Approved
UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX
PROJECT COORDINATION GROUP
18 May 2015
(3pm – 5pm)
MINUTES
Chair
Sonia Virdee (SV) 3pm – 4pm; Bryn Morris (OBM) from 4pm.
Present
Marc Albano (MA), Emma Hardy (EH), James Lewis (JL), Peter Luther (PL),
Zoe Manning (ZM), Bettina Mills (BM), Richard Murphy (RM), Aletta Norval (AN),
Paul Smart (PS), Richard Stock (RS)
In attendance
Nicola East (NE), Rachel Frost (RF) (agenda item 12a), Fiona Lloyd (FL),
Keith Miller (KM)
Secretary
Clare Hornsby (CH)
1
Apologies
Noted
2
Bernarde Hyde, Simon Neale.
61/15
Starring of agenda items
Noted
Agenda items 3 and 11 were starred for discussion.
Agenda items that were not starred would be noted and/or approved as
appropriate, without discussion.
3
4
63/15
Minutes of the last meeting (PCG/15/24)
Noted
In reference to minute 34/15, it was confirmed that course structure
modifications should be delivered as part of the annual review of
courses rather than through a new or alternative process.
64/15
Approved
65/15
The minutes from the 12 March 2015 meeting of PCG.
Matters arising from the minutes (PCG/15/25)
Noted
5
62/15
66/15
An update from the 5 May meeting of CPG (verbal update)
Noted
Following consultation with colleagues in Biological Sciences, it had
been agreed that sports and exercise science related activities would be
located within or near to the new and existing sports facilities, at the
Colchester Campus. Student and staff requirements would therefore be
incorporated into the Sports Facilities project mandate which was
scheduled to be considered by CPG on 26 May.
67/15
The Capital Investment Plan (CIP) had been re-profiled in order to
deliver strategically important projects and to better reflect known and
anticipated levels of spend in 2014-15 and future years. The Capital
Planning Group would look to finalise the CIP on 26 May 2015 before
recommending it to USG, SRC and Council for approval.
68/15
1
6
The North Teaching Centre and Summer Works project mandates had
been recommend by CPG on 5 May 2015 for approval by USG, SRC
and Council as appropriate. The full project proposals relating to the
reconfiguration of space within the Essex Business School, and the
entrance, emergency exit and curtain wall within the Library Extension
Student Centre had also been recommended for approval.
70/15
PCG noted:

The North Teaching Centre project mandate;

The Summer Works project mandate;

The Essex Business School full project proposal; and

The two Library Extension Student Centre project proposals.
71/15
An update from the Chair of the Capital Projects Board (verbal report)
Noted
8
69/15
Mandated and approved capital projects (PCG/15/26 – PCG/15/30)
Noted
7
It was confirmed that any uncommitted funds in the Education and
Research Infrastructure budgets would not be carried forward into
2015-16.
The Interim Deputy Director of Estates (Capital and Development)
provided an overview of building and infrastructure capital projects
which were forthcoming or currently in delivery, and advised on
progress which had been made to date.
72/15
An update from the Chair of the Systems and Academic Projects Board (verbal report)
Noted
Agreed
SAPB met on 18 April 2015 and discussed the operation of the Board,
reporting mechanisms, and the value of the Project Management
Framework. A number of opportunities had been identified to improve
the efficiency and effectiveness of the Board in 2015-16, and these
would be presented to PCG in July.
73/15
The ‘Purchase and implementation of SOTER software’ project progress
report had not yet been submitted, despite it being scheduled for
consideration in January 2015. The project had not progressed since
December 2014 following the departure of the Project Officer however in
the absence of a detailed progress report, the Board had been unable to
ascertain if any action had been taken to get the project back on track,
or to mitigate any unresolved institutional risks.
74/15
Although SAPB recognised that there could be an ongoing business
need for the SOTER software project, the Board recommended the
cancellation of the project.
75/15
The Project Manager should be invited to submit a Change Request
which provides a detailed account of how the project would be delivered
going forward. The non-submission of a Change Request could result in
the cancellation of the project.
76/15
Action: CH
9
An update on the Strategic Projects Portfolio (PCG/15/31)
Noted
Agreed
The updated Strategic Projects Portfolio and the summary of project
progress was noted.
77/15
HEFCE had awarded the University additional financial resources to
fund a modified Postgraduate Support Scheme in 2015-16, in advance
of the introduction of the postgraduate student loan system in 2016-17.
The PSS Scheme Manager and Project Officer would be in post until
31 January 2016 and were therefore working to embed all processes
into business as usual activities. For 2015-16, departments were not
expected to have to dedicate any additional resources over and above
those committed in 2014-15.
78/15
The PSS Scheme should be delivered as a business as usual activity in
2015-16. There would be no requirement to submit additional progress
reports relating the implementation and delivery of the 2015-16 scheme.
79/15
The proposed December 2015 completion date for the ‘CRM for the
Student Services Centre’ project was approved.
80/15
10 Attendance Monitoring project update (PCG/15/32)
Noted
Agreed
The attendance recording element of the project was working well
however significant problems were still being experienced in relation to
the attendance monitoring strand of the project.
81/15
The development of an in-house attendance monitoring system had
been discussed for use in 2015-16 and beyond, following exploration of
other market systems and solutions. A technical specification would be
created towards the end of June, in order to determine the impact of
such a proposal on this and other strategically important projects.
82/15
An in-house solution could be available for deployment in September
2015 in readiness for the new academic year. It would be necessary to
ensure that safeguards were in place to mitigate against the risk of data
retrieval problems, and for the resource implications of these safeguards
to be fully understood.
83/15
Before embarking upon the development of a technical specification,
consideration would be given to working with Collective Intelligence
Systems to enhance and utilise their working attendance monitoring
system.
84/15
There would also be a range of stakeholder communications
disseminated over the coming months.
85/15
The Project Manager should submit a Change Request for
consideration at the July meeting of PCG.
86/15
Action: CH
11 Project Change Requests
a) ESIS to CMIS (Timetabling Data) (PCG/15/33)
Noted
A Project Officer was expected to join the Systems Administration Team
from September 2015. This post would provide much needed capacity
within the team to progress projects such as ESIS to CMIS, which were
critical for the ongoing sustainability of University systems.
87/15
Agreed
The revised project timetable was approved and the SPP should be
updated to record a new project completion date of April 2016.
88/15
Action: CH
b) International Academy Pre-Sessional Course Finder (PCG/15/34)
Noted
The limited availability of key stakeholders to test the pre-sessional
course finder had delayed the completion of the project.
89/15
Agreed
The revised project timetable was approved. The SPP should be
updated to record a new project completion date of May 2015.
90/15
Action: CH
The Project Manager should submit a project closure report to the July
meeting of PCG.
91/15
Action: CH
c) Marketing Activities Reporting Services (PCG/15/35)
Noted
Agreed
As a result of staff availability the project had not progressed in line with
the original or revised timetables. The composition and structure of the
MaSR team had changed since project implementation was first initiated
and therefore a revised project scope had been proposed to ensure
better alignment with end user requirements. Subject to PCG’s
approval, the project would now deliver a dashboard similar to the
Planning Information Portal.
92/15
Although the level of MIS resource required to deliver the revised project
had reduced to just one day, a larger amount of staff resource would be
drawn from CER. It was also proposed that Project Management
responsibilities shift from the Head of Market Intelligence to the
Marketing Systems Officer.
93/15
The project timetable could be extended by three months.
94/15
The SPP should be updated to record the revised expected completion
date of October 2015, and to recognise the role of the Marketing
Systems Officer as the Project Manager.
95/15
Action: CH
d) My Mobile Essex (PCG/15/36)
Noted
The Change Request had been approved by Chair’s action on 6 May
2015. A detailed implementation plan would be submitted for PCG’s
consideration in due course.
96/15
The Education Excellent Fund grant of £25,000 had been awarded on
the understanding that the remaining financial resources required to
deliver the project had been secured. It was however confirmed that a
further £25,000 was required in order to outsource the development of
the app to a commercial supplier.
97/15
12 Project mandates
a) Recording, reporting and managing Link Agreements on ESIS (PCG/15/37)
Noted
The project sought to hold all link agreement information in ESIS rather
than on separate spreadsheets, in order to enable Admissions to
associate an applicant with a link agreement and for the details to be
98/15
cross loaded to the student record.
Agreed
The benefits of undertaking such a project had been identified in
previous academic years and again recently by the China Working
Group who had recommended the project to USG. As in previous years,
the resources required to deliver the project were not currently available.
99/15
The project was mandated. It was recommended that a full project
proposal be submitted to the August meeting of SAPB for consideration
and referral to the September 2015 meeting of PCG.
100/15
The proposal should:
101/15

clearly set out the benefits to the organisation, which include
being able to access improved data relating to international
student recruitment;

include a timetable which will enable the project to be completed
in readiness for the 2016-17 academic year;

include within the project timetable, user testing; and

clearly set out the resource implications of user testing on all
participating departments and sections.
Action: RF
Secretary’s note: Following the meeting of PCG, it was recommended
that the project be mandated with a 1-2 priority ranking which reflected
the current assessment of time criticality and strategic contribution.
102/15
b) Research project websites and blogs (PCG/15/38)
Noted
Agreed
The project sought to improve the web presence of research and to
enable greater engagement with the wider research community.
103/15
Many departments and sections from across the University had
identified a need for improved visibility and functionality, and East 15
had already received approval to develop their website using
WordPress. As an organisation, it would be necessary to understand
more fully the functionality and role of WordPress, the ways in which flat
content could be presented in a more engaging fashion, and how
WordPress could be used to develop the existing content.
104/15
The premise of the project mandate was well received however it was
agreed that it should be referred back to the Project Manager for further
development and resubmission to a future meeting of PCG. The revised
mandate should have a greater focus on blogging technology and
software, and should include a more detailed description of the existing
gaps in the University’s web presence and research visibility.
105/15
Action: CH
13 Student Assessment of Modules and Teaching full project proposal (PCG/15/39)
Noted
The implementation of the SAMT survey software had become an
increasingly urgent priority because the current system had begun to
fail. The International Academy, HHS, and the Talent Development
Centre would pilot the system over the summer in anticipation of
University-wide deployment during the 2015-16 academic year.
106/15
Agreed
It was not clear from the proposal how much departmental resource
would be required to administer SAMT processes, however it was
suggested that there could be value in the processes being
administered centrally in order to reduce the burden on departments. It
was important that the format and content of reports aligned with user
requirements.
107/15
The Deputy Academic Registrar (Systems Administration) offered to
relay the Group’s views to the Academic Registrar and the SAMT
Project Manager.
108/15
The project was approved for implementation with a recommendation
that the system training be scheduled at appropriate times throughout
the academic year to enable departmental participation.
109/15
It was also recommended that data collection mechanisms, as well as
data manipulation and report production, be the subject of user and
system testing.
110/15
14 SUMS activity 2014-15
a) SUMS review of MIS working practices: a progress report (verbal report)
Agreed
The Director of Information Services should submit a written progress
report for consideration at the July 2015 meeting of PCG.
111/15
Action: RM
b) SUMS review of management information (PCG/15/40)
Noted
The Principle Consultant of SUMS provided an overview of the work
which had been undertaken in relation to the review of management
information. The review had included an assessment of the maturity of
the University’s business intelligence, information and data, relative to a
number of other Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
112/15
Agreed
Future work in this area should be concentrated on the identification of
actions which would enable the University to meet and exceed the
needs of students, and deliver a transformational educational
experience. These actions should be identified and submitted to a future
meeting of PCG for consideration.
113/15
Action: MA
c) SUMS review of systems procurement: Terms of Reference (verbal report)
Agreed
The scope of the SUMS review should focus on procurement processes
rather than the advantages of alternative project management
methodologies.
114/15
The Terms of Reference for the review should be submitted to a future
meeting of PCG for approval, alongside details of a proposed working
group. The working group should include the Deputy Director of SPCS,
the Director of Information Services, the Interim Procurement Manager,
and the Deputy Academic Registrar (Project Manager of the Student
Services Centre project).
115/15
Action: FL
15 An update on the University’s Curriculum Review Programme (PCG/15/41)
Noted
116/15
16 Review of the operation of PCG and SAPB (verbal report)
Noted
Discussion of this matter would be deferred until the July 2015 meeting
of PCG.
117/15
17 Any other business
Noted
7
118/15
Date of the next meeting
Noted
9 July 2015, 2pm to 4pm, in the Vice-Chancellor’s Boardroom.
Clare Hornsby
Project Governance Officer
June 2015
119/15