Learning and Teaching
Committee
Minutes
of the Meeting of the Committee held on 29 September 2011
Members: Prof.
Morag Bell (in the Chair) Dr
Jane Horner
Dr Keith Pond Prof.
Simon Austin
Dr John McCardle Prof.
Michael Kong
Prof. Memis Acar Prof.
Ray Dawson
Dr Ruth Kinna Prof.
Fred Yeadon
Dr Brian Jarvis Dr Jennifer
Nutkins
Jan Tennant Dr Phil
Richards
Jayde Savage Robert
Hamilton
In
attendance:
Rob Pearson, Nigel Thomas
Apologies: Prof. John Feather, Tim Price
11/45 Minutes
LTC11-M2
1.
The Minutes of the Meeting of the
Committee held on 9 June 2011 were confirmed.
11/46 Matters Arising from the Minutes not
otherwise appearing on the Agenda
11/19 The Student Charter
1. Hard copies of the Charter had been produced for
dissemination to new students at induction.
Additional copies would be made available for returning students,
members of staff, Student Services, the Library and the Student’s Union.
2. Maurice FitzGerald would be presenting a paper to
the October LTC detailing how the dissemination and mainstreaming of the
Charter would progress during 2011-12.
11/20 The processing of student evaluation forms
1. IT Services and the Teaching
Centre would be launching an improved student evaluation process in
2011/12. The system would use existing
OMR resources and was intended to allow Schools greater efficiency and flexibility
in the production and processing of evaluation forms. A briefing session was
being held for co-ordinators on 20 October.
2. It was recommended that guidance
on the use of the system should ensure the process reduced any unnecessary
burden on School staff in collecting the data.
11/27
E-Learning Strategy and Implementation Plan
1.
The Committee approved the strategy
and plan, which had been revised following the last meeting of the Committee.
2.
Members supported the creation of an
e-learning network, which would involve academics and administrators within
Schools, and potentially students.
11/47 Terms
of reference and membership 2011/12
Received: LTC11-P35
1.
Terms of reference and membership were
approved.
2.
It was noted that the following were
members of the Committee: Robert Hamilton, AD(T) for BUE and Tim Price,
Students’ Union Postgraduate Development Officer.
11/48 Minimum Module
Online Presence
Received: LTC11-P36
Agreed:
1.
It was agreed that there
should be a minimum online presence on Learn for all modules and that this
requirement should be met by the end of the academic session.
2.
It was agreed that there
should be consistency between the library reading lists and the online reading
lists on Learn.
Action:
3.
Members agreed to email
specific comments on the proposed content of the online presence to Charles
Shields.
4.
Charles Shields and Ray
Dawson would revise the minimum expectations in light of feedback from
members. They would then communicate the
expectations to staff alongside a timescale for their implementation.
11/49 National
Student Survey 2011
Received: LTC11-P37
1.
Loughborough University was again
ranked among the UK’s top institutions for student satisfaction. Eighty-eight
per cent of Loughborough’s final year undergraduate students were satisfied
with their course, compared with a national average of 83%. Loughborough
achieved a response rate of 73% to the survey.
This was slightly lower than last year (76%), but well above the
national average of 65%.
2.
Following discussions of the 2011 NSS
at the Academic Leadership Team, the PVC(T) was attending meetings of School
Senior Management Teams to discuss the outcomes of the NSS and actions to be
taken.
3.
School actions in regard to the NSS
would be reviewed as part of Annual Programme Review.
4.
The NSS had also highlighted
institutional issues, which would be addressed during the course of the
academic session
11/50 Annual Programme Reviews and Periodic
Programme Reviews
Received: LTC11-P38
1. It
was noted PPR would seek to avoid any duplication of accreditation activity. Careful consideration would have to be given
to how the School of Science would be scheduled in regard to its accreditation
activity.
2. It
was noted that it was not university policy to record all student attendance. However, in 2010/11 the University had
introduced a formal process for monitoring the engagement
of students. This was partly in response to UK Border Agency requirements
for international students, but it was also to
support student engagement with their studies and student welfare. The process also ensured more accurate reporting of
students to the SLC, HEFCE and HESA and provided an explicit system for
students who were not engaging to be put on leave of absence or have their
studies terminated.
Agreed:
3. The committee approved revisions
to the APR and PPR processes for 2011/12, subject to clarification of:
·
the student feedback and attendance monitoring components of APR
·
recommended School participants in APR
·
the data set required for PPR
Action:
4. Rob
Pearson to clarify the data set for APR and PPR and to confirm School participants. The AD(T)s would then be asked to inform
their Schools about the revised processes.
5. Jennifer
Nutkins to circulate clarification of the University attendance monitoring
requirements.
11/51 Programme Presidents
Received: LTC11-P39
1. The
committee endorsed proposals from the Students’ Union to create 20 Departmental
Programme Presidents who would act as links between programme reps and the
Students’ Union and University.
2. It
was desirable for the Programme Presidents to be the student reps on School
LTCs. However, for 2011/12 this would
not always be possible as the Presidents had still to be elected. For future sessions this would not be an
issue as it was envisaged Presidents would be elected at the end of the
previous academic session.
3. There
was concern that the workload for Presidents would vary significantly between
Schools and that some students may be excluded from the system, for example:
postgraduates; students on placements; students studying off campus. The Students’ Union was asked to keep the
system under review, evaluating it after the first year of operation.
4. The
Students’ Union was commended for producing a video promoting the programme rep
scheme to students. It was agreed that
the University would facilitate the promulgation of the video.
Action:
5. Jennifer
Nutkins to ask colleagues to provide a link to the programme reps video from
the ‘Induction’ website.
6. Jennifer
Nutkins to ask School contacts in DALG to encourage lecturers to use the video
when discussing the programme rep system with students.
11/52 The operation of Staff-Student Liaison
Committees
Received: LTC11-P40
1.
The Committee welcomed a Students’
Union overview of the operation of SSLCs.
2.
It was noted that guidance on SSLCs in
the AQPH was being reviewed to clarify the expectations on Schools and
students.
3.
The Chair had asked the Director of
Human Resources to clarify expectations in regard to the sharing of module
feedback with students.
4.
It was agreed that it was important to
demonstrate to students that their feedback was valued and was acted upon.
11/53 HEFCE Capital Spending for
Teaching
1. There was a relatively small
amount of HEFCE Capital investment funding for learning and teaching available
for 2011/12.
2. Caroline Pepper had been asked
to propose projects for funding to the October LTC.
Action:
3.
AD(T)s were invited to forward
suggestions for individual School projects to the Chair in advance of the
October meeting.
11/54 BUE
Validation Sub-Committee
1. The
BUE Validation Sub-Committee reported improvements across many of the
programmes at BUE.
2. The
suspension of the validation of the Economics UG Degree had been lifted,
subject to a number of requirements to be met in 2011/12.
3. There
was limited evidence that the requirements for lifting the suspension on the
Petroleum Engineering and Gas Technology UG Degree had been met and fully
embedded within the programme. Therefore, after careful consideration it had
been decided to withdraw validation from the programme. Discussions were ongoing with BUE to ensure
that students affected by this decision received appropriate support.
11/55 UK collaboration in Singapore: institutional
case study - Loughborough University and PSB Academy, Singapore
Received: LTC11-P41
11/56 QAA Audit of Overseas Provision, Singapore:
Overview report
Received: LTC11-P42
11/57 Dates
of Meetings 2011/12
Dates of remaining meetings:
27 Oct.2011, 9.30 am
15 Dec. 2011, 2.00 pm
16 Feb.2012, 9.30 am
29 March 2012, 2.00 pm
3 May 2012, 9.30 am
14 June 2012, 9.30 am
Author – Rob Pearson
Date – September 2011
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