Learning and Teaching Committee

Curriculum Sub-Committee

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Minutes of the Meeting of the Sub-Committee held on Thursday 18 October 2007

Membership: Professor Simon Austin (Chair) (ab), Professor Morag Bell, Dr Paul Byrne,

Professor John Dickens (Acting Chair), Sophie Driscoll, Professor Roy Faulkner (ab), Dr Martin Harrison, Dr Jane Horner, Phil Sawdon, Jan Tennant

By invitation: Dr Iain Phillips, Helen Jacques

In attendance: Dr Jennie Elliott

Apologies for Absence were received from Professor Austin and Professor Faulkner

07/22 Minutes

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The minutes of the meeting held on 10 May 2007 were confirmed.

07/23 Matters Arising from the Minutes

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.1 It was noted that all recommendations to Learning and Teaching Committee, and subsequently to Senate where appropriate, had been approved, and the relevant minute of Senate was noted.

.2 Minute 07/12 – External Input to Programme Approval

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(a) The revised new programme proposal form and guidance were noted.

(b) The following statement in the Code of Practice for External Examining for Taught Undergraduate and Postgraduate Programmes was noted:

External Examiners may be asked from time to time to comment on new programme developments. The University’s approval procedure requires departments to obtain an external view which may be from within the HE sector or from an industry/employer perspective.

.3 Minute 07/13 – MA English: New Programme Proposal

(a) The revised Curriculum Map, included in CSC07-P27 above, was noted.

(b) It was noted that the Sub-Committee’s request that all assessment contributing to a module mark should be summative and not formative had been withdrawn.

.4 Minute 07/15.2 – Changes to Programme Titles

It was noted that the following title change had been agreed by Chair’s action with immediate effect:

PGCert Mathematics Support for Students with Dyslexia and Dyscalculia in HE/FE

to PGCert Mathematics Support and Dyslexia/Dyscalculia in HE/FE.

.5 Minute 07/20.1 – Annual Update of Module Specifications and Programme
Regulations/ Specifications

It was noted that Departmental Administrators had been expressing concern over the volume of work related to this and other activities over the summer period, particularly in relation to the requirement to revise the programme structure section of Programme Specifications. Further information would come forward to the next meeting for discussion.

07/24 Terms of Reference and Membership

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.1 The Sub-Committee considered its Terms of Reference to reflect on:

- whether they remained fit for purpose

- members’ responsibilities

Some rewording of para 2 was proposed and it was suggested that an overview of where the Sub-Committee was placed in the programme approval process would be helpful. It was AGREED that the exact wording of changes be confirmed off-line for recommendation to Learning and Teaching Committee.

Secretary’s note: The revised Terms of Reference are attached to these minutes.

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.2 The Sub-Committee noted its membership for 2007-08, and the Chair’s action in approving the addition of the Head of Academic Practice and Enhancement, Professional Development, as a member.

07/25 FdEng Foundation Degree programme in Fundamentals of Powertrain Engineering: New Programme Proposals

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Dr Paul Byrne took the chair for this item, in view of the involvement of the Acting Chair in the proposal.

The Sub-Committee considered proposals from Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering for a full-time, work-based Foundation Degree (FdEng) programme with the Ford Motor Company, with effect from January 2008. The proposal would be a new development for the University, as its only involvement to date with Foundation Degrees was as validator of local FE provision. The background to the proposal was outlined. It was designed to address current government policy for greater employer engagement with Higher Education Institutions, aligning with the University’s strategy of industry-linked teaching, and could be seen as a pilot for future such collaboration with other employers. Whilst many issues in terms of setting up the programmes had been identified in the short term, the strategic value and long-term benefits of the developments, such as the incorporation of the learning materials into other undergraduate programmes, were considered to far outweigh these. There was no intention to articulate Foundation Degree graduates onto the third year of a Bachelor’s programme. A bid to HEFCE for significant development funding was in hand, which would include an element to cover the administrative costs that would be incurred in adapting current documents and procedures to accommodate the different rules and flexibility that would be required to run a programme of this kind, and provision for regular monitoring and evaluation of the programme.

It was emphasised that the programme would not progress unless the bid to HEFCE was successful and a subsequent satisfactory outcome was achieved for the validation of the Ford-taught teaching at the Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence (CEME) and Thames Gateway College. Some issues identified in an initial visit would be scrutinised during the validation process. The Sub-Committee was assured that University staff had already selected only the most appropriate learning materials from Ford, that University staff would ensure that all those teaching on the programme would have suitable qualifications and experience, with appropriate mentoring where necessary, that all assessment would be the responsibility of the University, that the engCETL was overviewing the learning material, and that provision was in hand for tutorial support for students.

The Sub-Committee considered the draft Programme Regulations and Module Specifications, noting that provision would need to be made in general regulations to prescribe for the different requirements of Foundation Degrees. A number of issues were presented that would need to be resolved before the general regulations could be drafted. It was noted that module codes needed further thought to ensure that they were appropriate and distinct.

The Sub-Committee congratulated the proposers on the quality of the documentation to date. It was AGREED to recommend the proposals to Learning and Teaching Committee, subject to:

(i) a successful funding bid to HEFCE and a satisfactory validation outcome

Programme Regulations

(ii) exploration of the possibility of referring to ‘Level’ rather than ‘Part’

(iii) para 1.3: reference to full-time, work-based and DL

(iv) para 3.2: Rephrasing to avoid use of ‘Special Assessment Period’

Programme Specification

(v) References to ‘Ford’ to be changed to ‘employer(s)’

(vi) Approval of revised drafts of Programme Regulations, Programme Specification and Module Specifications by the Chair of the Sub-Committee prior to the programme’s commencement.

ACTION: JGD, JLH, SAA, JEME

07/26 Conversion of MSc Management (Professional) to MBA

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The Sub-Committee considered proposals from the Business School to extend the existing MBA regulation, whereby holders of the PG Diploma in Management (Professional) can convert this to 60 credits exemption towards the MBA, to permit holders of the MSc Management.(Professional) to convert this to 90 credits exemption towards the MBA. Members were sympathetic to what was being proposed and were supportive in principle, but were concerned that the documentation did not provide sufficient information as to the basis of the credit transfer, bearing in mind that this would account for 50% of the MBA award. It was suggested that rather than a blanket transfer of 90 credits it would be better for credit to be exempted on an individual basis, on the basis of MBA ILOs already covered in the MSc. The Curriculum Map for the MSc programme was felt to be too densely populated to be of value in this respect, partly due to the large number of optional modules, and needed to be more clearly presented with the optional modules grouped according to common ILOs.

The Sub-Committee acknowledged the University’s requirement that students opting for an alternative qualification should relinquish their original award to avoid ‘double counting’, but felt this to be a grey area in terms of how this was achieved for students returning to the University after some time, or bringing their award from another institution. It was nevertheless clear that students could not be required to relinquish their original award until their subsequent award had been confirmed.

It was AGREED that the proposers be asked to resubmit the proposals, making a more convincing case as to the basis of the credit exemption and whether this was based on specific ILOs or more general prior learning.

ACTION: PLB, JEME

07/27 Changes to Programme Titles/Awards

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.1 It was AGREED to ratify the action of the Chair in recommending to the Chair of Learning and Teaching Committee the following programme title changes (effective date shown in brackets):

MSc, PGDip, PGCert Management (Higher Education Administration) to

MSc, PGDip, PGCert Management and Leadership (Higher Education Administration) (September 2007 entry)

MSc, PGDip, PGCert Management (NG Bailey) to

MSc, PGDip, PGCert Management and Leadership (NG Bailey)

(September 2007 entry)

MSc, PGDip, PGCert Management (Thomas Cook) to

MSc, PGDip, PGCert Management and Leadership (Thomas Cook)

(September 2007 entry)

MSc, PGDip, PGCert Management (Professional) to

MSc, PGDip, PGCert Management and Leadership (Professional)

(September 2007entry)

PGCert Management (British Printing Industries Federation) to

PGCert Management and Leadership (Print and Packaging)

(September 2007 entry)

PGCert Management (Federation of Sports and Play Associates ) to

PGCert Management and Leadership (Federation of Sports and Play Associations)

(September 2007 entry)

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.2 It was AGREED to recommend to Learning and Teaching Committee the following programme title change (effective date shown in brackets):

BSc Retail Management to

BSc Retailing, Marketing and Management (October 2009 entry)

ACTION: JEME

07/28 Discontinuation of Programmes

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It was AGREED to ratify the action of the Chair in recommending to the Chair of Learning and Teaching Committee discontinuation of the following programmes (proposed date of last intake shown in brackets):

MSc Risk and Reliability Methods (October 2004)

MSc, PGDip, PGCert Management (Professional) – (FKI) (2001-02)

07/29 Dates of Future Meetings in 2007/2008

Thursday 17 January 2008 (am)

Thursday 8 May 2008 (am)

Date of subsequent ‘if required’ meeting prior to Learning and Teaching Committee on 5 June 2008 to be determined.

Author – Jennie Elliott

Date – October 2007