UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Equality and Diversity Committee
Minutes of the meeting held on 12 th February 2013
Present: Deputy Vice Chancellor (in the Chair), Dr S Burrows, Mrs S Crookes,
Ms K Fisher, Mrs K Hughes, Mrs C Martin, Mr M Potter, Ms R Roke,
Mr N Shiers, Ms S Smart
Apologies: Dr E Campbell, Professor A Dolan, Professor L Green, Ms B Hay, Ms
J Horsburgh, Rev. S Jennings, Mr S Lamb, Ms D Markham, Ms A
Preston, Professor S Rai, Dr M Shewring, Mr B Sundell, Professor A
Szczepura, Professor PA Thomas, Mr S Williams
In Attendance: HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity (Assistant Secretary); HR
Manager – Administration (Equality and Diversity) (Secretary);
P Bridger, Reward Manager; C Mayfield, Fire Safety Adviser
Minutes 16/12-13
RESOLVED:
That the minutes of the Equality and Diversity Committee held on 25
October 2012 be approved subject to amending item 09/12-13 (b) to state that responsibility for this now rests with the Director of Delivery
Assurance.
17/12-13 Matters Arising
(a) Athena Steering Group
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser
– Equality and Diversity)
(i) That Chemistry submitted for a Gold award; WMS for a Silver award; Engineering, Life Sciences and WMG for Bronze awards and the outcome will be known in April 2013.
(ii) That the University will be submitting for an Athena Silver award in
April 2013.
(b) New staff support
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity)
That all appointment letters to new staff include a link to the University
Induction webpage which contains information pertinent to new starters. In addition, Academic and Research staff are notified of the
New Comers & Visitors Group.
HESA Performance Indicators 2012: Participation of Students in
Receipt of Disabled Students’ Allowance
18/12-13
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19/12-13
CONSIDERED:
A report from the University Disability Coordinator on support offered to students in receipt of disabled students’ allowance (DSA) benchmarked against good practice at other Universities (EDC Paper
09/12-13).
REPORTED: (by the University Disability Coordinator)
(a) That it would be beneficial to some disabled students, especially those with Asperger’s Syndrome or other forms of autism, to attend a residential pre-induction course (post results) to help with their transition into the University.
(by the Chair of the Equality and Diversity Committee)
(b) That the University had recently been approached by an alumni student wishing to use University facilities and it would be useful if this information was readily available.
RESOLVED:
(i) That in conjunction with the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education
(Innovation, Employability and Widening Participation), an investigation into non-completion rates for disabled students be undertaken and an update given on the analysis of the data at the next meeting of the Equality and Diversity Committee.
(ii) That the Equality and Diversity Committee in principle supports the idea of a residential pre-induction course for disabled students and requests that the University Disability Coordinator investigates the required resources and reports back to the next meeting.
(iii) That the Disability Coordinator liaises with the Alumni Office to investigate what processes are in place for alumni students to use
University facilities and to give a brief update at the next meeting.
(iv) Disability Services were thanked by the Department of Chemistry for the support offered to their disabled students.
Recruitment
CONSIDERED:
A proposal by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education (Innovation,
Employability and Widening Participation) that recruitment is placed as a standing item on the EDC agenda to give tangible recognition that issues of equality and diversity are mainstreamed to the recruitment policies in order that the University can robustly demonstrate its commitment to equality and diversity on returns to HEFCE, OFFA, etc.
RESOLVED:
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That this was a key area and at the next meeting of the Equality and
Diversity Committee, the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education
(innovation, Employability and Widening Participation) highlight areas for discussion with a view to identifying strategic equality priorities in student recruitment.
20/12-13 Equality and Diversity Training
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity)
(a) New Training Dates
That the Equality and Diversity training provided by Actuate continues to receive excellent feedback. Three more training dates have been arranged and these will be publicised through the Learning and Development Centre.
(b) REF Code of Practice Training (Minute 08/12-13 (d) refers)
That the majority of individuals involved in the selection of staff for submission to the REF 2014 have received Equality and Diversity training on the University’s REF Code of Practice as requested by
HEFCE. The training has been monitored and will be provided as evidence with the EIA once the REF submission has been made.
21/12-13 Stonewall
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity)
(a) That a meeting will be held with Stonewall to discuss possible ways to improve Warwick’s placing within the Workplace Equality
Index.
(b) That the 2014 editi on of Gay by Degree, Stonewall’s online university guide will be published in June 2013. Stonewall will be marking all university websites against a given checklist from 29
March 2013 and will only reference LGBT initiatives in the Guide where information is publicly available.
RESOLVED:
That the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity liaises with the Student’s
22/12-13 Title Changes on Student Database (Minute 12/12-13 refers)
Union to ensure websites containing LGBT information are up-to-date by 29 March 2013.
REPORTED: (by HR Manager, Administration (Equality and
Diversity))
That the Academic Office had provided a limited response on the requested changes to the University student database. There is no
HESA requirement to provide a title and the University SITs database can still record student details minus a title. Evidence for a change of name is part of the procedure agreed by the Academic Office, Student
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Admissions and Recruitment Office and the International Office in
November 2009.
RESOLVED:
That the Academic Office be asked to propose resolutions to address the issues raised on changes to titles and invited to produce a report and revised policy to the next Equality and Diversity Committee meeting.
23/12-13 Departmental Disability Contacts and Accessibility of buildings (Minute
13/12-13 refers)
RECEIVED:
(a) A report by the Fire Safety Adviser on emergency evacuation from buildings for disabled people.
(b) An outline of a Campus Access Mapping project to develop a
University website providing up-to-date information regarding access around campus for persons with disabilities.
RESOLVED:
(i) That the Chair of the Equality and Diversity Committee reinforces that Departments are obligated to have a Departmental Disability
Contact and those departments without a contact should nominate one by the end of April 2013.
(ii) That the Committee would welcome frequent up-dates on both projects.
Staff Statistics Report: Equality Monitoring 2011/12 24/12-13
CONSIDERED:
(a) Equity analysis on Merit Pay 2011/12 (Minute 05a/12-13 refers)
A paper on an equity analysis on the merit pay outcomes for
2011/12 (EDC Paper 10.12-13).
REPORTED: (by the Reward Manager)
(i) That the focus of the analysis was a comparison between the average scores by protected characteristics and grade as compared to the University-wide averages.
(ii) That 875 members of staff had received a merit award, but participation rates have fallen to 53.5% compared to 65% in
2010/11.
(iii) The disparities in the rating scores for staff with protected characteristics has lowered, however there is concern over the
BME differential within grades 1a-2.
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(iv) That there are proposed changes to the Merit Pay Scheme for
2012/13, which it is anticipated will improve the take up rates.
RESOLVED:
That further analysis by grade of BME and possibly gender and age be undertaken and an update prepared for the next meeting of the
Equality and Diversity Committee.
(b) Staff Statistics Report (Minute 05b/12-13 refers)
CONSIDERED:
A revised paper containing key staffing statistics for the academic year
2011/12 (EDC Paper 04/12-13 {revised}).
REPORTED: (by the HR Manager - Administration (Equality and
Diversity))
(i) That the statistics within the report have been compared to the
ECU Statistical Report which is compiled from national HESA statistics.
(ii) That the report examined data relating to the protected characteristics and contained a number of recommendations for action and further investigation.
(iii) That the University Equality Objectives should be reviewed to incorporate statistical data as a way of measuring impact of the initiatives.
RESOLVED:
(A) That recruitment data should be presented at the next meeting of the Equality and Diversity Committee.
(B) That some of the recommendations made in the report are operational and do not come under the auspices of the Equality and Diversity Committee, and that further data analysis should be carried out in order to make appropriate strategic recommendations.
Disability Interest Group 25/12-13
RECEIVED:
A copy of the minutes of the Disability Interest Group held on 18 th
January 2013.
REPORTED: (by the Disability Coordinator)
(a) That a Mental Health Awareness day will be held in the Student’s
Union Atrium on Wednesday 20 February 2013.
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(b) That the deadline for special examination arrangements is 4 March
2013 for April examinations and 15 March for June examinations.
(c) That the Students Union have launched a new society called
‘Enable’ which offers disability awareness information and peer to peer support to students with disabilities.
(d) That a number of complaints had been received that external contractors are parking in designated disabled spaces. Disability
Services are working with Estates and Security to ensure that complaints are dealt with quickly and effectively.
RESOLVED:
(i) That the Committee praised the efforts of the students who have worked hard to launch Enable.
(ii) That the Disability Coordinator should clarify with the Estates
Office how contractors are dealt with when it is identified they are parking in disabled spaces and report back to the next meeting.
26/12-13 Equality and Diversity Network
RECEIVED:
A copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Equality and Diversity
Network held on 21 January 2013. (EDC Paper 12/12-13).
REPORTED: (by the Chair of the Equality and Diversity Network)
That under item 10(a) of the Equality and Diversity Network minutes, it be brought to the attention of the Committee that the timing of lectures had been raised as a potential issue for staff with parental responsibilities.
RESOLVED:
That the Chair of the Equality and Diversity Network contacts the
Management, Information and Planning Office to ask them to consider
Equality and Diversity issues in their development of the next timetable.
27/12-13 Any Other Business
(a) HESA Data Collection
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser, Equality and Diversity)
That most Russell Group Universities are now collecting data on
Sexual Orientation and Religion and Belief and use their data to inform their workforce profiles as well as other statistical projects.
RESOLVED:
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(i) The HR Adviser, Equality and Diversity to investigate if HESA intend to make data collection on Sexual Orientation and Religion and Belief mandatory.
(ii) That the HR Adviser, Equality and Diversity liaises with the
Students Union to note if they have any concerns on this collection of data.
(iii) That the HR Adviser, Equality and Diversity report back to the next Equality and Diversity Committee on any student concerns, what the data would be used for and what benefits there would be by collecting the data.
(b) RCUK Equality and Diversity Statement
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser, Equality and Diversity)
That RCUK has issued a statement setting out its expectations for
Universities to raise awareness and embed equality and diversity into everyday business. RCUK will review the effectiveness of the approach taken by universities at institutional audits and visits.
RESOLVED:
That the HR Manager - Administration (Equality and Diversity) and HR
Adviser, Equality and Diversity will be attending a Russell Group
Diversity meeting in April where an representative from RCUK has been invited to address the meeting to clarify exactly what the statement means.
(c) HR Excellence in Research Award
REPORTED: (by the HR Adviser, Equality and Diversity)
28/12-13
That the University has successfully achieved the HR Excellence in
Research Award. The award demonstrates the University’s commitment to improving the working conditions and career development for research staff.
Date of Next Meeting
TO REPORT:
That the date of the next meeting of the Equality and Diversity
Committee will be on 17 th May 2013 at 9.30 am in the Council
Chamber.
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