UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Equality and Diversity Committee
Minutes of the meeting held on 24 October 2013
Present:
Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education (Innovation, Employability and
Widening Participation) (in the Chair), Dr E Campbell, Ms K Fisher,
Rev. S Jennings, Mrs C Martin, Mrs G McGrattan, Mr M Mik, Mr M
Potter, Dr N Rabbani, Ms R Roke, Mr N Shiers, Ms S Smart, Ms C
Turhan, Mr D Wallis, Mr S Williams
Apologies:
Dr S Burrows, Ms B Hay, Mr S Lamb, Ms D Markham, Dr M Shewring,
Professor PA Thomas
In Attendance:
01/13-14
Mrs S Beaufoy - HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity (Assistant
Secretary); Mrs L Walls - HR Manager – Administration (Equality
and Diversity) (Secretary)
Terms of Reference and Membership
(a) Terms of Reference
RECEIVED:
The Terms of Reference for the Equality and Diversity Committee for
2013/14 as set out in paper EDC.01/13-14.
RESOLVED:
That for future meetings agendum items would be split between above
and below the line, so that items of importance can be discussed in
more detail.
(b) Membership
RECEIVED:
The membership of the Committee for 2013/14 as set out in Paper
EDC.02/13-14.
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
That there had been a number of changes in membership and that
new members were welcomed to the meeting.
(c) Conflicts of Interest
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
That, should any members or attendees of the Equality and Diversity
Committee have any conflicts of interest relating to agenda items for
the meeting, they should be declared at the beginning of the meeting.
1
RESOLVED:
That no conflicts of interest be recorded.
02/13-14
Minutes
RESOLVED:
That the minutes of the meeting of the Equality and Diversity
Committee held on 17 May 2013 be approved.
03/13-14
Matters Arising
(a) Athena SWAN Charter
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity)
(i)
That the University had become the fourth institution to achieve
Silver Athena SWAN status for its work supporting the Charter
for Women in STEMM.
(ii)
That the Institute of Mathematics, the Department of Statistics
and WMG have been awarded Bronze Athena awards.
(iii)
That the Department of Computer Science had not achieved an
award but will be re-submitting in April 2014.
(b) Proposed Charter Mark for Gender Equality (GEM)
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity)
04/13-14
(i)
That the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) is currently piloting a
Gender Equality Charter Mark (GEM) for advancing women’s
academic careers in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
(ii)
That GEM will utilise the experience and methodology of the
Athena SWAN Charter.
(iii)
That the Athena SWAN Charter will continue to operate as it
currently stands, with a view to bringing it together with GEM in
the future.
(iv)
That WBS have been selected to take part in the pilot of the
scheme, with a view to submitting for an award in April 2014.
(v)
That GEM will be launched to other institutions and
departments in October 2014. Only institutions without Athena
awards can apply at institutional level.
Athena SWAN Annual Report (EDC Paper 03/13-14)
RECEIVED:
The 2012/13 Annual Athena SWAN Report.
2
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser - Equality and Diversity)
That the Athena Report 2012/13 details progress on Athena initiatives
across STEM departments and the wider University community.
RESOLVED:
That the 2012/13 Athena Swan Report be approved as set out in
paper EDC.03/13-14.
05/13-14
Staff Statistics Report: Equality Monitoring 2012/13 (EDC Paper
04/13-14)
CONSIDERED:
A paper containing key staffing statistics for the academic year
2012/13.
REPORTED: (by the HR Manager – Equality and Diversity)
(i)
That in previous years, key workforce profile statistics and
recruitment data have been reported separately, but had now
been incorporated into one report.
(ii)
That there has been a slight increase in staff choosing not to
disclose against protected characteristics, and this will be
addressed as part of the annual data cleansing exercise.
RESOLVED:
That an informative statement on data collection be communicated to
staff at the start of the data cleansing exercise.
06/13-14
Promotion and Probation (EDC Paper 05/13-14)
CONSIDERED:
A paper on academic promotions and probations for the academic
year 2012/13.
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
That the Teaching promotion criteria framework has recently been
changed in line with HEA guidelines and is now more evidence based.
RESOLVED:
(i)
That for future reports, it would be useful to have qualitative
and historical data to assist with trend analysis.
(ii)
That the possibility of obtaining comparable promotion
/regrading data for non-academic staff be investigated.
3
07/13-14
Equity Analysis on Merit Pay 2012/13
REPORTED: (by the HR Director)
That the analysis of merit pay data by protected characteristics had
not yet been completed.
RESOLVED:
That the Reward Manager present a summary report at the next
meeting of the Equality and Diversity Committee.
08/13-14
Review of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) – Report of the
Independent Steering Group (EDC Paper 06/13-14)
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity)
(i) That the Independent Steering Group had recommended that it is
too early to make a final judgement about the impact of the Public
Sector Equality Duty, since it was only introduced in April 2011.
(ii) The Government propose to conduct a full evaluation of the PSED
in 2016, when the duty will have been in force for five years.
09/13-14
The Public Sector Equality Duty and Equality Impact Assessments
(EDC Paper 07/13-14)
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity)
(i)
That the Equality Act 2010 does not require public authorities to
carry out EIAs, however public bodies do have to demonstrate
that they have paid ‘due regard’ to their equality objectives.
(ii) EIAs are a useful and effective tool in assisting HEIs to
demonstrate such due regard.
(iii) That the University has an online equality analysis package that
should be used for policies with strategic significance.
RESOLVED:
That information be provided with the Equality Analysis package to
help managers determine what policies should be considered as
strategic and warrant an analysis.
10/13-14
The Equality Act 2010 – Third Party Harassment Provisions Repealed
(EDC Paper 08/13-14)
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity)
That from 1 October 2013 the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act
2013 has abolished the third party harassment provisions of the
Equality Act 2010.
RESOLVED:
4
11/13-14
(i)
That even though the third party harassment provisions have
been abolished, University staff and students must ensure that
appropriate action is taken to examine any alleged claim of
harassment.
(ii)
That the Review of the Dignity at Work and Study Policy
reinforce this statement.
Gender Neutral Toilets (EDC Paper 09/13-14)
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity)
(i)
That staff and students have been consulted on the provision
of suitable ‘gender-neutral’ toilet facilities by re-signing
disabled toilets to accessible toilets on campus.
(ii)
That a very mixed reaction had been received, with some
disabled staff expressing extreme concern that this will
encourage increased usage of the facilities, to their detriment.
RESOLVED:
12/13-14
(i)
That the Estates Office be provided with the Students Union
Audit on disabled toilet facilities
(ii)
That the Estates Office be asked to cost the conversion of 1
toilet facility in each building into gender neutral toilets.
(iii)
That this matter be passed to the Buildings Committee for
further consideration.
(iv)
That progress on this item be communicated to the Students
Union.
Two Ticks Disability Scheme (EDC Paper 10/13-14)
REPORTED: (by the HR Manager – Equality and Diversity)
(i)
That a member of staff with a disclosed disability had
requested that the Equality and Diversity Committee consider
supporting the Two Ticks Scheme.
(ii)
That the University had considered the Scheme about 6 years
ago and had taken the decision not to implement the scheme
at Warwick.
(iii)
That the existing recruitment and selection process was seen
as fit for purpose and that candidates were selected on merit.
RESOLVED:
That the University does not participate in the Two Ticks Scheme.
5
13/13-14
HESA Data Collection
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser, Equality and Diversity)
(a) Collection of ‘Religion and Belief’ and ‘Sexual Orientation’ data for
staff and students
(b)
(i)
That data collection on ‘Religion and Belief’ and ‘Sexual
Orientation’ had begun to be collected for newly appointed
staff.
(ii)
That this data collection will be introduced for existing staff as
part of the data cleansing exercise scheduled for December
2013.
(iii)
That the points raised by the Chaplaincy and Students Union
on terminology and clarification on what the data will be used
for have been taken into account in the implementation of this
data collection.
(iv)
That it is anticipated that this data will be collected for students
from next year.
Request for additional information on faith to be added to the
student enrolment form.
That the Chaplaincy has requested that an additional sentence be
added to the student enrolment form to ascertain if the student
would be interested in receiving further information on the
Chaplaincy.
RESOLVED:
That this request be approved if operationally viable.
14/13-14 Widening Participation and Student Recruitment
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
(i) That Warwick has four target areas in which to attract applicants: state
schools, students from low socioeconomic backgrounds; mature
students and students from low participation neighbourhoods (LPN).
(ii) That early data indicates that Warwick has exceeded the targets for
state schools and LPN. Data for socio economic group will not be
known until late November. The target for mature students has not
been met. Whilst this reflects the national position, work is continuing
within the University with a view to remedying the situation.
(iii) That a National Strategy for Widening Participation will be announced
later in October 2013.
(iv)That the Centre for Lifelong Learning (CLL) has a range of part time
courses that particularly attract mature students.
6
REPORTED: (by N Shiers)
(v) That the Students’ Union is possibly setting up a Society for mature
students.
REPORTED: (by Rev. S Jennings)
(vi) That it be noted that it is very commendable that Warwick still has
CLL, which is of particular importance to a range of students who
study part-time as well as mature students and those with disabilities.
15/13-14 HESA Performance Indicators 2012: Participation of Students in Receipt
of Disabled Students’ Allowance
(a) Clarification of Points from Minute 32/12-13
REPORTED: (by the Disability Coordinator)
(i) That a bid for resources had been turned down for a data
management system and therefore there were limited resources
available to collect data on completion/non completion rates for
disabled students.
(ii) That an Annual Disability Report on support offered to students will be
produced.
(iii) That mechanisms are already in place for students with disabilities to
be able to temporarily withdraw from their course of study.
(b) Residential pre-induction course for disabled students
REPORTED: (by the Disability Coordinator)
(i) That a pilot of an early arrival programme had been undertaken for
students with social communication impairments.
(ii) Seven students had taken part in the programme and feedback from
both students and parents had been very good.
(iii) It is hoped next year to extend the programme to students with visual
impairments and mobility issues.
(iv) Extension of the programme will depend on the availability of
accommodation.
REPORTED: (by C Martin)
(v) That it would be extremely helpful if academic departments could
receive lists of disabled students in their departments prior to the
start of term.
7
RESOLVED:
That Andrew Higgins in Student Admissions, be sent a copy of this
minute for comment.
16/13-14
Disability Interest Group (EDC Paper 11/13-14)
REPORTED: (by the Disability Coordinator)
(i)
That the Disability Interest Group held in June 2013 had been very
well attended.
(ii) That a Windows on Warwick session on Dyslexia and Dyspraxia had
been well attended and that it was hoped to put on further sessions.
(iii) That Disability Services would be contributing to awareness events,
such as the University Disability Awareness Day and Deaf
Awareness week.
17/13-14
Equality and Diversity Network (EDC Paper 12/13-14)
RECEIVED:
A copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Equality and Diversity
Network held on 7 October 2013.
REPORTED: (by the Chair of the Equality and Diversity Network)
(a) That the Equality and Diversity Network wishes to highlight three
areas for the Committee to discuss:
(i) Dignity at Work and Study Policy and role of Dignity Contacts.
That awareness needs to be raised with regard to the policy
and the role and responsibility of the Dignity Contacts and that
there is an even balance of dignity contacts across staff
categories.
RESOLVED:
That the HR Adviser, Equality and Diversity investigates the role of
dignity contacts in other universities, with a view to ascertaining if
there is a tried and tested model to follow
(ii) Recruitment and Selection e-learning module
That the Network thought it should be made compulsory for
staff involved in recruitment to take the recruitment and
selection e-learning module.
That Chairs of Panels should ensure that panel members have
undertaken the training prior to panels meeting.
8
That this mandate be introduced with specific timeframe
targets.
RESOLVED:
That the HR Adviser, Equality and Diversity prepares a short briefing
paper for the next meeting of the Equality and Diversity Committee on
Recruitment and Selection training.
(iii)
The Chaplaincy Review
That a review of the Chaplaincy and Faith Provision was
undertaken in November 2012.
That the review panel had commended the overall excellence
of the Chaplaincy.
A theme of the review report was Religious Literacy and the
Chaplaincy were reviewing ways to engage with staff and
students to raise awareness of this.
18/13-14 Title Changes on Student Database (Minute 12/12-13 refers)
This item will be taken to the next meeting of the Equality and Diversity
Committee.
19/12-13 Equality and Diversity Training
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity)
(a) That staff participation rates in the face to face and on-line Equality
and Diversity training was good.
(b) That staff should be encouraged to take two e-learning modules,
‘Diversity in the Workplace’ and ‘Recruitment and Selection’.
20/13-14 Any Other Business
There were no items of other business.
21/13-14
Date of Next Meeting
TO REPORT:
That the date of the next meeting of the Equality and Diversity Committee
will be 4 February 2014 in CMR1.0.
9