Learning and Teaching Committee

Curriculum Sub-Committee

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Minutes of the Twenty-Fifth Meeting of the Sub-Committee held on Thursday 10 October 2002

Membership: Professor S A Austin (Chair), Dr C Christie, Mr S Gibson (ab), Dr J L Horner, Professor I C Morison, Dr D R Worrall

By invitation: Mr J G Dickens, Dr D R Green, Mr W P J Maunder

In Attendance: Dr J E M Elliott

Apologies for Absence were received from Mr Gibson.

02/36 Welcome

The Chair welcomed new members and asked Faculty Board representatives to inform the Secretary of an alternate member of their Faculty Board who would be prepared to attend a meeting of the Sub-Committee should they be unable to attend on any occasion.

02/37 Minutes

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The Minutes of the Twenty-Fourth Meeting held on 9 May 2002 were confirmed and signed.

02/38 Matters Arising from the Minutes

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.1 It was noted that all recommendations to Learning and Teaching Committee, and subsequently to Senate where appropriate, had been approved, and relevant minutes of Learning and Teaching Committee were noted.

.2 Minute 02/18.2 - Module Registration on Postgraduate Programmes

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The minute of Learning and Teaching Committee on 6/10 June 2002 was noted.

.3 Minute 02/21 - BA European and International Studies/BA Politics with a Minor:
New Programme Proposals

It was noted that Senate had approved the recommendation of Learning and Teaching Committee for the award of the Diploma in International Studies (DIntS) from 1 August 2002.

.4 Minute 02/22.2 - Masters Programmes in European and International Studies:
New Programme Proposals

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The Minute of Learning and Teaching Committee on Assessment on Modules was noted.

.5 Minute 02/24.2 - BSc Criminology and Social Policy: New Programme Proposals

(i) The Department's response that there would be no increase in demand on the Careers Service from this programme, since the student numbers would come from those for the existing Social Policy programme, was noted.

(ii) The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching) reported that he had not yet spoken with the Director of the Careers Service concerning her comments, but would return to the Sub-Committee with proposals.

.6 Minute 02/28 - LPD Integrated Research Studies: New Programme Proposals

It was noted that the proposals had been withdrawn.

.7 Minute 02/29 - Professional Certificate in Management (BPIF):
New Programme Proposals

The Department's response that the programmes would be run on the same basis as other Management Development Centre programmes and both University and external staff would be paid was noted.

02/39 MSc Sociology of Sport: New Programme Proposals

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.1 The Sub-Committee considered proposals for September 2002 entry. Members were supportive of the case for the new programme, but expressed concerns about the apparent lightness of the workload and assessment across the modules, the weakness of the teaching, learning and assessment strategy within the Programme Specification and the apparent involvement of only two academic staff across the programme. It was noted that the generic sections within the Programme Specification would require updating.

.2 It was AGREED to recommend the proposals to the Learning and Teaching Committee, subject to the following matters being resolved to the satisfaction of the AD(T) and the Chair of the Sub-Committee prior to the meeting of Learning and Teaching Committee:

(i) A more detailed teaching, learning and assessment strategy within the Programme Specification, which could demonstrate a variety of modes of learning and assessment strategies across the programme. A recent exemplar would be provided.

(ii) A report on how the overall level of work and assessment compared with other postgraduate programmes in the School and bringing these in line with existing practice as necessary.

(iii) Clarification of the number of staff contributing to the programme.

(iv) The following amendments to the draft Programme Regulations:

-     Para. 1.1 delete reference to the programme leader
-     Para. 2.1 list modules under Semester 1 or 2
-     Para. 2.2 should not refer to 'academic term' in Programme Regulations - delete
      para. as unnecessary
-     Paras. 2.3 & 2.4 delete as all modules were compulsory
-     Para. 2.5(i) delete word requirement as this would be included in Module
      Specification
-     Para. 2.5(ii) delete as this repeated the University's policy
-     Clarification of whether the programme was being offered on a full-time basis
      only. If the programme was available on a part-time basis the route for part-time
      students should be identified in the Programme Regulations.

ACTION: WPJM, SAA, JEME

02/40 MSc Engineering Management: Major Programme Changes

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.1 The Sub-Committee considered proposals with effect from 2002/2003. Members were informed of the intention that candidates having the Engineering Management Partnership Certificate in Engineering Management would continue to be admitted to the programme and the following additional section had been proposed under para. 1 of the Programme Regulations to accommodate this:

'Holders of the Engineering Management Partnership (or preceding Joint Board of Engineering Management) Certificate in Engineering Management, Stages 1 and 2, may, at the discretion of the Programme Director, be awarded 90 credits on the basis of that qualification and satisfy the requirements for the award of the MSc by successfully completing module MMP561.'

.2 Concern was expressed about the apparent light assessment of the 90-credit project module, when the 9 other 10-credit modules were quite heavily assessed. It was noted that the generic sections within the Programme Specification would require updating.

.3 It was AGREED to recommend the proposals to Learning and Teaching Committee, including the addition to Programme Regulations identified in .1 above, subject to the following matters being resolved to the satisfaction of the AD(T) and Chair of Curriculum Sub-Committee prior to the meeting of Learning and Teaching Committee:

(i) The consideration of staged interim assessments on the 90-credit project module and the possibility of incorporating the teaching of research methods within the module.

(ii) The following amendments to the draft Programme Regulations:

            -     Para. 1.2 delete 'normally'
-     Para. 2.1 list modules under Semester 1 and 2
-     Identify distance learning modules and insert '(Distance Learning)' after the title.

ACTION: JGD, SAA, JEME

02/41 Changes in Programme Titles

.1 Further to Minute 02/11 of the meeting on 17 January 2002, it was AGREED to ratify the action of the Chair in recommending to the Chair of Learning and Teaching Committee that the effective date of the approved changes in titles of undergraduate programmes in the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences be brought forward to 2002 entry and be applied to returning students.

.2 It was AGREED to ratify the action of the Chair in recommending to the Chair of Learning and Teaching Committee the following changes to programme titles for the 2002 intake (some of the 2002 intake might wish to be registered on the existing title):

            BEng/MEng Electronic & Computer Systems Engineering
                                                to
                                                            Computer Systems Engineering
MEng Communications Engineering
                                                to
                                                            Wireless Communications Engineering
MEng Renewable Energy Systems Engineering
                                                to
                                                            Electrical & Renewable Energy Systems Engineering

02/42 MEng Innovative Manufacturing Technology (provisional title):
New Programme Proposals

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It was noted that strategic approval was being sought for this proposed programme to commence in October 2003 and exceptionally a UCAS code would be requested prior to operational approval, once the title was finalised, in view of proposed sponsorship arrangements. It was anticipated that the full operational proposals would be considered by the Sub-Committee on 16 January 2003.

02/43 Professional Certificate/Diploma in Management (Ford):
Title and other programme changes

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.1 The Sub-Committee considered changes to the title and to Programme Regulations with effect from 2002/03. The Sub-Committee was informed that a request to the Business School for clarification of para. 4.3 of the draft Programme Regulations had prompted a further request that the title of the Professional Certificate/Diploma be changed from Management (Ford) to Retail Automotive Management.

.2 It was AGREED to recommend the proposals to Learning and Teaching Committee subject to the following matters being resolved to the satisfaction of the AD(T) and Chair of Curriculum Sub-Committee prior to the meeting of Learning and Teaching Committee:

(i) Confirmation of the proposed change in title to Professional Certificate/Diploma in Retail Automotive Management.

(ii) Provision of revised draft Programme Regulations with all proposed changes included.

(iii) Consideration of a 60-credit requirement for the Professional Certificate in line with the University's requirement for LPC.

ACTION: WPJM, SAA, JEME

02/44 Discontinuation of Programmes

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.1 It was AGREED to ratify the action of the Chair in recommending to Learning and Teaching Committee discontinuation of the following programes:

MEng Electronic and Electrical Engineering with French (no recruitment)
MEng Electronic and Electrical Engineering with German (no recruitment)

.2 It was AGREED to recommend to Learning and Teaching Committee discontinuation of the following programmes (proposed date of last intake shown in brackets):

                        BSc/MChem Chemistry with Materials (October 2001)
            BSc/MChem Chemistry with Environmental Science (October 2001)
            MSc Computer Integrated Manufacture (October 2001)
            MSc Microbial Technology (no recruitment)
            MSc Process Chemical Engineering (October 2000)

02/45 Membership and Terms of Reference

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The membership and Terms of Reference of the Sub-Committee were noted.

02/46 Dates of Future Meetings in 2002/2003

Thursday 16 January 2003 (am)
Thursday 8 May 2003 (am)

02/47 Withdrawal of Service Teaching

The Sub-Committee's attention was drawn to the one-year's notice given by the Department of Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering of the withdrawal of its service teaching on IPTME's undergraduate programme in Automotive Materials, which comprised about one-third of the programme and could result in it becoming non-viable. The relevant modules were not being discontinued, but, due to resource constraints, their availability to IPTME was to be withdrawn.

It was the Sub-Committee's view that such a proposal was strategic in nature and required the relevant departments to submit proposals to Operations Sub-Committee via the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching). Resultant operational matters would be expected to be considered by Curriculum Sub-Committee subsequently.

[Secretary’s note: Paragraph 18 of ‘Service Teaching at Loughborough University: Principles and Procedures’ approved by Senate states that:
‘The rights of a host department to retrieve service teaching cannot be extended to a provider department seeking to discontinue (core) service teaching for another department. Permission to do so will normally be given only if the host department agrees that it can fill the gap or make acceptable changes to syllabus, which may mean deferring any such changes until existing cohorts have passed though the system. Here the overriding consideration must be the interests of students registered on the programme’.]