UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Equality and Diversity Committee
Minutes of the meeting held on 25 October 2012
Present:
Deputy Vice Chancellor (in the Chair), Mrs S Crookes, Ms K Fisher, Professor L
Green, Ms B Hay, Ms J Horsburgh, Mrs K Hughes, Rev. S Jennings, Mr S Lamb,
Ms R Roke, Mr N Shiers, Ms S Smart, Mr B Sundell, Professor A Szczepura,
Professor P Thomas, Mr S Williams
Apologies:
Dr S Burrows, Dr E Campbell, Professor A Dolan, Ms D Markham, Mrs C Martin,
Ms A Preston, Mr M Potter, Professor S Rai, Dr M Shewring
In Attendance: HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity (Assistant Secretary); HR Manager –
Equality and Diversity (Secretary)
01/12-13
Terms of Reference and Membership
(a) Terms of Reference
RECEIVED:
The Terms of Reference for the Equality and Diversity Committee for 2012/13 as
set out in paper EDC.01/12-13.
(b) Membership
RECEIVED:
The membership of the Committee for 2012/13 as set out in Paper EDC.02/1213.
REPORTED: (By the Deputy Vice-Chancellor)
That the Committee had a full membership and that new members were
welcomed to the meeting.
02/12-13
Minutes
RESOLVED:
That the minutes of the meeting of the Equality and Diversity Committee held on
22 May 2012 be approved.
03/12-13
Matters Arising
(a) Athena SWAN Charter
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REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity)
(i)
That WMG’s submission for Bronze Athena status had been unsuccessful
but that after further feedback from the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU),
WMG would be re-submitting for a Bronze award in November 2012.
(ii)
That the Department of Psychology had resubmitted for a Silver Athena
award, but had been awarded at Bronze level.
(iii)
That Warwick Medical School had held a workshop for other medical
schools aspiring to apply for an Athena award which had been attended
by 45 people across 22 institutions and had received excellent feedback.
RESOLVED:
That those colleagues involved in the organization of the event be thanked for
their contribution.
(b) Athena Steering Group
REPORTED: (By the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity)
(i)
(ii)
04/12-13
That the Athena Steering Group at its meeting on 7 August 2012 resolved
that the following STEM departments would be submitting for Athena
awards in November 2012;

Chemistry for a Gold award;

WMS for a Silver award and;

WMG, Engineering and Life Sciences for Bronze awards.
That the University would be submitting for an Athena Silver award in
April 2013.
Athena SWAN Annual Report
RECEIVED:
The 2011/12 Annual Athena SWAN Report (EDC.03/12-13)
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser - Equality and Diversity)
That an Athena Report would be produced annually to report on progress on
Athena initiatives across STEM departments and the wider University community.
RESOLVED:
That the 2011/12 Athena Swan Report be approved as set out in paper
EDC.03/12-13.
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05/12-13
Staff Statistics Report: Equality Monitoring 2011/12
CONSIDERED:
A paper containing key staffing statistics for the academic year 2011/12
(EDC.04/12-13).
RESOLVED:
(a) That an equity analysis will be carried out on the merit pay outcomes for
2011/12 and the results reported at the next meeting.
(b) That further analysis be undertaken on the key statistics within the workforce
profile to ascertain data accuracy and to identify areas for consideration by
the Equality and Diversity Committee at the next meeting.
06/12-13
Promotion and Probation
CONSIDERED:
A paper on academic promotions and probations for the academic year 2011/12
(EDC.05/12-13).
07/12-13
HESA Performance Indicators 2012: Participation of Students in Receipt of
Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA)
CONSIDERED:
A paper on HESA Performance Indicators 2012: Participation of students in
receipt of Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) (EDC.06/12-13).
REPORTED: (by the Senior Assistant Registrar – Teaching Quality)
(a) That the paper summarised data published with respect to the participation of
students in receipt of Disabled Student’s Allowance, along with relevant
application and enrolment data for 2011/12 academic year.
(b) That the data in the current report were limited, and could be considered as a
starting point, the view of the Equality and Diversity Committee was sought
as to which other data it would be useful to collect.
(c) That the view of the Committee be sought as to whether an annual report on
these data should be presented to the Equality and Diversity Committee.
(by the Disability Coordinator)
(d) That some students do not disclose at the beginning of their studies, but may
disclose at a later stage of their time at Warwick.
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(e) That it would benefit the work of Disability Services to have access to goodquality data that are updated throughout the student cycle, so that its service
can be better informed to meet student needs.
(by the Student Postgraduate Representative)
(f) That it would be beneficial to widen the data set, if practicable, to include data
on postgraduate students.
RESOLVED:
08/12-13
(a)
That the Disability Coordinator review and identify good practice on data
collection from other Universities.
(b)
That longitudinal tracking of undergraduate and postgraduate student
data through application, enrolment and completion stages be carried out
and that the data be presented for consideration by the Equality and
Diversity Committee annually.
Equality and Diversity Network
RECEIVED:
A copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Equality and Diversity Network
meeting held on 9 October 2012 (EDC 07/12-13).
REPORTED: (By the Chair of the Equality and Diversity Network)
(a) That the meeting had been very well attended with some interesting
discussions on projects and issues, such as the proposal for a Warwick
Diversity Calendar, as well as an update on Athena work.
(b) That the Network were pleased to see an increased uptake of Equality and
Diversity training, which helps to raise the profile of E&D in the wider
university community.
(c) That the Mental Health Coordinator had commenced staff training in Mental
Health First Aid, with the next course running in November 2012.
(by the Director of HR)
(d) That it should also be noted that staff involved with the selection of staff for
submission to the REF 2014, or involved in REF Special Circumstances
Groups or REF Appeals Panel would receive Equality and Diversity training
tailored to the University’s Code of Practice.
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RESOLVED:
That a report on progress of REF Code of Practice training be presented at the
next meeting of the Equality and Diversity Committee.
09/12-13
Equality and Diversity Training
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity)
(a) That over 175 members of staff had received face to face E&D training over
the last year, with another 30 people already signed up for the next course in
December 2012.
(b) That due to the increase in staff usage of the on-line module ‘Diversity in the
Workplace,’ the University would be purchasing an unlimited license for the
module.
RESOLVED:
(a) That Equality and Diversity representatives encourage their respective
departments to utilise the on-line module as part of their induction process to
support staff awareness of Equality and Diversity.
(b) That the Governance team ask Investigating Officers and other relevant
senior staff involved in student complaints to take the on-line diversity
module.
10/12-13
Staff Network Groups
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity)
(a) That an LGBT Staff Network Group had been established and will hold its first
meeting during the Autumn Term.
(b) That the Network hoped to link with Coventry University LGBT group to share
social events.
(c) That the Returning Parents Network continued to meet on a monthly basis
and is generally well attended with work continuing with HR to compile
checklists to assist with the transition of the employee going on and returning
from maternity/adoption leave.
11/12-13
Stonewall
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity)
(a) That the University had become a Stonewall Champion, which is Britain’s
good practice employers’ forum on sexual orientation.
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(b) That the University had made a submission against the Stonewall Workplace
Equality Index, the results of which would be known in January 2013.
RESOLVED:
That the results and feedback on the Stonewall submission be reported to the
Equality and Diversity Committee at the next meeting in February 2013.
12/12-13
Title Changes on Student Database
RECEIVED:
A paper on proposed changes to required information on the University student
database. (EDC.08/12-13).
REPORTED: (by the Student Postgraduate Representative)
(a) That students’ wishing to change their title on the University student record
system currently had to provide evidence to support the change with no
provision in place for students who do not wish to have a title associated to
their record, it being noted that this may affect people who would not wish to
have a gender-biased honorific.
(b) That it would be helpful to understand whether an external requirement for
title information (in terms of HESA recording) existed and if so, whether there
was an explicit list of titles.
RESOLVED:
That this issue be discussed with the Academic Office and a fuller response to be
considered at the next meeting of the Equality and Diversity Committee.
13/12-13
Departmental Disability Contacts and Accessibility of Buildings
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser - Equality and Diversity)
(a) That the list of departmental disability contacts was currently being up-dated.
(b) The Health and Safety Office were seeking over the next year to start to
capture information about the accessibility of University premises, to ensure
that persons with disabilities can self-evacuate or can be safely evacuated in
the event of an emergency.
(c) That this project would form part of the in-house version of the Disability
Access project which had been discussed at the Equality and Diversity
Committee meeting of 22 May 2012 (Minute 44/11-12 refers).
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RESOLVED:
(a) The Students’ Union Welfare and Campaigns Officer be involved in assisting
with regard to the Students’ Union buildings.
(b) That an up-date on this project would be received by the Equality and
Diversity Committee at its next meeting.
14/12-13
Any Other Business
a) Student support
REPORTED: (by the Students’ Union Welfare and Campaigns Officer)
(i)
That the Students Union had been organising fortnightly coffee mornings
for students who have parental responsibilities with the initial response to
this initiative reported as having been positive.
(ii)
That Warwickshire Young Carers’ Association had started a drop in
service in the Students’ Union to offer advice and support for students
who are young carers.
(by the Disability Coordinator)
(iii)
That Disability Services were liaising with the Students’ Union to support
the Union to provide a peer student support group for students with
disabilities.
(by the Head of Counselling Services)
(iii)
That the Counselling Service would be offering counselling sessions for
LGBT students who have not yet disclosed their sexuality.
(by the Deputy Vice Chancellor)
(v)
That the Students’ Union and Student Support Services be thanked for
initiating these support mechanisms for students.
RESOLVED:
That the above initiatives were noted as important in terms of supporting the
University’s widening participation agenda and that Professor Christina Hughes
should be notified of the services available to students.
b) Staff support
REPORTED: (By Professor A Szczepura)
That it would be helpful to understand what support is offered to new appointees
and their families, especially those arriving from overseas.
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RESOLVED:
That the possibility of including information on the Newcomers Group in staff
appointment packs would be investigated by the HR Adviser - Equality and
Diversity with departments being asked to also include this information in their
induction material.
c) Dyslexia Tutor
REPORTED: (by the Disability Coordinator)
That a vacancy for a Dyslexia Tutor would be re-advertised shortly.
15/12-13
Date of Next Meetings
REPORTED:
That the next meeting of the Equality and Diversity Committee would be held on
Tuesday 5 February 2013 at 10:30 a.m. in the Council Chamber, University
House.
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