Faculty of Engineering
Faculty
Board
Minutes of the meeting of the Faculty Board held on 9
November 2005.
Members: Professor
Chris Backhouse (Chair), Dr Lisa Bartlett, Dr Sekharjit
Datta (ab),
Mr John Dickens, Professor Phill Dickens, Dr Roger
Dixon, Dr Ashraf El-Hamalawi,
Dr Keith Gregory, Mr Stephen Hodgson, Dr Jane Horner, Dr Weeratunga
Malalasekera,
Dr Les Mustoe (ab), Dr Jon Petzing, Mr Bob Reed, Professor Steve Rothberg, Dr Basu Saha, Professor Peter Smith,
Dr Ian Smout (ab), Dr Andrew
Stapley, Mary Thomas,
Professor Tony Thorpe, Professor Rob Thring, Dr Dave Twigg, Professor Richard Wakeman
(ab), Professor David Wallace (ab), Dr Stephen Walsh,
Dr Peter Willmot
Apologies for absence: Dr Sekharjit Datta, Dr Les Mustoe, Wg Cdr Keith Pearce, Dr Ian Smout,
Professor Richard Wakeman
In attendance: Ms Marie
Kennedy, (for Item 35): Mr Howard Jones
33. Minutes (ENG05-M2)
The
Minutes of the last meeting of the Board were confirmed.
34. Matters arising from the Minutes:
Engineering Excellence PhD studentships (Item 22.2
refers)
HoDs’ nominees had been passed
to the AD(R).
35. Post-qualifications admissions system
Mr Howard Jones informed
the Board of the latest proposals for a PQA system.
NOTED
(a)
An institutional response
was required by 5 December to radical changes proposed for implementation over
a five-period period;
(b)
Intermediate stages were
possible prior to full PQA; these would be implemented during the 2007/08
applications cycle.
AGREED
The
following key proposals were each opposed by the Board as being impractical:
(a) Removal of predicted grades;
(b) Change in the application timetable
(reducing the number of choices);
(c) Feedback to rejected students;
(d) Extended period of applications to end of
March;
(e) ‘Trading up’;
(f) Publication of results one week earlier.
FURTHER AGREED
It would
be helpful for Mr Jones to consult further with Loughborough Students’
36. Terms
of reference and membership
(ENG05-P13)
AGREED that terms of reference were fit for purpose.
NOTED that meetings will no longer be numbered nor minutes signed.
37. Membership
(ENG05-P13b)
The
Board ratified the action of the Dean in co-opting five members, and noted
membership for 2005-06.
38. Representation
on other bodies
(ENG05-P14)
NOTED:
(a)
Board and Faculty
representation on other bodies.
(b)
That the vacancies on
Ethical Advisory Committee and Human Resources Committee had recently been
filled.
39. Periodic
Programme Review
(ENG05-P15a and 15b)
NOTED that the School had made an honest self-appraisal, and appreciated the Panel’s
feedback, which was overall very positive.
40. Report from Faculty Officers
40.1 Dean
(a) Research Schools
NOTED:
(i) That
Directors of virtual Research Schools were expected to lead and co-ordinate
research in key multi-disciplinary areas, and that the role of Directors vis a vis Heads of Department had
now been clarified;
(ii)
That Professor David
Williams had been appointed Director of the
(iii) That the existing
Research School of Informatics in the Science Faculty might be aligned with the
other Research Schools.
(b)
NOTED:
(i) That
a
(ii)
That the activity of the
(c) Strategic Review Working Group
NOTED:
(i) That
the Group had made proposals for investment in infrastructure;
(ii)
That Transparent Approach
to Costing (TRAC) should enable the University to fulfil HEFCE’s
requirement fully to understand costs.
40.2 Associate Dean (Research)
(a)
Research
degree submission rates (tabled papers)
NOTED:
(i) The improvements in submission rates,
and that more recent data would
show further improvements;
(ii)
That Research Committee
would request departments that did not meet an 80% submission rate to consider
ways of achieving this level;
(iii) That submission for EngD
was 4½ years.
AGREED:
(i) That students
registered only for short periods (eg just over one
year) should not be counted among those not submitting;
(ii) That completion data should
show numbers recruited and not just submission rates;
(iii) A pilot exercise would
be carried out by the HoD of Civil and Building Engineering
to see the effect on data of implementing the above.
ACTION: Hod of CBE
(b) Personal Research
Plans
NOTED
That the
next round would include comments on the impact of publications, as this would
form a part of the next RAE.
40.3 Associate Dean (Teaching)
(a) Admissions
including ASN and DTUS (ENG05-P16a -16e)
NOTED:
(i) That,
nationally, applications for Engineering had risen in recent years, following
the 1990s downturn;
(ii) That UK/EU FT UG targets
had been exceeded both in the Faculty and the University, and congratulations
were due to the Admissions Tutors;
(iii) That the
University’s International FT UG target had been met;
(iv) That the number of International FT PGT applications had risen in 2005-06 but
there was a considerable shortfall on projected numbers in the Faculty, with a
consequent impact on resources;
(v) That UK/EU FT PGT was a
difficult market, aggravated by the success of MEng
degrees, and the future market might be in recruiting BEng students;
(vi) That PGT data did not include either students recruited at times of the year
other than October, or part-time/DL students;
(vii) That the Faculty was
likely to succeed in its bid for 25 ASNs;
(viii) That the University
received no extra per capita income from HEFCE if it exceeded its recruitment
quota, but HEFCE periodically reviewed quotas if an HEI continued to recruit at
higher levels;
(ix) That Loughborough was one
of five universities approved by the DTUS;
(x) That 36 DTUS students had
this year selected Loughborough programmes, more than 30 of whom
were in the Engineering Faculty;
(xi) That more than 70% of RAF-sponsored
students had chosen to come to Loughborough.
(b) National
Student Survey
NOTED:
(i) The
University’s excellent results, as one of the top two Universities in the
(ii) That in common with
other HEIs, the University’s weakest results
were in the area of Assessment and Feedback, but discussions including the LSU
Vice President (Education and Welfare) had taken place to address student
concerns in this area, and to promote good practice;
(iii) That 2006 Survey results
may be volatile but the University would again promote the highest possible response
rate among its finalists.
(c) Revised
Benchmark Statement for Engineering
NOTED:
(i) The QAA had agreed to a review which brought together three previous statements,
from QAA, the Engineering Council, and SARTOR 2004;
(ii) The
revised version had the added benefit that if UKSPEC were updated in future,
the Benchmark Statement would be automatically updated;
(iii) The
QAA regarded the collaborative document as a model for Benchmark Statements in
other accredited subjects.
(iv) Benchmarks
were usually stated in programme specifications in terms of intended learning
outcomes (ILOs), and specifications needed revising
both to make them easier to read, and to focus on particular programmes instead
of making generic statements.
(d) Centre
for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL)
(ENG05-P17a
& 17b)
NOTED:
(i) That
departments would be able to book flexible teaching space in the new building,
designed for group working;
(ii) That the Centre was
governed by a Panel chaired by the Dean, with academic members appointed by HoDs;
(iii) That HEFCE required a
three-year review, when the Centre would need to demonstrate it had met its
targets;
(iv) That HoDs’ experience of liaising with
industry and of managing large funds meant they could offer further guidance on
future CETL’s activities;
(v) That an appropriate
formal mechanism to capitalise on this expertise would be considered, and
meantime HoDs would be invited to a presentation.
ACTION: AD(T)
41. Award
of research degrees
(ENG05-P18a and 18b)
Degrees were awarded as follows:
Master of Philosophy:
R L S Gill (Wolfson
Doctor of Philosophy:
J F Dowling (Aeronautical and
Automotive Engineering)
R H Gumus “ “
N
V S Johnson “ “
K C Ting “ “
C Pepper “ “ “
T A Benmusa
(Electronic and Electrical Engineering)
V A Chouliaras “ “ “ (member of staff)
J Shi “ “ “
X Wu “ “ “
B A Zahir “ “ “
S G Al-Mutairi (
K Anandarajah “ “ “
G T Davies “ “ “
D Hogberg “ “ “
Z Huang “ “ “
L M Lacraru “ “ “
G Mavros “ “ “
D S Price “ “ “
M Shahbaz “ “ “
R J Tomlinson “ “ “
R
J Zhao “ “ “
42. Personal Titles
Congratulations were offered to
Professor Pat Carrillo on her personal chair, and to Dr Sekharjit
Datta on his being made Reader.
43. Actions
of the Associate Dean (Teaching)
ENG05-P19
RESOLVED to ratify the actions taken by the AD(T) on behalf of the Board.
44. External Examiners’ reports
Noted the deposition of reports.
45. Appointment of Boards of Examiners,
Module Boards and
External
Examiners
Noted.
46. Curriculum Sub-Committee
Noted.
47. Staff Student Committees
Noted the deposition of minutes listed on the Agenda.
48. Date of the next meeting
2 pm on
Wednesday 24 May 2006, in the Council Chamber.
Author – Marie Kennedy
Date – November 2005
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