University of East Anglia and University of Essex
UNIVERSITY CAMPUS SUFFOLK JOINT ACADEMIC COMMITTEE
7 MARCH 2012
UNAPPROVED MINUTES
Chair
Erica Towner
Present
Phillip Belden; Dr Wayne Campbell; Angela Carter; Christine Dobson; Jane
Gamble; Dr Mark Lyne; Jen Mackness; Professor Naresh Pandit; Professor
Mike Saks; Phil Thirkettle; Dr Ceri Watkins; Professor David Weir; Professor
Jane Wright; Jonathan Wright
Apologies
Dr Penny Cavenagh; Jacqueline Collier; Dr Pam Cox; Chrissie Harrington;
Professor Valerie Lattimer; Richard Lister; Professor Brendon Noble;
Professor Nigel Norris; Dr David Pevalin; Alison Rhodes; Carol Smith;
Christine Walters
Secretary
Dr Kay Thompson
In attendance
Fiona Fisk; Stephen Knock; Claire Nixon; Susan Spencer; Sally Walker
Minutes of the previous meeting
12/01
The minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2011 were agreed to be an accurate
record of proceedings.
Matters arising
12/02
Minute 11/117 – an update was provided on the separation of the UCS virtual learning
environment and the intranet. The link with Blackboard had been maintained, but the
Wolsey platform had now been moved to MyUCS. The transition had been relatively
smooth, and initial impressions of the new platform were positive.
12/03
Minute 11/124 – in relation to the General Social Care Council (GSCC) inspection
report for Approval Mental Health professional training, confirmation had been received
from the GSCC that the process had been completed.
Chairs’ Report
12/04
Members noted a range of items for information as outlined in Paper JAC/12/02. In
terms of Social Work provision at UCS Ipswich, the risk assessment had been
completed by the GSCC and green status had been obtained.
Institutional review of UCS Great Yarmouth
12/05
Members received the report on the institutional review of UCS Great Yarmouth, which
had taken place on 2 December 2011. UCS Great Yarmouth felt that the review had
been a positive exercise that had been beneficial in terms of preparing for QAA
Integrated Quality and Enhancement Review.
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12/06
Action had already been taken to address some of the conditions and
recommendations (for example through improving access to resources and introducing
UCS Great Yarmouth lanyards), and a full response would be submitted to the next
meeting for approval.
12/07
It was recommended to the Senates of both validating universities that UCS Great
Yarmouth be reapproved as a partner institution of the University of East Anglia and
the University of Essex for a period of five years commencing September 2012, subject
to the conditions in the institutional review report being met by agreed deadlines.
Update on response to UCS Bury St Edmunds institutional review condition and
recommendations
12/08
Members received a response to the condition and recommendations of the
institutional review of UCS Bury St Edmunds. It was noted that good progress was
being made with the virtual learning environment, facilitated by the wider developments
across UCS noted in minute 12/02 above and regular meetings with the Elevate team.
Like many FE colleges, West Suffolk College operated separate FE and HE virtual
learning environments which could present challenges for staff teaching across FE and
HE. The college’s FE virtual learning environment was in the process of being
transferred to Moodle.
12/09
Members approved the response, and agreed that progress would be monitored at the
next meeting.
Update on response to UCS Lowestoft institutional review conditions and
recommendations
12/10
Members received a response to the conditions and recommendations of the
institutional review of UCS Lowestoft, and an updated HE strategy. Changes to the
constitution and agenda of the HE Forum had helped to strengthen its role in sharing
good practice, and there had been positive developments in terms of HE resources.
The key changes in the HE Strategy were highlighted, and it was noted that this would
be reviewed again after the completion of the QAA Integrated Quality and
Enhancement Review process.
12/11
Members approved the response, and agreed that progress would be monitored at the
next meeting.
Update on UCS Otley institutional review and NSS action plan
12/12
It was reported that a follow-up meeting had been held at UCS Otley to review
progress in terms of the institutional review conditions and recommendations and the
action plan arising from the National Student Survey outcomes for 2011.
Representatives of the college, UCS and the two validating universities had met with
staff with responsibility for quality, academic staff and students to get a sense of
progress with the action plans. The visit report (JAC/12/07) identified a series of
additional action points, building on the existing recommendations. It was recognised
that significant progress had been made in some areas, as highlighted by the
commendations, but there was scope to take the review process further. The College’s
Vice Principal Curriculum Quality and Students would be holding a Student Focus
Group meeting shortly. The situation would be monitored over the forthcoming months,
with another visit or paper-based monitoring exercise taking place in the summer term
with a view to making a decision on institutional revalidation via Chairs’ Action in June
2012. An update would be provided at the next meeting.
12/13
The UCS Provost stressed the importance of encouraging a strong NSS response rate
within UCS Otley so that the impact of the changes could be fully evaluated. The
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response rate currently stood at only 18% (of approximately 35 students), compared to
45% across UCS as a whole. It was noted that significant effort had been made by the
centre to encourage students to respond, but that further work was required to promote
the survey. The potential for the UCS Union to support the centre in this respect was
noted, building on the proactive approach that the Union had taken to strengthen links
with students in the Learning Network.
Merger proposal for Otley College and Easton College: consultation document
12/14
Members considered the consultation document on the proposed merger of Otley
College and Easton College. The consultation period had now closed and 240
responses had been received, of which over 84% had been positive. A financial and
legal due diligence exercise was currently in progress, with a full merger proposal to be
submitted to the government in due course. It was hoped that a new merged institution
would be established on 1 August 2012.
12/15
It was proposed that each college would retain their existing name for marketing
purposes, under the banner of the new Corporation. All staff would be transferred to
the new organisation under TUPE regulations. A single Principal would be appointed to
the new institution, with Vice Principals across both sites. Full staffing arrangements
had yet to be confirmed but no redundancies were anticipated, with an emphasis on
growth in land-based provision. Meetings between staff from both colleges had taken
place in December 2011 and February 2012, which had been very positive.
12/16
In terms of higher education, it was the initial intention that provision at Otley would
remain within UCS and provision at Easton would continue to be validated solely by
UEA. HE provision at both institutions was complementary which facilitated this
approach. It was noted that the legal agreements between the Learning Network
Centres and the UCS hub were due for renewal during the current academic year, and
that the proposed merger would be taken into account in moving this forward with UCS
Otley.
12/17
Members endorsed the proposed merger. An update would be provided at the next
meeting.
Update on discussions regarding HNC/D developments within UCS Learning
Network Centres
12/18
It was reported that there was a desire within some Learning Network Centres to offer
HNC and HND programmes. Although this was not seen by UCS as a major part of its
academic offering, the scope for niche provision where there was strong employer
demand (for example in engineering) was recognised. It was the intention that two
centres (UCS Bury St Edmunds and UCS Lowestoft) would deliver ‘off-the-shelf’
HNC/D programmes via Edexcel from 2012/13, with accreditation via the college but
utilising UCS student numbers. UCS Great Yarmouth was also considering the reintroduction of HNC/D provision from 2013/14. Discussions were underway regarding
quality processes, bearing in mind the use of UCS student numbers. There would also
need to be discussion regarding the implications in terms of progression onto honours
level programmes.
12/19
Members discussed the merits of this approach, in light of employer demand, local
competition, sector views of HNC/D provision and the wider UCS academic strategy. It
was acknowledged that Learning Network Centres were under pressure from
employers to develop responsive, competitively-priced provision without compromising
quality. An update on developments would be provided at the next meeting.
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UCS annual academic report 2010/11
12/20
Members received the UCS annual academic report for 2010/11, which represented
the culmination of the SARE process. This year, there had been a greater emphasis on
evaluation and the identification and sharing of good practice. New sections had been
introduced for research and scholarly activity and for employability, and the action plan
had been divided between action points with a quality assurance focus and action
points with a quality enhancement focus.
12/21
The following suggestions were made to enhance the report:
a) the inclusion of graduate employability data (it was noted that UCS was in the top
third of the sector in terms of employability, but in the lower 50% for ‘graduate’
employability; the type of employment that students from Learning Network Centres
progressed to was not always recognised as graduate level)
b) reference to the monitoring and review of postgraduate research degree provision
within the action plan (and the inclusion of a section on PGR in the next annual
academic report)
c) the identification of an overall lead for the ‘all support staff’ action points in the
Student Support action plan (Appendix B)
d) the inclusion of a target date for the implementation of a UCS library resources
development policy in the Library action plan (Appendix B).
12/22
The annual academic report was approved by members and the UCS Head of Quality
Enhancement was thanked for his work in producing such a comprehensive and useful
summary of the previous academic year.
Ofsted Initial Teacher Education inspection report and action plan
12/23
The Ofsted inspection report, which had resulted in a Grade 3 satisfactory outcome,
was considered by members. UCS felt that the inspection had taken place too soon
after the previous inspection to enable them to demonstrate the full impact of the
changes that had been made, and the unfortunate timing in respect of staff and student
availability and the clash with UCS graduation ceremonies was also noted.
12/24
The report highlighted a number of strengths, while flagging areas where action
continued to be required to enhance the provision. The QTLS Management Group
(implemented as a result of the last inspection) and the Operational Group had been
working on the action plan, and the overall management and leadership structure was
being revised.
12/25
Members discussed Ofsted proposals for the inspection of schools, whereby three
consecutive satisfactory outcomes would result in an inadequate judgement. If a similar
model was to be adopted for the inspection of the post-compulsory sector, the recent
satisfactory outcome for UCS would be taken into consideration as the first of these
judgements. The new inspection framework was expected to be published in
September 2012.
External examiner reports summary 2010/11
12/26
Members received a summary of external examiner reports for the 2010/11 academic
year, noting that the external examiner process was working effectively. Positive
reports had been received from the majority of external examiners and UCS was
making good use of the information they provided, for example in terms of sharing
good practice. Robust action had been taken to address the concerns raised in one
report where academic standards had been questioned, with an external critical friend
appointed by the validating universities and close monitoring of the situation by UCS
and the universities. The Chairs of the Committee would be reviewing all reports in due
course.
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12/27
It was noted that the external examiner report form had been changed as a result of a
recommendation of the QAA Integrated Quality and Enhancement Review process, to
encourage external examiners for multi-site provision to make centre-specific
comments. It was noted that UCS was also in the process of mapping its external
examining procedures against the relevant section of the new UK Quality Code.
Update on 2011 NSS action plans
12/28
The UCS Head of Quality Enhancement reported that all National Student Survey
action plans had been received, and that subsequent updates had been considered by
Academic Board. As noted in minute 12/13 above, the current NSS response rate for
the 2012 survey was a commendable 45%, and promotion of the internal student
survey has resulted in a 27% response rate which was much higher than the previous
year.
Update on Key Information Sets
12/29
The UCS Director of Planning and Partnerships provided an update on preparations for
the introduction of Key Information Sets. Consultation on technical issues was ongoing,
and a clearer sense of timeframes for launching the KIS was now available. UCS would
be attending a KIS workshop at the University of Essex the following week, which
would be a helpful opportunity to share experiences.
Recruitment update
12/30
Members received an update on 2011/12 recruitment and applications for 2012 entry.
UCAS applications for 2012/13 were currently down by 22% compared to the previous
year across UCS (compared to a decline of 7% nationally), although there had been a
30% increase at UCS Lowestoft and a 3% increase at UCS Great Yarmouth. Bearing in
mind that 2011 had been an exceptional year with students trying to gain a place
before the fee increase, a comparison against the 2010 situation was considered to be
a more reliable indicator of success, with UCAS applications down by only 2% and the
conversion rate up by 11%.
Employability in the curriculum initiative
12/31
Members were provided with a summary of the UCS employability in the curriculum
initiative, which had stemmed from the Student Experience Committee. Under the
initiative, each course team would be expected to nominate a member of staff to lead
on this at course level. This development was welcomed by members, and it was
agreed that an update would be provided at a future meeting.
UCS Ipswich senior staff appointment update
12/32
Members received an updated summary of senior academic appointments at UCS
Ipswich. A permanent Head of School for Applied Social Sciences had recently been
appointed and this would be announced shortly. Headhunters had been employed to
identify candidates for the Head of Science and Technology post, and a successful
outcome was anticipated. Discussions were ongoing regarding Head of Division
vacancies in the School of Business, Leadership and Enterprise, and a number of high
quality appointments had been made at lecturer level within the School. Strong
appointments to the posts of Head of Art and Design, Head of Humanities and Head of
Social Policy and Social Work were noted.
12/33
There continued to be a drive to appoint high calibre, research-active staff at
professorial level, including the former Essex Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Rob Massara,
as Professor of Academic and Research Management. Bill Tancred, a former double
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Olympian, had been appointed as Visiting Professor of Sports Leadership and UCS
Director of Sport. The importance of collaborating with the two validating universities to
ensure that staff felt part of a wider academic community was emphasised, with
positive developments in this respect in terms of linking with Essex Business School.
QAA Integrated Quality and Enhancement Review update
12/34
Members received an update on the summative review phase of QAA Integrated
Quality and Enhancement Review. Suffolk New College had completed the process
with a successful outcome (three aspects of good practice highlighted and two
desirable recommendations). The remaining centres would be reviewed within the next
few months, and mock events were being organised to support the process.
UCS Intercalation Policy
12/35
The UCS Intercalation Policy was approved.
Chairs’ Action
12/36
The Committee noted action taken on behalf of the Committee by the Director of
Partnerships (UEA) and the Dean of Academic Partnerships (Essex) to approve a
range of items as listed in Paper JAC/12/17.
12/37
It was noted that FdSc Communication Technologies: Software Engineering at UCS
Ipswich had received approval to proceed to publicity and validation.
12/38
Approval to proceed to publicity and validation for BA (Hons) / BSc (Hons) / BA (Ord) /
BSc (Ord) Land Based Studies (level 6 progression route) at UCS Otley, granted at the
previous meeting (minute 11/137), had been withdrawn pending further work to
address the conditions of institutional review and the NSS action plan.
12/39
It was recommended to the Senates of the validating universities that the title of
CertHE Sports Development and Coaching at UCS Bury St Edmunds be changed to
CertHE Sports Coaching and Development with immediate effect.
12/40
It was recommended to the Senates of the validating universities that the title of BA
(Hons) Dance in the Community at UCS Ipswich be changed to BA (Hons) Dance, with
effect from September 2012 for new students only.
12/41
It was recommended to the Senates of the validating universities that CertHE
Sustainable Land Use Management at UCS Otley be discontinued with immediate
effect.
School, Centre and Support Services SARE reports 2010/11
12/42
Members noted the School, Centre and Support Services SARE reports for 2010/11,
which had fed into the UCS annual academic report discussed above.
Schedule of validation, revalidation and periodic review events 2011/12
12/43
Members noted the schedule of validation, revalidation and periodic review events for
the current academic year, and the outcomes to date.
Report from the UCS Policies and Procedures Working Group
12/44
Members received the minutes of the UCS Policies and Procedures Working Group
meeting held on 1 December 2011.
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Report from UCS Academic Board
12/45
Members received the minutes of the UCS Academic Board meeting held on 9
February 2012.
Any other business
12/46
It was noted that the secretary to the committee, Kay Thompson, would be leaving the
University of Essex shortly, and she was thanked for her major contribution to the
committee and to the broader UCS partnership.
Date of next meeting
12/47
Thursday 29 May 2012, 14:00 – 16:00, UCS Ipswich
Dr Kay Thompson
Academic Standards and Partnerships Manager
University of Essex
March 2012
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