The Council

COUN05-M4

Minutes of the 317th (Special) meeting of the University Council held on Tuesday 19 July 2005.

Members:

Sir Bryan Carsberg (Chair); Dr Memis Acar; Phil Blake; Dr Jim Blood; Roger Boissier;
Professor Russ Bowman; Peter Davenport; Venu Dhupa; Professor Marianne Gilbert; Professor Peter Golding (ab); John Harper; Peter Haslehurst; Norma Honey (ab); Sir John Jennings (ab); Rob Kirkwood; Dr Marsha Meskimmon (ab); Mansoor Moghal; Dr Bill Moss; Jim Mutton; Professor Richard Parry-Jones (ab); Simon Proffitt (ab); Professor Phil Roberts; Jackie Strong (ab); Margaret Tomlinson; Professor Sir David Wallace; Bob Wilson; Dr Cyril Woodruff; Dr Alan A Woods

In attendance:

Professor Chris Backhouse; Professor Morag Bell; Dr Sandie Dann; Professor Neil Halliwell; Professor Terence Kavanagh; Professor Ron McCaffer; Professor Ken Parsons; Michael Pearson; Dr Fytton Rowland; Gab Stone; John Town; Jon Walker; Miranda Whyte

Apologies for absence were received from:

Sir John Jennings, Dr Marsha Meskimmon, Simon Proffitt and Jackie Strong

                                                                                                                                                                

05/72     Minutes

It was RESOLVED to CONFIRM the Minutes of the (Special) Meeting of the Council held on 1 April 2005 [COUN05-M2].

05/73     Structural Deficits

COUN05-P74

[This minute has been partially redacted due to confidential information.]

Computer Science had recently been declared in structural deficit by Operations Sub-Committee (OSC) as detailed in the agenda paper.  The Review Group would hold its first meeting on 21 July 2005 and would report back to OSC in October.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) reported that four other departments were still considered to be in a structural deficit position.  Three of these departments (Chemical Engineering, PIRES and Physics) were considered to have made satisfactory progress and would be reviewed in October once the student recruitment position was known.

Chemistry remained in structural deficit.  A further opportunity for collaborative provision of teaching with the Open University (OU) existed for the department.  The OU had made an initial bid to HEFCE for funds to support the project and it was expected that this would eventually receive funding.  The Chair of Council observed that Chemistry was an important subject for the University and wished to do all he could to secure its future.  Council acknowledged that the Head of Chemistry at Loughborough had worked extremely hard to resolve the issues and noted that some performance metrics (e.g. student applications and research income) of the department had improved.

05/74     Appointment of the Director of Business Partnerships, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer

Council NOTED that, on the recommendation of the Vice-Chancellor (Senate approval sought by email), the Chair of Council had AGREED that Professor Ron McCaffer be re-appointed as the Director of Business Partnerships, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer for two years until 31 July 2007.

05/75     Appointment of Head of School of Mathematics

On the recommendation of the Vice-Chancellor (as Chair of Senate), Council APPROVED the appointment of Professor Chris Linton as Head of the School of Mathematics for one year until 31 July 2006 (to coincide with original appointment as Head of Department of Mathematical Sciences).

05/76     Human Resources Committee

COUN05-P75

Council RECEIVED a report of the Meeting of the Human Resources Committee held on 9 June 2005 and, on the recommendation of Senate, APPROVED the following recommendations:

.1         Personal Titles (as detailed in the agenda paper)

.2         Emeritus Professor (as detailed in the agenda paper)

.3         Honorary Titles (as detailed in the agenda paper)

.4         Code of Practice on the use of Fixed Term Contracts

.5         Pre-employment Health Check Procedure

05/77     Senate

COUN05-P76

Council RECEIVED a report of the (Special) Meeting of Senate held on 29 June 2005 and, on the recommendation of Senate and the Chair of the Joint Committee for the appointment of a Vice-Chancellor, CONFERRED the title of Professor on the next Vice-Chancellor, Shirley Pearce, CBE from the date of her appointment.

05/78     Extensions of Appointment

[personal information has been removed from this minute]

Council NOTED that, on the recommendation of the Vice-Chancellor (Chair of Senate), the Registrar (with delegated authority) had APPROVED, in accordance with Statute XXII and Ordinance XII, extensions of appointment beyond retirement date:

05/79     Timothy Godfrey Memorial Fund

COUN05-P77

Council RECEIVED the annual report from the Timothy Godfrey Memorial Fund Advisory Committee.

05/80     Special Leave

[personal information has been removed from this minute]

Council NOTED that a member of staff had been granted special (unpaid) leave for the period 1 September 2005 – 31 May 2006

05/81     Staffing

COUN05-P78

Council NOTED appointments since the Meeting of Council held on 1 April 2005.

05/82     Dates of Meetings in 2005/06

Council NOTED the dates for meetings in 2005/06 as follows:

Friday, 28 October 2005
Tuesday, 20 December 2005
Friday, 17 February 2006
Friday, 31 March 2006
Wednesday, 19 July 2006

05/83     Any Other Business

The Chair of Council reported that succession planning for the next Deputy Vice-Chancellor would begin shortly.  A Joint Committee of Senate and Council, chaired by the Chair of Council, was required to consider the appointment.  Council DELEGATED authority to the Chair of Council to appoint the Council representatives (two lay members) and AGREED that Professor Shirley Pearce should serve on the Committee (as Vice-Chancellor) instead of Professor Sir David Wallace.

05/84     Valedictory

On behalf of Council, the Chair gave thanks to the academic representatives, Dr Memis Acar, Professor Russ Bowman, John Harper, Professor Marianne Gilbert, Professor Peter Golding (in his absence) and Dr Marsha Meskimmon (in her absence), for whom this had been the last meeting

05/85     Date of Next Meeting

Friday, 28 October 2005

                                                                                                                                                    

Author - M T Whyte
Date – July 2005
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