UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Equality and Diversity Committee
Minutes of the meeting of the held on Monday 30 October 2006
Present:
Professor R Lindley (in the Chair), Ms J Abson, Dr T Allen, Dr J Burns,
Ms K Chevis, Ms J Horsburgh, Professor J Hutton, Dr E Mason, Mrs E
Meininger, Ms M Melville, Mr M Potter, Ms A Preston, Mr D Wright,
[Professor Lindley left the meeting at 2.20pm and the remainder of the
meeting was Chaired by Ms J Horsburgh]
In Attendance: Ms J Coleman, Mrs E Harrison, Ms H Spittle
Apologies:
Professor A Dolan, Dr E Hines, Professor S Singh
1/06-07
Terms of Reference and Membership
(a)
Terms of Reference
RECEIVED:
A copy of the Terms of Reference for the Equality and Diversity
Committee for 2006/07.
(b)
Membership
REPORTED:
That the membership of the Committee for 2006-07 was as
follows:
Chair (a Pro-Vice-Chancellor)
Professor Robert Lindley
Eight members of the academic staff, comprising two
representatives from each of the four faculties appointed by the
Senate:
Arts:
Dr Jennifer Burns
Dr Emma Mason
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
Ms Katie Chevis
2/06-07
One postgraduate student
appointed by the Students’ Union
tbc
The Senior Tutor or his/her nominee
tbc
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
Ms Moya Melville
One member of Manual staff
Mr Douglas Wright
One Senior Manager from one of the
University’s Earned Income Areas
Mr Mark Potter
One member from the International
Office
Mrs Esther Meininger
One member external to the University
Mr Sawarn Malhotra
Director of Personnel Services
Ms Jo Horsburgh (Acting)
The Director of Student and Ancillary
Services
tbc
The Disability Co-ordinator
Ms Jane Abson
Co-opted member
Reverend Mark Bratton
Minutes
RESOLVED:
That the minutes of the meeting held on 17th May 2006 be approved.
3/06-07
Matters Arising on the Minutes
(a)
Race Equality Policy and Action Plan (Minute 28/05-06
(a) refers)
REPORTED:
(i)
That the International Office had been invited, by the
Committee, to reflect on the suitability of current minimum
language requirements for admission to Warwick courses
and that further investigation was underway.
(ii)
That the Centre for Academic Practice had been consulted,
by the Committee, on the inclusion in training courses for
academic staff of material exploring the importance of the
careful phrasing of examination questions and other
assessment tasks, and on the development of a
generic campus-wide assessment criterion on the use of
English and that following a meeting with the Secretary of
the Equality & Diversity Committee this item had been
referred back to the Academic Quality and Standards
Committee for action.
(b)
Statistics (Minute 28/05-06 (b) refers)
REPORTED:
4/06-07
(i)
That a meeting had been held with the Chair of the Equality &
Diversity Committee, the Assistant Director of Personnel
Services, the Assistant Registrar (UG Admissions) and the
HR Information Manager to discuss the Committee’s
requirements on the inclusion and presentation of data in
future statistical reports.
(ii)
That it was agreed that future reports would contain a
text outlining the key points with a data annex and that
this information would be used to form a database of
statistical information.
Age Discrimination
RECEIVED:
A paper outlining the impact of the forthcoming age discrimination
legislation.
REPORTED:
5/06-07
(a)
That the legislation related to all University staff and students and
that briefings on the impact of the legislation had taken place for
Heads of Department and for Student Admissions.
(b)
That guidance on the legislation was available on both the
Personnel Services website and the Equality and Diversity website.
(c)
That although the legislation gives University staff the right to
request to work beyond the age of 65, staff could still retire from age
60 onwards.
Disability Equality Scheme
CONSIDERED:
A copy of the proposed University disability equality scheme and action
plan (Paper EDC3/06-07).
REPORTED:
(a)
That extensive consultation with disabled staff and students had
taken place in advance of the report being drafted.
(b)
That overseas students were not eligible for an allowance towards
the cost of making adjustments and this might lead to significant
costs for the receiving department.
(c)
That the Chair of the Committee be provided, by the end of
November, with costings of Year 1 of the Action Plan, to help inform
discussions at the Senate and the Council.
RESOLVED:
(a)
That QUAD Research be asked to clarify some of the data analysis
presented in the Appendix as some of the figures were unclear and
potentially misleading.
(b)
That departments be made aware, by the Student Disability
Coordinator, of the impending arrival of students with disabilities
before the start of term in order that appropriate reasonable
adjustments could be made and that the financial implications for
the department be made clear in advance.
RECOMMENDED:
That subject to amendment, to take account of the comments raised at the
meeting, the draft University Equality Scheme and Action Plan as set out in
Paper EDC3/06-07 (Revised) be approved by the Senate and the Council.
6/06-07
Equality and Diversity Action Plan
RECEIVED:
Paper EDC 4/06-07, outlining progress with the 2004/5-2005/6 Equality &
Diversity Action Plan.
REPORTED:
That the paper was a progress summary of actions taken to date and
that any ongoing issues had been carried forward to the action plan
for 2006/7-2008/9
CONSIDERED:
The draft Equality & Diversity Action Plan for 2006/07-2008/9 (Paper
EDC5/06-07).
REPORTED:
(a)
That the Action Plan contained different headings and a 3-year
programme to bring it into line with HEFCE annual reporting
requirements and the Action Plans for Race and Disability.
(b)
That sexual orientation issues had not been addressed directly in
the Action Plan.
(c)
That some late comments had been received from the Academic
Office, and that these would be incorporated into the draft before the
Action Plan was forwarded to the Senate and the Council for
approval.
RESOLVED:
That a paper on sexual orientation issues and possible options for the
University in terms of future project activities be prepared by the Assistant
Director of Personnel Services for consideration at the next meeting of the
Committee.
RECOMMENDED:
That the draft Action Plan be revised to incorporate the comments provided
by the Academic Office and to include a reference to further work required
on sexual orientation and forwarded to the Senate and the Council for
approval.
7/06-07
Workforce Profile: Analysis of Existing Staff 2005/06
CONSIDERED:
A copy of the Workforce Profile report for existing University staff (Paper
EDC6/06-07).
REPORTED:
That the report format had been revised, in line with discussions with the
Chair of the Committee, to include a brief summary commentary followed by
detailed data reports in the appendices which showed data in time series
where possible.
RESOLVED:
That the Workforce Profile: Analysis of Existing Staff 2005/06 be submitted
to the Senate and the Council for information.
8/06-07
Recruitment Monitoring Report (2005/06)
CONSIDERED:
Paper EDC7/06-07, reviewing staff recruitment statistics for 2005/06.
REPORTED:
(a)
That the report format had been revised, in line with discussions
with the Chair of the Committee, to include a brief summary
commentary followed by detailed data reports in the appendices,
which showed data in time series where possible.
(b)
That a tracking exercise on the recruitment process previously
undertaken had highlighted some useful data and trends and that
the exercise would be repeated in 2007/08.
(a)
That the information contained in the reports was used for
monitoring purposes, for focusing future project or policy work and
for benchmarking purposes.
RESOLVED:
That the Staff Recruitment Monitoring Report 2005/06 be submitted to the
Senate and the Council for information.
9/06-07
Merit Pay
RECEIVED:
Paper EDC8/06-07 outlining Merit Pay awards for staff at top of scales for
the academic year 2005/2006.
REPORTED:
That clerical staff had been included in the merit pay arrangements for the
first time during the 2005/06 exercise.
10/06-07
Senior Salary Review
CONSIDERED:
A paper outlining the Senior Salary Review for 2005-06 (Paper EDC9/0607).
REPORTED:
11/06-07
(a)
That extensive statistical work had been undertaken as part of the
Senior Salary Review process and that the largest determinant in
senior pay was whether an individual had been appointed or
promoted, those falling into the latter category tending to be less
well-paid than those in the former.
(b)
That the content of future reports would need to be agreed with the
Vice Chancellor and that the Assistant Director of Personnel
Services would pursue this with the Vice Chancellor.
Equal Opportunities Monitoring Report: Personal Promotions 2005/06
RECEIVED:
A copy of the Equality & Diversity Monitoring Report for promotions of
academic and research staff (Paper EDC10/06-07).
12/06-07
Gender
RECEIVED:
An oral report from Ms J Coleman on progress towards the Gender Equality
Scheme due to be implemented in April 2007.
REPORTED:
(a)
That feedback was being sought from all staff and students on
gender equality issues via a questionnaire.
(b)
13/06-07
That the feedback would be used to formulate an action plan and
that a report on progress with the draft scheme would be presented
to the next meeting.
Equality Impact Assessment
CONSIDERED:
A summary report and Departmental Action Plans arising from the 2005/06
Equality Impact Assessments (Paper EDC11/06-07).
REPORTED:
(a)
That Departments were at different stages in the process with some
having provided action plans and some not yet at the stage of
identifying the policies and procedures for review.
(b)
That there was a requirement for information to be published
externally and that there was a need to work with Departments to
ensure that appropriate monitoring of policies and procedures was
undertaken.
(c)
That the Equality & Diversity Committee would review the
information on an annual basis.
RESOLVED:
That the Chair of the Committee contact those Departments who had not
yet completed their policy templates to remind them of their statutory duties.
14/06-07
The Athena Project
CONSIDERED:
The University’s involvement in the Athena Project launched by the Royal
Society in 1999 which aimed to improve the advancement of women in
science, engineering and technology in higher education.
REPORTED
That the Athena Project was time-limited and further investigation would be
undertaken to ascertain whether a follow-on project was proposed.
15/06-07
Equality & Diversity Network
RECEIVED:
A copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Equality & Diversity Network
held on 13 October 2006.
CONSIDERED:
The following issue raised by the Equality & Diversity Network at its meeting
held on 13 October 2006:
That consideration should be given to the leadership of equality and
diversity issues in Teaching and Learning and that the University should
take a proactive approach to addressing equality and diversity issues rather
than relying on reactive responses to individual student requests.
RESOLVED:
That concerns about the lack of leadership of Equality and Diversity issues
within the student-related areas of the administration be recorded and that
this matter be raised with the new Director of Campus Affairs upon his
appointment.
16/06-07
Date of Next Meeting
REPORTED:
That the next meeting of the Equality and Diversity Committee would be
held on 5th February 2007 at 2pm in the Council Chamber.
EDC30Oct06/EAH