UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Equality and Diversity Committee
Minutes of the meeting of the held on Monday 30 January 2006
Present:
Professor R Lindley (in the Chair), Ms J Abson, Mr D Beaton,
Reverend M Bratton, Dr P Byrd, Mr R Cave, Dr H Dennis, Dr E Hines,
Professor J Hutton, Dr C Jones, Mr D Kelley, Dr P O’Hare, Ms A
Preston, Mr D Richards, Mr D Wright
In Attendance: Ms L Aspinall, Ms J Coleman, Mrs E Harrison, Ms J Shaw
Apologies:
Dr J Burns, Dr A Dolan, Ms M Melville, Mrs G Raison, Dr R Thiara
14/05-06
Membership
REPORTED:
That the representative of Contract Research Staff on the Committee
would be Dr Ravinder Thiara (School of Health & Social Studies).
15/05-06
Minutes
RESOLVED:
That the minutes of the meeting held on 31st October 2005 be
approved.
16/05-06
Matters Arising on the Minutes
(a)
Race Equality Policy and Action Plan (Minute 4/05-06
refers)
REPORTED:
(i)
That the Race Equality Policy and Action Plan
for 2005 to 2007 (EOC Paper 2/05-06) {revised}
had been approved by the Senate and the
Council.
(ii)
That a response was awaited from the Campus
Life Committee on the request to consider the
existing provision of small prayer facilities
across the University and whether these met
the needs of staff and students.
(iii)
That a response was awaited from the
Academic Quality and Standards Committee on
the request to consider whether assessment
methodology may have a differential impact on
students from different ethnic backgrounds,
particularly those whose first language is not
English.
(b)
Equality and Diversity (Minute 12/05-06 refers)
REPORTED:
That following approval from the Senate and the
Council the Equal Opportunities Committee had been
renamed the Equality and Diversity Committee to
reflect the University’s decision to consider diversity
as well as equal opportunities.
(c)
Harassment and Bullying Policy (Minutes 3/05-06
refers)
REPORTED:
17/05-06
(i)
That a number of harassment contacts were
trained in December 2005.
(ii)
That the University Harassment and Bullying
Policy would be launched during January and
February 2006.
Workforce Profile: Analysis of Existing Staff 2004/05
CONSIDERED:
The Workforce Profile for existing staff 2004/2005 (Paper EOC 9/0506).
REPORTED:
That it was planned to conduct further data cleansing exercises on an
annual basis.
RESOLVED:
18/05-06
(a)
That further investigation be conducted to ascertain why larger
numbers of technical and manual staff had ‘unknown’ ethnic
minority categories and that discussions be held with the Trade
Unions to explore whether they could encourage staff to
declare their ethnic origin
(b)
That Professor J Hutton and Ms J Coleman be asked to
explore how best to present data on Age in future reports, as it
was difficult to draw any conclusions from the present data.
(c)
That the Workforce Profile: analysis of existing staff report be
submitted to the Senate and the Council for consideration.
Recruitment Monitoring Report (2004/05)
CONSIDERED:
A paper reviewing staff recruitment statistics for the academic year
2004/2005 (Paper EOC 10/05-06).
REPORTED:
That nationality data had been included in the Recruitment Monitoring
Report for the first time.
RESOLVED:
That the percentage of candidates applying on-line be included in
future Recruitment Monitoring reports.
19/05-06
Merit Pay
CONSIDERED:
A paper outlining Merit Pay awards for academic, research, ALC and
technical staff at top of scales for 2004/2005 (Paper EOC 11/05-06)
REPORTED:
That 2005-06 was the final year that the current merit scheme would
be in operation pending the introduction of merit arrangements as part
of the University HR Framework Agreement which was still under
discussion.
20/05-06
Senior Academic Salary Review
CONSIDERED:
A paper outlining the Senior Academic Salary Review for the
academic year 2004-05 (Paper EOC 12/05-06).
REPORTED:
That these data were being presented for the first time to the
Committee, and it was noted that some summary data could not be
provided due to Data Protection issues.
RESOLVED:
That Professor J Hutton and Ms J Coleman be asked to discuss
alternative ways of presenting these data, particularly in relation to the
results of the regression analysis.
21/05-06
Student Statistics
(a)
Undergraduate Admissions
CONSIDERED:
A report from the Academic Office detailing statistics for
Undergraduate Student admissions 2005/06 (Paper EOC
13/05-06).
REPORTED:
(i)
That there was some variation across categories but
little increase overall in achievement against the
performance targets for under-represented groups set
by the University.
(ii)
That the University appeared to be under resourced,
according to HEFCE norms, in the area of Student
Disability support.
RESOLVED:
(b)
(i)
That a concern be noted at lack of support in the
context of the University’s obligations under the
Disability Equality Scheme.
(ii)
That there needed to be clarification of the rights of
overseas students with respect to support for disability.
(iii)
That information on social background be included in
future reports and Ms J Shaw be asked to check how
UCAS collates and publishes these data in order to
report back to the next meeting.
(iv)
That a greater breakdown on age be included in future
reports to ascertain if there were apparent barriers to
entry for different age groups.
(v)
That the recording of ‘other EU’ students be split from
‘home’ students in future reports.
Postgraduate Admissions
CONSIDERED:
A report from the Academic Office detailing statistics for
Postgraduate Student admissions for 2005/06 (Paper
EOC14/05-06).
(c)
Student Progression
CONSIDERED:
Information from the Academic Statistics detailing
Undergraduate, Ethnic Minorities – Reason for NonCompletion for 01/02 Cohort (Paper EOC 15/05-06).
RESOLVED:
That Professor R Lindley, Professor J Hutton and Mr N Hull
discuss the reporting and monitoring requirements of the
Committee and an appropriate way of presenting these data
to protect anonymity.
22/05-06
PULSE Staff Survey
CONSIDERED:
A confidential report on the results of the Staff Survey prior to the
formal communication being sent to all members of the University
(Paper EOC 16/05-06).
REPORTED:
That the report highlighted both positive issues and some areas for
development within the University. The Director of Personnel noted
that steps would now be taken to develop an action plan addressing
those issues.
23/05-06
Equality Impact Assessment
RECEIVED:
An oral report from Ms Leonie Aspinall (Personnel Adviser) detailing
the progress of Equality Impact Assessment.
REPORTED:
That the majority of departments had submitted details of their policies
and practices, and that they would be asked to conduct EIAs on those
areas deemed to have high relevance to equality by July 2006.
24/05-06
Disability Interest Group
RECEIVED:
A copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Disability Interest Group
held on 30 November 2005 (Paper EOC 17/05-06).
REPORTED:
The Disability Co-ordinator reported that there was some resistance to
making changes to teaching practices to accommodate disabled
students.
RESOLVED:
That the Disability Interest Group be asked to comment on the
staff and student statistics reports presented under Agenda
Items 4 to 8.
25/05-06
Equality and Diversity Network
RECEIVED:
A copy of the minutes of the Equality and Diversity Network held on
16th January 2006. [Professor Lindley recorded his apologies for not
attending this meeting].
REPORTED:
That the following issues had been raised by the Equality and
Diversity Network at its meeting on 16 January 2006:
(a)
That staff should be made aware of the importance of the
current Equality and Diversity policies through awareness
sessions, and that the implementation of the new Harassment
and Bullying Policy was an important element of this work.
(b)
That the new Staff Induction process should include reference
to current Equality and Diversity policies.
CONSIDERED:
The following issues raised by the Equality Network at its meeting held
on18th October 2005:
(a)
that academic and administrative departments be
encouraged to dedicate noticeboard space to Equality and
Diversity issues.
(b)
that a mandatory requirement for all departments to nominate
an Equality and Diversity representative for their area had
been approved by the Steering Committee.
(c)
that all departments should routinely address equality and
diversity issues at departmental meetings/forums where
appropriate.
RESOLVED:
That the above recommendations be communicated to Heads of
departments by the Chair of the Equality and Diversity Committee.
26/05-06
Date of Next Meeting
REPORTED:
That the next meeting of the Equality and Diversity Committee would
be held at 2pm on Wednesday 17th May 2006 in the Council Chamber,
University House.