SENATE

 

 

	Shirley Pearce
Memis Acar	Gemma Godfrey	Mary Morley
Jo Aldridge	Peter Golding	Charles Oppenheim
David Allen	David Goss	Ken Parsons
Chris Backhouse	Keith Gregory	Gareth Pritchard
Anja Baumhoff	Harriet Gross	Peter Render
John Beaverstock	Neil Halliwell	Steve Rothberg
Morag Bell	Roger Haslam	Karen Roxborough
David Berry (ab)	Elaine Hobby	Paul Sobers
Stuart Biddle	Tony Hodgson	Dennis Smith
Jon Binner	Sarah Holloway (ab)	Tony Thorpe (ab)
Zoe Buckingham	Ray Jones	Rob Thring
Paul Chung (ab)	Terry Kavanagh	Yiannis Vardaxoglou
Sandra Dann	David Kerr (ab)	Richard Wakeman
Ian Davidson (ab)	Feo Kusmartsev	Peter Warwick
James Dearnley	Jeremy Leaman (ab)	David Whalley (ab)
Helen Drake (ab)	Chris Linton	Bryan Woodward
Clive Edwards (ab)	Julian Mackenzie (ab)	Martha Wőrshing (ab)
Maurice Fitzgerald	Peter  Maunder	Dominic Wring (ab)

 

In attendance:	Chris Dunbobbin
	Fidelma Hannah (for minute 06/128)
	Sir Charles McCullough
	Jennifer Nutkins
	John Town
	Peter Winter

 

Apologies for absence were received from: Dave Berry, Paul Chung, Helen Drake, Clive Edwards, Sarah Holloway, David Kerr, Julian Mackenzie, Tony Thorpe, David Whalley, Martha Wőrshing, Dominic Wring.

 

06/127   Minutes

 

It was resolved to confirm and sign the Minutes of the Ordinary meeting held on 25 October 2006 (SEN06-M9).

 

06/128   Draft Corporate Strategy

 

SEN06-P87

Senate received a revised draft of the Corporate Strategy for 2006-16, which had been amended to take account of comments from a wide range of committees (including the previous meeting of Senate), individual members of staff and external agencies. It was possible that further editing would be required to incorporate feedback from committees that had only recently met.  Thanks were given to Fidelma Hannah for her efforts in bringing together the many comments that had been received.

 

Senate welcomed the updated draft, and noted the following points for consideration in preparing the final version:

 

(a)   It was suggested that where possible, efforts should be made to avoid repetition, for example, by noting in the introduction that the Strategy was intended to be pursued within an international context, so that this could be referred to on fewer occasions in the remainder of the document.

 

(b)   Reference should be made to the changing way in which students would pay for higher education in the future, and the ways in which the University would respond to developments in this area.

 

(c)   The list of Core Values and Operating Principles under section 2 should refer to listening to staff, as well as students, alumni and partners.

 

Senate members were invited to submit any further comments to Fidelma Hannah.

 

06/129  Singapore Sports Initiative

 

SEN06-P88

 

06/130  Matters for Report by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise)

                                               

SEN06-P89

The new Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise) presented a report to Senate, and noted that his initial targets included an assessment of the team and structure needed to deliver an active, and holistic enterprise agenda across the University. This would involve developing strategies to fully exploit research and intellectual property within the institution, and to help foster an enterprise culture among staff and students. More detailed plans would follow shortly.

 

06/131   Matters for Report by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching)

 

131.1      Additional HEFCE capital funding for learning and teaching 2006/08.

The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching) reported that the University had been allocated an additional £961,461 of capital funding for learning and teaching from HEFCE, for the period up to March 2008. It had been agreed that this money would be spent on creating a network of informal learning spaces across campus, and Heads of Departments and DISS Directors had proposed locations within pool space or departments. Full details of the proposals were available in the papers for the meeting of Learning and Teaching Committee on 9 November 2006, but it was noted that the funding would allow improvements to be made to the appearance of a number of buildings, and would enhance the working environment for many staff and students.

 

06/132   Matters for Report by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research)

 

SEN06-P90 (tabled)

132.1      RAE 2008.

The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) noted the following, in the context of preparations for the RAE 2008:

 

(a)   Discussions were ongoing with the library and other support services to investigate means of supporting and strengthening the return.

 

(b)   Although the census deadlines were approaching, there was still time to undertake, promote and disseminate activities that would contribute to the return, and members were asked to note that funding of £52.5K for Rewarding and Developing staff was available to early career researchers. Further details could be obtained from AD(R)s.

 

(c)   Around £900K in studentship funding was available for new full-time Home/EU postgraduate research students.

 

               SEN06-P91 (tabled)

 

132.2      Other matters.

           

(a) Research Applications

Senate received data indicating that the average value of research applications submitted in the 1st quarter of 2006-07 was lower than the equivalent figure for the same period in the previous 2 years. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) was concerned to ensure that success rates in submitting applications for research funding were as high as possible, and would be initiating a review to minimise the amount of ‘wasted effort’ that occurred when applications were unsuccessful.

 

It was noted, in response to a question, that the requirement for full economic costs to be provided was likely to result in a smaller number of larger awards. However, it would be necessary to examine the application statistics for the first half of the year to determine whether this was becoming a trend.

 

(b) Research Outputs

The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) noted that in additional to statistics on research income, future reports would draw attention to the wide range of exciting and important research activities being undertaken across the University. A number of recent examples were described.

           

06/133   Matters for Report by the Vice-Chancellor

 

The Vice-Chancellor reported on the following matters:

 

(a)         Loughborough had been awarded the Times Higher Award for Best Student Experience, and the Vice-Chancellor congratulated everyone involved with the University for their role in this achievement. The award demonstrated the strength of collaboration between the University and the Students’ Union, and could not have been achieved without positive contributions from all sections of the University.

 

(b)         The University had responded to an invitation from an all party group in the House of Lords to contribute to its work on the maintenance of good relationships between Universities and their local communities. Loughborough Students Union, Allison Barlow, and the team of community wardens were thanked for their ongoing efforts in this area.

 

(c)         Loughborough was engaged with the Universities of Nottingham and Birmingham in a joint Midlands bid to host the Energy Technologies Institute. It was noted that even if the bid was unsuccessful, the process would raise the profile of the institutions involved, and put Loughborough in a position to take advantage of the research opportunities that arose from the establishment of the Institute.

 

(d)         Excellent work was being carried out by Computing Services, to establish a high quality wireless-network across the University. By early 2007, when a formal launch would take place, it would provide the best wireless coverage of any University in the region, and would allow students to access the University network in formal and informal areas across campus.

 

 

Author: C Dunbobbin

Date: November 2006

Copyright © Loughborough University. All rights reserved.