R(D)SVS Postgraduate Taught Programmes Committee
Date: Wednesday 24 September 2014
Time: 3.30pm
Venue: Boardroom, NVS
Minutes
Present: BMD (Chair), BW, SB, FL, SO (minutes), DS, AM, NA, MT, KS, BDL, NH
BMD welcomed everyone to the meeting and congratulated staff on the PTES results, which
showed an increase in student satisfaction from the previous year.
1. Apologies
Apologies were received from Jane Barr, Susan Jarvis & Donald Yool.
2. Minutes from previous meeting
The minutes were accepted as a correct record.
3. Matters arising
E-books
SB confirmed that Fiona Brown was still investigating the issue of e-book resources with the
Central Library.
Standing items
4. Update from programme directors
AABAW
No updates.
Animal Biosciences
BDL and KS were running the programme jointly in 14/15 with BDL taking over in full as of
15/16. There were 10 students on course on 14/15 and all were settling in well.
A possible issue in future would be the number of staff available to teach on the course this would be monitored to ensure sufficient teaching cover was in place.
1
Applications to the programme had risen to c.60 for 14/15 entry but 16 was the maximum
number possible for the course due to lab space and resources.
KS noted problems with College Admissions not progressing completed applications to SP
status in a timely fashion to allow decisions to be made by programme directors. It was
hoped that this problem would be alleviated with the introduction of the new PG
Admissions System. If not, further discussions with College Admissions staff would be
required.
Conservation Medicine
AM reported there were 16 new students on programme for 14/15 and 3 PPD students.
The programme had now entered its third year and first Masters year with 11 students
preparing to write dissertations, all with allocated projects. In total, there were currently 47
students on programme.
The new optional practical module being delivered in co-ordination with the RVC and the
Wildlife Institute of India had been approved. This had not been advertised in time for
14/15 electives but would be available as of 15/16 for students in year 2 of the programme
to take if wished.
Discussions were underway with Tim King to secure extra course support, with the
recruitment of an additional programme co-ordinator.
Equine Science
NH had recently taken over as Programme Director, with BW as Programme Manager, and
the programme would be continuing for 14/15, with discussions currently underway on
remodelling the course for the future and bringing it more in line with other programmes in
the School, especially in terms of assessments. The need for additional programme support
had been raised with Tim King.
There were a total of 31 new students on programme for 14/15, 3 of which had deferred
until January. There were 47 continuing on-programme students, making a total of 75 for
this session. 15 students would graduate with an MSc in November (3 with Distinctions), 1
with a PG Diploma and 1 with a PG Certificate. 6 PPD’s had been awarded and 5 of these
students had chosen to continue on into the programme.
One Health
MT confirmed there were 12 students on programme for 14/15 and all was going well.
International Animal Welfare, Ethics & Law
FL confirmed that 38 new students had begun on programme for 14/15 and there were
currently a total of 68 students on programme. There had been a diverse range of strong
2
applicants and the programme had exceeded yearly targets since its inception. The growth
in numbers raised the possible problem of finding enough projects for future Dissertation
students, especially because of similarities with the AABAW programme. There would also
be a need for extra staffing as the programme continued, as well as support on the Personal
Tutor side, with FL currently acting as PT for all on-programme students.
ACTION: issue of Personal Tutor load to be raised at College PGTC.
CPD
SB confirmed that CPD was still under review by Brendan Corcoran.
CertAVP
SB confirmed that targets for the last 12 months had been exceeded, with 199 candidates
registered for modules. Numbers on the A-module had increased on last year. In liaison
with the RCVS, the timeline for candidates to complete modules had been reduced from 10
years to 2 years per module.
The introduction of the University’s new Visiting Student Policy meant that CertAVP
candidate records and registration would be facilitated via EUCLID as of 14/15. During the
transition phase, there would be a small window in which candidates currently registered
would be able to register via EUCLID without incurring a fee; thereafter, candidates would
be required to apply and pay fees via EUCLID. There would be a 25% University top slice on
these fees but the current financial forecast and projected business plan supported any
potential loss as a result.
The results for Production Animal Practice had gone out to students and the exam board
would take place in October.
5. Update from School Postgraduate Studies Committee
BD reported that PGR students had contacted EUSA about the issue of subsidised bus travel
to campus. A survey has been disseminated to all PGR and on-campus PGT students to
determine whether they felt support for bus travel was required. EUSA would take this
forward in co-ordination with the School if necessary.
6. Update from College PGT Learning and Teaching Committee
There were no updates since the last meeting. The College Committee would meet on 2
October.
Items for Discussion/ Approval/ Information
For Discussion
7. Stats course/assistance for online MScs
3
DS provided an overview of the online course ‘Welcome to Introductory Statistics for Life
Scientists’. This course had run in 13/14 with around 120 participants, including some Vet
School participants. The 10 week online course was non-credit bearing and voluntary and
would be split into 2 x five week sessions for 14/15, beginning in November. Course content
included recorded lectures and Minitab practical sessions for students to work through if
wished, with help available from online facilitators (remunerated PhD students) available to
answer questions on course material. The course was currently being updated for 14/15
and would be available shortly; staff would be added as tutors to allow them to view the
course once available. BD confirmed that college funds were available to support the
continued delivery of this course if it were rolled out to all MSc programme students and
that students would not be charged fees for taking it.
ACTION: DS to check whether students would be able to access the course materials on a
continued basis, as with the online Academic Study Skills course. Staff who want access to
view the course should contact DS to request this. Students to be notified when course
available, via LEARN message boards (SB). Will be included for updates at November
PGTC.
8. Fees for intermittent students
FL raised the problem of affordable course fees for Dissertation students on intermittent
programmes. Students on intermittent programmes of study would currently paid for each
20 credit course separately and so could stagger payments; however, because the
Dissertation was a 60 credit course, students were expected to pay the whole amount
upfront. This was problematic for students who could not support this amount of financial
outlay at one time and it would be preferable if there were a means by which students
could pay for their Dissertation course in instalments. It was agreed that this needed raised
with the College PGTC and brought to the attention of key committees further up.
ACTION: BD will raise this issue with College PGTC again and will request that it be
progressed up to a central governance committee for resolution if necessary.
9. PGT Forums
Any further suggestions for topics for the new PGT Forums should be sent directly to David
Weller at College.
10. PGT Marking Scheme
FL and BW raised the issue of the different versions of common marking scheme descriptors
currently in use (course specific/ programme specific/ taught element specific/ dissertation
or research element specific). It was felt that the language used in the grade descriptors
was perhaps not effectively mapped to the grades used in the different versions. It was
proposed that a consistent scheme be adopted which would cover all kinds of assessments.
4
AM would circulate the CMS used by the RVC: it was suggested this could be a template for
the creation of a standard common marking scheme.
11. Matriculation Information for new students
Concerns on the information on matriculation processes provided to online students had
been communicated to College to ensure greater clarity for students next year.
For Approval
12. New External Examiner for CertAVP ZooMed: Simon Girling
This was approved.
For Information
13. CertAVP Handbook
The final version of the handbook was attached for information.
14. Social Media guidelines for students and IAD Digital Footprint campaign
The attached documents provided information on the University campaign on use of social
media, as well as social media guidelines for Vet students written by Tom Mortimer. Staff
were asked to send suggestions for additions/ amendments directly to Tom as the
guidelines were very much a work in progress.
15. Annual review of PGT programmes 2014/2015
These were currently scheduled for Monday 10 November but it had not yet been
confirmed that these would go ahead.
16. Any Other Business
SB reported that a new University Student Representation for Distance Learning Task Group
had been set up, which included a student from the Conservation Medicine programme.
The remit of this group was to increase the representation of ODL students as much as
possible within the scope of University student activity and quality assurance processes at
School and College level. SB had attended the first meeting of this group and would make
the minutes available for anyone interested.
BW asked for agreement that the School organised graduation lunch in November should go
ahead and that the cost would be split according to programme size. It was agreed that
students should be restricted to bringing a maximum number of guests with them to the
lunch.
5
The committee agreed that Brian Mather of the Digital Education Unit would join the
committee in view of his remit to support e-learning for PGT programmes.
Date of next meeting: Wednesday 19th November, 2pm, Room 1.44
6