SSH00-M1
The Minutes of Ordinary Meetings of the Faculty Board are posted on the Web for three years after the relevant date.
Minutes of the Twenty-first (Ordinary) Meeting of the Faculty Board held on Tuesday, 8 February 2000.
Professor I C Morison
Mr J Barker |
Mr P G Lewis |
In attendance: |
Mr D L Wolfe |
Apologies for absence: |
Dr Drake, Professor Smith, Ms Clarke, |
On behalf of the Board, the Dean offered Pam Rouse its sincere condolences in regard to her recent bereavement.
The Minutes of the Nineteenth (Ordinary) Meeting of the Social Sciences and Humanities Faculty Board held on 2 November 1999, were confirmed and signed.
(SSH99-M5, Min. 75; SSH00-P1)
The Board noted the University’s response to the consultation exercise.
(SSH99-M5, Min. 69.1 (ii))
The Dean reported that revised proposals concerning the number of Pro-Vice-Chancellors had been agreed at the last meeting of Council; the only outstanding issue was the maximum number of Pro-Vice-Chancellors permitted to sit as of right on Council. It was pleasing that changes had been made as a result of opinions expressed by Senate and the Boards.
(SSH99-M5, Min. 69.1(iv))
It was reported that Professors Cox, Smith and Kavanagh had been nominated by the Board to the Committee to make a recommendation to Senate regarding the appointment of the next Dean.
(SSH99-M5, Min. 69.2(vi) refers)
Revised costings had been submitted to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research).
(SSH99-M5, Min. 72)
The Board was reminded that some comparative league tables had suggested that expenditure on library facilities at Loughborough was low. Whilst there were some specific local factors which might have falsely contributed to this perception, the situation was nonetheless a matter of concern both to members of academic staff and to the Library staff, and particular reference was made to possibly inadequate expenditure on journals. Members of the Board were invited to lobby where appropriate to ensure adequate funding of the Library.
(SSH99-M5, Min. 74)
It was felt that this topic might better be described as "PhDs with Practice".
(SSH00-P4a – tabled)
The Director of the Careers Service, Mrs W Llewellyn, presented a paper describing an "Insight into Management" course offered on a voluntary, fee-paying basis to second-year students, and inviting views on whether it might be developed into an accredited module. She explained that the course was run intensively over three days at the end of the Easter vacation, was invariably over-subscribed, and normally admitted some 75 students from all three Faculties.
Members recognised the popularity and effectiveness of the course, but expressed a number of reservations about its being accredited as a module. Areas in which the paper suggested that the course might be enhanced covered generic, transferable skills some at least of which were already included and assessed in existing programmes and modules. Attendance at an optional course offered an extra element to be entered on a student’s c.v., whereas a 10-credit module not linked to core subject areas might not stand out. It was further suggested that it was inappropriate for a credit-bearing module to be offered by a support service.
The Board reiterated its support for the module as currently offered. The suggestion was made that it might be made available as part of an induction programme prior to an industrial placement, and that any assessment might be built into the overall assessment of the DIS/DPS.
5.1
The Dean reported on a recent Council off-site meeting. It had been a generally successful event, though one which had dwelt more on issues relating to science and engineering at the University rather than to the social sciences, arts and humanities. It was hoped that future such occasions could be used to rectify this imbalance.5.2
There had been some minor changes to the internal resource allocation model. The overall financial situation remained difficult, with the replacement of staff being closely scrutinised.
6.1
The AD(T) reported that whilst applications from home students continued to rise, those from overseas were less encouraging, although in the Faculty overseas applications to English and Economics had increased. The overall financial implications for the University were potentially worrying.Some concern was expressed that the University centrally had withdrawn from some HE Recruitment Fairs, yet individual Faculties were still attending, giving the impression that only some areas of the University were interested in recruitment and being less cost-effective. It was also noted that some but not all Departments were offering "international student bursaries".
It was further suggested that additional resources should be made available to develop exchange programmes in North America; not only were these attractive to potential home students, but they were also a way of attracting future postgraduate students.
The Board was reminded that schoolteachers were powerful figures in recruitment, and that suitably directed mailshots to schools were very cost-effective.
6.2
It was agreed to record the Board’s displeasure that advertising had appeared on the back of examination booklets.
The AD(R) reported that the current baseline budget for the Faculty was as follows:-
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- new studentships |
He tabled a paper indicating that research income in SSH so far this year exceeded that in either of the other Faculties, and that SSH had reached its target income for 1999/2000, due largely to a £4.3M grant to CRISP.
(SSH00-P2)
The Board received and considered a proposal from the PDQ Team that General Regulations for University Awards be amended to require undergraduate students to obtain a minimum of 100 credits from each part of their programme in order to qualify for the award of an Honours degree.
Members broadly supported the proposal, emphasising the importance of not reducing standards, in particular not awarding Third Class Honours to students currently qualifying only for the award of a Pass Degree.
Members were invited to send any detailed observations to the AD(T).
(SSH00-P3)
The AD(T) reported on Annual Review reports received for 1998-99. It was noted that reports had not yet been received from the Department of Physical Education, Sports Science and Recreation Management, or from the Business School in regard to programmmes at Peterborough.
The Board was reminded that LUBS’ student feedback procedures went well beyond the threshold standards required by the University.
The Department was congratulated on the recovery of the Industrial Design and Technology with Education programme following its restructuring. Attention was drawn to the perception amongst students that library resources were weak. This has not been brought to the attention of the Library; it was emphasised that it was the responsibility of the AD(T) to ensure that this happened. Notwithstanding this, it was the Department’s view that there was no real concern in regard to the Library, and that the finding was related to the design of the questionnaire.
- No comment
There was some discussion in regard to the possibility of transferring the programme in English and the History of Art and Design from the Department to LUSAD; it was agreed that the Department and the School should pursue this suggestion.
The Board noted the Department’s intention to discontinue recruitment to Joint Honours programmes with Spanish, and was informed that problems in this subject area were not unique to Loughborough.
Whilst recruitment to Geography with Economics remained poor, all the modules concerned were also offered in other programmes, and were viable.
Comments from external examiners had been discussed, and steps taken to improve the contribution of more able students.
The AD(R) reported that a "dummy run" in regard to forms RAE5 and RAE6 was currently underway, and would thereafter be reviewed by the Faculty. Models had been developed to estimate QR income based on numbers returned, the steepness of grading, and any other appropriate factors. The primary responsibility for developing the RAE return rested with the Faculty.
Decisions in regard to returning staff from more than one Department in a particular category should be taken as soon as possible.
Discussion concerning the position of academic staff who were eligible for inclusion but were not returned would take place at the next Board meeting, in the context of an institutional bias towards selectivity in order to maximise the number of Grades 5 and 5* awarded.
It was noted that the following new programme proposals were considered by Curriculum Sub-Committee at its meeting on 20 January 2000.
MBA in Engineering Management
MSc Islamic Economics, Banking & Finance
MA Investigation Management (Distance Learning)
It was noted that reports of Staff/Student Committee meetings deposited with the Secretary would be listed for the next Board Meeting.
It was noted that the Minutes of the 330th (Ordinary) Meeting of Senate held on 1 December 1999 were available on the University Web pages.
It was noted that that reports of the following Committees were available on the University Web pages:
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Teaching and Learning Committee of 16 November 1999 |
(SSH00-P4)
The distribution of Degree Congregations was noted.
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Tuesday 23 May 2000 at 2.15 pm |
(Closing date for receipt of Agenda items: Monday 8 May 2000)
Author Mr D L Wolfe
February 2000
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