Senate

SEN00-M1

Minutes of the 332nd (Ordinary) Meeting of Senate held on Wednesday 8 March 2000.

Apologies for absence were received from: Professor Arnold, Professor Gordon, Dr Infield, Professor Kavanagh and Dr Wild.

Agenda Items 19 and 22 were unstarred.

The Minutes of the 330th Meeting held on 1 December 1999 (SEN99-M7) were confirmed and signed.

Senate NOTED the University's response to the QAA consultation exercise.

.2 Minute 99/112 - Elections

It was NOTED that discussions on the development of a secure electronic nomination procedure were continuing. Senate was informed that there had been a good response to the recent call for nominations to Senate and elections would be required for each Faculty.

SEN00-P2

In addition to the matters reported in paper SEN00-P2, which were the unconfirmed minutes of the meeting of Council on 16 February 2000, the Vice-Chancellor reported that:

.1 Since the report to Council new research grants and contracts awarded for the year so far had increased to £17.5M. He congratulated staff most warmly on this achievement.

.2 In the recent QAA External Subject Review, LUSAD and the Department of Design and Technology had achieved a score of 23/24, maintaining the University's excellent record to date. Both Departments were to be congratulated and particularly LUSAD which had achieved this whilst undergoing many changes as part of its integration with the University.

.3 The recurrent grant from HEFCE for 2000/01 represented a cash increase of 2.5% on the previous year. A tabled paper from the Bursar presented a comparison of the grants for 2000/01 and 1999/00. The increase was encouragingly ahead of inflation but was unlikely to cover salary increases, thus leaving the University, as all universities, with a shortfall. The University's position benefited from a successful bid for additional funded places. The 2.5% increase was less than the national average of 3%. However, most expansion of funded places was occurring at sub-degree level in colleges; the University was positioned 34th in the University sector. The University's budget round for 2000/01 would be difficult and the need to increase earned income would continue. Asked about any action being undertaken by the CVCP, the Vice-Chancellor reported that the CVCP was increasing its campaigning activities. A recent CVCP study on the difficulties of recruitment and retention of academic staff resulting from poor salaries, together with one-third of HE institutions showing a loss in their accounts for 1998/99, were signals to the Government of the serious financial position of universities.

.4 The Vice-Chancellor noted the reference to the possibility of variable top-up fees in a speech by the Secretary of State some two weeks earlier. He said that Loughborough aimed to provide the best possible experience for students and to pay staff competitive salaries, both of which were increasingly difficult to do through public funding. The University would continue to contribute to the debate on the funding of Higher Education, and would consider introducing top-up fees if Government policy changed. He emphasised that any policy changes were very unlikely before the next election.

.5 The Vice-Chancellor congratulated the President of Loughborough Students' Union on his recent marriage.

The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching) reported that:

.1 Projected international student recruitment for 2000 was showing a 25-30% increase, which would result in a population comparable with that in 1997/98 before the economic problems in the Far East had started to bite. This represented a great achievement for which those involved were to be congratulated, but there was still work to do in converting applications to confirmed recruits. There was a shift emerging from undergraduate to postgraduate taught recruitment, which would require continuing effort to replace students annually.

.2 Recruitment of home students was also showing an increase, and in areas in which recruitment was proving difficult nationally. Recruitment had been aided by the student ambassador scheme. There was currently a shortage of student ambassadors and Heads of Departments were asked to encourage their students to take part.

.3 Additional funded numbers had been achieved for the Systems Engineering programme. The University's present position on the Government's proposals for two-year foundation degrees to be awarded by universities was that it would become involved as a validator but not a provider. Discussions were underway with a number of FE colleges.

00/6 Matters for Report by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research)

The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) reported that:

.1 At the Council briefing in January, Dr David Clark, Director of Engineering and Science at EPSRC, had reported that the University was below the national average in success rate of grant applications to EPSRC. Attention therefore needed to be given to the quality of submissions, and Heads of Departments were asked to look closely at and to advise on bids when signing these off. Members of Senate highlighted the importance of experienced and successful staff advising colleagues on their submissions; this was essential for probationers but also valuable for senior colleagues. Departments, having the knowledge of the subject area, were best equipped to provide support to staff with their grant submissions, though the Research Office could have a role to play in interdisciplinary areas where the cross-fertilisation of ideas between departments might be valuable. The need to support staff having failed applications was recognised. There was nothing to be gained from non-submission, whereas feedback from failed submissions could be used positively to produce improved applications. It was suggested that this matter be discussed by Directorates.

.2 The review team for the RAE dummy run, to be chaired by the Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor, was currently developing its assessment methodology. The review would take place in April. A member requested that guidance on the submission of staff be provided to departments. Senate was informed that the Research Team would be looking at the definition of international reputation in each subject area. Using the 1996 RAE data held by AD(R)s and subsequent HESA data, it was possible for Departments to compare themselves against eg. grade 5 and 5* profiles. It was, however, felt to be too early to make clear judgements. It was acknowledged that all institutions were likely to have become more skilled in their RAE submissions and more grade 5s were likely to be awarded, resulting in a reduction in the unit of resource. Senate was advised that unless the distribution between grades in the units of assessment and the funding associated with each grade could be predicted, it would not be possible to predict resource income. The view was expressed that it was therefore futile to manoeuvre in terms of financial reward, but more sensible to aim for high grades. The need to increase recruitment of overseas research students was highlighted and in this regard it was noted that the next edition of the Postgraduate Prospectus would include a separate research section. A web-based prospectus was under development and the research element of this was a priority.

.3 Following a meeting with EPSRC at the end of the week, guidance would be issued via AD(R)s on submissions to the EPSRC Research Equipment Fund. Heads of Departments were reminded of the impending deadline for submissions for Gatsby Innovation Fellowships.

SEN00-P3

.1 Senate considered proposals from Teaching and Learning Committee, together with the comments of Faculty Boards, for amendments to GRUA which would require students in future to obtain a minimum of 100 credits from each part of their programme. Members were informed that at this stage Senate's views were being sought on the proposals and on the basis of this consultation firm proposals would come forward to Senate in June.

.2 Members expressed support for the proposals, noting that many of the University's programmes already had stiffer progression requirements than the University's current threshold. The view was expressed that there would be benefits in retaining the Pass Degree as a fallback award to finalists who failed to achieve the credit requirements for Honours. In regard to the comment from the Engineering Faculty Board concerning the unacceptability of the award of a BEng to a candidate failing at re-examination in the final year to achieve a MEng, Senate was informed that a recent visiting accreditation team had determined that there should be a fallback award for a failed MEng candidate. It was noted that a possible increase in final-year resits under the new proposals could have a detrimental effect on employment statistics.

.1 Professor Bowman reported on the upset caused to students and colleagues relating to the advertising and the nature of the advertising that had appeared on the back of examination booklets for the Semester 1 examinations. The subsequent publicity in the Leicester Mercury was also to be regretted. Assurance had been received promptly from the Registrar that such advertising would not happen again. It was understood that with cultural changes there was the need to undertake fund-raising activities of this nature, but a guard needed to be maintained on the type of advertising, where this occurred and the time spent by staff in seeking such funding. It was essential that any distractions that might prevent students from achieving their best in examinations should be avoided. Senate was informed of the Students' Union's clear view that students' academic and social lives should remain completely separate.

.2 The Registrar outlined a policy on advertising currently being formulated by the Executive Management Group.

Advertising should not:

• Damage the University's image
• Give offence either internally or externally
• Detract from the prime purpose of a document

There should be no advertising on:

• Examination documents
• Registration forms
• Degree certificates
• Transcripts
• Pay slips
• University letterheads
• Regulations
• Codes of Practice
• University Policy Statements

There should be no advertising of:

• Alcohol
• Tobacco
• Firearms
• Chatlines and similar services

.3 Senate was informed that the Students' Union recognised the problems relating to alcohol consumption by students and was undertaking a campaign to encourage sensible drinking habits.

SEN00-P4

.1 Senate was informed that the proposals had been put forward by a working party established to determine a way of recognising great service to the University by an individual for whom the award of an Honorary Degree was not considered appropriate. Members expressed support for the proposals, recognising the need to reward exceptional service and the importance of this in improving morale. It was suggested that the Medal should be renamed The Loughborough University Medal, and that as the intention was that all members and employees of the University be eligible, references exclusively to staff within the document should be amended. It had been acknowledged that academic staff had other avenues for achieving distinction, and for this reason the Awarding Panel had been biased towards non-academics.

.2 Caution was expressed by one member who recalled a similar proposal 7-8 years previously which had been opposed by all campus Trade Unions, who had believed that reward for service would be better achieved through increased pay or promotion and that the proposals could be divisive. The member recommended that these new proposals be forwarded to the three campus unions for comment.

.3 It was questioned whether 3 awards per year were sufficient, but considered that the distinction of the awards would be lessened if there were a greater number. It was RESOLVED to recommend the proposals to Council on the understanding that prior informal soundings would be undertaken with the Trade Unions and that the constitution of the Awarding Panel would be reviewed after a couple of years of operation.

SEN00-P5

On the recommendation of the Teaching and Learning Committee and on the advice of the Curriculum Sub-Committee, it was RESOLVED to recommend to Council:

On the recommendation of the Teaching and Learning Committee, it was RESOLVED:

SEN00-P6

SEN00-P7

It was RESOLVED to ratify the action of the Vice-Chancellor on behalf of Senate in recommending to Council, pursuant to Statute XVIII and with the advice of the Honorary Degrees Committee, three additional persons to be invited to receive Honorary Degrees at Degree Congregations in 2000.

SEN00-P8

On the recommendation of Research Committee, it was RESOLVED:

To approve amendments to encompass PhDs with practice, with immediate effect.

On the recommendation of Ordinances and Regulations Committee, it was RESOLVED:

SEN00-P9

Consequent upon .1 above, to repeal Regulation XIII.

SEN00-P10

.5 LSU Constitution

SEN00-P11

To recommend amendments to Council with immediate effect.

SEN00-P12

On the recommendation of Prizes Committee, it was RESOLVED to recommend to Council the establishment of new prizes.

SEN00-P13

It was RESOLVED to approve a recommendation from the Engineering Faculty Board.

SEN00-P14

Senate received and NOTED data for the three year period to 1999, with the comments of Teaching and Learning Committee.

SEN00-P15

This was NOTED.

SEN00-P16

Senate NOTED the University's response to the call for a progress report on matters raised in the report of the QAA Continuation Audit. The item had been unstarred. It was questioned whether there was a conflict between the statement within the University's response that 'There are no plans to introduce administration as a separate promotion criterion but exemplary performance of administrative tasks can be used to support a case based on one of the two accepted criteria' and the procedures for the award of personal titles in the managerial interest as presented in the special agenda. Senate was assured there was no conflict. A member reported on the apparent inflexibility of Human Resources Committee which was not prepared to take such a broad view for Lecturer to Senior Lecturer promotions as was now being taken for more senior promotions. Senate was assured by the Deans that each Faculty took account of the broader view when considering Lecturer to Senior Lecturer promotions.

It was NOTED that an updated version of the Executive Organisation Chart was available on the University Web Site at the following URL:

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/admin/central_admin/policy/academic_quality/app2.html

It was NOTED that the date of the winter degree congregation would be 18 December 2000 (pm).

Senate received reports from the following Committees:

1. SEN00-P17 Research Committee of 10 February 2000

2. SEN00-P18 Ordinances and Regulations Committee of 11 February 2000

3. SEN00-P19 Teaching and Learning Committee of 17 February 2000

4. SEN00-P20 Resources and Planning Committee of 21 January and 18 February 2000

5. SEN00-P21 Prizes Committee of 3 February 2000

Wednesday 28 June 2000 at 9.15 am.