Council

COUN00-M3

Minutes of the 266th Meeting of the University Council held on 5 April 2000.

Members:

Dr. J K Green (Chair); Dr. C.J. Backhouse; Mr. H. Barber; Mr. G. Barfield (ab); Mr. J.B.C. Blood; Mr. R.H. Boissier; Professor W.R. Bowman; Dr. T.G.M. Brooks; Professor L.M. Cantor; Professor J.V. Dawkins; Ms. V. Dhupa; Professor M. Evans; Dr. A.N. Fairbairn; Professor J.P. Feather; Mr. W. Flint; Mr. G.P. Fothergill (ab); Mr. S.J. Gorton; Mr. D. Gough (ab); Professor C. Hanson; Miss J.E.L. Harvatt (ab); Mr. P.J.K. Haslehurst (ab); Dr. R.A. Haskins; Dr. T. Higgins; Professor J.R. Hough; Professor T.J. Kavanagh (ab); Dr. G. Mason; Mr. E.O. Maxwell; Professor R. McCaffer; Mr. A. Milne; Mr. M. Moghal (ab); Mr. W.M. Moss; Dr P.N. Murgatroyd; Dr. L.R. Mustoe; Mrs. W.M. Pilkington; Dr. C. Reddrop (ab); Professor I. Reid; Sir Denis Rooke; Dr. J.F. Rowland; Dr. A.W. Rudge (ab); Ven. I. Stanes; Mrs. J.A.M. Strong (ab); Mr. D.R.F. Walker (ab); Professor D.J. Wallace; Ms E. Wallace (ab); Mr. C.S. Woodruff.

In attendance: Mrs F.M. Hannah; Professor I.C. Morison; Mr H M Pearson; Mr. J.M. Town.

Apologies for absence were received from: Dr A.W. Rudge; Miss J.E.L.Harvatt; Dr. C. Reddrop; Mrs J.A.M. Strong; Mr M. Moghal; Mr G.P. Fothergill, Mr P.J.K. Haslehurst, Mr D.R.F. Walker.


00/16 Minutes

It was RESOLVED to confirm the Minutes of the 264th Meeting of Council held on 16 February 2000 [COUN00-M1].

00/17 Matters Arising from the Minutes

.1 Minute 00/4 - Amendments to Statutes

COUN00-P10

It was RESOLVED (by 27 votes to 2 with 4 abstentions) to confirm the following Special Resolution for amendments to Statutes XIII and XIV

1. The Council shall consist of the following persons, namely:

(i) ex-officio members

(a) Internal

The Chancellor, the Pro-Chancellors, the Vice-Chancellor, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, the Treasurer, two of the Pro-Vice Chancellors to be nominated by the Chairman of Senate.

1. The Senate shall consist of the following persons, namely:

(i) Ex-officio Members

(a) The Vice-Chancellor
(b) The Deputy Vice-Chancellor
(c) Two of the Pro-Vice Chancellors, to be nominated by the Chairman of Senate
(d) The Deans of the Schools
(e) The Librarian
(f) The Heads of such Departments as are designated by the Council on the recommendation of the Senate.
(g) Any member of the Senate having been elected to the Council pursuant to Statute XIII paragraph 1 (iv) whose membership of the Senate shall otherwise have ceased.

.2 Minute 00/10 - Any Other Business

COUN00-P11

Council received a progress report on the twinning of lay members of Council with academic departments. Members noted that discussions on the development of partnerships for new Council members were underway and it was anticipated that all departments could be covered.

00/18 Vice-Chancellor's Business

.1 The Vice-Chancellor reminded members of Council that the value of new research grants and contracts awarded in the previous two years had been £18 million (1997/98) and £21.8 million (1998/99). The figure for the first eight months of the current year had reached £19.5 million and this was highly encouraging.

.2 The Centre for Innovative Construction Engineering was being launched that day at the Royal Academy of Engineering by Beverley Hughes MP, Under Secretary of State for Construction. The Centre was being funded by EPSRC and a group of industrial sponsors and would provide graduates and experienced engineers with the opportunity to obtain an Engineering Doctorate on successful completion of four years of advanced study and research.

.3 A summary of development fund expenditure on special research initiatives was tabled. The Vice-Chancellor emphasised the significant investment which had been made.

.4 The University's excellent record in External Subject Reviews had been maintained by LUSAD and Design & Technology which had achieved a score of 23 out of 24. Particular congratulations were extended to LUSAD which had attained the result despite the upheaval of the merger.

.5 The Education Department in partnership with DeMontfort University had been awarded a silver award for "Education Contribution of the Year" at the Institute of Information Technology Millenium Training Awards.

.6 In the recent bidding round for additional student numbers, the University had been awarded 120 places for the Systems Engineering Course and 70 places for Peterborough.

.7 The University had been awarded £1 million by the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) under the Teaching Quality Enhancement Scheme. This would be used to sustain and enhance existing activities.

.8 The University had been successful in three of its bids for Project Capital Allocations and decisions on the remaining two bids were awaited.

.9 The results of the latest round of bids to the Joint Initiative Fund were disappointing. The bids for funding to support the Multiscale Engineering Facility and the provision of new Sports Science facilities had been unsuccessful. The bid associated with the Centre for Renewable Energy had been deferred. The scheme was heavily over-subscribed and more funding was available for medical and biological sciences than for Engineering. The University would review its position possibly in conjunction with other unsuccessful Universities.

.10 The Vice-Chancellor reported that the University had been unsuccessful in its poor Estates bid for funding for the Centre Site development.

.11 In response to a member of Council, the Vice-Chancellor explained that the Russell Group of universities was generally composed of those with medical schools, including the larger civics. Their aggressive stance in relation to top-up-fees was not generally welcomed by the rest of the sector.

.12 The Men's and Women's hockey teams had both become league champions and gained promotion to the premier divisions. There had also been successes in swimming with Caroline Reid breaking a world record and James Gibson breaking a Great Britain record.

00/19 HEFCE Recurrent Grant for 2000/01

COUN00-P12

The Vice-Chancellor reported on the HEFCE recurrent grant for the academic year 2000/01. The increase of 2.6% included funding for additional student places and the underlying increase was approximately 1.5%. This was inadequate to fund likely salary increases and represented a cut in funding in real terms. The majority of universities were in a similar position since the additional funded numbers had been largely directed to sub-degree programmes.

00/20 Capital Programme

COUN00-P13

The Bursar gave a progress report on the Capital Programme as summarised in the Agenda paper. The unsuccessful outcome of the JIF bid for the PE Laboratory Facility and Integrated Multi-scale Engineering Facility would remove £14 million from the total cost of the programme. This together with the proposal to move the Burleigh Court extensions to Private Finance Initiative would ease the University's long-term borrowing commitment to be within the limit of 4% set by the Funding Council. The current ratio (current assets: current liabilities) would also be within the target of 1.5:1 set by Council.

Council welcomed the proposed changes and asked that a revised capital programme be circulated with the Minutes.

In view of the financial position of the University, a member of Council suggested that two projects, the Centre Site Refurbishment and the Great Hall Refurbishment be postponed and that consideration be given to removing the EHB Refurbishment and the investment in playing fields from the programme. It was suggested that staff were concerned about the University's financial position and the possibility of redundancies. Decisions about the capital programme could help to improve the financial stability of the University.

Council then discussed a number of projects as follows:

Engineering Building

The budget set by Council for the Engineering Building was £15.5 million with a contingency fund of £250K which was under the control of a Council monitoring group. The project, which was now within four months of completion, was under the control of a Project Management Company but the contingency fund had been ring-fenced until they could provide assurances on the total cost of the project. The Project Management Company was able to forecast with greater certainty the final outcome and the Monitoring Group had agreed to release £184K from the contingency fund. Difficult choices had been necessary but the project was intact and no part of the buildings would remain empty or unused. A member of Council queried the value of excluded items. This was difficult to quantify but modifications to finishes had been made and no new furniture would be provided.

Burleigh Court

A member of Council expressed strong support for the proposal to move the Burleigh Court Extensions to the Private Finance Initiative since this was not considered to be central to the core business of the University.

Student Village Refurbishment (Phase 3)

Council had already approved expenditure of up to £3.25 million for this project and tenders were awaited. It was RESOLVED to authorise the Chair to take action to move the project to Stage E provided that costs were within this agreed limit.

Sports Administration Building

A fully costed design for the building was not yet available but the cost was expected to be within £3 million. The costs would be divided equally between a private donor, the University and a mortgage offset against revenue from governing bodies. It was RESOLVED to authorise the Chair to take action to move the project to Stage E provided that the total costs were within the limit of £3 million.

 Centre Site Refurbishment (Phase 2)

Since the bid for funding under HEFCE's Poor Estate Initiative had been unsuccessful a member suggested that this project be deferred until after the next Research Assessment Exercise. The Dean of the Faculty of Science expressed serious concern at this proposal which would impact on the research effort of the Faculty. The project was considered to be essential for health and safety reasons although it was suggested that these issues could be resolved with a less ambitious project. Members also recalled the commitment made by Council, in approving the Engineering Building, that funds should be allocated to improve the areas vacated by Engineering. The costs of the scheme had still to be finalised but they were likely to be marginal in comparison to the benefits which would accrue.

Additional Playing Fields

The proposed investment in playing fields was questioned particularly when land was being given up for projects such as the new swimming pool. However the loss of land in such an ideal location would be regrettable. Fundraising for this investment was a strong possibility.

New Swimming Pool

It was noted that the proposal would allow the University to close two existing pools and improve facilities which were unsatisfactory.

Mr W Flint left the meeting during discussion of the above item

00/21 Performance Monitoring Group

COUN00-P14

Members were informed that the Performance Monitoring Group had been established during 1998/99, effectively merging the roles of the original Academic and Commercial Enterprises Sub-Committee and the Faculty Monitoring Group.

Among the issues discussed at the last meeting had been overseas student recruitment and steps to improve the position had been identified. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching) reported that initiatives already taken had resulted in a projected 30% increase in undergraduate overseas student recruitment for October 2000.

Research grant and contract income and overhead recovery had also been considered in some detail. The Performance Monitoring Group had been concerned at the decline in overhead recovery despite the increase in income. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) emphasised the need to improve the success rate in bidding for Research Council Funding.

Detailed Faculty Financial reports for the first six months of the year had been discussed. In both Engineering and Science, projected deficits had increased but in the case of the former, this was largely due to an accounting technicality. All Faculties were projected to have substantial deficits at the year end and the Deans had been asked to produce a strategy for resolving these.

Members were informed that the increase in projected deficit shown over the original business plan was largely due to inaccurate estimates of research income and fees and not due to increased spend. The implication of the transfer to the Building Fund was also questioned. It was noted that central costs, including any transfers to the building fund, were met by levying a COMA charge on departments. The resource allocation model was complex but this included drivers such as student numbers and space.

The Treasurer indicated that the report reinforced the efforts which would be necessary for Deans and Heads of Departments to bring their Faculties into balance.

00/22 Elimination of Structural Deficits: Strategy for the Period from March 2000 to March 2002

COUN00-P15

Council considered recommendations from Resources and Planning Committee for the elimination of structural deficits. The Registrar summarised the main features of the proposals as follows:

The Registrar explained that there would be resource implications if the recommendations were accepted. Detailed proposals would be included in the budget which would be submitted to Council in July.

During a lengthy discussion, a number of members expressed concern about the impact of the capital programme on the University's deficit position. It was pointed out that deficits at Faculty level occurred after the application of the COMA and community charges which included a contribution to the building fund. It was suggested that expenditure on staff, computing services etc. was low compared to similar Universities and there was little room for further economies. The alternative view was also put forward namely that expenditure on estates had been extremely low during the 1970's and 1980's. Funding Council guidance recommended that universities transfer 3% of turnover to reserves and in making its decision on the Engineering Building and the Centre Site development, Council had agreed that the reserves should be rebuilt at £2 million per annum.

Although the need for restructuring was accepted, some members expressed serious concern about the inclusion of redundancy in the proposals. It was felt that this would have a damaging effect on staff morale and the public image of the University. It was accepted that Council's commitment to no compulsory redundancy had been reversed with the agreement on open-ended contracts in July 1999. However it was suggested that the current proposals were in conflict with the University's stated aim of becoming a research-led University. The view was expressed that achievement of this aim would be dependent on having academic staff of adequate quality and quantity. The University's SSR's were already worse than those of other research led Universities and acceptance of the proposals could lead to a worsening of the position.

Other members put forward the view that the proposals offered a positive framework for dealing with deficits and avoiding redundancy. Council was united in the view that it did not want redundancy. However, some members felt that if it was serious about tackling deficits, it must be realistic, recognise that re-structuring was necessary, and have a mechanism for dealing with deficits which was clear and transparent to all. Re-deployment was felt to be the key element of the proposals. If the recommendations were accepted by the Council, the effective operation of re-deployment could help to prevent redundancy.

At the conclusion of the discussion, an amendment was proposed that paragraphs 5.1 - 5.7 relating to redundancy be removed from the flow chart attached to the proposals. This was rejected by the vote of 20 to 7 with 5 abstentions.

It was RESOLVED to approve recommendations from Resources and Planning Committee for elimination of structural deficits by 23 votes to 4 with 5 abstentions subject to

00/23 Special Honour for Service to the University

COUN00-P16

Council considered proposals for the establishment of a special award, provisionally named The Loughborough University Medal for service to the University. The proposal had the support of Senate although an objection had been raised to the principle of singling out one individual when so many serve the University. AUT had not been enthusiastic about the proposals but MSF and UNISON were happy to support them. A member sought clarification of those eligible for the award and was advised that all members of the University would be eligible including students.

It was RESOLVED to approve a recommendation for the establishment of a special award, provisionally named The Loughborough University Medal.

00/24 Membership of Council

COUN00-P17

It was RESOLVED to appoint Ms Vena Dhupa and Professor T Kavanagh as the lay member and elected staff member respectively of the Nominating Committee to make recommendations to Council on co-opted membership for the period 1 August 2000 - 31 July 2001. Members urged the Nominating Committee to increase representation from women and minority groups and to consider the availability of potential members.

00/25 Review of the Effectiveness of Council

COUN00-P18

The Registrar presented a paper which outlined proposed arrangements for reviewing the effectiveness of Council in accordance with recommendations from the Dearing Report. It was AGREED to appoint a Working Group with the following terms of reference and membership:

(a) to establish the scope of the review and the topics to be investigated.

(b) to conduct a full investigation of effectiveness in each of the areas identified.

Membership: Dr J K Green
Deputy Vice-Chancellor
Dr T Higgins (Lay Member)
Mr P Fothergill (Lay Member)
Mr D Walker (Academic Member)
Professor C Backhouse (Academic Member)
Registrar} in attendance
Bursar}

The Chair was authorised to appoint replacement members should any of the lay or academic members be unavailable.


SECTION B: Items for Approval

00/26 Council Appointments to Committees

Further to Minute 99/60.3 of the 259th Meeting it was RESOLVED to approve the appointment of Ven I Stanes to the General Appeal Body.

00/27 Audit Committee

It was RESOLVED to ratify the action of the Chair of Council in approving the internal audit engagement letter for the period 1 August 1999 to 31 July 2000, on the recommendation of Audit Committee.

00/28 Resources and Planning Committee

.1 It was RESOLVED to ratify the action of the Chair of Council on the recommendation of the Chair of Resources and Planning in approving overseas tuition fees for 2001/02.

COUN00-P19

.2 It was RESOLVED to approve recommendations from the Chair of Resources and Planning Committee relating to:

i) Tuition Fees for 2000/01

A member had sought clarification of the fees for re-sitting examinations in the Special Assessment period. It was reported that the current fee was set at a minimum of £15 and a maximum of £50. The actual fee was calculated on the basis of £1 per credit unit within these limits. Council noted that this did not cover the true cost.

COUN00-P20

ii) Proposals for increasing overseas tuition fees to 2003/4

COUN00-P21

00/29 Treasurer's Committee

COUN00-P22

It was RESOLVED to approve recommendations referred by Treasurer's Committee at its meeting on 29 March 2000.

00/30 Senate

COUN00-P23

It was RESOLVED to approve the following recommendations referred by Senate at its 332nd meeting on 8 March 2000.

.1 Programme Proposals

a) New Programmes for introduction in the 1999/2000 session

MBA Engineering Management.

b) New Programmes for introduction in the 2000/2001 session.

MSc Advanced Engineering
MSc Materials Evaluation
MSc Islamic Economics, Banking and Finance

c) Discontinuation of the following programmes

MSc Materials Engineering (last intake 1999/2000)
MSc Technical Management (last intake 1995/96)
MA Security Management (taught residential) (last intake 1994/95)
MA Investigatory Management (taught residential) (last intake 1993/94)
MSc European Construction Engineering (last intake 1998/99)

.2 Amendments to Ordinance XXXIII: Diplomas and Certificates with immediate effect.

.3 Amendments to Ordinance II: Status of Students with immediate effect.

.4 Amendments to the LSU Constitution with immediate effect.

.5 The establishment of new prizes.

00/31 Common Seal

COUN00-P24

It was RESOLVED to ratify the action of the Registrar in affixing the University Seal to the documents listed.

A member had sought clarification of the last two items relating to the Ford College. The Bursar reported that the first lease allowed Powergen to lay cable over University ground, the second related to the lease for the land.

 00/32 Council Briefing - 26 January 2000

COUN00-P25

Council received a summary of action following the Council Briefing held on 26 January 2000. In response to a member, it was agreed that a specific reference to overseas research student recruitment be added to section 1.3.

00/33 Degree Congregation - December 2000

Council noted that the December Degree Congregation will be held at 2.30pm on Monday 18 December 2000.

00/34 Attendance Record

COUN00-P26

Council noted a record of attendance at Council and its Committees.

00/35 Reports of Committees

COUN00-P27

Council received reports from the following Committees.

i) Research Committee of 10 February 2000
ii) Audit Committee of 24 February 2000
iii) Health, Safety and Environmental Committee of 15 March 2000
iv) Resources and Planning Committee of 18 February 2000
v) Student Services Committee of 8 March 2000
vi) Senate of 8 March 2000
vii) Treasurer's Committee of 29 March 2000


00/36 Date of Next Meeting

Wednesday 19 July 2000.


Author - Fidelma Hannah
Date - April 2000
Copyright (c) Loughborough University. All rights reserved.