|
|
|
The
Council
COUN08-M3
Minutes of the meeting of the University Council held on Friday 4 April 2008.
Members:
Sir Bryan Carsberg (Chair); Dr Memis Acar (ab); John
Blackwell; Penny Coates; Dr Sandie Dann (ab); Vivian Dhaliwal (ab); Gifty
Edila; Sir John Gains; David Gerty; Marc Gibson; Paul Glover; David Goss (ab);
Professor Neil Halliwell; Peter Haslehurst; Norma Honey; Sir John Jennings; Jim
Mutton; Professor Ric Parker (ab); Professor Richard Parry-Jones; Professor
Shirley Pearce; Graham Picken (ab); Simon Proffitt; Jackie Strong (ab);
Professor Rachel Thomson; Professor Yiannis Vardaxoglou; Professor Peter
Warwick; Dr Cyril Woodruff; Alan A Woods.
In attendance:
Professor Morag Bell; Sophie Driscoll; Professor Terry Kavanagh; Dr Jennifer Nutkins; Professor Ken Parsons; Paula Powditch; Professor Steve Rothberg; Miranda Routledge; Will Spinks; Jon Walker; Peter Winter.
Fidelma Hannah (for item 08/30-08/32); Andrew Burgess (for item 08/33)
Apologies for absence were received from:
David Goss; Graham Picken
08/30 Minutes
Minutes of the Meeting of Council held on 18 January 2008 [COUN08-M1] were CONFIRMED.
08/31 Strategic Planning
COUN08-P26 and COUN08-P27
Council
RECEIVED a progress report on the Strategic Implementation Plans, including a
report from the Strategy Implementation Away Day.
During
discussion, it was:
- CONFIRMED that the
Athletics Union (LSU) was included in the list of key stakeholders in
terms of progressing the Sport Strategic Implementation Plan.
- NOTED that all staff
would shortly be surveyed on their views of
- AGREED that EMG would
consider canvassing views of employers/businesses in relation to the
University. This could be a
valuable addition to the existing portfolio of Key Performance Indicators but
there was unlikely to be a simple measure to evaluate this activity. It was NOTED that Fidelma Hannah was a
member of an external group discussing the data that fed into The Times University
League Table. The issue would be
reported to that group for consideration.
08/32 Key Performance Indicators
Council NOTED that there had been no changes since the last meeting.
08/33 Capital
Programme
08/33.1 Estates Implementation Plan 2008/09
COUN08-P28
The Director of Estates presented a progress report on the Estates Strategic Implementation Plan. It was an ambitious plan and, as such, required constant and careful monitoring. As outlined in the agenda paper, the key priorities were:
- Central and
- Sustainability Strategy
(incorporating landscaping, transport infrastructure and car parking)
The Chair of Council commented that he was satisfied with the progress that was being made in terms of financial planning and integrating the annual budget with the forecast capital expenditure. The University continued to develop its 10 year plan for capital expenditure which would be presented to Council in July. Meeting the requirements of the Capital Plan was expected to be challenging as existing financial surpluses were unlikely to deliver adequate funds.
A
member queried the extent to which the University had quantified its carbon
footprint and whether or not appropriate metrics existed to measure performance
in this area. It was confirmed that
significant progress had been made in terms of reducing water/energy
consumption and carbon emissions, and increasing recycling. The design of several of the new buildings on
campus had also taken sustainability issues into account. It would be desirable to consider how to
incorporate carbon neutral technologies into all new builds in the future. The Chief Operating Officer confirmed that he
had overall accountability for campus sustainability and would be driving it
forward as part of the Sustainability Strategic Implementation Plan. Council CONFIRMED that this should be a
priority, especially as the University had been chosen to host the ETI and
would be expected to lead by example. The
Chief Operating Office would update Council at its meeting in July. Action:
Chief Operating Officer
08/33.2 Update on Major Building Projects
COUN08-P29
Council RECEIVED a progress report on Major Building Projects. A member requested an update on the progress of the new Residential Halls (Car Park 7 Development). The Director of Estates reported that, whilst tight, the project deadlines were believed to be achievable. Progress was being continually monitored to ensure that the deadlines were met and there were no concerns about the Halls scheduled to open in September 2008.
08/33.3
COUN08-P30
Council RECEIVED a progress report from the Chief Operating Officer and NOTED:
· Planning permission had been granted and tenders issued within the planned timescales.
· The University was continuing negotiations with potential tenants which covered a range of sports governing bodies. The largest of these potential tenants was expected to make a decision by the end of April, the outcome of which would inevitably impact on the negotiations with other potential tenants.
The project was complicated and continued to require significant effort to manage successfully.
08/34 Finance Matters
08/34.1 Financial
Report 2007-08
COUN08-P31
Council NOTED the latest position
for the 2007-08 Budget which showed a slight improvement on January due to
student load calculations. The projected
surplus now stood at just under £5.8M which was slightly ahead of the 3%
target.
08/34.2 HEFCE
Recurrent Grant for 2008-09
COUN08-P32
The announcement from HEFCE confirmed
that the University’s Recurrent Grant for 2008-09 would increase by 2.5%
which was in line with the University’s budget forecast (2.7% increase). The University had experienced a reduction in
its Widening Participation allocation but this was due to the way in which the
funding algorithms worked rather than a reflection of a change in University
policy.
The Treasurer alerted Council to the
fact that the 2.5% increase to the HEFCE Grant would be insufficient to meet
the cost of pay increases which were expected to rise by approximately 4%. This would inevitably result in a challenging
internal budget negotiation/allocation process for 2008-09.
08/35 Committee Structure
COUN08-P33
On the recommendation of Senate, Council
CONSIDERED revisions to the Committee Structure. The proposed structure was intended to
illustrate how Council delegated its powers, through the Vice-Chancellor to
members of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT, previously EMG), who would chair
the operational committees, reporting to Senate and Council. Three major changes were highlighted as
follows:
1. All operational committees would be
chaired by a member of the ELT where previously some had been chaired by lay
members of Council. Lay members of
Council would continue to serve on University committees to ensure that the
valued input of these individuals was retained.
2. Health, Safety and Environmental
Committee would report to both Senate and Council (previously only reported to
Council).
3. A new committee - the Alumni and
Advancement Committee - would be established.
This would not replace the Alumni Board but the Constitution and Terms
of Reference of the Alumni Board would need to be reviewed in light of the
establishment of the new Committee.
The University and LSU would work
together to improve arrangements for communicating the decisions/proposals of
committees (to LSU) on which there was no student representation. It was expected that this would be achieved
through the ELT – LSU Executive “buddy” scheme.
Members of Council welcomed the
proposals and agreed that it would be useful to communicate them widely to
staff to help them to understand how the University governance and operational
structure worked.
Council APPROVED the revisions to
the Committee Structure.
08/36 Nominating Committee
COUN08-P34
Council
RECEIVED a report from the Nominating Committee and APPROVED a change to the
Committee’s name from 2008/09 to Nominations Committee.
Council
NOTED that vacancies for three lay members of Council would arise in the next
academic year. The Chair of Council
REPORTED that procedures to fill these vacancies were in progress. A number of individuals had been identified
for further discussions and, following due process, recommendations would be
brought forward for consideration by Council in July. It was intended to introduce a greater
element of succession planning into the procedures for identifying new lay
members of Council.
08/37 Audit Committee
COUN08-P35
Council RECEIVED a
report of the meeting held on 7th February 2008. The Chair of the Audit Committee drew
Council’s attention to the following issues:
i.
Value
For Money: Audit Committee was obliged to assess value for money
activity and had previously expressed concern that the 2007/08 plan was behind
schedule. However, the Finance Office
had made significant efforts in this area and the Audit Committee were now
reassured that the plan was being progressed satisfactorily. HEFCE had issued useful guidance in this area
and it was hoped that the University’s processes might be strengthened as
a result.
ii.
Effectiveness
of the Audit Committee: Following a self assessment
exercise, a number of areas for improvement had been identified and were being
progressed.
iii.
Risk
Management: The Audit Committee welcomed the work being
undertaken by EMG in this area and would be reviewing progress in June. The Committee had begun the cycle of
two-yearly discussions with risk holders which would be conducted on an ongoing
basis.
iv.
Health,
Safety and Environmental Committee: Considerable
progress had been made in a number of health and safety related activities. The new HSE Officer had a clear view of what
needed to be done and had produced a comprehensive annual plan including strengthening
risk assessment activity. The plan was
ambitious and implementation would need to be phased. The “Environmental” aspects of
this area of activity could be enhanced. This concern was shared by the current Chair
of the HSE Committee and it was AGREED that more should be done to strengthen the
“Environmental” aspects of the Committee and the HSE Officer
role. It was felt that changes to the
line management responsibility of the HSE Officer would enable this issue to be
effectively incorporated into the Sustainability Strategic Implementation Plan.
v.
Internal
Audit – TRAC:
The initial report had contained a number of high priority recommendations, all
of which had been addressed promptly by the Finance Office.
vi.
Relations/Communication:
The Audit Committee was exploring ways in which to refine and improve the
interaction between Internal Audit, External Audit, the Audit Committee and
Treasurer’s Committee.
A
member queried whether the University considered the predicted demographic
downturn, combined with the recent decrease in student applications, as a
significant risk to student recruitment.
In response, the PVC(T) reported that the decrease in applications was attributable
to the reduction in UCAS choices from 6 to 5 and that the University’s
application numbers compared favourably with its competitors. The University was undertaking a detailed
population planning exercise to review recruitment of undergraduates and
postgraduates,
08/38 Matters for
Reports
08/38.1 Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research)
(i) Research Grants and Contracts
COUN08-P36: NOTED
(ii)
Response to Consultation on the Future
of Research Assessment
COUN08-P37:
NOTED
(iii)
Research Outputs
COUN08-P38:
NOTED
08/38.2 Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching)
(i) Undergraduate and Taught
Postgraduate Applications 2007/08
COUN08-P39: NOTED
(ii) Institutional Audit and National Student Survey
COUN08-P40: NOTED
08/38.3 Pro-Vice-Chancellor (
COUN08-P41: NOTED
08/39 Vice-Chancellor's
Business
08/39.1 Recent Developments at the University
i. The Vice-Chancellor thanked Professor Morag Bell, Robert Bowyer, LSU and the rest of the team involved in the recent Quality Assurance Agency Audit. The University had received a positive “Key Findings” Letter which expressed “confidence” in the University’s approach to quality and standards and had identified good practice in a number of areas including the “prioritisation of students in the institutional culture”. The latter, in particular, was reported to be an unusual finding within the sector and reflected positively on the good relationship between the University and LSU. More detailed feedback would be provided to the University in due course.
ii. The University had recently placed an exciting national advertisement for 11 new academic posts in the field of “Energy”.
iii. The trial of the suspect from the shooting incident at LSU in March 2007 had started and was expected to last for 2-4 weeks. The student who had been injured was making good progress with his recovery and his studies. Members of LSU were thanked for the support they had offered to the students affected by the incident.
iv. Congratulations were extended to Michael Pearson who had recently been appointed as the Deputy Lieutenant of Leicestershire.
v. Loughborough’s
swimmers had performed exceedingly well at the FINA Championship in
08/39.2 Advancement
COUN08-P42
Council RECEIVED a report on Advancement
activity since the last meeting.
08/39.3 Policy Issues
COUN08-P43
Council RECEIVED a report on policy issues
affecting the University as outlined in the agenda paper. The research into the predicted demographic
downturn had been published and findings showed that it was expected to be
reversed by 2027. In the meantime, the
University had to provide the best student experience to ensure that it
continued to attract students and maintain application levels from a
potentially reduced population.
08/40 Dates of Meetings 2008/09 onwards
The Chair
was discussing the timetable of meetings for 2008/09 onwards with the
Secretary. It was expected that there
would be a change to the timing of some of the meetings.
08/41 Senior Appointments
COUN08-P44
On the
recommendation of Senate and Human Resources Committee, Council APPROVED revised procedures for the appointment of:
i.
Provost
and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Pro Vice-Chancellors and Deans
ii. Heads
of Department
08/42 Appointment of Chancellor
COUN08-P45
Council NOTED
that Court had approved the appointment of Sir Nigel Rudd as the next
University Chancellor from 2010 and APPROVED revised Chancellor duties
including minor amendments as recommended by the Nominating Committee on 18
January 2008.
08/43 Senate
COUN08-P46
and COUN08-P47
Council RECEIVED the report from the meetings held on 30
January and 5 March 2008, and APPROVED recommendations relating to Programme
Proposals.
08/44 Operations Committee
COUN08-P48 and
COUN08-P49
This
item was unstarred for discussion.
On
the recommendation of the Operations Committee, Council APPROVED Tuition Fees
for 2008/09 and Changes to the Reassessment Fee. Following concerns raised by LSU,
it was AGREED to defer the implementation of the new Reassessment Fee until
September 2009.
08/45 Enterprise
COUN08-P50
Council RECEIVED a report from the meeting held on 7
February 2008 and APPROVED amendments to the Terms of Reference.
08/46 Committee Membership 2007/08
COUN08-P51
Council NOTED membership of committees for 2007/08..
08/47 Reports of
Committees
Council RECEIVED reports from the following Committees:
i)
Costing and Pricing Committee – 15 January and
20 February 2008 [COUN08-P52]
ii)
Estates
Management Committee – 17 January 2008 [COUN08-P53]
iii)
Health,
Safety and Environmental Committee including the Annual Report from the
Radiation Protection Officer – 20 February 2008 [COUN08-P54]
iv)
Research
Performance Monitoring Group – 6 Feb & 4 March 2008 [COUN08-P55]
v)
Treasurer’s
Committee – 22 November 2007 and 6 February 2008 [COUN08-P56]
08/48 Any Other Business
Council
APPROVED the appointment of Dr Iain Phillips as Head of Department of Computer
Science until 31 July 2011.
08/49 Date of Next Meeting
Tuesday, 22 July 2008 (2.30pm)
Author – Miranda Routledge
Date – April 2008
Copyright (c)