Faculty of Engineering

Faculty Board 

ENG05-M3


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’ Union.

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 Research School in Health and Life Sciences, and nominations were being sought for Directors of Research Schools in Systems Engineering, Sustainability, and Materials;

(iii)       That the existing Research School of Informatics in the Science Faculty might be aligned with the other Research Schools.

 

(b)        Graduate School

NOTED:

(i)         That a Graduate School should help position the University as a top-class environment for students and appeal especially to international applicants;

(ii)                That the activity of the Graduate School should become clearer once a Director was appointed.

 

(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  UK;

(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 School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering)

 

Doctor of Philosophy:

J F Dowling (Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering)

S Georgiadou (Chemical Engineering)

R H Gumus                           

N S Hanspal                          

V S Johnson                          

S Perni                                  

K C Ting                                

S Fernie (Civil and Building Engineering)

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  (Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering)

K Anandarajah                                             

G T Davies                                                   

D Hogberg                                                    

Z Huang                                                        

L M Lacraru                                                  

G Mavros                                                      

D S Price                                                     

M Shahbaz                                                   

R J Tomlinson                                              

R S Ubertino Rosso Jr                                  

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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