Approved
UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX
SENATE
Wednesday 13 October 2010
(1.00 pm – 3.00 pm)
MINUTES
(Unreserved)
Chair
Professor Colin Riordan, Vice Chancellor
Present
Mr Arnold, Mr Bannerman, Dr Burnett, Mr Butler, Dr Campbell, Professor Carrabine,
Mr Cornes, Professor Cox, Dr Cox, Professor Dorussen, Dr Fasli, Professor Higgins,
Dr Hulme, Professor Hulme, Dr Jackson, Mr Krishnamoorthi, Mr Kukaswadia,
Professor Landman, Professor Lucas, Dr Mackenzie, Mr Marrani, Professor Martin,
Professor Massara, Dr Micklewright, Mr Murphy, Professor Orbell, Dr Penman, Dr
Pevalin, Professor Pretty, Mr Reily, Dr Rockett, Professor Schulze, Professor Sherer,
Dr Smith, Professor South, Mr Uciu, Professor Underwood, Dr Wade, Mr Wan, Dr
Woollard
Apologies
Dr Boehm, Ms Brennan, Professor Coakley, Professor Downton, Professor Henson,
Mr Lusigi, Mr Luther, Dr Sepulveda, Dr Rowlands, Dr Venn, Professor Wright
Secretary
Registrar and Secretary
In attendance
Deputy Academic Registrar (Systems Administration), Director of Strategic Planning
By invitation
Deputy Academic Registrar (Student Administration, Quality and Academic
Partnerships)
Noted
The Vice-Chancellor welcomed new staff and student members to the first
Senate meeting of the academic year.
294/10
MEMBERSHIP OF SENATE 2010/11 (S/10/60)
Noted
295/10
MEMBERSHIP OF SENATE AGENDA GROUP 2010/11 (S/10/61)
Noted
The chair of the Senate Agenda Group (SAG) stated that the group wanted to
play a proactive role (i) as an effective link between Senate and Council, and (ii)
in bringing forward agenda items for inclusion on the Senate agenda. He
confirmed that an email would be sent from the SAG to Senate members about
six weeks before the SAG meeting requesting issues for discussion. He
acknowledged that it may be appropriate for some issues to be referred
elsewhere.
1
296/10
STARRING OF AGENDA ITEMS
Noted
In accordance with Standing Orders, para 5, the following items were starred for
discussion:
Agenda item 1(b)
297/10
Membership of Senate Agenda
Group
MINUTES
Approved
The Minutes of the meeting held on 7 July 2010.
298/10
MATTERS ARISING
None
299/10
BUSINESS TAKEN WITHOUT DISCUSSION
Approved
Without discussion, those items not already starred on the agenda or indicated in
advance of the meeting in accordance with Standing Orders, para 5.
300/10
FORMAL BUSINESS (S/10/62)
Re-Appointment of Appeals Officer
Recommended to Council and approved by Council Chair’s Action
that Professor Roger Hawkins be re-appointed as an Appeals Officer for the
period 1/7/10 to 31/7/11.
301/10
Appointment of Proctor
Recommended to Council and approved by Council Chair’s Action
that Ms Jessie Mallinson be appointed as Proctor for the period 1/8/10 to
31/7/12 .
302/10
Appointment of Assistant Proctor
Recommended to Council and approved by Council Chair’s Action
that Dr Lisa Wade be appointed as Assistant Proctor for the period 1/8/10 to
31/7/12.
303/10
VICE CHANCELLOR’S STATEMENT (S/10/63)
Received
The Vice-Chancellor’s written statement to Senate.
304/10
Noted
The Vice-Chancellor reported orally on a number of issues:
305/10
2
Admissions
The Pro-Vice Chancellor (Sustainability and Resources) provided a progress
report on the admissions position for 2010 entry and thanked departmental
admissions selectors and the admissions team in the Professional Services for
their hard work. He stated that undergraduate Home/EU recruitment was better
than expected and had led to an increase in the overall tariff score, although
undergraduate overseas recruitment was lower than target, but around the same
as 2009 entry. Postgraduate recruitment for both Home/EU and overseas was
also lower than target. He pointed out that non-standard provision, such as
Continuing Professional Development and part-time study, would be a growth
area in the coming years. A new recruitment and admissions plan would be
developed during 2010/11, taking account of the outcomes arising from the
Browne Review.
306/10
Workload Allocation Model
The Vice-Chancellor stated that the group considering workload allocation had
proposed the University have a detailed discussion with the University of Exeter
regarding the adoption by Essex of the former’s workload allocation system. It
was noted that Exeter’s system was adaptable to the University’s requirements,
would remove the need for the work related to Transparent Approach to Costing
(TRAC) and was not costly to purchase. It was proposed that the system be
piloted from Easter 2011 with a view to broader introduction in time for the
2011/12 academic year.
307/10
Timetabling
There was discussion around whether the annual teaching timetable could be
published earlier in the academic year. It was acknowledged that there were
barriers to an earlier publication linked to the provision of accurate and up to
date information by the Departments to the Central Timetable Office. The ViceChancellor stated that the Timetable Review Group had considered these issues
and had recommended the current publication timeframe. There was
acknowledgement that automated class allocation and the delivery of individual
online teaching timetables for students for 2010/11 had been a significant
development, which had received a very positive reaction from students and
staff. The implementation of these changes would be reviewed and any
problems identified would be resolved.
Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences
The Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences had been awarded to Professor
Christopher Pissarides, who graduated from the University with a BA in
Economics in 1970 and an MA in Economics in 1971. Professor Pissarides
shared the joint award with two others, including Professor Dale Mortensen
from Northwestern University, who also had close links with the University of
Essex as a Visiting Professor.
308/10
Browne Review and Comprehensive Spending Review
The Vice-Chancellor summarised the proposals contained in the report of the
Browne Review into Higher Education Funding and Student Finance, which
had been published on 12 October. He stated that the proposals had been
formulated on the assumption of a significant cut in the HEFCE teaching grant,
which would be implemented as part of the Government’s forthcoming
Comprehensive Spending Review. It was expected that medicine, science and
309/10
3
some language courses would continue to receive public subsidy but most other
courses would not, with higher student fees providing the replacement funding
for teaching. He stated that there was a progressive element to the fees regime
proposed in the report to ensure that students from lower income backgrounds
would continue to have access to higher education. It was noted that HEFCE
would no longer play a significant role in allocating student places, which
would be driven under the new funding regime by student demand. Unregulated
student places would mean greater year on year fluctuations in student numbers
and income. It was noted that there would be a notional cap on numbers through
the management of tariff scores via UCAS, although the detail still needed to be
worked out. Following the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review on
20 October, the Government would provide the annual funding letter to HEFCE
in December 2010 and the University would receive its funding allocation for
the next financial year in March 2011.
Death of Professor Kimmy Eldridge
The Vice-Chancellor reported the sad and unexpected death of Professor
Kimmy Eldridge, who had played a crucial role in the establishment of the
School of Heath and Human Sciences at the University. Senate members were
asked to stand for a few moments of silent reflection in memory of Professor
Eldridge.
310/10
ACADEMIC STANDARDS (S/10/64)
Received
A discussion paper from the Vice-Chancellor on academic standards.
311/10
Noted
The Vice-Chancellor introduced the paper, stating that it did not contain
proposals for implementation but was designed to prompt discussion to identify
areas of work for further exploration. If such areas were identified, Senate
members would be invited to be involved in the work to take them forward. He
reiterated the importance of external perceptions regarding academic standards
within the HE sector. ‘Quality’ was defined as relating to, among others, the
academic environment, facilities and appropriate documentation and learning
outcomes, while academic standards related specifically to the levels of student
achievement.
312/10
The discussion covered the following areas:
Study Skills and Ethos
It was asserted by the Students’ Union Vice-President (Education) that students’
workload varied during the academic year, and was lighter in the early period of
their studies. It was suggested that assignments could be set throughout the term
rather than at the end, and faster and more comprehensive feedback should be
provided, which would enhance students’ study skills ahead of the next
assignment. It was also noted that some Departments already set formative
assessment for this particular purpose.
313/10
The “Critical Reasoning and Logical Argument” module that had been
developed in the Department of Philosophy was highlighted as an example of
good practice in promoting a positive approach to academic study. The Head of
the Department of Philosophy reported that the module was pursued by students
on a voluntary basis and had received the highest satisfaction rates in the
314/10
4
Department. The rewards for the student were related particularly to feedback,
which helped to develop study skills. Senate members acknowledged that the
development of such provision needed to be balanced against the messages that
the University sent to students about future approaches to the work/life balance.
That university life for most students included an element of outside work was
highlighted as an issue that had to be recognised when considering a student’s
capacity to work harder. It was suggested that some students may pursue
outside interests or undertake external activities in some cases because of their
lighter academic workload.
315/10
Teaching Techniques
Senate members provided various examples of where innovative teaching and
support arrangements were being developed, for example, through social
networking media. It was noted that this was an area where the Open University
had been at the forefront for a number of years and lessons could be learnt from
them and from private providers, such as Kaplan Open Learning. It was
accepted though that, while supporting innovation, the University needed to be
careful about replacing the benefits of traditional teaching with the use of
technology.
316/10
Senate members agreed that a variety of innovative and traditional teaching
methods was the most appropriate. Raising awareness of innovative techniques
and sharing good practice was also important. While it was suggested that
moving, for example, 10% of lectures online would aid space management and
timetabling, it was noted that innovative teaching was not always simple to
deliver or cost-free and had implications related to intellectual property and
copyright.
317/10
Teaching Structures
Senate members agreed that there would be no significant benefit in moving
from the current 15/30 credit module structure to a 20/40 structure, particularly
as these structures had only been reviewed in 2007. It was noted that, combined
with the development of alternative assessment methods, more could be made
of the summer term to move the focus away from traditional summer
assessment, which would free up time for more teaching/study activity.
318/10
Assessment and Plagiarism
It was suggested that issues around plagiarism were linked to study skills as
students new to higher education needed to be taught the importance of
referencing material and how not to plagiarise inadvertently. The focus on
reducing opportunities to plagiarise through the diversification of assessment
was welcomed, noting that different kinds of assessment methods impacted on
students in different ways. The cultural differences around plagiarism were also
acknowledged as University life in the UK was often the first experience that
overseas students had of the concept of plagiarism.
319/10
The remaining subjects covered by the discussion paper related to student
mobility, external examiners and admissions standards. The Vice-Chancellor
stated that the development of ways to increase student mobility was being
undertaken through the new Student Mobility Policy, endorsed by Senate in
July 2010. He suggested that discussion regarding external examiners should
320/10
5
await the outcome the current national review of external examining
arrangements in the UK. Regarding admissions standards, he highlighted the
recently-introduced split between the responsibility for recruitment on the one
hand and admissions standards on the other, which were now the responsibility
of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Sustainability and Resources) and the Pro-ViceChancellor (Academic Standards) respectively.
In conclusion, Senate members agreed that there were areas identified as part of
the discussion that needed further exploration. Diversification of assessment
methods, study skills and plagiarism, enhanced feedback on academic work and
student contact hours were particular key areas. The Vice-Chancellor invited
members to contact the Academic Registrar to express an interest in being
involved in further work.
321/10
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
Academic Board (S/10/65)
(a)
Variations to the Undergraduate Rules of Assessment
Resolved
(b)
that, with effect from 2010-11, the variations set out in Appendix 1 of the
Academic Board report to Senate (paper S/10/65) for Certificates of Continuing
Education, Foundation Degrees and three-year Honours Degrees at Kaplan
Open Learning be approved.
322/10
Variations to the Postgraduate Rules of Assessment
Resolved
that, with effect from 2010-11, the following variation for the MA in the
Foundations of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and the Postgraduate Diploma in
the Foundations of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy at the Tavistock and Portman
NHS Foundation Trust be approved:
323/10
that for the award of the masters degree/postgraduate diploma with
merit or distinction both Clinical Work Supervisor’s Reports must be
passed at the first attempt
Academic Staffing Committee (S/10/66)
Noted
324/10
Professorships Committee (S/10/67)
Noted
325/10
SCHEDULE OF DELEGATED POWERS (S/10/68)
Noted
326/10
Dr Tony Rich
Registrar and Secretary
13 October 2010
6