Unapproved Minutes
UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX
EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY COMMITTEE
20 May 2008
(2:00pm – 4:45pm)
MINUTES
Chair
Present
Apologies
Secretary
In attendance
Mrs Stamp
Dr Burnett, Mr Capella, Dr Campbell, Mrs Endean, Ms Fletcher, Ms Gray, Ms Jones, Mr
Kent, Professor Riordan
Dr Martin, Mr Mehmet
Ms Romaine, Administrative Officer
Mrs Bush, Miss D’Mello
INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS
Noted
The new members, Dr Campbell and Professor Riordan, were welcomed to the
Committee.
01/08
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 20 NOVEMBER 2007
Approved
02/08
MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
a) Training for Security Staff (M. 41/07)
Reported
Additional training on non-visible disabilities and mental health awareness was
now in place for Security staff at the University. This took the form of induction
training, visits to Student Support and one-to-one briefings.
03/08
b) Network of Equality Committees at Partner Institutions (M. 34/07)
Reported
The Equality Network was functioning effectively and was proving to be a
useful forum for the exchange of information and documents. The next meeting
was scheduled for 3 June and would be held at Writtle College.
04/08
c) Statistics on Undergraduate Admissions: Levels of Rejected Applications from Disabled
Students in the Department of Law (M. 45/07)
Noted
The Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Comparative Studies had discussed
the high level of rejected disabled applicants in the Department of Law with the
Dean of the Faculty of Law and Management. It was confirmed that there was
no intentional bias in the Department towards the selection of able-bodied
applicants. The reason for the high level of rejected disabled applicants was
uncertain, but it was possibly linked to the fact that the Department tended to
select students on the basis of their A-Level results (or equivalent qualifications),
rather than by interview. It would be difficult to gain statistics on whether
05/08
disabled Essex applicants tended to have poorer A-Level results because
students did not always disclose disabilities to UCAS EADC was reassured that
the Admissions Office conducted regular analysis of applicant statistics.
Resolved
The Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Comparative Studies would
communicate EADC’s concerns to the Department of Law and ask that the
Department keep the issue under review as part of their annual monitoring
process.
06/08
d) Statistics on Postgraduate Admissions: Low Levels of Declared Disabilities Amongst
Postgraduate Students (M. 46/07)
Noted
The Assistant Director of Student Support (Disability) had discussed the low
level of postgraduate students declaring a disability with the Head of Graduate
Admissions. The HESA statistics confirmed that Essex performed poorly in this
area, however, the number of disabled postgraduate applicants who were
rejected was small, and the number of disabled postgraduates who accepted a
place at the University was in line with expected levels. It was thought that the
low level of declaration could be related to the fact that Essex recruited a high
number of postgraduate students from overseas, as international students
traditionally tended to be less likely to disclose a disability on application.
07/08
Resolved
The issue would be referred to the Equality Impact Assessment group
responsible for considering student admissions. EADC would also re-consider
the issue if it reoccurred in the student statistics presented to the Committee in
November 2008.
08/08
d) Students’ Union Diversity Audit (M. 72/07)
Noted
The outcome of the Students’ Union Diversity Audit would be considered at the
next meeting of EADC in November 2008.
09/08
DISABILITY MATTERS
a) Update on the Disability Equality Scheme
Reported
Considerable progress had been achieved in implementing the Disability
Equality Scheme action plan, for example: staff training on disability had been
improved; recommendations had been made for improving Open Days for
disabled students; the Widening Participation Team had recruited disabled
Student Ambassadors; and the exams process for students with individual needs
had been reviewed.
10/08
b) Update on the ‘Two Ticks’ Disability Symbol
Noted
University Steering Group had supported the idea that the University apply for
the ‘two ticks’ disability symbol. Heads of Department and Heads of Section
had been consulted and were also supportive of the proposal. The University
would make its application to Job Centre Plus towards the end of June and,
providing the application was successful, the disability symbol could then be
used on job adverts and stationery. The symbol would give a positive message
to potential employees and students about the University’s attitude to equality
and diversity.
11/08
As a requirement of applying for the symbol, the University would have to
12/08
guarantee that any disabled applicants who met the essential criteria for an
advertised post would be interviewed. Evidence from other universities had
indicated that the expected increase in the number of candidates being
interviewed would be manageable.
The Director of Personnel Services and the Equality and Diversity Officer were
congratulated on their success in securing the University’s agreement to apply
for the disability symbol. However, if the Students’ Union also wished to use
the symbol, they would need to make a separate application.
13/08
c) Update on New Training Programme for Disability Awareness
Reported
The new training programme to raise disability awareness had been received
very well by both the academic and non-academic staff who had participated in
the training sessions. The trainer was a member of academic staff from another
institution who was able to share personal experiences of teaching disabled
students. This training programme built on the University’s long established
tradition of raising disability awareness. In addition, more support was now
provided to Departmental Disability Liaison Officers (DDLOs) and it was
expected that the DDLOs could disseminate some of the training within their
own departments.
14/08
Noted
It was confirmed that Students’ Union employees would be welcome to
participate in the new training programme, which was free of charge. Raising
disability awareness in students was a challenging task since the student body
changed every year, however, students did attend courses run by the Equality
and Diversity Office.
15/08
d) Positive Action Event
Reported
The University had recently hosted an event for Remploy and a number of its
registered jobseekers. Remploy was an employment services provider which
aimed to get disabled people and those experiencing barriers to employment
back into work. The event had focussed on giving the jobseekers an
understanding of what it was like to work at the University. Remploy was keen
to arrange work experience opportunities on campus and a Tuesday Taster
session was planned to promote the provision of work experience at the
University. Although Remploy were planning to attend the Tuesday Taster,
work experience opportunities would not be limited to jobseekers registered with
Remploy.
16/08
e) Contact with DisabledGo
Reported
DisabledGo was an organisation which conducted audits of venues, primarily
focussing on access and mobility issues. DisabledGo would be conducting an
audit of forty selected venues on campus in July. The information gathered
would be published on the DisabledGo’s website and would be accessed via the
University’s own web site. Information published in this way would help
visitors to the University to plan their visit. The SU could consult with the
Estates Administrative Officer, Maz Brooks, to ask whether any SU venues
could form part of the audit.
17/08
Action
The Director of Personnel Services would provide DisabledGo’s contact details
to the Assistant Director of Student Support (Disability) so that Student Support
could investigate whether access to study could form any part of the audit.
18/08
STATISTICS
a) Staff Equality Statistics (EADC/08/01)
Noted
Resolved
There were no significant issues in the data that was presented to the Committee.
Some of the statistics were affected by a number of serial applicants to the
University who repeatedly applied for posts for which they were not qualified.
19/08
EADC discussed the presentation of the data and considered whether a more
concise, analytical report of the main issues would be more helpful to the
Committee. The statistics, as they were currently presented, were very detailed
and some members were concerned that there was the potential to get lost in the
data. However, other members of the Committee thought that analysis could be
subjective and thus they preferred to receive raw data as it was more transparent.
20/08
The presentation of the staff equality statistics to EADC had been subject to
considerable refinement in the past and noticeable improvements had already
been made. Thanks were extended to the Systems Administrator in the
Personnel Section who was largely responsible for presenting the statistics to the
Committee.
21/08
A Project Manager had now been appointed to oversee the implementation of the
integrated Personnel and Payroll database, which was expected to be operational
during 2009. It was hoped that the integrated database would enable early
identification of any significant equality and diversity-related issues.
22/08
The Director of Personnel Services would review the presentation of staff
equality statistics to EADC and consider how this could be improved for the
future.
23/08
b) Progress on the University’s Equality and Diversity Targets (EADC/08/02)
Noted
Some progress had been made on the University’s equality and diversity targets.
However, the target ‘To increase the number of women appointed as Pro ViceChancellors, Heads of Department and Deans from 11% in 2006 to 20% by
2010’ would be challenging as these posts, which staff were appointed to on a
fixed term basis, were not advertised externally and therefore the University was
drawing on a limited pool of applicants. The EIA on the recruitment and
selection of staff would be able to consider this issue.
24/08
Resolved
In future, updates on the targets would be presented to EADC with year-by-year
comparisons and visual representations, such as graphs, if appropriate.
25/08
c) Harassment Advisory Network (EADC/08/03, EADC/08/03b and EADC/08/03c)
Noted
The data covered one calendar year from January 2007 to January 2008. The
client evaluations showed that the Network was considered to be a very
beneficial service. Some members of EADC were concerned that the number of
student cases referred to the Network was too high. However, when considered
in the context of a large and diverse student body, the figures were
comparatively small. Furthermore, data from the Southend and Loughton
campuses had been included for the first time this year. The low numbers of
cases could be interpreted positively, in that harassment was a rare occurrence at
the University, or negatively, in that staff and students did not feel able or
26/08
encouraged to report harassment. However, if the latter interpretation was
correct, it was hoped that the ‘Dignity and Respect’ campaign would generate
improvements. The ‘Dignity and Respect’ campaign would be promoted around
the University and would include talks by the Vice-Chancellor to Heads of
Department and Heads of Section.
d) Results of Trial for Departmental Scrutiny of Student Equality and Diversity Data
Reported
The Department of Computing and Electronic Systems had trialled an approach
to scrutinising equality and diversity data at their Staff-Student Liaison
Committee meeting. No results were available for EADC to consider.
27/08
Resolved
The Academic Registrar would further discuss the provision of data with the
Head of Department of CES and would report back to EADC.
28/08
INTERIM REPORT ON THE GENDER EQUALITY SCHEME (EADC/08/04)
Noted
A considerable amount of activity had already taken place to implement the
Gender Equality Scheme action plan. One significant issue that was still
outstanding was the attempt to introduce a pro-rata charge for annual car parking
permits for part-time staff at the University, who were currently required to pay
the same amount as full-time staff. EADC were of the view that this may
discriminate against part-time staff, the majority of whom were female. The Car
Parking Working Group had rejected the suggestion of a pro-rata charge due to
concerns that car use at the University should not be encouraged.
29/08
Resolved
The Equality and Diversity Officer would draft a letter to the Car Parking
Working Group, to be signed by the Chair of EADC, asking whether they would
reconsider their decision in view of the potential for discrimination against parttime staff.
30/08
EQUAL PAY AUDIT
Reported
Action
The report of the equal pay audit (attached to the minutes as Appendix A) was in
draft form and consultation with the senior management team and trade unions
was still ongoing. The report focussed primarily on gender issues. No serious
issues for concern were identified in report, but there were pay gaps significant
enough to warrant further investigation.
31/08
Work would soon begin to investigate the issues raised in the audit. The
Director of Personnel Services would update EADC at the next meeting on the
plans for action.
32/08
EADC members were invited to send comments on the draft report to the
Director of Personnel Services.
33/08
ACCESS FORUM
a) Report to EADC (EADC/08/05)
Action
The Equality and Diversity Officer would convey EADC’s thanks to members of
the Access Forum, and to Rowena Macaulay in particular, for their hard work in
relation to access issues.
b) Terms of Reference (EADC/08/06)
34/08
Noted
Some members of EADC were concerned that Objective 4.5 in the Access
Forum’s Terms of Reference could be interpreted as the Forum having a formal
role within the University’s established committee structures. However, it was
acknowledged that the Access Forum could provide EADC and other University
committees with very useful advice. Furthermore, any group or member of staff
from the University was free to refer relevant issues to committees.
35/08
Resolved
EADC agreed that no further revisions to the Access Forum’s Terms of
Reference were required.
36/08
c) Access Issues (EADC/08/07)
Noted
The Access Forum planned to tackle a large number of access-related issues.
There was a cost associated with many of the actions outlined in paper
EADC/08/07 and the Estates Section had explained to the Access Forum that for
financial reasons not all of the actions could be implemented immediately.
37/08
MINUTES FROM THE INTERNATIONAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY STAFF FORUM
(EADC/08/08)
Noted
Action
The Forum had discussed the procedure for reporting hate crime on campus and
how this could be better publicised. The ‘Dignity and Respect’ campaign was
expected to contribute to a greater awareness of how to report hate crime.
38/08
The minutes contained a misleading statement. It was confirmed that the Vice
Chancellor was not receiving advice from the Home Office in regards to social
responsibility at the University. However, an Executive Assistant to the ViceChancellor had been appointed, and the appointee was on secondment from the
Home Office.
39/08
The Forum was currently a staff-only group and it was suggested that students
should be permitted to join.
40/08
The minutes referred to the Forum as the ‘International and Ethnic Minority
Staff Forum’, however, it was now standard to refer to ‘Minority Ethnic’ instead
of ‘Ethnic Minority’. It was believed that the name of the Forum had already
been changed accordingly and that this was an error in the minutes.
41/08
The Equality and Diversity Officer would forward EADC’s comments and
suggestions to the Forum.
42/08
EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENTS (EIA) AND MEMBERSHIP OF EIA PANELS
(EADC/08/09)
Noted
Members of staff, particularly Departmental Administrators, had been very
enthusiastic about joining EIA panels. A waiting list had been set up for future
participants.
43/08
UPDATE ON EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY ONLINE PROGRAMME (EADC/08/10)
Noted
Some people had experienced difficulties in accessing the online programme and
this was partly responsible for the low number of participants. The difficulties
were expected to be resolved by the start of the next academic year. EADC
discussed whether the online programme should be mandatory for new staff,
44/08
however, this would not be feasible until the problems in accessing the
programme had been resolved. Students working in relevant positions, such as
in the SU Advice Centre, could undertake the programme if they wished by
contacting the Equality and Diversity Officer.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Appointment of Executive Assistant to the Vice Chancellor
Noted
Melissa D’Mello was on secondment from the Home Office and was working as
Executive Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor. Her role would include a focus on
social responsibility and the Vice Chancellor's dignity and respect agenda.
45/08
Reports to Council
Noted
The Chair of EADC had recently attended an equality and diversity event hosted
by the Leadership Foundation. The Chair was concerned to strengthen Council’s
awareness of and responsibility for equality and diversity-related issues at the
University. Following the meeting, it was agreed that EADC’s annual report to
Council could be used to emphasise this responsibility.
Date of next meeting: To be confirmed
Camilla Romaine
Administrative Officer, Academic Section
28 May 2008
F:\eadc\meeting2008-05-20m.doc
46/08