Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities 

Faculty Board

SSH03-M1

Minutes

Minutes of the Thirty-Fifth Meeting of the Faculty Board held on Tuesday 4 February 2003.

Members: Professor T J Kavanagh (Chair), Dr P B H Ackers (ab), Mr D J Allen (ab), Dr K M Armour, Dr B M Bagilhole, Mr J Base (ex-officio) (ab), Professor M Bell (ab), Professor S J H Biddle, Mr A Bunkum (ab), Dr C Christie (ab), Dr G A S Cook (ab), Mr J Costello, Professor I R Davidson (ab), Mr D N Deacon, Dr J Demaine, Mr S Gibson, Professor P Golding, Mr R Holman, Professor B M J Houlihan, Mr D R Johnson (ab), Mr R E Jones, Dr R Kinna (ab), Dr G Masselink, Mr W P J Maunder, Professor T C Mills, Dr J Mottram (ab), Mr G Murdock, Mr K Pond (ab), Professor J M Porter, Dr C D Rhodes (ab), Dr J Seaton, Ms R Stubbings, Professor D J Wallace (ab), Professor N P Wood, Mr P W Wormald, Ms M M Wőrsching

Apologies for absence: Professor M Bell, Mr A Bunkum, Dr G A S Cook, Professor I R Davidson, Dr J Mottram, Mr K Pond

Present: Ms L M Dutton

In attendance: Ms S J McKinley

1. Minutes SSH02-M3

The Minutes of the Thirty-Fourth Meeting of the Social Sciences and Humanities Faculty Board, held on 29 October 2002, were CONFIRMED and signed by The Dean.

2. Reports from the Dean and Associate Deans

2.1 The Dean

(i)
The purchase of LoRIC (to be called Holywell Park) would be completed by the end of the month enabling Departments and research groups to move into their considered space as soon as possible. Space would then become available in the Brockington, Schofield, James France and elsewhere which might be of particular value to the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. Although a proportion of the space would probably go to support the increasing numbers of postgraduate students, the Social Sciences and Humanities Directorate would start bidding for the space immediately and would be discussing a review of the East Park Site in the near future.

(ii)
Following the last Senate meeting there had been a number of meetings to discuss Loughborough University’s association with Peterborough. As a result of these meetings there would be discussions to consider the most appropriate exit strategy to ensure that existing Faculty commitments were expedited effectively.

(iii)
Activities with respect to widening participation within the University were very encouraging with the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences and the Department of English and Drama in particular supporting this initiative in imaginative ways. All Departments would be involved in the widening participation agenda which would be integrated within the context of their Departmental Strategic Plans. The final plan would be reported to the Social Sciences and Humanities Directorate in May.

(iv)
There had been an increase in Masters students particularly in the Business School and the Department of Economics as a result of which it was necessary to seek additional staff. Operations Sub-Committee had considered requests and approved about half of the bids. The balance of staffing posts would be discussed at the end of March once real-time funding had been officially established.

2.2 The Associate Dean (Research

(i)
The Director, Staff Development, would be producing a core induction training programme for all research students and a diagnostic tool to monitor the progress of the training. The PVC(R) and PVC(T) would be meeting to discuss postgraduate research training.

(ii)
The Department of Economics, the Department of Geography, the Business School and the Department of European and International Studies had produced new Masters programmes in Research Methods which would be put forward for ESRC recognition. Faculty Graduate School models would be submitted for comment at the next Social Science and Humanities Directorate meeting.

2.3 The Associate Dean (Teaching)

(i)
The Board NOTED that a working group had been set up to analyse the way forward on assessment. Comments from Directorate members relating to assessment had been assimilated and a response from PDQ was expected shortly.

(ii)
The majority of Departments in the Faculty had undergone periodic review. The Departments of Economics and Social Sciences would be reviewed this year.

(iii)
The PVC(T) had taken early retirement at short notice and, as a result, the DVC and Director of Registry Services had taken on his duties until the position was filled, hopefully in the near future.

3. The Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities and Real-time Funding

(SSH03-P1 - tabled)

The Board RECEIVED a tabled report from the Dean on the position of the Faculty and real-time funding.

The Board NOTED that although the latest forecast figures were revised in November 2002 the real-time funding figures (minus the Asbestos charge) for January 2003 reflected the true position in relation to student numbers and other income. The vast majority of Departments had shown major improvements in their business plans and a significant growth was perceived in the Business School and Department of Economics. Part of the Departmental Strategic Planning Exercise currently underway was to ascertain the number of staff needed to support additional students and ensure that other resources were there to support this growth.

4. Applications for 2003

(SSH03-P2 + supplementary paper tabled)

The Board RECEIVED a report and a tabled supplementary paper from the AD(T) on University applications for the academic year 2003.

The Board NOTED that the undergraduate applications for 2003 were comparable to last year. LUSAD's figure was not an accurate reflection of actual applications since it did not follow the conventional application route. The overall position for the Faculty was a fall of less than 5% and Mr Howard Jones, Student Recruitment and Admissions Services, had been requested by EMG to provide an explanation of comparisons between Loughborough University and national application figures in all subject areas. The UCAS figures to date showed that Loughborough's mix of courses had perhaps been adversely affected by the increase in applications for Pre-Clinical Medicine, Pre-Clinical Dentistry, Nursing and Law none of which Loughborough offered.

The Vice-Chancellor had requested AD(T)s to work with Admissions Tutors to assess any areas of concern with respect to the quality and quantity of applicants.

The International Office taught postgraduate figures showed a100% increase. The Board welcomed the International Office's recognition of the North American market and would be following the extension of this activity with interest.

The Board AGREED that when approved intake quotas were confirmed they should be adhered to since departmental business plans would be significantly undermined if the Faculty had to change its quotas, late in the day, as a result of poor recruitment elsewhere.

5. Improving Standards in Postgraduate Research Degree Programmes

(SSH03 P2a - tabled supporting paper)

The Board RECEIVED and CONSIDERED the AD(R)'s tabled briefing paper that outlined the University stance with respect to the proposed core standards as defined in table 1.

A number of points were raised in discussion:

• It was felt that the HEFCE proposals could in practice, if not in intention, concentrate research students into large Departments to the detriment of smaller groups of researchers.
• The Board was concerned that there might be confusion as to whether some Departments should meet ESRC and/or HEFCE guidelines.
• The idea of dual supervision of students could be countered by Directors of Research, and was felt to impose an intimidating and unnecessary process on some students.
• The supervisory arrangements could also be seen to cause conflict with respect to authorship in the context of dual supervision.

The Board CONFIRMED that the Faculty had good procedures for their research students and that they should be vigorously defended/supported even if they did not exactly conform to the rather prescriptive minimum standards suggested by HEFCE. The Board AGREED that the Faculty's comments be reported to Dr Brigette Vale, Research Support Office.

6. The Government's White Paper 'The Future of Higher Education'

(SSH03-P3)

The Board RECEIVED and CONSIDERED the Government's White Paper on Higher Education.

The Board NOTED the following:

• The initiation of an Arts and Humanities Research Council was welcomed as was additional support for teaching and learning.
• The knowledge transfer section seemed confusing. Responses from Universities UK and other groups on the White Paper were contradictory.
• The Board felt the 6* rating of Departments was fraught with difficulty. There appeared to be no clear criteria for rewriting research selectivity and it was feared that research resources would be concentrated at the top end. This was, in the opinion of the Board, deemed not acceptable.
• There was no evidence to support the notion that the relationship, and its recognition, between teaching and research should be separated.
• The Board AGREED that the development funding for young researchers should not be confined entirely within Science and Engineering.
• It was not clear what exact impact the new fee structure would have on those doing Masters degrees but it was undeniable that another year of debt would exacerbate financial difficulties further.

The Board AGREED that the Government's White Paper was not advantageous to Higher Education in many respects. Loughborough University was successful in teaching, research and knowledge transfer. The Board hoped that the University's existing strategic plan would not be derailed as a result of the White Paper.

7. New Ethical Advisory Procedures

SSH03-P4

The Board NOTED a report on the new ethical advisory procedures as discussed at the last Senate meeting.

8. Curriculum Sub-Committee

8.1 New Programme Proposals

The Board NOTED that Curriculum Sub-Committee had recommended the following new programme proposals to Learning and Teaching Committee, subject to certain requirements being resolved to the satisfaction of the AD(T), prior to the meeting of Learning and Teaching Committee on 13 February 2003:

• MSc Globaliztion and World Cities
• MSc Globalization, Development and Difference
• MSc Financial Globalization

8.2 Major Changes

The Board NOTED that Curriculum Sub-Committee had recommended to Learning and Teaching Committee on 13 February 2003, with effect from 2003/04, major changes to the following programme:

• BA International Business

8.3 Discontinuation of Programmes

To note that Curriculum Sub-Committee had recommended to Learning and Teaching Committee on 13 February 2003 discontinuation of the following programme (proposed date of last intake shown in brackets):

• MBA Sport and Leisure Management (September 1999)

9. Associate Dean (Teaching) Actions

The Board NOTED the action of the Associate Dean (Teaching) in approving the following:

• Waivers of Programme Regulations
• Appointment of Programme Boards
• Credit Transfers
• Appointment of Examiners of the University
• Appointment of External Examiners/External Programme Assessors

Further details of the actions were available from the Faculty Board Secretary upon request.

10. Staff/Student Committees

The Board NOTED that reports of Staff/Student Committee meetings had been deposited with the Faculty Board Secretary as follows:

*11. Committee for the Co-ordination of Teacher Education (CCTE)

The Board NOTED that the Minutes of the Committee for the Coordination of Teacher Education were available on request from the Faculty Secretary.

*12. Senate

The Board NOTED that the Minutes of the 354th Ordinary Meeting of Senate held on 27 November 2002 were available on the University Web pages.

*13. Reports of Committees

To note that reports of the following Committees are available on the University web pages:

• Learning and Teaching Committee of 7 November 2002
• Curriculum Sub-Committee of 16 January 2003

The Board NOTED that degrees for programmes and research in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities would be awarded at four Degree Congregation Ceremonies on 10^th, 11^th, 14^th and 15^th July 2003.

15.1 Award of Research Degrees (tabled)

The Board CONFIRMED the award of research degrees as recommended by the examiners.

15.2 Security

The Board NOTED that care should be taken when current students were employed by the University with respect to access of office keys within their Departments.

• Tuesday 20 May 2003 pm