Subject to approval of Council at the 10 July 2014 meeting of Council
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
CNL/14/49
COUNCIL
A meeting of the Council was held on Wednesday 21 May 2014 at 2.00pm in the Council Chamber,
Northcote House.
PRESENT:
Pro-Chancellor, Miss S J Turvill (Chair)
Mr C J Allwood
Provost and Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor N Armstrong
Ms H Barton
Dr S Buck
Mr N Bull
Ms A Conroy
Professor K E Evans
Ms J Hargadon
Mr P J M Hodges
Mr R M P Hughes
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor J M Kay
Mr P Lacey
Professor D A Myhill
Mr C C Pomfret
Ms B Rigg
Dr A M Shaw
Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive, Professor Sir Steve Smith
Professor S Tomlinson
Ms S Wilcox
IN ATTENDANCE:
Head of Admissions and Registry Services, Mr I S Blenkharn (for discussions under
Minute 14.46)
Director of Communication and Corporate Affairs, Mrs J Chafer
Chief Financial Officer, Mr A Connolly
Chief Executive to the Students’ Guild, Ms T Costello
Executive PA to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education), Mrs J Engelbach-Sayer
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor M Goodwin
Exeter FXU President, Mr C Malyon
Director of Human Resources, Ms J A Marshall
Acting Chief Operating Officer, Mr R G Pringle
Director of Academic Services and Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Ms M I
Shoebridge
Executive Officer, Mrs J Williams
APOLOGIES:
Mr G Brown, Sir Robin Nicholson, Professor N J Talbot
14.41
Chair’s Opening Remarks
The Chair welcomed Jo Engelbach-Sayer, Executive PA to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor
(Education), as an observer to the meeting.
14.42
Declarations of Interest
Members NOTED the register of members’ interests in relation to the business of the agenda
including standing declarations of interest.
14.43
Minutes
The minutes of the meeting held on 10 April 2014 were CONFIRMED (CNL/14/37).
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Subject to approval of Council at the 10 July 2014 meeting of Council
14.44
Matters Arising
(a) UNIVERSITY REGIONAL STRATEGY
(reference minute 14.23(a)(vi))
Council NOTED that a paper on the University’s Regional Strategy would now be brought to
Council in October 2014. The Local Enterprise Partnerships’ (LEP) Strategic Economic Plans
had been submitted to Government but would not be approved by Government until July
2014. Once these were approved, the University would have the full landscape and would be
able to provide Council with a much fuller briefing.
(b)
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SURVEY
(reference minute 14.23(a)(ii))
It was reported to Council in April 2014 that the employee engagement survey would run for a
three week period between 29 September and 17 October 2014. The decision had been
taken by VCEG to postpone the survey, which had been due to start in April. As a result of
this postponement it was suggested that there was now an opportunity for improvement and
progress to be achieved in certain areas of the survey. However, it was noted that significant
progress in strategic initiatives such as Positive Working Environment and cultural change
would not be expected in such a short time period. In relation to these longer term projects,
the survey could ask directly about whether staff believe they will make a difference.
It was noted that the 2012 response rate to the survey was 55%. Given the conversations
about ‘voice’ at the University, VCEG were aiming for much greater engagement and were
targeting an 80% response rate to the survey in 2014. Staff would be encouraged to have
their say and more opportunities would be provided for staff to complete the survey.
(c)
FUTURE FINANCE PROGRAMME
(reference minute 14.24(c))
Following Council’s discussion of the Future Finance Programme at its meeting in April, some
changes had been made to the proposal to respond to the concerns that Council members
had raised. In particular, members expressed concern over the 4 year timeline. Whilst this
reflected that the University had a long way to go in terms of structure and organisation before
it could start changing processes and IT, it was clear that considerable progress had already
been made with a new relationship with Colleges. On that basis the recruitment of a Project
Manager on a 3 year fixed term contract had commenced and it was expected that the project
would be delivered in a shorter timescale.
14.45
Vice-Chancellor’s Report
(a) Council RECEIVED a report from the Vice-Chancellor (CNL/14/38), which covered the
following topics:
(i)
Announcements:
• Professor Nick Talbot awarded Fellowship of the Royal Society – the Vice-Chancellor
was delighted to report formally that Professor Nick Talbot had been elected a Fellow
of the Royal Society (FRS), the premier scientific accolade in the UK. Professor
Talbot was being recognised for his role in determining the mechanisms by which
fungi cause disease in plants. Being elected as an FRS is the pinnacle of academic
achievement for scientists, and it was therefore so fitting to see the person who had
led the resurgence of science at Exeter being so honoured by his peers. Council
RECORDED their sincere and heartfelt congratulations to Professor Talbot on this
tremendous achievement.
• Deanship of the College of Humanities - Following a competitive process, it was
RECOMMENDED to Council that Professor Andrew Thorpe should be appointed
Dean of the College of Humanities for a period of five years in the first instance from
1 August 2014. Professor Andrew Thorpe was currently Associate Dean (Research
and Knowledge Transfer) in the College of Humanities, and Professor of History, with
a specialism in twentieth-century British political history. As Council members were
aware, there had been a number of senior staff changes this year. A briefing on the
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Subject to approval of Council at the 10 July 2014 meeting of Council
•
•
(ii)
senior management structure for 2014-15 would be presented to the next meeting of
Council for information. Council APPROVED Professor Thorpe’s appointment and
wished him every success as Dean.
Election to EMBO - Professor Nina Wedell in the College of Life and Environmental
Sciences had been elected as a member of EMBO (European Molecular Biology
Organization). EMBO is an organization of more than 1500 leading researchers that
promotes excellence in the life sciences, and more than fifty of its members have
been Nobel Laureates. The organisation aims to support talented researchers at all
stages of their careers, stimulate the exchange of scientific information, and build a
European research environment where scientists can achieve their best work.
Council CONGRATULATED Professor Wedell on this prestigious election.
Architectural Awards - The RILD Centre had been announced as the winner of the
Michelmores Property Awards 2014 Commercial Property of the Year Award. Hugh
McCann, Director of Estate Development Service, was present at the ceremony on
the 8 May to accept the award on behalf of the University.
In addition, the Exchange, Penryn, designed by Burwell Deakins Architects for the
University of Exeter and Falmouth University, won a RIBA South West Award 2014 at
a prestigious ceremony at City Hall, Bristol on 8 May. The Exchange would now be
put forward for a national RIBA Award.
Students’ Guild Teaching Awards - The winners of the fifth annual Guild Teaching
Awards were announced at a ceremony on 1 May. This year’s winners and runners-up
were:
Best Postgraduate Teacher
Winner - Bert Bond, Sport & Health Science
Runner-up - John Ault, History & Politics (Penryn)
Employability Support
Winner - Julie Mills, Medical Imaging
Runner-up - Dr Sara Burton, Biosciences (Streatham)
Best Feedback Provider
Winner - Prof Chloe Paver, Modern Languages
Runner-up - Dr Bill Peng, Accounting & Finance
Innovative Teaching
Winner - Dr Emma Taylor, Medical School
Runner-up - Dr Sharon Marshall, Classics & Ancient History
Research Inspired Teaching
Winner - Prof Richard Overy, History (Streatham)
Runner-up - Dr Karen Knapp, Medical Imaging
Most Supportive Member of Staff
Winner - Charlie Rushforth, Classics & Ancient History
Runner-up - Dr Siam Bhayro, Theology & Religion
Best Supervisor
Winner - Dr Helen Hanson, English (Streatham)
Runner-up - Dr Ulrike Zitzlsperger, Modern Languages
Best Lecturer
Winner - Dr Gihan Marasingha, Mathematics
Runner-up - Dr Jane Milling, Drama
Best Research Community
Winner - Classics & Ancient History
Runner-up - Engineering
Best Subject
Winner - Medical Imaging
Runner-up - Sport & Health Science
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Subject to approval of Council at the 10 July 2014 meeting of Council
The Vice-Chancellor, on behalf of Council, CONGRATULATED this year’s winners,
runners-up, and all those nominated.
(iii) Complete University Guide - Exeter had retained its ranking of 10th in the Complete
University Guide (CUG) 2015, which ranked 123 universities in the UK.
On five of the nine indicators, scores and ranks had improved (SSR, academic services
spend, facilities spend, good honours, graduate prospects). On two indicators the
University’s score was maintained but its rank had dropped (NSS and completion). Only
tariff had dropped both in absolute and comparative terms.
This year, the top ten were: Cambridge, Oxford, the LSE, Imperial College London,
Durham, St Andrews, University College London, Warwick, Bath, and Exeter.
(iv) UCU Ballot - On 2 May, the UCU voted overwhelmingly to accept a 2% pay offer from
employers, thus calling off the proposed marking boycott of university students' work in
the UK.
In the ballot, 83.7% of members who voted, voted to accept the offer. The turnout
nationally was 52.6%. At Exeter, out of the 346 votes cast, 318 (91.9%) voted in favour of
the 2% offer, and 28 (8.1%) against.
(v) Science Park Update - Council had already agreed that the University take a lease on
the Science Park Centre and that Peninsula Innovation Ltd (PIL), the University’s wholly
owned subsidiary company that operated its own Innovation Centre, be the operator of
the new Science Park Centre. However, there had been a minor change to the structure.
It was originally intended that the University be the leaseholder, and in turn the University
then enter into a sub-lease with PIL. Now, PIL would be the leaseholder directly, with the
University standing behind the lease as guarantor. The substance of the transaction was
the same.
(vi) US Trip – the Vice-Chancellor had visited the USA earlier this month to speak at the
British Council’s Going Global conference in Miami, to meet with some of the University
of Exeter’s alumni in New York and to announce plans to establish a new Foundation
based in America to facilitate fundraising for the University.
At the Going Global conference, Dr Judy Genshaft, President of the University of South
Florida (USF), and the Vice-Chancellor delivered a session focussing on the importance
of transatlantic partnerships. The conversation offered the audience insights into
leadership and strategic approaches while highlighting the substantial benefits accrued,
and challenges faced, in the evolution of the partnership between Exeter and USF.
In addition, the Vice-Chancellor held meetings in Miami with senior representatives from
the British Council in Japan to discuss the importance of international collaboration, a
topic that the Vice-Chancellor would lead a conference on in Tokyo later this year. The
Vice-Chancellor also attended high-level meetings with ministerial officials from India,
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as part of a delegation from the Universities UK International
Unit.
In New York the Vice-Chancellor hosted a reception for over 60 US alumni, and
introduced them to the University’s new Director of Development and Alumni Relations,
Sarah Jarman, who took up her post at the end of April. The University’s alumni base in
the US was expanding rapidly, with over 1,700 US alumni.
It was announced at the reception that the University would be submitting an application
to create an American tax-exempt non-profit organisation later this year. The University
of Exeter US Foundation would enable US residents, companies and charities to support
Exeter’s research and teaching in a more tax efficient manner. The Foundation would
necessitate the creation of a US board of advisers, the membership of which would be
announced in the autumn.
(vii) Universities UK Student Funding Panel - On 24 April, Universities UK launched its new
Student Funding Panel to consider the design of the current student fees and loans
system in England, and to make recommendations on its future development, of which
the Vice-Chancellor agreed to be a member. The Panel would also review the system’s
ability to deliver value for money for students, be financially sustainable for government
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Subject to approval of Council at the 10 July 2014 meeting of Council
and provide a long term stable funding environment to support high quality teaching and
an outstanding learning experience.
As part of this work, UUK commissioned the IFS to produce a Report, Estimating the
Public Cost of Student Loans available at http://www.ifs.org.uk/comms/r94.pdf
The key findings from the Report included:
• For each £1 loaned out to cover tuition and maintenance costs, the average long-run
cost to the government (the RAB charge) is estimated to be 43p. The average
amount lent to each student is just over £40,000 in ‘net present value’ terms, meaning
that the average loan subsidy amounts to just over £17,000 per student.
• Adding in other sources of government spending on undergraduates over the duration
of their course (such as teaching grants to universities and maintenance grants to
students) increases the total taxpayer contribution per student to just over £24,500. At
around £7,600 per year of study (the average course length is 3.2 years), this is
slightly more than the average £6,000 that government spent per secondary school
pupil in 2012–13.
• This estimated total taxpayer contribution is only 5% (around £1,250 per student in
2014 prices) less than it was estimated it would have been under the previous system
of tuition fees and loans that was in place up to 2011−12. However, universities are
now receiving around 25% more funding per student for teaching from the
combination of tuition fees and teaching grants than they did under the old system.
(viii) National Fees and Funding Issues - At the last meeting of Council, it was agreed that a
sub-group of Council should be established to consider the implications and possible
scenarios relating to the political parties’ tuition fee policies, the declining value of the £9k
fee, the unsustainability of the current student funding system, and the student loan
book. The Group had been convened and had met for the first time on 20 May.
(ix) HEFCE Consultation of the Financial Memorandum - HEFCE had published its analysis
of the 98 responses it received to its consultation on the financial memorandum. This
was
available
to
download
via
this
link
to
the
HEFCE
website:
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/news/newsarchive/2014/news87112.html.
The new Memorandum of Assurance and Accountability was expected to be published in
June, and would come into force from 1 August 2014.
(x) Intellectual Property Bill - The Intellectual Property Bill was likely to receive Royal Assent
shortly. Universities UK had lobbied extensively to secure a change to the Freedom of
Information Act to exempt pre-publication research from FOI requests, and had now
persuaded government to bring forward their own version of the proposed exemption,
modelled on one which already exists in Scotland, as part of the Intellectual Property Bill.
The Bill was now in the very final stages of its parliamentary progress and the exemption
for unpublished research had been unopposed throughout.
(b) In addition to the written report, the Vice-Chancellor drew attention to the following:
(i)
th
Times Higher Education Student Satisfaction Survey – Exeter had been ranked 7
nationally in the Times Higher Education Student Satisfaction Survey. This was a rise of
th
19 places from joint 26 last year. Colleagues were delighted with this performance and
felt that it reflected the high quality of Exeter’s student experience.
th
It was also noted that Falmouth University had been ranked 12 in the survey (the
highest new entrant). This was very pleasing to note and said something very positive
about the quality of the Penryn Campus experience and the support that both
Universities received from FXPlus. Members asked that Professor Mark Goodwin,
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Cornwall) convey their very warm congratulations to Falmouth
on this result.
(ii)
AstraZeneca – the University had announced a ground-breaking new partnership with
AstraZeneca, which was aimed at reinforcing Exeter’s reputation as a world-leader in
ecotoxicological research. It also secured a number of highly skilled jobs in the South
West, as the University had recruited four scientists currently employed at AstraZeneca’s
Brixham Environmental Laboratory site (which was set to close), together with another
scientist from Sweden and two PhD students.
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Subject to approval of Council at the 10 July 2014 meeting of Council
(iii) High Profile International Conference held on Campus - the World’s top climate change
experts met in Exeter last week to present and critique the UN Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Fifth Assessment Report. More than 300 scientists and
social scientists attended the pioneering conference, including over 75 staff from Exeter.
It was a great coup for Exeter to host this event and the Vice-Chancellor offered his
congratulations to the teams, particularly Research and Knowledge Transfer (RKT), that
had organised the event for their hard work.
(iv) The Vice-Chancellor provided members with a confidential update on the latest position
in relation to the national fees and funding issues.
14.46
Admissions Update (COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE)
Ian Blenkharn in attendance
14.47
Finance (COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE)
Council CONSIDERED the following:
(a) THIRD FINANCIAL FORECAST 2013/14
(b) DRAFT BUDGET 2014/15 AND LATER YEAR FINANCIAL PLANS TO 2018/19
(c) UNIVERSITY DEBT
(d) INTO REFINANCING (CNL/14/45)
14.48
School and College Initiatives (COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE)
14.49
Council Arrangements 2014/15
Council RECEIVED a note on arrangements for Council in 2014/15 (CNL/14/46).
14.50
Capital Strategy
Council RECEIVED the minutes of the Capital Strategy Group meeting held on 22 April 2014
(CNL/14/47).
14.51
Affixing of the Seal of the University
Council AUTHORISED the fixing of the University seal to the documents listed in CNL/14/48.
14.52
Chair’s Closing Remarks (COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE)
JW/JAL
21 May 2014
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