Engineering Faculty Board:  briefing note for new members

 

Formally constituted powers:

To consider the progress and conduct of Students in the Faculty and to report to the Senate thereon.

To recommend to the Senate examiners for appointment.

To deal with any matter which may be referred to it by the Senate.

In practice, many of these powers have been delegated to the ADT, and come to the Board for ratification or information.  However, Faculty Board still formally approves the award of research degrees.

 

What the Faculty Board does in practice:

 

  • At each meeting, the Board receives an update from the Dean and the two Associate Deans on major events in the Faculty and the University since the previous meeting.
  • There has been a drive in recent years to ensure that serious discussion has taken place at the Board, and a number of issues have been considered the outcome of which have had an impact at the higher levels of the University.  The Board is often consulted on major academic proposals being considered by the University – recent examples include changes to the Structure of the Academic Year, the establishment of Research Schools and of a Graduate School.  The final decision on such matters usually rests with the Senate but Faculty Board is asked to contribute to discussions and can often effect changes to proposals before they go to Senate.
  • Faculty Board considers, and makes recommendations to Senate on, any changes to departmental titles, departmental structures, etc in the Faculty.
  • Faculty Board considers the full reports of Periodic Programme Reviews, together with the departmental response.  Its comments, together with those of Learning and Teaching Committee, are reflected in the institutional response.  A shorter version of PPR report and the institutional response are mounted on the Teaching Quality Information (TQI) website.
  • Faculty Board also receives reports of, and may comment, on Annual Programme Reviews.
  • Approval of new programmes in the Faculty is usually done by e-mail circulation between meetings so that members’ comments can feed into discussions at Curriculum Sub-Committee.  The full procedure for programme approval can be found at:

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/admin/ar/policy/aqp/3/index.htm

 

Board meetings are Chaired by the Dean, and are attended by ex-officio members (AD(T), AD(R) and HoDs), together with co-opted members, making it a serious forum for discussion. 

 

Elected members represent the views of staff in their departments, acting as an alternative route for communication to that of the HoD.  They can also bring issues directly to the Board independently of other routes - any member can ask that an item be added to the agenda by contacting the Board Secretary.  Elected members should feed back to their colleagues issues raised at Board meetings, via Staff Meetings and other mechanisms.

 

All members are encouraged to contribute to the discussions at Faculty Board so that it acts as a collegiate body.  The Faculty Board is intended to give members an opportunity to work together on key issues and contribute to Faculty decisions or opinions in a formal capacity.

 

Details of Faculty Board terms of reference, membership etc, together with agendas, papers and minutes, are available at::

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/admin/committees/engineering_fb/index.htm

 

 

Marie Kennedy, Board Secretary