SENATE
SEN08-M3
Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of
Senate on Wednesday 5 March 2008.
|
Memis
Acar (ab) Jo
Aldridge David
Allen Chris
Backhouse Anja
Baumhoff Morag
Bell David
Berry (ab) Jon
Binner Ed Brown
(ab) Sandra
Dann Simon
Darvill (ab) Ian Davidson James
Dearnley (ab) Neil
Dixon (ab) Sophie
Driscoll (ab) Clive
Edwards (ab) Peter
Golding Keith
Gregory Neil
Halliwell |
Shirley
Pearce John
Harper
Roger
Haslam Emma
Herod (ab) Elaine
Hobby Tony
Hodgson (ab) Ray Jones
Terry
Kavanagh David
Kerr (ab) Feo
Kusmartsev (ab) Chris
Linton Julian
Mackenzie (ab) Danny
McNiece (ab) Marsha
Meskimmon (ab) Mary
Morley (ab) Charles
Oppenheim Rob
Parkin Ken
Parsons (ab) Eric
Pentecost |
Iain
Phillips Jonathan
Potter Gareth
Pritchard (ab) Ian Reid Peter
Render (ab) Chris
Rielly (ab) Steve
Rothberg Dennis
Smith Gerry
Swallowe Tim Swift
Tony
Thorpe (ab) Rob
Thring David
Twigg Yiannis
Vardaxoglou (ab) Richard
Wakeman (ab) Peter
Warwick David
Whalley (ab) Peter
Winter Dominic
Wring (ab) |
In
attendance: Chris Dunbobbin, Jennifer Nutkins, Will Spinks.
Apologies
for absence were received from: Simon Darvill, Neil Dixon, Clive Edwards, David
Kerr, Julian Mackenzie, Ken Parsons, Peter Render, Chris Rielly, Tony Thorpe,
Yiannis Vardaxoglou, Richard Wakeman, David Whalley, Dominic Wring.
08/25 Minutes
It was
RESOLVED to confirm and sign the Minutes of the Ordinary meeting held on 31
January 2008 (SEN08-M1).
08/26 University
Strategy
SEN08-P16
Senate RECEIVED an update from the Provost and Deputy
Vice-Chancellor on progress against the detailed implementation plans approved
by Council in July 2007. A number of specific developments were highlighted
including:
(i)
Research:
The establishment of a fund to enable imago to host academic events in the
University’s strategic interest without compromising its financial
targets. (The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) would circulate more details
shortly).
(ii)
Learning
and Teaching: The launch of a History programme in 2009, and the release of
feasibility funding for a proposed Pharmacy programme.
(iii)
The following points were also noted:
(iv)
HEFCE
Teaching Quality Enhancement Funding had been used to establish a post within
the Careers Centre, the remit of which included responsibility for assisting
departments (particularly those which did not have an industrial or commercial
focus, and which therefore had fewer opportunities to establish relationships
with industrial or commercial partners) to increase the proportion of their
students undertaking placement/sandwich years. There were also opportunities to
share good practice across departments.
(v)
Reassurances
were given that there would be provision for significant academic input into
the review of the structure and content of the University website.
(vi)
Senate
agreed that the current format of reporting on the strategy was helpful.
08/27 Reorganisation
of Committees
SEN08-P17
Senate RESOLVED to approve a number of revisions to the
Committee structure with effect from the start of the 2008-09 academic year.
The changes were intended to establish a more streamlined and transparent
structure, under which all of the University’s operational committees would
report directly to Senate and/or Council, and would be chaired by members of
the Executive Leadership Team. No major changes to the membership of
operational committees were proposed, and they would therefore continue to
include members of Senate and lay members of Council as appropriate.
08/28 Procedures for Senior Appointments
SEN08-P18
On the recommendation of Human Resources Committee, Senate
RESOLVED to approve revised procedures for the appointment of Deputy
Vice-Chancellor, Pro-Vice-Chancellors and Deans, and Heads of Department.
Following discussion, it was AGREED that the take
up of Health, Safety and Environmental training for Heads of Department would
be reviewed.
ACTION: Health,
Safety and Environmental Manager.
It was also confirmed that, as
part of the HR Strategic Implementation Plan, the training and development
needs of and support to both Heads of Department and line managers more
generally were being reviewed and would be enhanced.
It was noted, with reference to paragraph 4 of the
Appointment of Heads of Department procedures that candidates would be
entitled, under the terms of the Data Protection Act, to obtain disclosure of
any comment made about them, but not of the identity of the employee who had
submitted the comment.
08/29 Regulations
for PhD in Regenerative Medicine
SEN08-P19
Senate RESOLVED to approve in principle proposals for a new
four year PhD programme in the field of Regenerative Medicine, and
congratulated those involved in its development.
It was noted that early drafts of the proposal had included
the suggestion that the award take the form of a named PhD in Regenerative
Medicine. However, it had subsequently been agreed not to pursue this. The
proposed award was nonetheless distinctive in that it involved collaboration
with other Universities, and was of four years duration, with extended research
training and the completion of specialist training modules which would not lead
to a University award. It was noted that the regulations were still in draft
form, but had been modelled as closely as possible on existing PhD regulations.
08/30 Matters for Report by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor
(
SEN08-P20
Senate RECEIVED a report from the
Pro-Vice-Chancellor (
(i)
Energy
Technologies Institute: Interviews for the post of consortium manager were due
to take place in early April 2008.
(ii)
European
Regional Development Fund (ERDF): Funding worth £70M would be awarded over the
next 5 years in the
08/31 Matters
for Report by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching)
31.1 Institutional
Audit
Senate RECEIVED an update from the Pro-Vice-Chancellor
(Teaching). The Audit Team had conducted a briefing visit at the start of
February 2008 and was due to return for the main visit in week commencing 10
March 2008. The Auditors had selected two sampling trails in Mechanical and
Manufacturing Engineering and LUSAD, and would be meeting with undergraduate
and postgraduate students, as well as various staff involved in learning and
teaching.
The Auditors’ report would
focus primarily on the University’s management of academic standards and learning opportunities.
The Auditors would also comment on the accuracy and completeness of published
information for students, and on the management of institutional arrangements
for postgraduate research students, and quality enhancement. Loughborough would
be advised of the outcome in draft form in May 2008, and invited to comment,
before the final report was published in July 2008.
On behalf of Senate, the Vice-chancellor thanked
the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching), Robert Bowyer, and all other staff involved
in the Audit process.
SEN08-P21
31.2 Undergraduate and Taught Postgraduate Applications
2007/08
Senate RECEIVED a paper from the
Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching) and noted that the second postgraduate Open Day
had taken place on 20th February 2008.
31.3 Intake targets 2008/09
The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching) reported that
intake targets for 2008-09 had been agreed with departments.
31.4
National Student Survey (NSS)
At the time of the meeting, the NSS 2008 was in its
fifth week, and the response rate stood at 37% (a rate of 50% was required in
order to qualify for inclusion on the published list of results). There was only
a relatively short period of time before the start of the Easter vacation in
which to improve the response rate, and it was generally agreed that while it
was important to avoid putting undue pressure on finalists, and hastening the
onset of any sense of “survey fatigue”, a co-ordinated flurry of promotional
activity was warranted. To this end, LSU had already launched an intensive
schedule of “lecture shouts” which would run until the end of term,
and the University was preparing to send an email to all finalists encouraging
them to respond if they had not already done so. On behalf of Senate, the
Vice-Chancellor thanked LSU and the PVC(T)’s NSS Team for their efforts
in this area.
In discussion, the following points were noted:
(i)
There was support for the suggestion that students
were more likely to respond to face to face contact rather than emails. It was
important therefore, that all staff who would be in direct contact with
finalists prior to the end of term (through lectures, tutorials or other means)
took the opportunity to encourage them to compete the survey.
ACTION:
HoDs to remind all staff, Deans to remind HoDs not present at the meeting.
(ii)
It was important that LSU “lecture
shouts” were enthusiastically supported by departmental staff.
(iii)
One department had been successful in achieving a
high response rate by introducing gentle elements of competition and peer
pressure (by encouraging its finalists to strive to be the department with the
highest response rate etc).
(iv) It
was important to emphasise to students that the most important thing for the
University was that they completed the survey, but that it was entirely up to
them how they responded.
(iv)
Clarification was provided that the data used to
identify finalists eligible to participate in the survey was based upon the
University’s HESA return.
(v)
Work would be undertaken to explore innovative ways
in which the University’s IT services could be used to maximise response
rates in 2009 and beyond.
08/32 Matters
for Report by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research)
SEN08-P22
32.1 Research
Applications
Senate RECEIVED an analysis of
research applications by department. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) agreed
to confirm the source of the staff FTE figures referred to in the table.
ACTION: PVC(R)
SEN08-P23
32.2 New
Research Grants and Contracts
Senate RECEIVED an analysis of new
research grants and contracts by type and department. It was noted that the
figures presented referred to total new grant and contract income received, and
did not show sums that were subsequently transferred to other institutions under
the terms of research partnerships.
SEN08-P24
32.3 Future of
Research Assessment
Senate RECEIVED a paper containing
the response to HEFCE’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) consultation,
submitted by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) on behalf of the University.
The Pro-Vice-Chancellor thanked colleagues who had provided help and advice,
particularly Professor Charles Oppenheim. The tenor of Loughborough’s
response was felt to be in line with that of the sector as a whole.
It was likely that bibliometrics
would play an important part in the future of research assessment, and the
University’s Institutional
Repository Working Group (IRWG) had begun to prepare for this by developing plans,
which had been endorsed by EMG, to combine the existing institutional repository (IR) and
publications database into a single, mandatory, open-access IR. There was
evidence that where institutions adopted such an IR, it had the effect of
immediately making their staff publications widely visible to online searches,
and pushing up significantly their citation counts. (Secretary’s note: Further details relating to this proposed
extension of the IR were contained in a memo circulated to members by the
Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) following the meeting).
It was noted in discussion that
the introduction of a mandatory IR might require a small change to the
conditions of employment for academic staff, and that there would be issues
relating to obtaining permission from publishers. It was emphasised, however,
that only the ‘metadata’
of publications (i.e. the reference: author, title, date, pagination etc) would
need to be accessible and therefore searchable, and that ordinarily permission
would not be required to do this. There were also resources which helped to
mechanise the process of determining
whether permission was required. All such issues would be thoroughly
explored before Senate’s approval was sought. It was
noted further that in the context of the paper, “STEM subjects” did
not include mathematics, the ‘M’ referred to Medicine.
It was AGREED that detailed
practical proposals from the IRWG should be taken forward to the Faculty
Directorates in the first instance.
32.4 Research
Outputs
The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research)
reported on a number of specific research outputs across the University. (i) Professors Andrew Dainty and
Alistair Gibb of the Department of Civil and Building Engineering had recently
completed a study for the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) exploring
the health and safety of migrant construction workers in the South
East. (ii) A paper by Professor Roger Smith, Head of Analytical
Chemistry in the Chemistry Department, was in the "Top-20 most cited
review articles" as published in Journal of Chromatography A from 2002 to
2007. The review was entitled "Before the injection - Modern methods
of sample preparation for separation techniques", and described methods
for the pre-treatment of samples. (iii) An important new paper in Physical
Review Letters from Professor Feo Kusmartsev had opened a new route to understanding of non-Fermi liquid
metallic behaviour. (iv) Dr Rob Dover's article in Political Studies,
entitled ' For Queen and Company: the
role of Intelligence in the
The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research)
thanked those who had sent examples of research outputs, and asked all members
to continue to do so.
08/33 Matters for Report by the Vice-Chancellor
The Vice-Chancellor
reported on the following matters:
(i)
On 29 February 2008, the Government’s Universities
Secretary, John Denham had announced a review of the future of Higher Education,
which would inform future debates about tuition fees, funding, and other
priorities. More recently, it had been announced that the government intended
to create twenty new centres of Higher Education. The Vice-Chancellor noted
that in relation to research funding, it was likely that in the future there
would be greater selectivity within the sector than at present. It was crucial
in this context for Loughborough to maintain a place in the group of research
intensive universities.
(ii)
A recent ballot of UCU members had rejected single
table pay negotiations with the other HE unions and it was unclear what would
happen next. The Vice-Chancellor emphasised that Loughborough remained
committed to the principle of collective bargaining. It was noted, however,
that some other institutions within the sector favoured local settlements.
(iii)
The Vice-Chancellor thanked all who had been
involved in the recent EPSRC visit.
(iv)
There had been an increase of 2.49% in the
University’s HEFCE grant for 2008-09. This was in line with expectations,
but there were concerns that increases in government funding were not keeping
pace with rising costs (RPI was at over 4%).
08/34 Programme
Proposals
SEN08-P25
On the recommendation of Learning and Teaching Committee, on
the advice of Curriculum Sub-Committee, Senate RESOLVED to recommend to Council
as appropriate:
34.1 New programmes (with effect from October
2008 unless stated)
BSc Sport
and Exercise Science (Gymnastics)
BSc,
DIS/DIntS Physics with Cosmology (with effect from October 2009)
MA/MSc
2D and 3D Visualisation
MSc/PGDip/PGCert
Management and Leadership (Professional) (Aggregate Industries) (with effect
from March 2008)
34.2 Award, title or major programme changes
(with effect from October 2008 intake)
MSc
Occupational Health to MSc Workplace
Health
34.3 Discontinuation of programmes (last
intake shown in brackets)
BSc
Information Networks and Physics (no intake)
BSc
Information Technology and Physics (October 2008)
BSc
Commercial Management and Quantity Surveying (3 year version only) (October
2008)
MSc
Citizenship, Identity and Globalization (no recruitment)
MSc
Financial Globalization (2004/05)
08/35 Learning
and Teaching Committee
On the recommendation of Learning
and Teaching Committee, Senate:
SEN08-P26
35.1 E-Learning Strategy and Implementation
Plan
APPROVED a draft e-learning strategy
and implementation plan.
SEN08-P27
35.2 Condonement
NOTED a review of the use of
condonement for undergraduate students in session 2006-07.
08/36
SEN08-P28
Senate RECEIVED the report from the meeting held on 7
February 2008, and APPROVED an amendment to the Terms of Reference (minute
EB08/4 and Annex A refer).
08/37 University
Chancellor
Senate NOTED the decision of Court to appoint Sir Nigel
Rudd, currently Chairman of the British Airports Authority, as the next
Chancellor of the University, from July 2010.
This item was unstarred by one member who asked whether the poor
reputation of BAA within the environmental movement had been taken into account
in deciding on the appointment, given Loughborough’s desire to emphasise
its green credentials. The Vice-Chancellor noted that the Nominating Committee
had considered any potential risks attached to the appointment, but had felt
that any such concerns were outweighed by Sir Nigel’s considerable
abilities, experience and national profile.
08/38 Reports from Committees
Senate
RECEIVED reports from the following Committees:
38.1 SEN08-P29 Costing
and Pricing Committee of 15 January 2008.
38.2 SEN08-P30 Estates
Management Committee of 17 January 2008.
38.3 SEN08-P31 Research
Performance Monitoring Group of 6 February 2008.
38.4 SEN08-P32 Student
Discipline Committee of 27 November 2007.
08/39 Any Other
Business
It was NOTED that the Science and Technology Facilities
Council had proposed a number of cuts to funding for research facilities, which
were likely to impact on departments at Loughborough. It was agreed that the
Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) would co-ordinate the University’s response
to the communication which had a very short timescale.
08/40 Date of Next Meeting
Wednesday 2 July 2008,
9.15am
Author: C
Dunbobbin
Date: March 2008
Copyright ©
Loughborough University. All rights reserved.