meeting(s). In the absence of the Chair and Deputy Chair the board will elect one of its members to preside at the meeting.
The board meets at least 4 meetings a year. Meetings occur each quarter on a date nominated by the Director in accordance with the agreed meeting schedule.
The quorum shall be one-half of the current members of the committee, if one-half is not a whole number, the next higher whole number shall be used. Vacant positions on the committee do not count toward the total membership of which one-half is required to reach a quorum.
At least 7 calendar days' written notice will be given by the Head of Operations (or nominee) for ordinary meetings, including the meeting’s time and place and the agenda. Special meetings will be convened as per Standing Order 4.5.
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The board may establish sub-committees as appropriate. The followings are the sub-committees of the board:
Research Leadership Committee
Learning and Development Leadership Committee.