Prizes
Committee
P06-M1
Minutes of the Prizes Committee held on Wednesday
8 February 2006
Present: A D Bailey, Dr H
Drake, Dr D Gillingwater, M D Morley (Chair), C Smith
Apologies: Dr K Gregory, Dr R Heath, Dr R Kinna
In attendance: M Ashby,
T Wolff
06/1 Welcome
The Committee
welcomed Dr Gillingwater to his first meeting.
06/2 Minutes
The Minutes of the Committee held on 10 November 2005 (P05-M2) were confirmed.
06/3 Matters Arising from the Minutes
06/3.1 Senate and Council Action
It was noted that Senate and Council had APPROVED:
a) the following addition to the terms of reference for the Committee for the 2005/06 year:
To publicise, promote and raise the awareness of prizes and to encourage the submission of prize nominations and applications.
b) the
establishment of the following prizes:
·
Department
of Information Science Final Year Departmental Prize
·
Professor
Ondrej Sykora Remembrance Prize
·
The
British Psychological Society Prize
c) amendments
to the following prizes:
·
Department
of Design and Technology Prize for Innovation (formerly the
·
·
d) discontinuation
of the following prizes:
·
·
Dresdner Kleinwort Wassrstein Prize
·
J D White Memorial Prize
·
Janine Mascia Prize
·
RoweCom Prize
·
MSc Prize for Best Overall Banking and Finance
Student
·
MSc Banking and Finance Prize
·
MSc Islamic Economics, Banking and Finance Prize
·
University
Travelling Exhibition Prizes
06/3.2 Chair's Action
The Committee ratified the action of the
Chair in recommending the establishment of the following prize and AGREED to make
a recommendation to Senate for its establishment:
·
06/3.3 Prize Committee Membership
The Committee noted that the vacant Prizes Committee post of a Faculty of Engineering representative had been filled.
06/3.4
The Committee noted that the suggestions made by the Committee to increase the number of nominations from departments would be implemented by the Secretary in due course.
06/3.5 Prize Certificates
The Committee noted that the feasibility of the Vice-Chancellor
signing the prize certificates had been investigated but had been considered
inappropriate at the present time. It was AGREED that the Secretary should
investigate the possibility of printing an electronic version of the
Vice-Chancellor’s signature on certificates when prize winners’
names were added. ACTION: SECRETARY
06/3.6 Loughborough University
P06-P1
(a) The
Committee noted that the Research Team had approved the following amendment to
the criteria for the proposed new prize:
From:
Three
Prizes, one per Faculty, each to the value of £400 may be awarded to a
postgraduate research student, in the second or third year of their research
student registration, for outstanding academic performance and academic
achievement in the first two years of their research student registration.
To:
Three Prizes, one per Faculty, each to
the value of £400 may be awarded to a postgraduate research student, in the
second or third year of their research student registration, for outstanding
academic performance and academic achievement.
(b) The Committee approved an amendment to the nomination form to remove a section on any other relevant information.
(c) The Committee noted that the Research Committee had approached the Development Trust for funding and was awaiting a response.
06/3.7 Nomination of Prize Assessors
(a) The
Committee considered the nomination of the following prize assessor and AGREED
to recommend their appointment to Senate:
- Dr R Heath,
(b) The
Committee considered the nomination of the following prize assessor and AGREED
to recommend their appointment to the Science Faculty Board:
Sir Robert Martin
Faculty of Science Prize:
- Dr G Ragsdell, Department of Information Science
(c) The Committee considered the nomination
of the following prize assessor and AGREED to recommend their appointment to
the Social Sciences and Humanities Faculty Board:
Sir Robert Martin Faculty of Social Sciences
and Humanities Prize:
- Mr J White,
06/3.8 University Travelling Exhibition Prizes
(a) The Committee noted that heads of department had been informed of the discontinuation of the University Travelling Exhibition Prizes and had been invited to inform the Prize Committee if they wished to establish travel exhibition prizes of their own.
(b) The Committee reflected upon motivation within departments in offering prizes and considered whether prizes acted as an incentive to students to excel in their subject area or in their other pursuits. The Committee AGREED that the Chair should write to heads of departments and departmental administrators to seek feedback on departmental motivation for offering prizes, to discover how prizes were administered, promoted and reviewed, and to reinforce the benefits of offering prizes.
The memo would include a summary
of the number of prizes available to students, by department, so that heads of
departments could gauge how their department compared with others. It could
also include any examples of good practice evident across the campus. Finally,
the memo could suggest to departments that prizes be made a standing item on
the agenda of programme boards or departmental meetings, whichever was more
appropriate, to raise their profile. It was noted that this suggestion would be
particularly timely as departmental administrators would be redrafting agendas
during the second semester in order to take on board recent regulation changes
(see also 06/6 Future Funding of
Loughborough University Development Trust Prizes). ACTION: CHAIR, SECRETARY
06/4 Establishment of New Prizes
06/4.1 Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering First- and Second-Year Merit Prizes
P06-P2/P06-P3
The Committee considered a request from the Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, prompted by the Committee’s invitation to departments to establish travel exhibition prizes of their own (see M06/3.8), to establish the following prizes:
a) Wolfson School of Mechanical and
Manufacturing Engineering First-Year Merit Prize, to the value of £75, to be
awarded to the first-year student with the best overall academic performance on
a manufacturing engineering degree programme.
b) Wolfson School of Mechanical and
Manufacturing Engineering Second-Year Merit Prize, to the value of £75, to be
awarded to the second-year student with the best overall academic performance
on the Sports Technology degree programme.
It was AGREED
to recommend the establishment of the prizes to Senate.
06/4.2 Department of Economics MA Semester Prizes
P06-P4/P06-P5
At the request of the Department of Economics, the
Committee considered the establishment of the following prizes:
a) Department of Economics MA Semester 1 Prizes Two prizes, one valued at £200 and one at £400, to be awarded to the students with the best overall performance in semester one of an MA programme in the Department of Economics. In order to be eligible for consideration for the £400 prize a student must have passed every module normally taught in semester one with an average mark of 70 per cent or more and attained marks of at least 70 per cent in three modules. In order to be eligible for consideration for the £200 prize a student must have passed every module normally taught in semester one with an average mark of 65 per cent or more and attained marks of at least 70 per cent in two modules. If more than two students reach the qualifying standard the prizes will be awarded to the two students who, in the view of the Department of Economics Prize Committee, have achieved the best overall academic performance.
b) Department
of Economics MA Semester 2 Prizes Two prizes, one valued at £200 and one at
£400, to be awarded to the students with the best overall performance in
semester two of an MA programme in the Department of Economics. In order to be
eligible for consideration for the £400 prize a student must have passed every
module normally taught in semester one with an average mark of 70 per cent or
more and attained marks of at least 70 per cent in three modules. In order to
be eligible for consideration for the £200 prize a student must have passed
every module normally taught in semester two with an average mark of 65 per
cent or more and attained marks of at least 70 per cent in two modules. If more
than two students reach the qualifying standard the prizes will be awarded to
the two students who, in the view of the Department of Economics Prize
Committee, have achieved the best overall academic performance. Students who
are awarded a prize or scholarship in Semester one may compete for any prize or
scholarship awarded in Semester two.
It was AGREED
to recommend the establishment of the prizes to Senate.
06/4.3 Department of Mathematical Sciences Dstl Prizes
P06-P6/P06-P7
At the request of the Department of Mathematical Sciences, the Committee considered the establishment of the following prizes:
a) DSTL Undergraduate Mathematics Project
Prize A prize to the value of £100 to be awarded to the BSc or MMath Mathematics
student with the highest mark in the final-year
project.
b) DSTL Postgraduate Mathematics Project Prize
A prize to the value of £100 to
be awarded to the taught postgraduate student within the Department of
Mathematical Sciences with the highest mark for the Master’s project.
The prizes would be awarded in the 2005/06,
2006/07 and 2007/08 academic years.
It was AGREED to recommend the establishment
of the prizes to Senate.
06/5 Amendments to Existing Prizes
06/5.1 Department of Chemical Engineering
P06-P16
At the request of the Department of Chemical Engineering, the Committee
considered the existing award criteria for the Jack Harris Prize as follows and a request to change the award from
a £50 book token to £150:
A £50 book token to be
awarded to the BEng student with the best overall performance in Part B.
The Committee was unclear how the Department
quantified ‘the best overall performance in Part B’. Subject to
clarification of this criteria, the Committee AGREED to make a recommendation
to Senate.
Secretary’s note: The Department has
since confirmed that ‘best overall performance’ should be replaced
with ‘highest overall mark’. Thus the following criteria will be
recommended to Senate:
A prize of £150 to be awarded to the BEng
student with the highest overall mark in Part B.
06/5.2 Department
of Economics
P06-P8/P06-P9
At the request of the
Department of Economics, the Committee considered changes to the award criteria
for the following prizes:
a) Department of Economics MSc Semester 1
Prize
From:
Six prizes varying in value from £250 to £500, to
be awarded to the students with the best overall performance in Semester 1 of a
MSc programme in the Department of Economics. In order to be eligible for the prize the student(s) must obtain an
average of at least 65% across all four modules and at least two module marks
of 70% or more. If no student reaches this standard the best six will be
selected by the Department of Economics Prizes Committee, which will take the
difficulty of modules into account. The value of the prize will depend upon the
marks achieved. The minimum value of a prize is £250, students scoring an
average module mark of 70% with at least three module marks of 70% or greater
will be awarded a prize of £500.
To:
Six prizes, valued at £250 and £500, to be awarded
to the students with the best overall performance in Semester one of an MSc
programme in the Department of Economics. In order to be eligible for consideration for a £500 prize a student
must have passed four taught modules in Semester one with an average mark of at
least 70 per cent and attained marks of at least 70 per cent in three modules.
In order to be eligible for consideration for a £250 prize a student must have
passed four taught modules in Semester one with an average of at least 65 per
cent and attained marks of at least 70 per cent in two modules. If more than
six students reach the qualifying standard the prizes will be awarded to the
six students who, in the view of the Department of Economics Prize Committee,
have achieved the best overall academic performance.
b) Department of Economics MSc Semester 2
Prize
From:
Six prizes, varying in value from £250 to £500, to
be awarded to the students with the best overall performance in Semester 2 of
an MSc programme in the Department of Economics. In order to be eligible for the prize the student(s) must obtain an
average of at least 65% across all four modules and at least two module marks
of 70% or more. If no student reaches this standard the best six will be
selected by the Department of Economics Prizes Committee, which will take the
difficulty of modules into account. The value of the prize will depend upon the
marks achieved. The minimum value of a prize is £250, students scoring an
average module mark of 70% with at least three module marks of 70% or greater
will be awarded a prize of £500.
To:
Six prizes, valued at £250 and £500, to be awarded
to the students with the best overall performance in Semester two of an MSc
programme in the Department of Economics. In order to be eligible for consideration for a £500 prize a student
must have passed four taught modules in Semester two with an average mark of at
least 70 per cent and attained marks of at least 70 per cent in three modules.
In order to be eligible for consideration for a £250 prize a student must have
passed four taught modules in Semester two with an average of at least 65 per
cent and attained marks of at least 70 per cent in two modules. If more than
six students reach the qualifying standard the prizes will be awarded to the
six students who, in the view of the Department of Economics Prize Committee,
have achieved the best overall academic performance. Students who are awarded a
prize or scholarship in Semester one may compete for any prize or scholarship
awarded in Semester two.
It was AGREED
to recommend the changes to Senate.
06/5.3 John
Guest Philips Memorial Travelling Scholarship
P06-P10
Arising from M05/20,
the Committee considered a change to the award criteria for the John
Guest Philips Memorial Travelling Scholarship to permit the award of one annual travelling scholarship to the value
of £1,000, in place of two valued at £500 each, when necessary. If two scholarships
were awarded, one must not be used for funding attendance at conferences. The
Committee AGREED to recommend the change to Senate.
06/6 Future Funding of Loughborough University
P06-P11
The Committee considered
the future of the Loughborough University Development Trust Prizes following a request
by the Trust for the Committee to provide it with further guidance for the
funding of prizes from 2008 onwards.
The
Committee noted that the Trust had funded a number of departmental prizes for
undergraduate students since 2003 and had agreed to continue to do so until
2007. It AGREED that the memo which was to be sent to heads of departments (see
06/3.8 University Travelling Exhibition
Prizes) regarding existing prizes should also include a request to give an
indication of the value of the Loughborough
University Development Trust Prizes to their departments. This information
would be fed back to the Trust in due course. ACTION: CHAIR, SECRETARY
06/7 Future Funding of the Loughborough
University Postgraduate Prize and the Loughborough University
P06-P12
The Committee considered the future of the Loughborough University Postgraduate
Prize and the Loughborough University Postgraduate Progression Prize following a
request by the Committee to provide it with further guidance for the future
funding of these prizes. The Committee noted that the Trust had initially
agreed to fund prizes to be awarded for three years from 2004 and had recently
agreed to extend its funding for another year to allow the prizes to be awarded
in 2007. The Committee AGREED to feed back to the Trust its gratitude for
funding these high-profile prizes which could be seen to have raised the
profile of the Trust. It wished to indicate to the Trust its desire to continue
offering the prizes in the future. ACTION:
SECRETARY
06/8 Loughborough University
Postgraduate Prize and Loughborough
University
P06-P13/P06-P14
Arising from M05/17, The Committee considered and APPROVED proposed revisions
to existing guidance for nominators on the criteria, nomination and assessment
process of prizes as follows (changes appear in italics):
06/8.1
Nominations
are invited for the Loughborough University Postgraduate Prize. The Prize
consisting of an award of £400 plus a certificate may be awarded annually, to a
student registered on an MSc or MA programme, for outstanding all round
achievement.
Staff are encouraged
to nominate postgraduate taught students who are, or are expected to be, high
achievers in the cohort of their postgraduate programme. Nominations should be
made using the standard nomination form where as much information as possible
should be provided. Please note that as well as academic success assessors may
take the following, and other, factors into consideration when assessing
applications:
Overcoming personal/health problems
Contribution to the department
Contribution to the University
Contribution to the local or wider community
Excelling in subject despite English being a second language
Becoming fully involved in University life despite English being a second
language
If you know of a student who you feel meets part of these criteria (but where
you have insufficient information about either academic performance or other
contributions), you are encouraged to nominate them as potential candidate,
indicating that the nomination requires further research. On this basis, I will
be happy to seek views from other departmental or hall sources to supplement
the basic nomination.
Nominations will normally be sought
in October and should be submitted using the Nomination
Form.
06/8.2
Nominations are invited for the Loughborough University Postgraduate
Progression Prize. The Prize consisting of an award of £400 plus a certificate
may be awarded annually to a student, registered on an MSc or MA programme who
has been accepted
for registration as a Loughborough University PhD student, for
outstanding all round achievement. The award will be payable upon registration
for a Loughborough University PhD programme.
Staff are encouraged
to nominate postgraduate taught students who are, or are expected to be, high
achievers in the cohort of their postgraduate programme and who have been
accepted for registration as a Loughborough University PhD student. Nominations
should be made using the standard nomination form where as much information as
possible should be provided. Please note that as well as academic success
assessors may take the following, and other, factors into consideration when
assessing applications:
Overcoming personal/health problems
Contribution to the department
Contribution to the University
Contribution to the local or wider community
Excelling in subject despite English being a second language
Becoming fully involved in University life despite English being a second
language
If you know of a student who you
feel meets part of these criteria (but where you have insufficient information
about either academic performance or other contributions), you are encouraged
to nominate them as potential candidate, indicating that the nomination
requires further research. On this basis, I will be happy to seek views from
other departmental or hall sources to supplement the basic nomination.
Nominations will normally be sought
in October and should be submitted using the Nomination
Form.
06/9 Guidelines for the Appointment of Prize
Assessors
P06-P15
Arising from 06/3.7(c), where an academic-related member of staff had
been appointed as a prize assessor, the Committee considered the introduction
of guidelines concerning the appointment of academic-related staff on prize
panels in the future. It agreed that a maximum of one academic-related member
of staff could be appointed as an assessor on a prize panel where the criteria
for awarding the prize related either wholly or partially to academic
performance, if there was good reason to allow this. Reasons for doing so would
include their having an extensive knowledge of the group of students eligible
for the prize or their being involved in specific student activities. Where an
academic-related member of staff was appointed on to a panel, there must be at
least two academic members of staff on the Panel.
06/10 Valediction
The Committee
thanked the retiring Chair and retiring members. The Committee also wished to
thank the retiring Secretary.
06/11 Date of Next Meeting
November 2006.
Author
– Martine Ashby
February 2006
Copyright (c)