UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Equality and Diversity Committee
Minutes of the meeting of the held on Monday 29th October 2007
Present:
Professor Y Carter (in the Chair), Ms J Abson, Dr T Allen, Mr E Callow,
Ms G Frigerio, Professor J Hutton, Dr C Jenainati, Mrs E Meininger, Mr M
Potter, Professor S Singh, Mr P Stephenson, Mr K Sloan, Mr D Wright
In Attendance: Ms L Aspinall, Mr J Bailey, Mrs E Harrison, Ms J Hodge, Ms H Spittle, Mr S
Russell
01/07-08
Terms of Reference and Membership
(a)
Terms of Reference
RECEIVED:
A copy of the Terms of Reference for the Equality and Diversity
Committee for 2007/08.
REPORTED:
That a revised copy of the Terms of Reference, would be circulated
to Committee Members and presented to the Senate and the
Council in December 2007 for approval.
(b)
Membership
That the membership of the Committee for 2007-08 was as follows:
Chair (a Pro-Vice-Chancellor)
Professor Yvonne Carter
Eight members of the academic staff, comprising two
representatives from each of the four faculties appointed by the
Senate:
Arts:
Dr Jennifer Burns
Dr Cathia Jenainati
Medicine:
Professor Swaran Singh
Ms Deborah Markham
Science:
Dr Evor Hines
Professor Jane Hutton
Social Studies:
Professor Alan Dolan
Dr Tracey Allen
The Student’s Union Welfare
And Equal Opportunities Officer
Mr Ed Callow
One postgraduate student
Appointed by the Students’ Union
Ms Vesela Mangeyna
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The Senior Tutor or his/her nominee Mr Stephen Lamb
One contract researcher
Dr Ravinder Thiara
One member of Academic-related
staff
Ms Gillian Frigerio
One member of Technical staff
Mr Derek Richards
One member of Clerical staff
tbc
One member of Manual staff
Mr Douglas Wright
One Senior Manager from one of the
University’s Earned Income Areas Mr Mark Potter
02/07-08
One member from the
International Office
Mrs Esther Meininger
One member external to
the University
tbc
Director of Human Resources
Mr Paul Stephenson
Director of Campus Affairs
Mr Ken Sloan
The Disability Co-ordinator
Ms Jane Abson
Co-opted member
Reverend Stuart Jennings
Minutes
RESOLVED:
That the minutes of the meeting held on 21st May 2007 be approved.
03/07-08
Matters Arising
(a)
Equality & Diversity Network (Minute 31/06-07 refers)
REPORTED:
That a discussion was held, between Human Resources and
Communications, to explore options for improved distribution
of CommUnicate to staff members and that a pilot exercise
of sending out named copies to staff in Estates, where
problems had been reported, would be shortly introduced.
(b)
Internal Review of Student Services (Minute 32/06-07 refers)
REPORTED:
That an Internal Review of Student Services had been
completed and that this had resulted in the creation of a new
post of Director of Student Development and Diversity.
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RESOLVED:
04/07-08
(i)
That following the revised organisational structure
effective as of 1 February 2008, further consideration
be given as to whether the Director of Campus Affairs
be replaced by the Director of Student Development
and Diversity.
(ii)
That the Head of Residential Life be nominated as a
member of the Equality and Diversity Committee and
the nomination be forwarded to the Senate and the
Council for consideration.
(iii)
That Ms Marguerite Standing be nominated as
External Representative to the Equality & Diversity
Committee and the nomination be forwarded to the
Senate and the Council for consideration.
Induction Programme for EDC Members
REPORTED:
That there was a proposal to introduce an induction programme for all
members of the Committee at the start of the academic year.
RESOLVED:
That dates would be circulated for a one hour session to be held in January
2008 prior to the next Equality & Diversity Committee meeting in February.
5/07-08
Single Equality Scheme
RECEIVED:
A paper detailing progress on the development of the University’s Single
Equality Scheme (EDC Paper 2/07-08).
REPORTED:
06/07-08
(a)
That the introduction of the Equality and Human Rights Commission
on 1 October 2007 had resulted in the University looking to
introduce a combined approach to equality across current equality
strands.
(b)
That the proposal to introduce a Single Equality Scheme was
supported by the Equality and Diversity Committee.
(c)
That a further update on progress would be reported to the February
meeting of the Equality and Diversity Committee.
Workforce Profile: Equality Monitoring Report 2006/07
CONSIDERED:
A paper reviewing the workforce profile existing University staff 2006/07
(EDC Paper 3/07-08).
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REPORTED:
(a)
That the main findings from the statistics had been identified and
outlined in the executive summary.
RESOLVED:
07/07-08
(a)
That an annual data cleansing exercise be conducted to reduce the
percentage of unknown data, and to increase the percentage of staff
declaring a disability. This should be aimed at Academic staff in
particular, and should look at the reasons for the under declaration
in this category of staff.
(b)
That a means of raising the number of women professors should be
investigated, to include consideration of staff development,
recruitment and promotion.
(c)
That feedback mechanisms be utilised for the staff survey and exit
interviews to identify reasons for leaving, particularly amongst BME
staff.
(d)
That a further age analysis be conducted by department to identify
succession planning mechanisms for those functions and staff
categories with ageing profiles.
(e)
That models of good practice could be observed from two reports
relating to Women in Academic Medicine to be discussed in further
detail at the next meeting of the Equality & Diversity Committee.
(f)
That further breakdown of analysis around White Irish was required.
(g)
That the Workforce Profile: Equality Monitoring Report 2006/07 be
submitted to the Senate and the Council for information.
Recruitment Data Monitoring Report (2006/07)
CONSIDERED:
A paper reviewing staff recruitment statistics from 2006/07 (EDC Paper
4/07-08).
REPORTED:
(a)
That there was no uniform approach for Departments returning
shortlisting information to HR and that this made it difficult to track
applications, from application to shortlisting and then to
appointment, and to analyse the data.
(b)
That a Recruitment Review covering selection panels, training
and monitoring had recently been undertaken with full
implementation by January 2008 and that an audit of change
following the introduction of the revised Recruitment and Selection
Training would be undertaken 12 months after full implementation.
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RESOLVED:
08/07-08
(a)
That work should continue on the University wide performance
metrics and that these would set out targets to improve in areas
such as equality and diversity statistics.
(b)
That further investigation should be undertaking to investigate the
process of attaining Two Ticks Symbol as an employer, in line with
the Disability Equality Scheme objectives.
(c)
That a review would take place of the new disability declaration
scheme for new starters, with the aim of increasing the number of
employees declaring a disability.
(d)
That a communication be sent to departments from the Resourcing
Manager to reiterate the importance of communicating the shortlist
to the recruitment team so that data monitoring could be improved.
(e)
That the HR Adviser (Information) should liaise with the Department
of Statistics to consider statistical techniques available to increase
the capture of disability declaration rates.
(f)
That the Recruitment Data Monitoring Report be submitted to the
Senate and the Council for information.
Merit Pay
CONSIDERED:
A paper outlining Merit Pay awards for academic and related staff at top of
scales (2006/2007) (EDC Paper 5/07-08).
REPORTED:
09/07-08
(a)
That no equality issues were highlighted as a result of the data.
(b)
That further consideration would be given to the timings associated
with the merit pay process to allow sufficient time for communication
and implementation within departments.
Senior Salaries Review 2007
CONSIDERED:
A paper outlining the Senior Salaries Review for 2007 (EDC Paper 6/0708).
REPORTED:
(a)
That a slight reduction had been observed in the gender pay gap
when compared with last year’s data.
(b)
That further information was requested on salary differentials of staff
appointed and promoted and the split of gender distribution by
Faculty.
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RESOLVED:
That further analysis would be conducted by HR on appointment and
promotion salaries and a report on any issues provided to the next meeting
of the EDC.
10/07-08
Personal Promotions 2006/07
CONSIDERED:
The monitoring report for personal promotions of academic and research
staff (EDC Paper 7/07-08).
RESOLVED:
11/07-08
(a)
That the next Personal Promotions report presented to the Equality
and Diversity Committee (Autumn term 2008-09) would include
information on the numbers of staff eligible for promotion compared
with the numbers of staff submitted and information showing fast
track route promotions which do not appear in the current data.
(b)
That further investigation would be undertaken on the number of
staff eligible for promotion and that discussions would be held with
Heads of Department where numbers submitted were not
considered to be representative.
Disability Policy
CONSIDERED:
A draft copy of the Disability Policy to be presented by Ms L Aspinall (HR
Policy Development Manager) (EDC Paper 8/07-08).
REPORTED:
(a)
That the University is moving towards a policy which encompasses
both staff and students.
RESOLVED:
12/07-08
(a)
That a paragraph is required on Fitness to Practice outlining the
difference between fitness to practice and fitness to study
particularly in the areas of Medicine, Social Studies and Teaching.
(b)
That there was a need to consider broader issues on the handling
and storing of information and confidentiality.
(c)
That Chairs Action would be taken in the revision of the wording to
encompass the changes discussed and that the draft policy would
then be forwarded to the Senate and the Council for approval.
Gender Re-assignment Policy
CONSIDERED:
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A draft copy of the Gender Re-assignment Policy, presented by Ms L
Aspinall (HR Policy Development Manager) (EDC Paper 9/07-08).
RESOLVED:
That the wording with reference to CRB checks should be amended to
clarify that it was the CRB Sensitive Casework Team and that the policy
would then be forwarded to the Senate and the Council for approval.
13/07-08
Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender Equality Advisory Group
CONSIDERED:
The Terms of Reference of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
(LGBT) Equality Advisory Group (EDC Paper 10/07-08).
RECEIVED:
An oral report from Mr Sean Russell (Director of Student Development and
Diversity) on progress from the LGBT Equality Advisory Group.
REPORTED:
(a)
(b)
That the group was originally established as a working group as a
result of a recommendation by the Equality and Diversity
Committee meeting of May 2007 (Minute 28/06-07 refers).
That the group were now proposing to form an LGBT Interest
Group which would report on appropriate areas.
RESOLVED:
14/07-08
(a)
That the LGBT Interest Group would report, via minutes, to the
Equality and Diversity Committee as appropriate.
(b)
That a number of minor amendments be made to the proposed
LGBT Terms of Reference for clarification.
Equality Impact Assessment
CONSIDERED:
A paper outlining progress with the Equality Impact Assessment project and
recommendations for next steps (EDC Paper 11/07-08).
RESOLVED:
(a)
That current information on the toolkit, departmental action plans
and cover sheets be reviewed by HR to identify best practice,
development areas and notify departments accordingly.
(b)
That a letter from Professor Carter as Pro Vice-Chancellor
responsible for equality and diversity be sent to those departments
yet to return all the information.
(c)
That the communication will remind departments of the legislative
requirements, the risks of non-compliance and inform that face to
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face meetings with a HR representative will be arranged in order to
assist them to finalise their departmental submission.
15/07-08
(d)
That further investigation be conducted by HR to embed EIA into the
University’s regular audit and approval processes and ensure that it
remains a continual process for both new and existing policies.
(e)
That a summary of the results to date be published externally, on
the University’s Equality and Diversity website, in line with the
legislative duty to publish information on EIA.
Equality and Diversity Issues Relating to Students
RECEIVED:
An update from Mr K Sloan (Director of Campus Affairs) on progress on the
key areas highlighted as priority areas in respect of equality and diversity
issues affecting students.
REPORTED:
(a)
That internationalism and integration was a very important factor
which the Student Union had been invited to contribute to and that a
detailed report on equality and diversity issues relating to Students
would be presented to the next meeting of the Equality and Diversity
Committee.
(b)
That further training on equality and diversity issues relating to
students was being considered for staff in the Residential Life
Group.
(c)
That the Muslim Chaplain appointment was imminent.
RECEIVED:
A report from Ms G Frigerio (Manager of Careers Education and Guidance)
on graduate destination data and quality and diversity practices in careers
and employability work (EDC Paper 12/07-08).
REPORTED:
16/07-08
(a)
That this was the first report to the Committee on the student life
cycle and graduate destination data.
(b)
That further work would be undertaken on tracking students from all
backgrounds.
Equality & Diversity Network
RECEIVED:
A copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Equality & Diversity Network
held on 8 October 2007.
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17/07-08
Date of Next Meeting
REPORTED:
That the next meeting of the Equality and Diversity Committee will be
held on Monday 4 February 2008 at 2.00pm in the Council Chamber.
EDC14Nov07/EAH
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