UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Equality and Diversity Committee
Minutes of the meeting of the held on Monday 5 February 2007
Present:
Professor R Lindley (in the Chair), Ms J Abson, Dr J Burns, Ms G Frigerio,
Dr E Hines, Ms J Horsburgh, Professor J Hutton, Mrs E Meininger, Ms M
Melville, Mr M Potter, Professor S Singh, Mr K Sloan, Mr D Wright
In Attendance: Ms L Aspinall, Mrs E Harrison, Ms H Spittle
Ms A Chambers and Mr J Wylie attended for Agenda Item 3
Apologies:
Dr T Allen, Dr E Mason, Mr P Ptashko
17/06-07
Minutes
RESOLVED:
That the minutes of the meeting held on 30th October 2006 be approved.
18/06-07
Matters Arising
(a)
Membership of the Committee (Minute 1/06-07 refers)
REPORTED:
(b)
(i)
That the Reverend Stuart Jennings had replaced the
Reverend Mark Bratton as the Co-opted Member of
the Committee.
(ii)
That Mr Ken Sloan was now a member of the
Committee as the recently appointed Director of
Campus Affairs.
(iii)
That Mr Peter Ptashko was a member of the
Committee as the Post Graduate Student appointed
by the Students’ Union.
Disability Equality Scheme (Minute 5/06-07 refers)
REPORTED:
That the University Disability Equality Scheme and
Action Plan was approved by the Senate and the Council at
their meetings held on 6 December 2006 and 13 December
2006 respectively.
(c)
Equality & Diversity Action Plan 2006/07-2008/09 (Minute
6/06-07 refers)
REPORTED:
That the Equality & Diversity Action Plan 2006/07-2008/09
was approved by the Senate and the Council at their
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meetings held on 6 December 2006 and 13 December 2006
respectively.
(d)
Equality Impact Assessment (Minute 13/06-07 refers)
REPORTED:
That the Chair of the Committee had contacted those
Departments who had not yet completed their policy
templates to remind them of their statutory duties.
19/06-07
Equality and Diversity Issues Relating to Students
CONSIDERED:
A report from, the Academic Office, presenting equality and diversity
statistics for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Student admissions.
REPORTED:
(a)
That the University attracts a lower proportion of disabled students
than the national average.
(b)
That a paper had been presented by the Assistant Registrar
(Undergraduate Studies) to the November 2006 meeting of the
Board of Undergraduate Studies on the implications of the
Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 for Undergraduate
Admissions.
(c)
That data on socio-economic factors were unavailable for
Postgraduate Students.
RESOLVED:
20/06-07
(a)
That the Director of Campus Affairs give a presentation to the
next meeting proposing priority areas for consideration by the
Committee in respect of equality and diversity issues affecting
students.
(b)
That the Academic Office, in conjunction with the Disability Coordinator, review the questions relating to the declaration of
disability on the Postgraduate application form to ensure that
relevant information was collected.
(c)
That the Academic Office consider modifications to the presentation
of the next annual statistical report as discussed at the meeting
including an executive summary with key issues and
recommendations.
Job Evaluation
CONSIDERED:
A report, presented by the Information Manager (Personnel Services),
summarising the results of the Job Evaluation Project and new pay
arrangements.
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REPORTED:
That further investigation would be undertaken on specific
areas, particularly where there was an apparent pay gap of greater than
5%.
RESOLVED:
21/06-07
(a)
That the Committee concluded that full overall effects of the
exercise have yet to be assessed but it had clearly been beneficial
for manual staff.
(b)
That the Job Evaluation report be forwarded to the Senate and the
Council for information.
Gender Equality Scheme
CONSIDERED:
The draft Gender Equality Scheme and Action Plan for the University.
REPORTED:
(a)
That changes would be made to the structure of the report, resulting
in the detailed research data being presented as appendices.
(b)
That the Action Plan contained the key points raised during
the consultation process with staff, students, trade unions and
external stakeholders.
(c)
That there was currently discussion regarding the resourcing of the
Disability Equality Scheme which may have implications for the
Gender Equality Scheme.
(d)
That further consultation be undertaken at the Senior Womens
Network meeting.
RESOLVED:
(a)
That the data, demonstrating degree classification by
gender, be presented by faculty level rather than University
level so as to make the data more meaningful.
(b)
That there were apparent crossovers between the action plans
currently in place for each of the Equality Schemes and that the
University may, in the future wish, to consider introducing a single
Equality Scheme following review of other organisations and
guidance from the Commission for Equality and Human Rights
(CEHR) when it is established in October 2007.
(c)
That, where necessary, the report and action plans be amended,
subject to Chairs Action, prior to being forwarded to the Senate and
the Council for final approval.
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22/06-07
Race Equality Annual Report
CONSIDERED:
The annual report on the University’s progress on Race Equality during the
academic year 2005-06.
RESOLVED:
That subject to minor amendments, the report be forwarded to the Senate
and the Council for final approval.
23/06-07
Equality & Diversity Network
RECEIVED:
A copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Equality & Diversity Network
held on 17 January 2007.
24/06-07
Date of Next Meeting
REPORTED:
That the next meeting of the Equality and Diversity Committee would be
held on 21 May 2007 at 2.00pm in the Council Chamber.
EDC5Feb07/EAH
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