UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
COURT
13 December 2004
Present:
The Chancellor (in the Chair), the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Goddard (Deputy
Vice-Chancellor), Professor Page and Professor Ritchie (Pro-Vice-Chancellors),
Miss L Allason-Jones, Professor T Anderson, Dr J C Appleby,
Mr W R Atkinson, Professor D R Charles, Dr J N Coleman, Dr E G N Cross,
Professor A Crowe, Mr C J Davies, Professor P S Davis, Mr H Faulkner-Brown,
Mr J J Fenwick, Miss C Galley, Mrs M O Grant, Dr S M Haile,
Mrs C M Harvey, His Honour Judge David Hodson, Councillor H Jackson,
Mr J Jeffery, Mr P M Johnson, Lord Judd of Portsea, Mr P J Kellner,
Miss F M Kirkby, Dr H Loebl, Mrs S M Murray, Professor P J W Olive,
Sir George Russell, Mr N Sherlock, Mr A C Taylor, Professor J A Walker,
Lord Walton of Detchant, Sir John Willis and Professor N J Young.
In attendance:
Dr J V Hogan (Registrar) and Mr H B Farnhill (Bursar).
Mrs L Braiden (Director of Student Recruitment) attended for item 7 and Mr C Cox (Director of
Development) attended for item 8.
Apologies for absence: Professor P H Baylis, Professor O F W James, Professor A C Stevenson
and Professor M P Young (Pro-Vice-Chancellors), Mr A G Balls, Professor A E Gillespie,
Dr R Hawley, Professor Li Wei, Councillor P J Mole, Lord Bishop of Newcastle, Mr S Hung Ng,
Mr H M Shukla, Professor M J Whitaker and Dr I Winterton.
MINUTES
1. WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS
The new members of Court were welcomed to their first meeting.
2. PROFESSOR PETER BAYLIS
Reported that Professor Peter Baylis would be retiring shortly as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Medical
Sciences).
Resolved that Court wished to express its appreciation to Professor Baylis for his outstanding
work for the University.
3. MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting held on 7 May 2004 were approved as a correct record and signed.
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4. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
(a) Membership and terms of reference of Court Steering Committee
(Minute 8, 7.5.2004)
Reported that:
(i)
Court, at its meeting on 7 May 2004, had resolved that the membership and terms of
reference of Court Steering Committee should be reviewed at the December meeting in
order to take into account any implications of the HEFCE report on governance;
(ii) Following the publication of the HEFCE code of practice for governance, there did not
appear to be any implications for Court.
(b) Membership of Court Steering Committee
(Minute 8, 7.5.2004)
Reported that Mrs S M Murray had been appointed to serve on Court Steering Committee
for a period of one year to 31 August 2005, in place of Mr W R Atkinson.
(c) Timing of meetings of Court
(Minute 14, 7.5.2004)
Reported that meetings of Court would, in future, begin at the earlier time of 11 am in order
to allow more time for discussion. [The time of the meetings printed in the Minutes of the 7
May 2004 meeting was, therefore, incorrect.]
5. MEMBERSHIP OF COURT
(i) Members appointed by Boards of Faculty
Reported that, pending the approval of the Statute amendments relating to the constitution
of Court, those members whose appointments were due to terminate on 31 July 2004 had
been re-appointed to serve for a further year, until 31 July 2005.
(ii) Members appointed by Local Authorities
Reported that the following had been appointed/*re-appointed to serve on Court by the
Local Authorities shown:
Gateshead Council:
Councillor P J Mole
Newcastle City Council:
Councillor G Kane
Councillor G Stone
North Tyneside Council:
*Councillor H Jackson
Northumberland County Council:
*Councillor G Knox
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South Tyneside Council:
Councillor E M Gibson
Sunderland City Council:
Councillor T H Wright
(iii) Co-optative membership
Reported that:
(a) All of the co-optative members listed in the Report from Court Steering Committee to
Court dated 15 March 2004 had agreed to be re-appointed for a period of one year to
31 July 2005.
(b) The following had been appointed as co-optative members of Court from 1 August
2004 until 31 July 2007:
Miss C Galley
Mr P J Kellner
Lord Judd of Portsea
Sir George Russell
[See also the Report from Court Steering Committee.]
The membership of Court for 2004-05 was circulated with the Agenda as Document A.
[Copy filed in the Minute Book.]
6. CHAIRMANSHIP OF COURT STEERING COMMITTEE
Reported that Mr N Sherlock had been appointed Chairman of Court Steering Committee in
succession to Mr W R Atkinson.
7. WIDENING PARTICIPATION ACTIVITIES (2000-2004)
Received a presentation from Mrs Lesley Braiden (Director of Student Recruitment) on the
University’s ‘Widening Participation’ activities (2000-2004).
Noted that:
1. the University took seriously its social and educational commitment to attempt to widen
participation. Substantial efforts had been made, including an extensive students into
schools programme, use of masterclasses, production of better information, the operation of
the Partners scheme and other outreach programmes;
2. the University had been successful in increasing the number of undergraduate students from
disadvantaged groups;
3. the establishment of the Office for Fair Access and the requirement of the University to
produce an access agreement which was satisfactory to this body prior to it being permitted
to charge the higher fee from 2006, placed renewed emphasis on the importance of
widening participation;
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4. with regard to our recruitment patterns, the University was successful in recruiting nontraditional students from within the region. However, the University continued to recruit
students from throughout the United Kingdom and needed to do so because of its
geographic catchment area. Students from outside the North East tended to come from
higher social economic groups;
5. of all the students from Partners schools who applied to higher education institutions, 30%
currently included Newcastle in their list of choices, a very high proportion;
6. there were conflicting pressures within schools to contribute to a range of activities and,
although schools had participated enthusiastically in widening participation initiatives, some
of these initiatives were time-consuming;
7. it was important to try to ensure that schools understood the critical importance of
identifying not just their best pupils to participate in outreach activities but those who could
genuinely benefit from such activities;
8. year 9 was of particular importance since students would begin to make choices about their
study routes after school;
9. some concern was expressed about building up expectations which might be difficult to
match in all cases. Although the University’s employment record was extremely good, it
was still the case that most of our graduates found employment in other parts of the UK.
Resolved that Mrs Braiden be thanked for her excellent presentation and her work in helping
direct the University’s recruitment and widening participation activities.
8. TRANSFORMING HORIZONS
Received a presentation from Mr Chris Cox (Director of Development) on ‘Transforming
Horizons’, together with an accompanying brochure.
[Copy filed in the Minute Book.]
Noted that:
1.
more attention had been placed on fundraising within higher education with the
publication of a Government-sponsored report from a taskforce chaired by Professor
Thomas, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol. This had urged institutions to
do more to promote giving, particularly amongst alumni;
2.
the University had established a Development Council, chaired by Sir Terence Harrison.
This small group of external people worked alongside staff in the Development and
Alumni Relations Office to help develop the University’s networks and provide external
validation of the University’s fundraising strategy;
3.
the Development Trust still operated as the body responsible for overseeing the
endowment funds raised and there was cross-membership between the Development Trust
and the Development Council;
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4.
one recent outcome had been the publication of the Transforming Horizons document
which had proved to be very popular within the University and outside in that it helped to
identify some key interdisciplinary themes underpinning much of our activity;
5.
in terms of income targets, as a general rule a return of six to ten times of the level of
investment was thought to be reasonable for fundraising campaigns;
6.
in the USA amongst public universities, it was generally estimated that between 20% and
25% of the alumni made contributions;
7.
our experience with our alumni had been that approximately one-third of those contacted
had agreed to provide some financial support. The typical gift rate was similar in the UK
and the USA, but the USA had been more successful in attracting very large donations;
8.
efforts were also being made to contact and develop the alumni worldwide and there had
been particular successes in Singapore, Norway and the USA;
9.
recently the HSBC had provided a significant donation to support the Environment
Institute (IRES). This benefaction had come about in part due to a connection with a
member of the alumni and had been facilitated by a member of Court.
Resolved that Mr Cox be thanked for his informative presentation and his ongoing work in
overseeing the University’s fundraising activities.
9. STATUTES
Considered proposed changes to the University Statutes.
[Circulated with the Agenda as Document B. Copy filed in the Minute Book.
After noting that:
1. the Statutes had been presented as the final internal stage prior to submission to the Privy
Council. The changes envisaged fell into five broad categories. Partly they resulted in
tidying up various clauses; they incorporated some changes in the senior management team
roles; they clarified and expanded the powers of Council on the advice of the University’s
lawyers; they enacted the changes to the membership of Convocation which had been
discussed by a working party and they proposed the changed membership of Court which
had been the outcome of a recommendation by the working group reviewing the operation
of Court;
2. concern was expressed about the proposed changes to Statute 18 defining the membership
of Court. It was pointed out that there was no requirement for a minimum number of
University staff nor minimum number of lay members of Court. Further, the removal of the
appointed members removed a degree of independence and the remaining categories were
too vague to give confidence about the future operation of Court;
3. the proposed amendments had originally been recommended in the Report from the
Working Party on the Role and Composition of Court. They had, therefore, already been
approved by Court and been given preliminary consideration by the Privy Council;
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4. the Council was the accountable body for the University and the role envisaged for Court
was largely as a communication channel helping to inform the future direction of the
University’s strategy;
5. some concern was expressed about the clarity of the function of Court, even under the new
arrangements.
Resolved that:
(i) The amendments to the Statutes be approved subject to the revision of the proposed changes
to Statute 18 as indicated below and that the revised Statutes be forwarded to the Privy
Council for approval.
(ii) With regard to the selection of new co-opted members, the Court Steering Committee
should still be guided by the recommendations of the Working Party on the Role and
Composition of Court, specifically that membership should be drawn from both the region
and outside, and particularly from key constituencies which are important for the
University’s external relations including local and regional government, local health
authorities, arts and cultures, business/development, community and voluntary sector,
education, estate, faith groups, finance, international affairs, marketing, media, royal
societies and science and health.
(iii)The amendment to Statute 18 be revised to read as follows:
up to seven members of University staff appointed by the academic board; (delete the words
‘up to’)
together with such other co-opted members, not being fewer than thirty nor more than forty,
as the court shall from time to time determine. None of the co-opted members shall be
salaried staff or students of the University.
10. REPORT FROM COURT STEERING COMMITTEE
Considered a Report from the meeting of Court Steering Committee held on 10 November
2004.
[Circulated with the Agenda as Document C. Copy filed in the Minute Book.]
Noted that:
1. the Committee had considered a paper on effective communication between Court and the
senior management of the University and had resolved that the measures outlined would be
adopted;
2. the Steering Committee had identified a list of potential names of members of Court for
2005 onwards and had submitted these names to the Chancellor to seek his agreement prior
to a recommendation being submitted to Court at its next meeting;
3. Honorary Degrees Committee, Senate and Court Steering Committee had considered a
proposal to establish Fellowships of the University. These Fellowships would be used to
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recognise the contribution of members of staff or people who made an exceptional
contribution to the development of the University and would be appointed by Court.
Resolved that approval be given to the concept of the establishment of Fellowships of the
University to be awarded by Court and further work be undertaken on the operation of this
scheme.
11. UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE ANNUAL REPORT 2003-04
Received:
(i) The above Report.
[Copy filed in the Minute Book.]
(ii) An oral statement from the Vice-Chancellor.
Noted that:
1. 2003-04 had been a successful year for the University with over the last five years some
£80m having been invested in the campus building programme;
2. the University had attracted some excellent publicity for its stem cell research and a very
important contribution had been made by the HSBC to the establishment of the University’s
Environment Research Institute (IRES);
3. the University had decided to cease to admit new undergraduate students to full-time
degrees in physics, although it intended to continue teaching physics at an undergraduate
level as part of a new natural sciences degree. There had been some unfortunate coverage
concerning the closure of physics, but the University still had considerable strength and
commitment to physics, both taught and research at postgraduate level, and nanotechnology.
It also had considerable research strengths in physics in a number of areas. Nevertheless, it
was recognised that physics was an important subject and the decision had been a difficult
one given the need to maintain the UK science base. Part of the problem related to the
comparatively small number of staff teaching the physics degree and the very close
correlation between the size of the units of assessment and the performance in the 2001
RAE. The North East was fortunate in that the University of Durham had a strong Physics
Department and there had been extensive discussions with Durham concerning the decision;
4. some concern was expressed about the proportion of first class honours degrees awarded. It
appeared from some of the data available that it was harder to obtain a first class honours
degree at this University than in some other similar universities;
5. the University continued to make special efforts to work with particular partners within the
region. A notable example was the establishment of the Sage Music Centre and the
partnership here would incorporate aspects of the University’s research, teaching and
outreach activity.
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12. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
(a) The Press Office
Noted that the University had been successful in obtaining some excellent coverage in
recent months and Court wished to express its appreciation for the work of the Press Office.
(b) The Chancellor
Noted that an announcement had recently been made that the Chancellor would be elevated
to membership of the House of Lords and Court wished to express its warmest
congratulations.
13. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of Court would be held at 11 am on Friday, 6 May 2005.