UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Board of Graduate Studies
Minutes of the Board of Graduate Studies meeting held on Thursday 1 May 2014
Present: Professor R Napier (Deputy Chair), Dr C Bilton, Ms J Cooper, Dr A Cristea,
Professor A Dowd, Ms L Gill, Professor G Hartshorne, Professor D Holt, Dr
J Kidd, Dr P Roberts, Dr J Vickery.
Apologies: Professor R Aldrich, Dr J Brassett, Ms S Cheng, Dr R Dias, Professor S
Gundle, Professor J Hayton, Professor J Palmowski, Mr S Parr, Dr J
Parkinson, Ms A Sandhu, Professor D Singh, Mr T Soykan, Professor D
Steinberg, Dr P Taylor, Mr A Thompson, Professor M Wills.
In attendance: Mr J Cartwright, Mrs R Dorrell, Mr A Higgins, Ms M Ovens, Mr D Pearson,
Mrs K Pollard, Mrs R Wooldridge Smith (for item 53/13-14).
50/13-14 Minutes of the last meeting
CONSIDERED:
The Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 18 February 2014.
RESOLVED:
That the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 18 February 2014 be approved.
51/13-14 Changes to Board Secretariat
REPORTED:
(a) That Mr Dan Pearson had resumed his role as Senior Assistant
Registrar (Graduate School) following a career break and would therefore assume the role of Secretary to the Board for future meetings;
(b) That the Board thanked Ms Maria Ovens for her contribution during her tenure as Secretary to the Board.
52/13-14 Matters arising on the minutes
(a) Confidentiality of examiners’ reports for research degree examinations (minute 43/13-14 referred)
CONSIDERED:
A paper outlining a revised proposal for a relaxation of the rules surrounding confidentiality of examiners’ reports (paper BGS 45/13-
14).
RESOLVED:
(i) That the Board was supportive of the proposal to make joint
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(ii) examiners ’ reports available to students, Directors of
Graduate Studies, Heads of Departments and supervisors, once the outcome of the examination process has been formally approved by the Chair of the relevant Graduate
Studies Committee;
Examiners should be asked to indicate their willingness for their independent reports to be shared, noting that in instances where an examiner objected to the student accessing these reports as standard the report could still be obtained by way of a Subject Access Request;
(iii) That joint reports be sent from the Graduate School in monthly batches to Directors of Graduate Studies for onward transmission to those listed in (i), unless an alternative departmental contact point is nominated for this purpose, noting that departments may wish to consider creating resource email accounts to which reports could be sent;
(iv) That the Graduate School coordinate requests from students for access to their examiners’ independent reports;
(v) That the Graduate School make appropriate changes to the independent and joint report forms to highlight to examiners the change in policy regarding confidentiality, and encourage examiners to provide feedback to students with a suitable level of detail via the joint report.
(b) Board of Graduate Studies Working Groups (minute 44/13-14 refers)
RECEIVED:
Oral reports from the Chairs of the Working Groups regarding progress made since the last meeting of the Board:
(i) Best Practice for PGR Training as related to teaching/selecting PGR tutors
REPORTED (by Dr A Cristea):
That a draft report on the Working G roup’s findings was in progress and would be presented to the Board in due course.
(ii) Best Practice for postgraduate student admissions
REPORTED (by Dr C Bilton):
That the Working Group was gathering key examples of good practice, rather than surveying the whole University, with a view to presenting its recommendations to the Board in due course.
(iii) Identifying improvements for part-time students
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53/13-14
REPORTED (by Dr J Kidd):
That the Working Group had established some action plans but further discussions would be required before its recommendations could be made available.
(iv) The Postgraduate Community
REPORTED (by Ms M Ovens on behalf of Professor J
Palmowski):
That communication concerning an enhanced induction programme for postgraduate students will commence during the summer term, noting that a fuller report will be available at the next meeting of the Board.
REPORTED (by Ms M Ovens):
That the recommendations of the Working Groups needed to be received and considered by the Board before the end of the academic year, in order to progress the action plan that was agreed following the QAA Institutional Review in March 2013.
Submission rates
CONSIDERED:
A paper from the Senior Assistant Registrar (Graduate School) outlining some analysis undertaken by HEFCE relating to our projected rates of qualification from research degrees, for potential publication in June 2014, and work undertaken within the University to address issues raised by the analysis (paper BGS 46/13-14).
REPORTED (by the Senior Assistant Registrar (Graduate School)):
(a) That
HEFCE’s projected rates of qualification for research students last year placed Warwick at the bottom of the Russell Group ranking, and that this year (based on the preliminary data that has been released ) our performance is likely to decline further, both in absolute terms and in relation to our sector-adjusted benchmark, raising a potential for reputational risk and an associated impact on student recruitment;
(b) Following a preliminary investigation which exposed issues with the validity of the HEFCE data, the University is seeking to suppress the data to allow for an investigation, noting the possibility that the current statistics may be driven by anomalous coding practices;
(c) That should it not be possible to suppress the data, the University will formulate a communication strategy to respond to its publication.
RESOLVED:
(d) That the Board supported the University’s decision to seek suppression of the HEFCE data pending further investigation;
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(e) That the paper be circulated to Faculty Graduate Studies
Committees, for information, noting that Faculty Boards and
Departments will be kept informed about the progress of the investigation and that departments may be consulted if the investigation requires a more detailed picture of student progression at a local level.
54/13-14 Change to standard PhD student registration
RECEIVED:
A paper from the Chair providing an update on the practical implications of the change to a four-year registration for PhD students (paper BGS 47/13-
14).
REPORTED:
That the Graduate School would be communicating with students during their third year of study to remind them of the University’s expectations that they submit at the end of the third year, with the fourth year being available as a writing-up period.
RESOLVED:
(a) That the Graduate School circulate a note of guidance to Directors of Graduate Studies for dissemination to all academic staff, reminding colleagues of the implications of the change to the registration period for PhD students;
(b) That Faculty Graduate Studies Committees report on the changes relating to managing thesis submissions at their next meetings.
55/13-14 PGR Scholarships Competition
RECEIVED:
A report from the Project Officer (Postgraduate Scholarships) on the outcome of the PGR Scholarships Competition (paper BGS 48/13-14).
REPORTED (by the Project Officer (Postgraduate Scholarships)):
(a) That a high quality of applications had been received for this year’s competition, with applicants achieving an overall average score of
4.72, an increase from 4.68 in 2012-13;
(b) That there had been one further decline since circulation of the report, bringing the total number of declines to 11;
(c) That two AHRC and two Wolfson awards in the Arts faculty had been match funded.
RESOLVED:
(d) That the Board supported the provision of Graduate School faculty
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56/13-14
57/13-14
58/13-14 scorer briefings as the most effective method of ensuring consistency in scoring across faculties, rather than seeking to introduce a formal moderation process, noting that all colleagues involved in scoring be encouraged to attend briefings for the next competition;
(e) That the Graduate School would consult with departmental representatives as to whether the current deadline by which students are required to accept or decline a scholarship offer
(currently four weeks) should be shortened for the next competition, recognising the advantages and disadvantages that could result.
Regulation clarification
CONSIDERED:
A paper from the Senior Assistant Registrar (Graduate School) clarifying how, it is proposed, Regulation 6 should be interpreted in the context of collaborative Doctoral Training Partnerships (paper BGS 49/13-14).
RESOLVED:
That the Board was supportive of the proposed interpretation of Regulation
6 in the context of collaborative Doctoral Training Partnerships, as set out in paper BGS 49/1-14.
Ethics approvals for research undertaken by postgraduate students
RECEIVED:
A paper from the Senior Assistant Registrar (Graduate School) summarising the mechanisms in place across the faculties for ensuring that research undertaken by postgraduate students is subject to appropriate ethical review (paper BGS 50/13-14).
REPORTED:
(a) That the Board thanked members for their assistance in gathering information regarding practices across the faculties, noting that the findings could form the basis for clearer guidance on procedures for students and supervisors;
(b) That once the Faculty of Social Sciences had provided information regarding its practices, all of the findings would be forwarded to the
University Research Ethics Committee for its consideration.
Chair’s Action
TO RECEIVE:
A report on items approved by the Chair on behalf of the Board (paper BGS
51/13-14), as follows:
(a) Faculty of Social Sciences
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(i) Warwick Business School
(A) Stand Up for Shakespeare 2: The Essentials of
Staging and Performing Shakespeare with Children and Young People
REPORTED:
(1) That the Chair of the Graduate Studies
Committee of the Board of the Faculty of
Social Sciences, acting on its behalf, has taken action to approve the proposal from
Warwick Business School to change the course title for the ‘Stand Up for
Shakespeare 2: The Essentials of Staging and Performing Shakespeare with Children and Young People’ course to ‘The Essentials of Teaching and Performing Shakespeare with Children and Young People ’;
(2) That the Chair of the Board, acting on its behalf, has subsequently taken action to approve this proposal.
(B) Warwick Business School Doctoral Programme
REPORTED:
(1) That the Chair of the Graduate Studies
Committee of the Board of the Faculty of
Social Sciences, acting on its behalf, has taken action to approve a proposal from
Warwick Business School to restructure their
Doctoral programme;
(2) That the Chair of the Board, acting on its behalf, has subsequently taken action to approve this proposal.
(ii) Centre for Professional Education
(A) Secondary Initial Teacher Education (PGCE/MA
Educational Innovation)
REPORTED:
(1) That the Chair of the Graduate Studies
Committee of the Board of the Faculty of
Social Sciences, acting on its behalf, has taken action to approve a proposal from the Centre for Professional Education to create additional route codes for the Secondary Initial Teacher
Education (PGCE/MA Educational Innovation) course for 2014-15;
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(2) That the Chair of the Board, acting on its behalf, has subsequently taken action to approve this proposal.
(B) Secondary Initial Teacher Education (PGCE/MA
Educational Innovation) Drama for Creative Learning
REPORTED:
(1) That the Chair of the Graduate Studies
Committee of the Board of the Faculty of
Social Sciences, acting on its behalf, has taken action to approve a proposal from the
Centre for Professional Education to rename the ‘Secondary Initial Teacher Education
(PGCE/MA Educational Innovation) Drama for
Creative Learning (X34Z) ’ route title to
‘(PGCE/MA Educational Innovation) Drama
(X34Z) ’;
(2) That Chair of the Board, acting on its behalf, has subsequently taken action to approve this proposal.
(iii) CEDAR
MPhil/PhD in Education and Psychology
REPORTED:
(A) That, at its meeting on 18 February 2014, the Board considered a proposal to introduce a new MPhil/PhD in Education and Psychology, as set out in
GFSS.34a-c/13-14, and resolved that the proposal be approved, subject to:
(i) Clarification regarding the market demand for the course, particularly how Warwick would be able to describe its unique selling points vis-avis comparable degrees;
(ii) Confirmation that CLL and the Centre for Education Studies have been consulted in terms of how this course would fit in with their offerings.
(B) That the relevant clarification has been received and the Chair of the Board, acting on its behalf, has subsequently taken action to approve the proposal to introduce a new MPhil/PhD in Education and
Psychology.
(iv) Centre for Lifelong Learning
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MPhil/ PhD in Adult Education and Lifelong Learning
REPORTED:
(A) That the Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee of the Board of the Faculty of Social Sciences, acting on its behalf, has taken action to approve a proposal from the Centre for Lifelong Learning to introduce a new MPhil/ PhD in Adult Education and
Lifelong Learning, as set out in GFSS.63a-c/13-14;
(B) That the Chair of the Board, acting on its behalf, has subsequently taken action to approve this proposal.
(b) Faculty of Arts
English & Literary Studies
MA in Global Shakespeare
REPORTED:
(i) That, at its meeting on 18 February 2014, the Board considered a proposal to introduce a new ‘MA in Global
Sha kespeare’, as set out in AGSC 6-10/13-14, and resolved that the proposal be approved, subject to the conditions set by the Graduate Studies Committee of the Board of the
Faculty of Arts;
(ii) That the conditions set by the Faculty have since been satisfied, and the Chair of the Board, acting on its behalf, has subsequently taken action to approve the proposal to introduce a new
‘MA in Global Shakespeare’.
(c) Faculty of Science
(i) Physics
MSc in Diamond Science and Technology
REPORTED:
(A) That, at its meeting on 21 November 2013, the Board considered a proposal from Physics to introduce a new collaborative course entitled ‘MSc in Diamond
Science and Technology’, as set out in paper
SGS.6/13-14, and resolved that the proposal be approved in principle, subject to:
(1) Receipt of satisfactory course specification;
(2) Satisfactory arrangements for monitoring delivery, given the unusually high proportion of non-Warwick staff involved; and receipt of
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their CVs;
(3) Confirmation of whether the MSc can be undertaken part time; and
(4) Approval of the Collaborative, Flexible and
Distributed Learning Sub-Committee.
(B) That the conditions set by the Board have since been satisfied, and the Chair of the Board, acting on its behalf, has subsequently taken action to approve the proposal to introduce a new collaborative course entitled ‘MSc in Diamond Science and Technology’.
(ii) Department of Statistics
PhD in Statistics: Oxford-Warwick Programme
REPORTED:
(A) That, at its meeting on 18 February 2014, the Board considered a proposal from the Department of
Statistics to introduce a new collaborative ‘PhD in
Statistics: Oxford-Warwick Programme ’, as set out in papers SGS.15(a, b & d)/13-14, and resolved that the proposal be approved in principle, subject to:
(1) The department addressing the issues raised in external review JNUMQ, in relation to quality and management as this relates to collaboration arrangements;
(2) Clarification of how 4 year submission rates can be ensured;
(3) Clarification of registration and progression arrangements for students on the course, in the light of new information about expectations concerning DTC collaborations with Oxford, presented under item 45/13-14
(b)(i) above.
(B) That clarification has been received and the Chair of the Board, acting on its behalf, has subsequently taken action to approve the proposal to introduce a new collaborative ‘PhD in Statistics: Oxford-Warwick
Programme ’.
(iii) Schools of Life Sciences/Engineering
PhD in Synthetic Biology
REPORTED:
(A) That, at its meeting on 18 February 2014, the Board
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considered a proposal from the Schools of Life
Sciences and Engineering to introduce a new collaborative ‘PhD in Synthetic Biology’, as set out in papers SGS.11(a-e)/13-14, and resolved that the proposal be approved in principle, subject to:
(1) Clarification of the administrative support that would be required to support the establishment of the programme;
(2) Clarification about the registration and progression arrangements for students on the course, noting that their right to access support services and facilities at each institution would need to be communicated clearly to students.
(B) That clarification has been received and the Chair of the Board, acting on its behalf, has subsequently taken action to approve the proposal to introduce a new collaborative ‘PhD in Synthetic Biology’.
(d) Faculty of Medicine
(i) MSc Leadership for Healthcare
REPORTED:
(A) That, at its meeting on 18 February 2014, the Board considered a proposal from Warwick Medical School to introduce a new ‘MSc Leadership for Healthcare’ course, as set out in GSCFM 15-16/13-14, and resolved that the proposal be approved, subject to:
(1) Clarification on the expected demand for the course, noting that similar courses are elsewhere funded through employers;
(2) Clarification of how the quality of teaching by part-time staff can be ensured.
(B) That clarification has been received and the Chair of the Board, acting on its behalf, has subsequently taken action to approve the proposal to introduce a new ‘MSc Leadership for Healthcare’ course.
(ii) MSc in Restorative Dentistry
REPORTED:
(A) That, at its meeting on 18 February 2014, the Board considered a proposal from Warwick Medical School to amend the course title for the ‘MSc in Restorative
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Dentistry ’ to the ‘MSc in Restorative and Aesthetic
Dentistry ’, as set out in GSCFM 18/13-14, and resolved that a decision be suspended pending further clarification of the motivations for changing the course title;
(B) That further clarification of the motivations for changing the course title has since been received and the Chair of the Board, acting on its behalf, has subsequently taken action to approve the proposal to amend the course title for the ‘MSc in Restorative
Dentistry ’ to the ‘MSc in Restorative and Aesthetic
Dentistry ’.
(iii) MSc Health Sciences
REPORTED:
(A) That, at its meeting on 18 February 2014, the Board considered a proposal from Warwick Medical School to amend the University’s Accreditation of Prior
Learning policy to enable students who have completed a non-medical prescribing course at Level
7 at another UK HEI to automatically be granted an exemption for a 20 CAT optional module on the MSc
Health Sciences, as set out in GSCFM 19/13-14, and resolved that the proposal be approved, subject to consultation with Teaching Quality regarding the proposal to allow automatic exemption for level 6 qualifications;
(B) That Teaching Quality has been consulted and the
Chair of the Board, acting on its behalf, has subsequently taken action to approve the proposal.
(e) Changes to Regulation 36
REPORTED:
(i) That, at its meeting on 9 October 2013, the Board of
Graduate Studies approved a proposal to amend the wording of Regulation 36 Governing Student Registration,
Attendance and Progress, relating to the provisions for the administration of Continuation of Registration Committees, as set out in paper BGS 21/13-14.
(ii) That the Board of Undergraduate Studies subsequently proposed an amendment to part of the revised wording, as follows, noting that proceedings under Regulation 36 will primarily be initiated by Heads of Department, rather than
Chairs of Boards of Examiners:
“The Continuation of Registration Appeals Committee may take evidence from the Head of Department (or his/her authorised deputy), other departmental representatives
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59/13-14
60/13-14
61/13-14
(including chairs of boards of examiners if relevant) and others as it deems appropriate. The Head of Department, or his/her authorised deputy, must be available when the case is being considered to advise the Committee on departmental procedures ”.
(iii) That the Chair of the Board, acting on its behalf, has subsequently taken action to approve this amendment to the wording.
Students’ Union Postgraduate Sabbatical Officer
REPORTED:
That Mr Andrew Thompson had been appointed as the new Postgraduate
Sabbatical Officer, noting that his appointment would officially commence from 1 September 2014.
University Strategy Consultation
REPORTED (by the Deputy Chair):
That the University had released a draft strategy consultation document and was inviting feedback on this between 29 April - 23 May 2014.
RESOLVED:
(a) That the following suggested changes to the strategy be recommended to the Chair of the Board:
(i) That the proposal in ‘Draft Goal One’ for the Graduate
School to champion the needs of postgraduate research students be widened to include postgraduate taught students, noting that this group of students is otherwise not represented;
(ii) That the provision relating to early career research staff in
‘Draft Goal Two’ be extended to explicitly include postgraduate students who teach;
(iii) That the commitment expressed in ‘Draft Goal Two’ relating to the development of opportunities provided by the
University be expressed in such a way that encapsulates all of the services the University offers, not just the Institute of
Advanced Study;
(iv) That the Board would welcome engagement relating to the commitment to refresh the model for developing the skills of staff and students expressed in ‘Draft Goal Four’.
(b) That members be encouraged to provide further feedback to the
Chair on the areas of the draft strategy touching upon postgraduate student provision.
Graduate School update
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REPORTED:
That the Deputy Chair would be taking on the role of Academic Director of the Graduate School on an interim basis, with responsibility for postgraduate student casework and appeals.
62/13-14 Next meeting
REPORTED:
That the next meeting of the Board is on Thursday 5 June 2014, 2pm, in
CMR 1.0.
Records & Finance/BGS/2013-14/2014.05.01/BGS MINUTES May 14
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