Document A
ACTIONS ARISING FROM THE ALUMNI CONSULTATIVE GROUP (ACG)
MEETING ON WEDNESDAY 10TH SEPTEMBER 2014
Present: Mr Ian Forster (Outgoing Chair), Mr Neil Archibald, Ms Sue Bevan, Ms Claire Boothman,
Professor Richard Davies, Mrs Maureen Denham, Mr Malcolm Grady, Mr Antony Jones, Dr David
Moffatt, Ms Jasmine Walker, and Mr Robert Wilkinson.
In attendance: Miss Tania Angelopoulos, Dr John Hogan, Ms Abi Kelly and Miss Ruth Draper (Secretary)
Apologies: Professor Brink, Mrs Lesley Braiden, Mr Patrick Lavery, Ms Pam Stephens, and Ms Carolyn
Teasdale.
ITEM
1.Appointment of Chair
and Deputy Chair for
2014-2019
ACTIONS/DECISIONS
Mr Ian Forster chaired the meeting in lieu of the appointment of a new Chair
and Deputy Chair.
The outgoing Chair welcomed the newly elected members of the ACG and
announced the results of the election to the posts of Chair and Deputy Chair for
a period of five years from June 2014-June 2019 Convocation meetings
Dr David Moffat is elected as Chair
Miss Sue Bevan is elected as Deputy Chair.
2.Minutes of last meeting
Both were congratulated on their election and agreed that the priority task for
the coming year is to develop a formal action plan for the Group.
The minutes of the meeting held on 20 June 2014 were approved.
3.Matters arising from the Noted:
minutes
That there are a number of matters arising to be followed up,
(i)
An evaluation of the effectiveness of communications with our
students and alumni.
The Chair of Convocation proposed that this communication would
be greatly assisted by defining the University’s “elevator pitch” ie a
short, pre-prepared speech that explains what the University does,
clearly and succinctly, that will help our alumni to understand why it
is important for them to stay in touch with the University.
This clear message is just as important for our current students who
do not find it easy to keep in touch with what is happening within the
University either.
The Director of Corporate Affairs agreed to bring an evaluation of
current communications and proposals for the future, to the next
meeting for discussion. (Action: Abi Kelly)
(ii)
Mr Marc Lintern, Director of the Careers Service, was unable to
attend on this occasion and will be invited to a future meeting.
(Action: Secretary)
(iii)
Archiving the Courier
The Registrar has allocated some funding so that work can begin on
the digitisation of back copies of the Courier, so that they can all be
made available online. It was recognised that some of these may
contain some controversial content, but they would not be edited in
anyway.
In addition, some former graduates have asked about an earlier
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publication called “The Northerner” that was published before the
Courier existed. Copies of this publication are also being tracked
down to be included in the archiving project.
4. Constitution and Terms Considered:
of Reference
(i)
Proposed revisions to the Constitution and Terms of Reference
Received for information:
(ii)
Glossary of the principal bodies of the University
Noted:
That both of the above documents will require further revision to reflect the
structural changes that have occurred within the University in recent years,
including the changes that will be outlined in Item 5 below. (Action Secretary )
Agreed:
That the substantive changes to the Constitution and Terms of Reference are
agreed, with the addition of the option for the Chair of Convocation and the
President of the Student’s Union to be represented by their deputies if they are
unable to attend a meeting.
5.Corporate Affairs
A final copy of both documents will be presented to the next meeting for
information. (Action: Secretary)
The Director of Corporate Affairs gave a presentation outlining the structure of
the new Directorate, and the roles and responsibilities of the various sections.
The Directorate is responsible for supporting key external-facing initiatives
such as: stakeholder and alumni relations, corporate events and publications,
the corporate website, strategic partnerships, media relations – including social
media (excluding student recruitment channels).
The Directorate is also responsible for supporting effective internal
communications across the University. This includes management and
development of the intranet and plasma screen networks, initiatives to improve
the understanding and promotion of our key strengths among staff and
coordination of awards and honours submissions. The Directorate also
provides support for, and communications with, the University’s various
governing bodies including: Executive Board, Court, Council, Senate, other
statutory committees and of course, the Alumni Consultative Group.
The Alumni Relations and Fundraising activities have been separated in the
new structure. The new Director of Fundraising, Teri Wishart, has now taken
up her post. (Members were able to meet her informally after the meeting). The
University has identified three priority fundraising projects for this year, one per
faculty:
6. University Business
The Newcastle University Centre for Childhood Cancer, (Medical Sciences )
The Centre for Rural Economy 21st Anniversary (SAgE)
The Hatton Gallery (H&SS)
The Registrar gave an update on University business.
Student dropout rates
It is difficult for the University to know exactly how many students we have and
how many have “dropped out” at any one time.
The classic full time student is not the only form of student. We have part time
students, we have various forms of distance learning, and we are just about to
go live with our first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on ‘Hadrian’s Wall:
life on the Roman frontier’ for which we currently have over 11,000
registrations.
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Our classic dropout rate is around 7% which is very low. Some students defer
their studies for a year and then come back. Others change their mind
altogether.
Around 9000 new students will start at the University this September and
student fees represent around £180m of University income.
Recruitment
Recruitment has gone well this year, and we continue to attract well qualified
applicants. The National Student Survey results for 2014 are particularly
pleasing, and we have continued to increase our score on overall satisfaction
for our current students. The Students’ Union has also increased their overall
student satisfaction score, placing them joint 6th in the national league table.
Security
The Chair raised the issue of security in light of the recent experience when
two Russian students caused an incident on campus
The University does not look into students’ backgrounds and therefore we are
open, as are all Universities, to the possibility of security risks.
We do however, cooperate with the Home Office regarding visa regulations,
and with the national “Prevent” strategy.
7. Future meetings
schedule
The group agreed the following schedule of meetings for 2104/15:
Saturday 6th December 2014
Saturday 7th March 2015
Friday 19th June 2015 (Convocation weekend)
Saturday 12th September 2015
All meetings will start at 11.00am, to allow time for members who live outside
the region to travel.
8. Handover to the new
Chair.
Mr David Moffat formally assumed the Chairmanship of the Group.
Mr Ian Forster was thanked for his term of office as Chair for the past three
years.
Ruth Draper
Head of the Executive Office
Acting Secretary
15 September 2014
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