Curriculum Sub-Committee at its meeting on 18 October 2007 recommended to Learning and Teaching Committee and Senate that approval be given to the following proposals. Details are available from the Secretary.
.1 The Sub-Committee considered its Terms
of Reference to reflect on:
- whether they remained fit
for purpose
- members’
responsibilities
Some rewording of para 2 was
proposed and it was suggested that an overview of where the Sub-Committee was
placed in the programme approval process would be helpful. It was AGREED that
the exact wording of changes be confirmed off-line for recommendation to
Learning and Teaching Committee.
Dr
Paul Byrne took the chair for this item, in view of the involvement of the Acting
Chair in the proposal.
The Sub-Committee considered
proposals from Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering for a full-time,
work-based Foundation Degree (FdEng) programme with the Ford Motor Company,
with effect from January 2008. The proposal would be a new development for the
University, as its only involvement to date with Foundation Degrees was as
validator of local FE provision. The background to the proposal was outlined. It
was designed to address current government policy for greater employer
engagement with Higher Education Institutions, aligning with the
University’s strategy of industry-linked teaching, and could be seen as a
pilot for future such collaboration with other employers. Whilst many issues in
terms of setting up the programmes had been identified in the short term, the
strategic value and long-term benefits of the developments, such as the
incorporation of the learning materials into other undergraduate programmes,
were considered to far outweigh these. There was no intention to articulate
Foundation Degree graduates onto the third year of a Bachelor’s
programme. A bid to HEFCE for
significant development funding was in hand, which would include an element to
cover the administrative costs that would be incurred in adapting current
documents and procedures to accommodate the different rules and flexibility
that would be required to run a programme of this kind, and provision for
regular monitoring and evaluation of the programme.
It was emphasised that the
programme would not progress unless the bid to HEFCE was successful and a
subsequent satisfactory outcome was achieved for the validation of the
Ford-taught teaching at the Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence
(CEME) and
The Sub-Committee considered
the draft Programme Regulations and Module Specifications, noting that
provision would need to be made in general regulations to prescribe for the
different requirements of Foundation Degrees.
A number of issues were presented that would need to be resolved before
the general regulations could be drafted. It was noted that module codes needed
further thought to ensure that they were appropriate and distinct.
The Sub-Committee
congratulated the proposers on the quality of the documentation to date. It was
AGREED to recommend the proposals to Learning and Teaching Committee, subject
to:
(i)
a successful funding bid to HEFCE and a satisfactory
validation outcome
Programme Regulations
(ii)
exploration of the possibility of referring to
‘Level’ rather than ‘Part’
(iii)
para 1.3: reference to full-time, work-based and DL
(iv)
para 3.2: Rephrasing to avoid use of ‘Special
Assessment Period’
Programme Specification
(v)
References to ‘Ford’ to be changed to
‘employer(s)’
(vi)
Approval of revised drafts of Programme Regulations,
Programme Specification and Module Specifications by the Chair of the
Sub-Committee prior to the programme’s commencement.
.1 It was
AGREED to ratify the action of the Chair in recommending to the Chair of
Learning and Teaching Committee the following programme title changes
(effective date shown in brackets):
MSc,
PGDip, PGCert Management (Higher Education Administration) to
MSc,
PGDip, PGCert Management and Leadership (Higher Education Administration)
(September 2007 entry)
MSc, PGDip, PGCert Management (NG Bailey) to
MSc, PGDip, PGCert Management and Leadership (NG Bailey)
(September
2007 entry)
MSc,
PGDip, PGCert Management (Thomas Cook) to
MSc, PGDip, PGCert Management and Leadership (Thomas
Cook)
(September 2007 entry)
MSc, PGDip, PGCert Management (Professional) to
MSc, PGDip, PGCert Management and Leadership (Professional)
(September 2007entry)
PGCert Management (British Printing Industries
Federation) to
PGCert Management and Leadership (Print and Packaging)
(September 2007 entry)
PGCert Management (Federation of Sports and Play
Associates ) to
PGCert Management and Leadership (Federation of Sports
and Play Associations)
(September 2007 entry)
.2 It was
AGREED to recommend to Learning and Teaching Committee the following programme
title change (effective date shown in brackets):
BSc
Retail Management to
BSc
Retailing, Marketing and Management (October 2009 entry)
It was AGREED to ratify the
action of the Chair in recommending to the Chair of Learning and Teaching
Committee discontinuation of the following programmes (proposed date of last
intake shown in brackets):
MSc Risk and Reliability
Methods (October 2004)
MSc,
PGDip, PGCert Management (Professional) – (FKI) (2001-02)
Author
– Jennie Elliott
Date
– October 2007
Copyright
© Loughborough University. All rights
reserved
Learning and Teaching Committee
Curriculum
Sub-Committee
Subject: Revised
Terms of Reference
Overview
Programme
Approval has both a strategic and operational phase.
Strategic
programme approval is undertaken by the relevant Faculty
Directorate,
and then by Operations Sub-Committee. Outline proposals are
scrutinised
to ensure that an appropriate level of preliminary planning has
been
carried out, taking into account the development of the academic
portfolio
with particular reference to the University Strategic Plan,
Faculty/Department
Development Plans and resource implications.
The
operational phase of programme approval is undertaken by Curriculum
Sub-Committee,
for which the terms of reference follow.
Terms of Reference
1. To issue guidance to departments within a
framework agreed by the
Learning
and Teaching Committee, on the formulation of proposals for new
programmes
or modules, and for modifications to existing programmes or
modules.
2. To scrutinise proposals, having regard to the
importance of securing the standards of the University’s awards against
appropriate external reference points.
3. To establish that necessary consultations
have been undertaken by the department concerned and that satisfactory
programme regulations, programme specifications and/or module specifications
have been formulated.
4. To seek to ensure that the design and content
of the curriculum and the assessment strategy will allow students appropriate
learning opportunities to achieve the intended outcomes of the
programmes/modules concerned.
5. To report and make recommendations to
Learning and Teaching Committee.
Author - Jennie Elliott
Date - October 2007
Copyright © Loughborough University. All rights reserved.