Approved
UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX
PROJECT COORDINATION GROUP
5 February 2015
(2pm – 3pm)
MINUTES
Chair
Bryn Morris (OBM)
Present
Marc Albano (MA), Emma Hardy (EH), Bernarde Hyde (BH), James Lewis (JL),
Peter Luther (PL), Zoe Manning (ZM), Richard Murphy (RM), Aletta Norval (AN),
Maxwell Stevenson (MS)
In attendance
Nicola East (NE)
Secretary
Clare Hornsby (CH)
1
Apologies
Noted
2
3
4
Bettina Mills, Simon Neale, Richard Stock, Sonia Virdee.
Starring of agenda items
Noted
2/15
Minutes of the last meeting (PCG/15/01)
Approved
3/15
Matters arising from the minutes (PCG/15/02)
4/15
Noted
5
Management response to the SUMS review of student placements (PCG/15/03)
Noted
Agreed
6
1/15
A detailed action plan had been developed in response to the SUMS
review of student placements. Three Task and Finish Groups and a
Steering Group had been established in order to oversee the
implementation of recommendations.
5/15
New project ideas relating to IT infrastructure could be identified as part
of the spring planning round, in order to support University activity
relating to student placements.
6/15
That the project should be closed.
7/15
Project proposals for consideration
a) Oral Health Facilities (PCG/15/04)
Noted
The University had received £100,000 from Health Education East of
England (HEEoE) to support the development of postgraduate oral health
programmes in North Essex. As a result of the 2013-14 planning round,
£363,000 had been earmarked for investment in oral health facilities, on
or near to the Colchester Campus, across 2014-15 and 2015-16.
8/15
The project would see the University work in partnership with a local
dental surgery in order to provide skills based training to students
9/15
studying oral health programmes at the Colchester Campus. Although
PCG were broadly supportive of the proposal, the Group required
additional financial information, and clarity around the long term
equipment maintenance and replacement costs beyond the term of the
HEEoE funding.
Agreed
The proposal should be referred back to the Faculty of Science and
Health for further development alongside a detailed record of PCG’s
comments.
10/15
Action: CH
Owing to the tight deadlines associated with this project and the need for
the facilities to be installed in advance of the 2015-16 academic year, the
revised proposal could be considered electronically by the Chair of PCG
for approval.
11/15
b) Student Assessment of Modules and Teaching (SAMT)
7
Noted
The item was withdrawn from the agenda in advance of the meeting at
the request of the Project Sponsor, as further work was required to
secure the necessary project resources.
12/15
Agreed
The revised project proposal could be considered electronically by the
Chair of PCG for approval, owing to the tight project deadlines.
13/15
Planning Information Portal (PIP) project closure report (PCG/15/06)
Noted
Agreed
8
The PIP had provided the University with significantly improved access to
management information and had been well received by colleagues
across the organisation.
14/15
The closure report provided an honest and detailed account of project
implementation. Following the approval of the CEDRS project which
would look to further improve access to management information, the
scope of the PIP project was revised, to make better use of existing
resources. It was suggested that the University could benefit from
adopting a more agile approach to project management, an issue which
had been discussed at the January meeting of the Systems and
Academic Projects Board.
15/15
A glossary of technical terminology should be included in future project
approval and closure reports.
16/15
The closure of the project was approved.
17/15
An update on the Strategic Projects Portfolio (PCG/15/07)
18/15
Noted
9
Potential and forthcoming projects
a) Potential and forthcoming projects for 2014-15 and future years (PCG/15/08)
Noted
A list of potential and forthcoming projects as identified through the
annual Professional Services planning process had been considered at
the July 2014 meeting of PCG. The list was updated following
discussions with Heads of Professional Services and colleagues in
19/15
academic departments, and would be revised again following the spring
planning round meetings.
Agreed
The list of potential projects demonstrated how well staff from across the
University community were working together to support the efficient and
effective recruitment of talented students, to improve the student
experience, and to maximise the efficiency of business systems and
processes. New project ideas which supported at least one of these
areas of focus would be welcomed, as would projects that aimed to
deliver a cashable benefit.
20/15
To help departments identify potential project ideas, an example of an
approved project should be published on the Planning Information Portal.
21/15
Action: CH
b) Verbal update from the Chair of the Systems and Academic Projects Board
Noted
The verbal update was provided by the Board’s Secretary in the absence
of the Chair. Following consideration of the Attendance Monitoring
project progress report, it was suggested that a SUMS review of large
systems procurement should be undertaken. Large systems were
defined in this instance as systems which would have an impact on
students and staff across the University, such as the Attendance
Monitoring system. This recommendation was made following
confirmation of the disparity between the required and available system
functionality, and in recognition that the system specification could
potentially have been more tightly scoped at the time of procurement.
22/15
A paper on the allocation and availability of ISS project and enhancement
resources was also considered by SAPB and highlighted a staff resource
deficit as a result of recent vacancies within MIS and the Learning
Technology Team (LTT). The Customer Services Manager had been
asked to work with the managers of those projects that were competing
for LTT resource, in order to identify methods for revising project
timetables. An update was scheduled to be provided at the February
meeting of SAPB.
23/15
c) Verbal update from the Chair of the Capital Projects Board
Noted
7
The verbal update was provided by the Board’s Secretary in the absence
of the Chair. The Board had not met since the approval of the revised
project governance arrangements in December 2014, however the first
meeting of the Board was scheduled for 25 February 2015.
Any other business
25/15
Noted
8
24/15
Date of the next meeting
Noted
12 March 2015, 2pm to 4pm in the Vice-Chancellor’s Boardroom.
Clare Hornsby
Project Governance Officer
February 2015
26/15