72 nd Meeting of the BOARD OF STUDIES
Minutes from the Meeting held on Wednesday 19 June 2013 in room AEW003
PRESENT: Karen Khan (Chair), Alison Foster (Deputy Chair), Helen Allan, Cathryn Britton, Penny
Broadley, Bridget Broughton, Ros Brownlow, Lynn Burnell, Clare Clarke, Janette Colclough, Ian Cole,
Megan Edwards, Hilary Graham, Mona Kanaan, Tracy Lightfoot, Louise Long, Amanda Mason-Jones,
Rose Pringle, Sarah Redfern, Julie-Marie Rhodes, Angela Simpson, Karen Spilsbury, Jerome Wright,
Russell Yates.
Student Representatives: Amy Eleanor Bascombe (Oct11 Adult), Larissa Heath (Mid10),
In attendance: Walter Van Opstal (Timetabling Officer) Karen Ramsden (Secretary)
MAIN AGENDA CATEGORY ONE
BoS/Jun13/01 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Rob Allison, Karl Atkin, Paul Evans, Sally Evans, Kate
Flemming, Paul Galdas, Celia Grant, Jo Green, Ted Hewitt, Matthew Jacobs, Gerri Kaufman, Fiona
McInnes, Sarah O’Reilly, Jess Powell, Gillian Punton, Anita Savage Grainge, Alison Smalley, Pete
Turner, Debbie Watson
Student Representative: Harriet Bloom (Mid10),
The Chair announced that Alison Foster has been appointed as the new Deputy Chair Board of Studies and welcomed student representatives to the meeting.
BoS/Jun13/02 MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING
The following amendments were noted: BoS/Oct12/04 Module Team Review - Item should be titled
‘Module Leader Assessment Marking Report’. BoS/Mar13/05(v) Board of Studies Chair’s Report Bite-
Size Briefing Sessions - The minute referred to these sessions being mandatory for new staff, however it has been agreed that the priority sessions are recommended as ‘essentia’l for new starters.
BoS/Jun13/03 MATTERS ARISING
BoS/Feb12/08 Employability Tutorial
The Chair Undergraduate Programmes Board reported that the e-portfolio includes CV building and personal development planning as standard, but could incorporate other requirements of the employability tutorial once these have been clearly defined.
BoS/Oct12/04 Module Leader Assessment Marking Report
The module leader reports have been amended to incorporate overall satisfaction scores from student evaluations in order to close the feedback loop on module reporting. Following the review of student evaluations, module leaders will be requested to make comment on any overall satisfaction scores of 3 and below, make recommendations for any actions required and report these through Programme
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Committees. This will also feed into the APR to identify developments and examples of good practice.
The Module Leader Assessment Marking report has been published on the Student Assessment Office area of the staff intranet.
BoS/Oct12/05 Quality of Feedback on Assessments i) Audit of Feedback on Assessments
It was previously agreed that students of varying academic abilities would be identified from each programme to provide an overview of the feedback students receive throughout their programme. It is anticipated that the audit will identify examples of best practice for dissemination to those involved in student assessment and feedback.

Undergraduate Programmes - There are still reports outstanding and that this will be discussed at the next Undergraduate Programmes Board.

Postgraduate Programmes - Work is still ongoing.

Midwifery and CPD - Midwifery and CPD reports have been received and the Chair thanked
Louise Long, Helen Joyce and Peter Turner for the work undertaken.
Common themes are emerging from the reports received and it was considered that some of these themes will be addressed by the new Feedback Forms. Responses will be collated and any areas for development will either be addressed at Programme Committee level or by DFELT.
Action: Chair to report back to a future Board of Studies ii) Timetabling Issues - Communicating Changes
With effect from 30 September 2013, undergraduate students will be automatically notified by email of any timetabling changes within one hour of the alteration. This will only be sent to students directly affected by the alteration. Further issues were raised relating to the dates of individual taught sessions not being published on the VLE and it has been agreed that this will be incorporated into the DFELT meeting which has been convened to discuss the quality assurance of module VLE sites on 24 June
2013. iii) Quality of Placement Experience
The Quality Assurance tool for healthcare placements is being revised and each of the seven aspects has been updated. The student evaluation form has been reviewed by student representatives and the revised tool will be introduced by the end of 2013.
BoS/Oct12/07 Student Issues - Overseas Electives
The Undergraduate Programmes Board has reviewed the process for risk assessment for overseas elective placements. The Risk Assessment Form has been adapted to focus on issues of personal safety and includes guidance on these issues and links to a resource focussing on basic safety precautions. It will be the students responsibility to research the area and arrange a plan to manage any risks and it was noted that if a student wished to undertake a placement in an area considered unsafe, the
Department retains the right to refuse the request.
It was reported that students attending placements in high health risk areas has been discussed at an
Occupational Health Services meeting where it was recommended that in these cases students should be issued with a HIV PEP pack, however this has considerable cost implications. It was noted that this
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may also affect some postgraduate students. Following discussion, it was agreed that this should be referred to the Director Practice Education for further exploration of health issues and guidance
Action: Chair Undergraduate Programmes Board to discuss with Director Practice Education
BoS/Mar13/05 Chair’s Report - Follow up of Review of Governance Structure
It was reported that there is an overall satisfaction with the Governance Structure, however there are operational aspects which require further review, for example the alignment of the different committees and ensuring dates are in line with Board of Studies and APR reporting. A meeting will be held on 29 August 2013 to discuss this further.
Action: Chair Board of Studies and Committee Chairs
BoS/Mar13/05 Chair’s Report - Terms of Reference
The Board of Studies Terms of Reference has been amended to reflect the establishment of the
Governance Group.
BoS/Mar13/05 Chair’s Report - Student Representatives Notice Board
The Notice Board for student representatives is now in place, however there are still some data protection permission forms outstanding from representatives giving the Department consent for photographs to be displayed in a public space. This will be fully operational by July 2013.
Action: Student Information Service Manager (UG Programme)
BoS/Mar13/05 Chair’s Report - Departmental Calendar
The proposal to create a Departmental Calendar to display a snap shot of Departmental meetings/events will be discussed further by the Board of Studies Governance Group.
Action: Board of Studies Governance Group
BoS/Mar13/08 UTC Consultation - Structure of the Academic Year
This item was reported under Agenda Item BoS/Jun13/05 Board of Studies Chair’s Report.
BoS/Mar13/09 Report from GSB - Research Programmes Committee
The Research Programmes Committee has been dissolved and the incorporation of student representation will be reviewed by the Graduate School Board. It was reported that currently the
Deputy Head of Department Postgraduate meets with student representatives and reports any issues through Graduate School Board.
Action: Graduate School Board
BoS/Jun13/04 DFELT REPORT i) Supervision Policy and Supervision Contracts
The University published an Undergraduate Supervision Policy and requested that all Departments develop a Departmental Policy. A meeting was held on 4 June 2013 where it was agreed to develop an overarching Supervision Policy for undergraduate and postgraduate taught students, in line with the
University Supervision Policy, and to use supervision contracts to meet the individual programme philosophy and specific requirements. Implementation of the new supervision policy and student contract was agreed.
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The Board proposed that students receive a hard copy of the policy and contract at the beginning of the academic year. It was suggested that in the interest of sustainability and costs, only the final page should be printed and the remainder will be stored electronically. The Chair suggested this issue be explored further before a decision is reached on how the Supervision contracts are disseminated to students.
The Board received reassurance that the student representatives have had sight of the policy and have had opportunity to comment as this has been previously discussed at Programme Committee level. It was agreed that this consultation will be incorporated into Graduate School Board approval process.
It is evident from the University Supervision Policy that supervision sessions should be recorded and stored, however a number of academic staff have raised concerns regarding the storing of sensitive information on the ‘s’ drive as this can be accessed by all staff. It was reported that new IT software is imminent which will enable folders/documents to have restricted access to specific staff members. It was also noted that there is no consistent system in place for recording supervision sessions and it was agreed that the development of a standardised form for supervisors should be discussed at
Programme Committee level.
Action: Programme Committees ii) Departmental Prizes
It was confirmed that Dissertation Prizes will be awarded to students on all programmes who achieve the highest mark over 70%. In addition, the following programme specific prizes were agreed:
Postgraduate Programmes

Annual Outstanding Achievement Prize - Awarded to the student who achieved the highest credit rated award mark with distinction.
PG Cert CBT

Impact Prize - criteria to be developed
Nursing and Midwifery Programmes
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Outstanding Overall Performance Prize - Awarded to the student with the highest academic mark for each field of practice.
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Outstanding Care and Compassion Prize - Nominated by mentor. Mentors will be issued with criteria for the award in recognition of performance in practice. Awarded to final year students for each field of practice.

Mental Health Student Prize - criteria to be developed for this award.
CPD Programmes

Impact Prize - To be nominated by employer.
Foundation Degree Programmes

Best Overall Mark.

Impact Prize - To be nominated by employer.
Criteria for prizes and nomination arrangements are currently under discussion and these will be published on the staff and student intranets. It has been agreed that Dissertation prizes will be
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awarded during the Graduation Reception and the other prizes at the Celebration Events held at the completion of the programme.
Action: Programme Committees iii) Student Evaluation Forms
Review of Evaluation Forms - A meeting will be held with the Chair Undergraduate Programme
Board, Undergraduate Programme Leads and Deputy Leads to review module, end of year and end of programme evaluation forms. The aim of which is for the evaluation forms to capture the impact of learning on practice and to align some of the themes to the National Student Survey.
Review of Practice Evaluation - This was discussed under agenda item BoS/Jun13/03 Matters Arising. iv) National Student Survey
This was discussed under agenda item BoS/Jun13/07. v) Electronic Submission
The University has requested that Departments move towards electronic submission and a DFELT meeting was held on 11 June 2013 to discuss the issues and processes associated with the implementation of this within the Department. It was reported that:
 a new submission area will be created within the Assessment part of the VLE where students will submit work to. Submissions will be downloaded into a new shared drive and stored for markers to access.
 feedback forms will be stored in a shared drive for markers to populate with comments and these
 will be uploaded to e-vision by the Student Assessment Office. a new feedback form has been drafted and this includes a grid section which mirrors the marking criteria. As written feedback is provided, ticks can be added alongside criteria headings which will easily demonstrate how the mark was reached. Feedback comments can be detailed in the
Strengths of Assessment box. It was considered that this form will encourage the use of the full range of marks.
 scripts will not routinely be submitted through Turnitin unless plagarisim is suspected.
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Guidance notes will be produced and support will be provided to Module Teams.
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Markers will be offered the option to mark electronically.
 this will be of enormous advantage to students, in terms of photocopy costs and flexibility around submission dates. Student representatives in attendance considered that this would be beneficial to students and welcomed the move.
 there will be a phased introduction of electronic submissions: first-year undergraduate Nursing and all undergraduate Midwifery, CPD, Foundation Degree and postgraduate students from
October 2013.
 this proposal will be discussed further at Programme Committee level.
Action: Programme Committees
Concern was raised regarding the management of the moderation process for larger modules. The
Board were advised that once marking has been completed, scripts which require moderating can be identified and these will be stored in an electronic folder for the moderator to access or scripts can be provided as hard copies. Scripts will be presented to the moderator according to the moderator’s preferences and/or requirements.
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It was suggested that a system be implemented which will electronically identify failed scripts and enable searches using the different marking ranges. The moderator could then specify the scripts that can be identified electronically by their mark characteristics. The Academic Co-ordinator reported that a University Working Party is currently exploring software to be able to facilitate this process.
Following further discussion, it was proposed that the moderation criteria be reviewed in respect of the volume of scripts which require moderating, whilst ensuring that the moderation boundaries are correct and that the assessment process remains robust. It was agreed that these discussions be incorporated into the DFELT on Marking and Moderation Process and Practice in July 2013. vi) Quality Assurance of Module VLE Sites / Module Handbooks
Following the recent audit of the VLE undertaken by Dom Ennis, it has been agreed to convene a
DFELT Group to discuss the quality assurance of the VLE sites, specifically focussing on the administration of the VLE with a view to improve consistency in language and terminology and reduce the risk of misinformation. The purpose of the meeting will be to:
 explore the possibility of introducing a departmental template.
 undertake a review of the ‘left hand tab’.
 move to using links to documents published on the intranet.
 help support students to navigate through the VLE.
It was agreed that recommendations made will be presented to the Student-Staff Forum for consultation with student representatives. vii) OSCEs Processes
The DFELT Group was held on 12 June 2013 in order to review the OSCE processes. The meeting identified the diversity of OSCEs used within the programmes and that a huge amount of work in the development of OSCEs has been undertaken. However, it was agreed that:
 there needs to be a standardised approach to the administration of OSCEs and the Student
Assessment Office will offer administrative support in the management and development of materials.

A forum for the development and sharing of best practice and information will be established to support colleagues.

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OSCEs developed will be peer reviewed by the forum as part of quality assurance. the use of the term OSCE requires clarification as OSCEs cover a multitude of different assessments.
 an email group will be set up.
OSCE guidelines have been amended to provide focus using the evidence based outcomes to underpin developments. viii) Marking and Moderation Process and Practice Review
It was highlighted by Board of Examiners that there is mixed practice in the Department around marking and moderation. A DFELT meeting has been convened to take place on 22 July 2013 to review these processes, particularly the roles of the marker and moderator and provide clarification on what needs to be moderated.
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BoS/Jun13/05 BOARD OF STUDIES CHAIR’S REPORT
Programme Specifications - Staff were reminded that programme specifications are to be submitted by early September 2013 and will be co-ordinated through Undergraduate Programmes Board and
Graduate School Board.
University Strategic L&T Project Funding 2013-14 - University funding is available to support developments in learning and teaching. The application process is now open for grants available from
1 August 2013.
The Writing Centre - The Writing Centre (based in the Harry Fairhurst Building) is now open for an 18 month pilot period. Drop in sessions with experienced PGWT tutors are available or appointments can be booked with a member of staff from the Learning Enhancement Team. The Centre will be offering appointments during the summer break for students who are working on dissertations. It was considered that this provides excellent academic support for students and that students should be encouraged to access this service.
Review of the Structure of the Academic Year - It was reported that the consultation period has been extended and Professor John Robinson, Pro-Vice Chancellor Learning and Teaching, will be meeting individual Departments to discuss the specific issues raised during the initial consultation. Following these meetings, a further proposal will be developed which will go out for consultation in order to achieve a consensus. It was considered that semesterisation may be appropriate for the postgraduate programmes, but it will be unfeasible for undergraduate programmes.
First Class Honours with Distinctions - The University has re-introduced the award of First Class
Honours with Distinction for undergraduate students and has requested that Departments agree criteria. It was reported at the previous Board of Studies that a full discussion was held by Board of
Examiners where the general consensus was that this should be re-introduced and the proposed criteria was announced. An email consultation on the proposal was undertaken across the Board of
Studies and it was confirmed that no objections were raised and therefore the proposal to re-introduce the First Class Honours with Distinction award was approved by the Board of Studies, with the following criteria:

An overall mean credit-weighted average across Stages 2 and 3 of 80 or above.

No module mark in Stage 2 or 3 below 70.

A dissertation mark of 80 or above.
Review of the Mitigating Circumstances Policy - The University Special Cases Committee is undertaking a review of the Mitigating Circumstances Policy to consider the management of on-going mitigation, for example long term conditions and late diagnosis of dyslexia.
BoS/Jun13/06 STUDENT-STAFF FORUM
It was reported that the Student-Staff Forum will have a rotating chair from within the student representative body and that the Chair can present either a verbal report or a written report to the
Board of Studies. Amy Bascombe (Oct 11) Chair Student-Staff Forum May 2013 reported that:
 the possibility of introducing a buddy scheme is being explored by the student representatives and an outline proposal will be produced for discussion at the next Student-Staff Forum.
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 a business plan has been submitted to the University for YUSU to run Café Barista following the decision to withdraw the staff assisted service. Student representatives will be meeting with the
YUSU President for further discussions.

The campaign against the fourth student loan payment is now on the NUS National Agenda and
 local MPs have expressed their support. Further meetings are due to be held.
Larissa Heath (Mid10) will be acting as Chair for the July 2013 Student-Staff Forum.
The Chair Board of Studies reported that a meeting will be held with YUSU representatives to discuss the Department’s student representative election process.
BoS/Jun13/07 NATIONAL STUDENT SURVEY
The Chair reported the final response rate for the Department of Health Sciences in the 2012/13
National Student Survey:
Full Time Undergraduate Midwifery -100% response rate
Full Time Nursing Overall - 78% response rate
University - 71% response rate
The Department is currently awaiting receipt of the report from the University and a meeting will be held within the Department to discuss feedback and agree action. Proposed strategies will be reported to the Board of Studies.
Action: Chair Board of Studies
BoS/Jun13/08 DEPARTMENTAL ANNUAL STUDENT PRIZE
As part of the review of Departmental Prizes undertaken by DFELT, it has been agreed that
Undergraduate and Postgraduate students can now be nominated for the Annual Student Prize by any member of Departmental staff. This prize is awarded in recognition of the student’s commitment and contribution to Departmental and/or University activities. The deadline for nominations is 31 August
2013 and nominations will be considered by the Chairs Board of Studies, Undergraduate Programmes
Board and Graduate School Board. The nomination form will be circulated to all departmental staff following amendments.
Action: Academic Co-ordinator to amend criteria for award.
Secretary Board of Studies to circulate nomination form
BoS/Jun13/09 CPD PROGRAMMES: PROCEDURE FOR RE-APPLICATION FOLLOWING
WITHDRAWAL OR FAILURE
A procedure has been developed for re-application to a module or pathway which has been previously studied. This procedure will apply to all part-time students, irrespective of level of study to ensure equity for all students and is in line with University Regulations on re-admission.

Failure of module - the re-admission request to be submitted to Special Cases Committee.

Withdrawal from module if more than 30% of module completed - the re-admission request to be submitted to Special Cases Committee.

Withdrawal from module if less than 30% of module completed - re-admission request to be submitted as a recommendation from the module leader to the Chair Board of Studies.
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
Evidence submitted regarding reasons for withdrawal will be retained by the Department and will be reviewed by the module leader should a student request re-admission to the programme.

This has been approved by the University Special Cases Committee.
Following discussion, it was agreed that:
 the decision to make a recommendation will be made at Programme Committee Level. The final decision is with Board of Studies or Special Cases Committee.
 this procedure will be reviewed by the Chair Graduate School Board to ensure that it reflects
 postgraduate freestanding requirements. However it was noted that there needs to be equity across all programmes. The approved procedure applies to postgraduate and undergraduate provision.
Action: Chair Graduate School Board guidance notes for students and supervisors to be produced.
Action: Timetabling Officer / CPD Programmes Committee
On behalf of the Board of Studies, the Chair commended the Timetabling Officer on the work undertaken in the development of this procedure.
MAIN AGENDA CATEGORY TWO
BoS/Jun13/10 MINUTES FROM THE BOARD’S SUB COMMITTEES
Board of Studies confirmed receipt of minutes from:

Departmental Library Committee - The minutes of the meeting held in January 2013 were received.
No issues were raised for further discussion. Susan O’Meara was thanked for her contributions during her role as Library Committee Chair.

Undergraduate Programme Board - The minutes of the meetings held in January 2013 and March

2013 were received. No issues were raised for further discussion.
Graduate School Board - The minutes of the meetings held in January 2013 and March 2013 were received. No issues were raised for further discussion.
BoS/Jun13/11 DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 20 November 2013 commencing at 1.30pm in Room
ATB057 (please note change of meeting date).
It was noted that Student Larissa Heath will be completing the Midwifery Programme in October 2013 and the Chair Board of Studies commended Larissa for her contributions as a student representative.
This concluded the Main Agenda Section and student representatives left the meeting.
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