College of Humanities and Social Science
Recruitment and Admissions Strategy Committee
Wednesday 15 May 2013, 13.00 to 15.00, Room G1, 55 G Square
Draft Minutes
Present
Suzanne Ewing (CHSS Associate Dean, Recruitment/Admissions Strategy) –
Convener
Stuart Bennett - Edinburgh College of Art
Niall Bradley - SRA
Sarah Colegrove – Communications and Marketing
Dr Magnus Course – Social and Political Science
Sandra Eden – Law
Lorraine Edgar – Business School
Dr Paul Foster – Divinity
Donald George – Economics
Rick Kiralfy - Head of CHSS Postgraduate Office
Dr Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones – History, Classics & Archaeology
Janet Rennie – CHSS Director of Academic and Student Administration
Cindy Stubbs (CHSS Deputy Head of Academic Administration) – Secretary to the
Committee
Dr Alex Weiss - Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences
Robbie Willis – International Office
Apologies
Dr Sarah Cooper – Business
Sandra Eden – Law
Dr Richard Freeman – Social and Political Science
Rebecca Gaukroger - SRA
Michael Lynch – Education
Dr Neill Martin – Literatures, Languages and Cultures
Isabell Majewsky – International Office
Cameron Murdoch – Head of CHSS Undergraduate Admissions Office
FORMAL BUSINESS
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Minute of meeting 13 March 2013
Approved. It was confirmed that the HCA response to the PGT Visiting Student
recruitment proposal had been received, but after the minutes had been finalised.
UPDATES ON RECRUITMENT AND ADMISSIONS MATTERS
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Operational reports (oral) on 2013 cycle

Undergraduate Office update
Suzanne Ewing presented a summary from Cameron Murdoch, who was unable to
attend the meeting.
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For SEU and RUK there is a UCAS deadline of 8 May for confirmation of offers. The
bulk of offers had been made by 31 March, which was excellent work by the UG
Admissions Team. In both areas careful monitoring would be needed in order to
avoid either under or over recruit. For SEU there were more SIMD offers this year,
with an increased conversion rate; there were also many more RUK offers made this
year. Schools are welcome to contact Cameron with any concerns and to look at
strategies; it may be possible to consider late applications.
Overseas applications are dealt with on a rolling basis into the summer. The College
target is 612, and to date 586 offers had been made, with 1300 still to make a
decision and 174 on hold, being chased for additional information.
Overall it was noted that the College, CAM and UG Admissions had developed a
coherent programme of conversion activities which had made a clear difference.

Postgraduate Office update
Rick Kiralfy summarised the current situation: there had been roughly the same
number of applications this year in comparison to the same time last year, nearly
21,000, though the number of offers was down 4%. However, the number of offers
accepted was up 4%. The number of those declining was 26% lower than at the
same time last year. It was clear that the conversion activity done by Schools has
had an impact.
The number of rejects and withdrawals remains 44%, the same as last year.
Rick noted that 80% of PGT applications continued to come from the same three
main countries: China (64%), UK (10%), and USA (6%). For PGR 65% of all
applications came from those three main countries: UK (27%), China (24%), and
USA (14%). However, the percentages did not hold out across all Schools;
Education and Business attract large numbers of Chinese applicants while other
Schools do not.

International Office update
Robbie Willis showed the Committee the new International Undergraduate Guide; IO
can provide copies for Schools. He also reminded them about The Flag, a newsletter
for staff which covers all IO activities and will be circulated electronically.
He noted that this is an important time of year for conversion activities, including for
2014. Recent trips to Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and Chile had focused on 2014
entry, including PG in Chile; a trip to the USA in April focused on UG entry for 2014.
A representative from UG Admissions had accompanied IO staff on the latter trip,
which had been extremely useful for both offices.
In July Rajan Singh, currently an International Officer at Imperial College London, will
be joining IO as the CHSS Officer for Latin America.

Visiting Student Office
Figures for 2013/14 applications will be circulated after the meeting.

Schools: feedback from 2013 POVs
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The feedback from Schools was largely positive, though most of the Schools present
noted that on each occasion the second subject session had been sparsely attended.
It was also noted that it had been useful to have the guidance about which topics
should not be discussed.
The team in the College Academic Office which organises the POVs is holding a
review meeting shortly with SRA, and a paper summarising feedback on the POVs
and plans for 2014 will come to RASC in the autumn. The main issue is setting
appropriate dates, as there are a number of considerations, including UCAS
deadlines, the timescales UGAO works to, the Easter holidays, as well as the need to
have staff and students available.
ASSOCIATE DEAN’S REPORT
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Suzanne Ewing introduced Paper 24, highlighting:

The three presentations from the College Welcome talk at the POVs are
available on the RASC Committee website.

There is a valuable good practice guide and case studies on the SRA wiki.

The CUGLAT subgroup on languages has discussed the possibility of
students taking extra credits solely for language study, and feels this proposal
is likely to be well received. There are initiatives at other HEIs which might
provide useful models in the context of the removal of the language
requirements: for example, as part of its global citizenship agenda, UCL
requires all new students who don’t have a school qualification in a language
other than English to take an assessed language course.

In the lead up to the Open Day on 14 June, new prospectuses will be
available. The College presentation for the Open Day will be available on the
RASC Committee website; its message will include the opportunities for
language study and study abroad, as well as statistical literacy. It will be
developed alongside the CSE presentation, and in consultation with SRA,
ensuring there is commonality in the messages to students.
FORMAL AND STRATEGIC MATTERS
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Selection criteria
Curriculum for Excellence UoE Admissions statement – 2015 entry onwards
Suzanne Ewing introduced Paper 25: the policy statement had been released in
April and the changes had been flagged in the prospectus and circulated to
secondary schools. The University is at the beginning of the process of identifying
issues and fully understanding the policy; in particular it will need to work out how to
make decisions in the new system and Cameron Murdoch will be working with
Schools to determine how this will be done.
Niall Bradley noted that the UoE policy was more flexible than that adopted by St
Andrews and was similar to those of Aberdeen and Glasgow. While there is a
recognition that school exams were changing, the policy also makes clear that
students must still demonstrate that they can cope with rigorous academic study:
students have to take a minimum number of exams in one sitting.
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He also noted that there has been little feedback yet from secondary schools but
SRA is holding a briefing session at the end of May after which they may know more.
John Lowrey emphasised that CfE will also have to be taken into account in relation
to course design, and that it is important that information about the policy gets out to
Schools. It will make it more challenging to provide an equitable experience for SEU,
RUK and overseas students as those who come from CfE schools will bring a
different approach and different skills.
FE College leavers guidance – 2014 entry onwards
Suzanne Ewing introduced Paper 26, which was based on work done by a RASC
working group comprised of Cameron Murdoch, Suzanne, Lorraine Fraser (UGAO),
and Stuart Bennett (ECA). They looked at data on applicants for 2013 entry who
have an HNC, HND, BTEC or equivalent; there were 245 in this category, many of
whom were applying to ECA, but though the numbers elsewhere were small they
were coming to a diverse range of degrees. Many of the applicants were for Year 2
entry.
It was noted that currently students are not allowed into the selection pool if they do
not have Highers, but they could have excellent and relevant qualifications. There
are other potential disadvantages for this group: many of these students also have
only just entered FE so finding referees may be difficult, and it has been difficult to
compare course content and marking at FE Colleges.
There was some discussion about whether the issue was primarily one for ECA. It
was acknowledged that this is a significant issue for Art and Design who are finding it
hard to recruit sufficient student numbers even with large numbers of applicants.
However, it was also acknowledged that Year 2 entry is generally becoming more
attractive in terms of funding, and therefore it is important to have curriculum that is
appropriate for those students as well as clarity around the processes and an
understanding of the issues. An improved statement for Art and Design applicants
has been included in the new prospectus.
The working group will be developing guidance for particular Schools, where
relevant, and also being clearer in the procedures in the Admissions Manual. These
developments should also enable the University to clarify for applicants and Colleges
what qualifications will and will not be accepted, hopefully improving confusions in
current communications.
International/OVS demographics: recruitment and selection 2015 entry
onwards
Robbie Willis introduced Paper 27, which gave an overview of the number of fee
paying overseas undergraduate students in CHSS from 2010/11 through 2012/13, as
well as by School for the same period. The rest of the paper gave further detail by
School of the countries from which each drew their overseas students. He explained
that it was not possible to produce a similar breakdown at programme level.
The paper demonstrated that overseas student numbers had progressed over the
three years, and current projections suggest continued progress. Almost all Schools
showed progress over the same period.
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There are some undergraduate trends that are similar to those in the postgraduate
area, such as significant numbers of Chinese students in the Business School, but
there is perhaps more diversity in the undergraduate population.
Overall six countries predominate: China, Hong Kong, America, Norway, Singapore,
and Malaysia. The International Office is looking beyond those six and identifying
countries where there is the potential to increase its student numbers to double
figures: Korea, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, and the former Russian states.
Robbie noted that there are other countries which may be of interest to Schools
because of particular programmes they offer, but it was important to keep in mind
that there can be immigration processes and/or funding issues which may make
increasing numbers challenging.
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones said it was important for the College to think about how it
could use its recruitment messages to positively and proactively promote
expectations about academic conduct, as a sizeable proportion of cases come from
overseas students, particularly Chinese.
The Committee thanked Robbie for a very useful paper which should encourage
Schools to think about how to achieve a balanced and diverse cohort and to consider
what recruitment opportunities they might pursue.
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Open Days 2013: Proposed CHSS welcome talk presentation
Niall Bradley gave an update on the plans for the Open Days this year. Booking for
June was open, and Eventbrite was being used this year. Approximately 1500
bookings had already been made, and Schools would be sent a spreadsheet with
their numbers.
SRA and CAM were agreeing messages to be presented, particularly around student
satisfaction and employability, and Schools need to be ready, including at subject
level, to emphasise positive messages. There is much to promote, including what is
being done to improve the student experience and the higher number of teaching
hours.
The Committee noted a number of messages which could be included: the diversity
of experience in Schools is positive and reflects different characters and
communities, and there are increased opportunities for international experiences
though expectations need to be managed positively as places for years abroad are
competitive.
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Effort for no return: can we simplify the PGT application reject
process?
Rick Kiralfy provided an update on the PGT application reject process. He confirmed
it was now being implemented: decisions for some Schools were being made at
administrator level, other Schools were working on rejection criteria.
Withdrawals and rejects were likely to increase in the coming weeks as students
know they will not meet conditions attached to their offer or that they will not be able
to obtain funding.
Rick noted that it is possible to drill down into the rejection criteria, about half of
which are used regularly. An analysis will be done at the end of the cycle.
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Postgraduate Taught Visiting Students Recruitment
Janet Rennie told the Committee that there had been no further clarification of
University strategy; the Student Mobility Group gave no clear guidance.
The International Office was undergoing a review and until that was complete, and
its’ capacity for work in this area clear, it was not possible to consider expansion.
Janet noted that she would update the Committee at a later date, and Suzanne
confirmed that the Schools’ comments on the proposal was a general welcome,
albeit with caution concerning mixing differing cohort pacings and on-programme
demands..
FOR INFORMATION
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SRA Briefing Guide no 2
The Guide had been circulated to the Committee in April, and it was felt that it
provided a useful digest of developments.
AOB
Suzanne thanked the Committee for the useful work it had done in its first year, and
the efforts members had made within their Schools to cascade information and
collect feedback and views.
Dates of future meetings:
To be agreed and circulated
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