UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Equality and Diversity Committee
Minutes of the meeting held on 31 October 2011
Present:
Professor K Lamberts (Chair), Dr S Burrows, Ms B Hay, Ms L Hayton, Mrs J
Hodge, Mrs K Hughes, Professor B Jackson, Rev. S Jennings, Ms I John, Mr S
Lamb, Ms D Markham, Mrs C Martin, Mr M Potter, Ms D Weber , Dr M Shewring,
Ms S Smart, Professor A Szczepura, Ms D Weber
Apologies:
Dr E Campbell, Professor A Dolan, Professor E Hines, Mr D Persaud, Ms A
Preston, Mr M Potter, Professor P Thomas
In Attendance:
01/11-12
Mrs S Beaufoy (Assistant Secretary); Ms J Horsburgh (for item 11/11-12)
Terms of Reference and Membership
(a) Terms of Reference
CONSIDERED:
The Terms of Reference for the Equality and Diversity Committee for 2011/12 as
set out in paper EDC 01/11-12.
RESOLVED:
That the Terms of Reference be approved.
(b) Membership
CONSIDERED:
The membership of the Committee for 2011/12 as set out in Paper EDC 02/11-12
RESOLVED:
That the membership of the Committee be approved, it being noted that the
Students’ Union had yet to nominate a postgraduate student for membership on
the Committee.
02/11-12
Minutes
RESOLVED:
That the minutes of the Committee meeting held on 31 May 2011 be
approved.
03/11-12
Matters Arising
(a) Athena SWAN Charter
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
(i)
That the Department of Psychology’s submission for Silver Athena status
had been unsuccessful, with the feedback given by Athena being very
specific. The Department of Psychology is currently considering whether to
resubmit for a Bronze or Silver award in November 2011.
(ii) That the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) has announced that for
the next funding round for large grant proposals, any Medical School not
holding an Athena Silver award would not be eligible for funding.
(iii) That from April 2012 there will be an annual membership fee of £1,000 for
institutions signed up to the Athena Swan Charter.
RESOLVED:
That the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity write to the Medical School on
behalf of the Equality and Diversity Committee to clarify that a Silver Award will
be required by the next funding round of the NIHR.
04/11-12
Single Equality Act
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
That the specific duties for England with respect to the Equality Duty of the
Equality Act 2010 came into force on 10 September 2011.
CONSIDERED:
(a) Single Equality Scheme
A draft revision of the Single Equality Scheme, taking into account new
equality legislation.
RESOLVED:
(i) That the Students’ Union contact the HR Adviser, Equality and Diversity,
to arrange equality and diversity training for SSLC representatives.
(ii) That subject to legal checks the document will be further considered by
Senior Officers and The Steering Committee.
(b) Equality Objectives
A draft for comment of the Equality Objectives, into which the Single Equality
Action Plan has been incorporated.
RESOLVED:
(i) That the provision of monitoring sexual orientation and religion or belief
for staff be put into place as quickly and as sensitively as possible. The
HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity to report on progress at next
meeting.
(ii) That the Students’ Union representative distribute a National Union of
Students (NUS) publication on ‘Liberating the Curriculum’ to members of
the Committee.
(iii) That clarification be sought by the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity on
progress relating to the King’s-Warwick project concerning Equality and
Diversity in the Curriculum.
(iv) That the document be further considered by Senior Officers and The
Steering Committee.
05/11-12
Staff Statistics Report: Equality Monitoring 2010/11
CONSIDERED:
A paper containing key staffing statistics for the academic year 2010/11.
RESOLVED:
(a) That under Sections 4.0 and 5.0, the reported cases be broken down into
incidents directly related to protected characteristics where possible.
(b) That in future years consideration be given to the breakdown of reported data
into more specific categories where possible.
06/11-12
Promotion and Probation
CONSIDERED:
A paper on academic promotions and probations for the academic year 2010/11.
RESOLVED:
That future reports include data sets from the previous five years in order to
identify trends, and to give further context to the reported data.
REPORTED: (By the Deputy Director of HR)
(a) That departments had been asked to provide data on those promotion cases
considered at departmental level but not progressed to Academic Staff
Committee and that this data would be reported on in future years.
(b) That in cases of promotion to a Senior Research Fellowship, the average age
of staff recommended for promotion was 45 for female staff and 32 for male
staff, a discrepancy of 13 years.
RESOLVED:
That the University seek to understand reasons for this disparity and compensate
where possible.
07/11-12
Equality and Diversity Network
RECEIVED:
A copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Equality and Diversity Network
meeting held on 17 October 2011.
REPORTED: (By the Chair of the Equality and Diversity Network)
That the meeting had been very positive and well attended, due in part to the
recruitment of new departmental equality and diversity representatives.
CONSIDERED:
(a) That the meeting had considered ways in which the University can ensure
that equal consideration be given to both staff and students with disabilities
when planning and implementing adjustments in the work place.
(a) That Heads of Department and line managers be encouraged to recognize
the time and effort of Equality and Diversity representatives and that
appropriate time be allowed for representatives to fulfill their role.
09/11-12
Disability Interest Group
RECEIVED:
A copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Disability Interest Group held on 19
May 2011.
REPORTED: (by the Disability Coordinator)
(a) That the International Student Barometer results had highlighted funding
support requirements for international students with disabilities.
RESOLVED:
That the Disability Coordinator investigate what other Russell Group
Universities provide and to investigate other funding availability.
(b) That the HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity join discussions on the way
forward in light of the document on Managing Reasonable Adjustments in
Higher Education.
REPORTED:
(c) That several students who are colour blind had complained to the Students’
Union that they had been unable to identify the colour coded clips on the
climbing wall in the Sports Centre.
RESOLVED:
That the Climbing Centre has recruited a member of staff with experience in
assisting climbers with disabilities and that this issue has therefore been
addressed.
10/11-12
Equality and Diversity Training
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
(a) That an external training company has been engaged to deliver a number of
training sessions for staff involved with selecting staff for REF submissions.
(b) That the University will be drawing up a ‘Code of Practice’ for the REF which
will include a section on Equality and Diversity.
RESOLVED:
HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity will report to the next meeting on
progress on the ‘Code of Practice’.
11/11-12
Equal Pay Review 2011
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
(a) That the draft Equal Pay Review paper for staff in Levels 1a to 8 had been
circulated to members of the Committee and that no comments had been
received following this initial circulation.
RESOLVED:
That the document be amended to reflect the fact that not all disabilities are
physical, with the use of ‘non-disabled’ instead of ‘able-bodied’.
(b) A draft Equal Pay Review paper for staff in Level 9.
REPORTED: (by the Director of HR)
That positive progress was being made with the review and that due to the
dynamic nature of the employment market at this level, there is a requirement
to constantly analyse and monitor data, taking into account market factors.
That the points noted by the Committee be addressed and incorporated into
the document before this goes forward to the Joint Consultative Committee.
12/11-12
Staff Network Groups
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
That the University would like to establish a number of Staff Network Groups to
encompass protected characteristics. Notices had been placed on InSite and
posters distributed via departmental equality and diversity representatives.
RESOLVED:
The HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity will report on progress at the next
meeting.
13/11-12
Equality Challenge Unit – Strategic Priorities
REPORTED: (by the Deputy Director of HR)
That the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) is a registered charity, funded by UK
Higher Education sector funding bodies. The ECU works to further and support
equality and diversity for staff and students in Higher Education and its strategic
plan for 2011 – 2013, is called – ‘Evolve, Assist, Transform and Understand’.
14/11-12
HEFCE Equality Scheme 2011-2014 Consultation Document
REPORTED: (by the Deputy Director of HR)
That the University’s response to the HEFCE’s consultation document had been
approved at a meeting of The Steering Committee held on 25 July 2011 (Paper
SC.575/10-11), and had been submitted to HEFCE by the required deadline.
15/11-12
Any Other Business
CONSIDERED:
That the University consider the services of a company called DisabledGo, who
survey the accessibility of university buildings for people with disabilities.
REPORTED: (by B Hay, External Member of Committee)
That the University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) had used the
services of DisabledGo, and that these had proved expensive for the level of
service provided. Consideration should have been given as to whether the
access survey/report could have been carried out by existing hospital staff.
RESOLVED:
That consideration be given to the services of DisabledGo. It would also be
investigated whether the same or a similar level of service could be delivered inhouse by university staff. The HR Adviser – Equality and Diversity would report
on progress at the next meeting.
16/11-12
Date of Next Meetings
REPORTED:
That the date of the next meeting is Wednesday 8 February 2012 in the Institute
of Advanced Studies Seminar Room.