ASQC Minutes 29 April 2020

Minutes of the meeting of the Cardiff University Academic Standards and Quality Committee (ASQC) held on Wednesday 29 April 2020 at 10:00 held via Zoom

Present: Ms Claire Morgan (Chair); Professor Barbara Chadwick; Mr Tomos Evans; Mr Nick Fox; Dr Kate Gilliver; Dr Robert Gossedge; Professor Martin Jephcote; Professor Dai John; Dr Emma Kidd; Ms Shekina Ortom; Professor Stuart Palmer; Dr Rhys Pullin; Dr Andrew Roberts; Professor Helen Williams; Dr Robert Wilson.

In attendance: Mr Rhodri Evans (Secretary); Ms Helen Cowley; Ms Hannah Darnley; Ms Kath Evans; Ms Tracey Evans; Mr Lloyd Hole; Professor Alan Kwan; Ms Sian Lewis; Ms Tracey Stanley; Ms Martine Woodward; Mr Simon Wright.

Apologies: Dr Julie Gwilliam.

1257 Minutes

The Minutes of the meeting of the Academic Standards and Quality Committee held on 30th January 2020 (paper 19/403) were confirmed as a true record.

1258 Matters Arising

Received and considered paper 19/599, 'Matters Arising'.

Arising therefrom:

1258.1 Review of Regulations (Minute 1229.1)

Noted that the finalisation of the equality impact assessments of the Regulations had been delayed as a consequence of the need to prioritise actions to mitigate disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

1258.2 Programme Development (Minute 1245.3)

Noted

.1 that following consultation, with the College Pro Vice-Chancellors and the Vice-Chancellor, the Chair of ASQC had approved that that the Recruitment and Admissions Strategy Group (RASG) should be the institutional body for Stage 1 approval/oversight of new programme development, effective from session 2020/21;
.2 that the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education and Academic Standards) would co-Chair the meeting when it considers proposals for new programmes, with the agreement of the Chair of RASG;
.3 an updated programme development policy would be presented to ASQC at its meeting in June 2020.

1258.3 Periodic Review (Minute 1245.7)

Noted

.1 that the development of a new re-validation process has been postponed until the start of the new session;
.2 that a task and finish group would be established to develop a new re-validation process - terms of reference and membership to be confirmed by the Chair of ASQC - and a schedule for implementation of a new process would be proposed by the group.

1258.4 Student Surveys (Minute 1246.3)

Noted

.1 that in order to relieve the burden on students and to enable the shift to remote learning, the University had decided to suspend the promotion of student surveys at the current time;
.2 that the National Student Survey, for final year undergraduates, remains open until the 30th April and that Ipsos Mori may still actively promote this survey nationally. All other surveys, including the Spring Semester Module Evaluation and Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey, had been suspended;
.3 that a paper would be submitted to the next meeting to advise of next session’s planned survey activity and how they would contribution to the Annual Review and Enhancement (ARE) process.

1258.5 ARE (Minute 1249)

Noted

.1 that College ARE Committees meetings were running as planned (but online), with the original members being invited.  If members were unable to participate in the meetings, written responses would be requested;
.2 that degree outcomes was a key theme of the current round of meetings and the conclusions reached would inform the University’s degree outcomes statement;
.3 that English Language Programmes (ELP) division was unable, at present, to complete the required ARE information due to pressures with the preparation and delivery of English language teaching.  The division was ‘teaching-out’ the International Foundation Programme, which was in its final year of delivery. Information on this one programme would be discussed and presented in the final ARE report to the June meeting of ASQC.

1258.6 Review of Chair’s Action (Minute 1250)

Noted

.1 that a meeting had been held with the Chair of ASQC which considered the presentation of all information digitally, eliminating reliance on hard copy documentation;
.2 that further work was being undertaken by the Deputy Head of Registry to develop a standard operating procedure, ensuring a shared understanding of the decision-making process and the location where supporting evidence was filed.

1258.7 Other Matters Arising

Noted that other matters arising would be considered elsewhere on the agenda:
.1 Covid -19 (Minute 1246.1)
See Minute 1261.
.2 Degree Outcomes (Minute 1246.2)
See Minute 1262.
.3 QER (Minute 1247)
See Minute 1260.1.
.4 Industrial Action (Minute 1248)
See Minute 1261.

1259 Membership

Noted that Vice-Chancellor had, on the appointment of Ms Claire Morgan as the Interim Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education and Student Experience), confirmed that she would also be the Chair of ASQC.

1260 Items from the Chair

1260.1 QER

Noted

.1 that the QER visit had taken place 2 to 5 March 2020 and that the final reports would be published by the QAA on 14 May 2020;
.2 the Chair reported to members that the outcome of the QER which confirmed that the University meets the requirements of the ESG Part 1 for internal quality assurance and the relevant baseline regulatory requirements of the Quality Assessment Framework for Wales, and that there was no recommendations;
.3 that the review team had identified one area of good practice, the opportunities provided by CUROP to students to engage with research activities to enhance their learning and future career prospects, and one affirmation, the steps being taken to implement a revised ARE process that enabled a more responsive approach to the review and enhancement of student experience;
.4 that this was an excellent outcome for the University which demonstrated that we have robust arrangements for securing academic standards, managing academic quality, and for enhancing the quality of the student experience;
.5 that we were required to develop a plan in response to the review team’s report and for it to be published by 9 July;
.6 that staff and students who contributed to the review process were thanked particularly the Lead Student Reviewer, Ms Jackie Yip, and the Institutional Facilitator, Mr Rhodri Evans, for their work to secure this outcome for the University;
.7 that ASQC, at its next meeting, would receive further information regarding the QER outcome and a QER action plan.

1260.2 Governance arrangements

Noted

.1 that UEB had confirmed Covid-19 governance groups to support the management and operation of the University over the next 6 months;
.2 that the Student Experience Strategy Group would ensure the immediate 6-month operational priorities were addressed and provide input to shape the revised Education and Students priorities. Reporting to the Strategy Group were three sub-groups:

• Digital Education: develop and implement a strategy and capability to significantly scale up online learning and assessment, with a continuing focus on ensuring a high-quality student learning experience;
• Teaching and Assessment: support remote delivery of teaching and assessment within an agreed academic framework to ensure the maintenance of academic standards;
• Student Life: maintain and develop remote student support services, and plan and co-ordinate central enrolment and induction activities for academic year 2020/21;

.3 the groups would, where appropriate, seek the approval of University governance committees e.g. ASQC would be asked to consider matters relating to academic quality and standards.

1260.3 Assessment

Noted

.1 that Senate, at its meeting on 17 February 2020, considered opportunities for the enhancement of assessment and feedback intended to improve the student experience and overall satisfaction, and to reduce the assessment load for students and staff;
.2 that there was a wide-ranging discussion and agreement that a paper would be brought to a future meeting of Senate taking into account the views discussed. The disruption over the past month had delayed progress on this matter but it remained a priority and in due course there would be the opportunity to further consider the enhancement of assessment and feedback.

1261 Industrial Action and COVID-19

Received and considered paper 19/565 ‘Industrial Action and COVID-19’.

Noted

1261.1 that at its last meeting, ASQC was informed of the framework for variation of arrangements to be used, if considered necessary and appropriate, to address disruption resulting from industrial action taken during 2019/20, whilst ensuring that the University continued to have oversight of and confidence in the quality and standards of its awards. ASQC was also informed of a revised complaints procedure to be used by students to raise concerns relating to industrial action;

1261.2 that when the impact of the Covid-19 became apparent, the University moved swiftly and from Monday 16 March 2020, all schools, as far as possible, supported remote learning and assessment;

1261.3 that, in accordance with Senate Regulations, the Vice-Chancellor had authorised permitted variations to the arrangements for teaching and assessment in response to the exceptions circumstances of the Covid-19 disruption, ensuring that the University was able to have oversight of and confidence in the quality and standards of its awards;

1261.4 that Schools had submitted all variations to assessments to Registry and in a few cases, variation was requested beyond that permitted by the framework. Where variations were requested which were beyond that permitted by the framework, the cases were submitted to the Chair of ASQC for consideration and approval. A full record of the actions taken by the Chair of ASQC was documented in paper 19’568;

1261.5 that the University had confirmed the principle that no student should be disadvantaged in terms of their achievement as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to apply the principle, the University had introduced a safety net policy for 2019/20, following consultation with staff and students, which was supplementary to the 2019/20 academic regulations and addresses both the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic (from 16 March 2020) and, where applicable, the disruption caused by strike action (November and December 2019, and February and March 2020);

1261.6 that the safety net policy seeks to ensure that students’ award classifications reflects their academic attainment on the degree programme, and that the degree classification is not affected by any potential dip in their academic performance in assessments undertaken during a period of disruption.  The policy also ensures institutional oversight of its academic standards.

1261.7 that external examiners had been informed, in writing, of the permitted variations to teaching and assessment and would also be informed of the implementation of the Safety Net Policy;

1261.8 that the Chair of ASQC had confirmed that the Complaints Procedure, used for industrial action, would be adapted and applied to deal with complaints relating to the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

1261.9 that whilst significant action had been, and continued to be, taken in response to the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, queries received were kept under review and used to update FAQs;

1261.10 that a number of virtual Q&A sessions had been held to support staff in Schools advise students and implement the safety net policy.

1262 Degree Outcomes Statement

Received and considered paper 19/566 ‘Degree Outcomes Statement’.

Noted

1262.1 that ASQC, at its last meeting, received an oral report updating members on the Statement of Intent, published in May 2019 on behalf of sector-representative bodies for higher education, which re-affirmed a commitment to protect the value of UK degrees, and to transparent, consistent and fair academic standards. The Statement also confirmed that higher education providers in England and Wales would produce a degree outcomes statement by the end of academic year 2019/20;

1262.2 that the QAA has published guidance for degree awarding bodies on producing degree outcomes statement and has also run webinars, in which the University has participated;

1262.3 that the degree outcomes statement should be signed off by the governing body and published online and publicly available, alongside our academic regulations and policies;

1262.4 that the degree outcomes statement should analyse our degree classification profile and articulate the results of an internal institutional review - the review was being undertaken via ARE and consequently the ARE analysis was an essential input to the degree outcomes statement;

1262.5 that when drafting the degree outcomes statement, we will be able to rely on the statements included in the submission for QER which demonstrated that we that we meet the Expectations of the Quality Code for Higher Education that relate to protecting the value of qualifications, which can be supplemented by the review and analysis of degree outcomes undertaken via ARE;

1262.6 that the University degree outcomes data showed that the University’s grade profile was broadly in line with sector data and also indicated that, whilst there was a degree of variability at school level, there were only a few schools required to provide further detail via ARE – where there has been a significant change in the profile. The explanation provided by these schools via ARE would inform the content of the degree outcome statement in relation to actions being taken to manage risks and challenges;

1262.7 that Colleges would report back through the College ARE Report on the outcomes of the discussion with Schools and any proposed actions to be taken.

1263 Reports From Groups

Received paper 19/560, 'Report from Programme and Partner Standing Panel’.

Noted

1263.1 that in order to continue to support University business efficiently, Panels would be meeting more frequently but the duration of each meeting would be shorter;

1263.2 that all Schools had been asked to consider all future planned programme developments carefully and to take account of the work required to undertake a review of current programmes, in light of the disruption resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, to ensure their delivery in 2020/21, and therefore where possible, only necessary changes should be considered to avoid increasing workload;

1263.3 that when developing Study Abroad agreements, all Schools had been advised that there must be careful consideration of the balance of incoming and outgoing students on each arrangement, including specific language requirements. In addition, School had been asked to confirm that modules offered from other Schools were available before being confirmed to incoming students to ensure a positive study abroad experience.

1264 Action taken on behalf of the Committee

Received paper 19/567 and 19/568 being the summary of Executive Action taken by the Chair on behalf of the Committee since the last meeting.

1265 Date of Meetings: 2019/20

Noted the date of the final meeting to be held in Session 2019/20: 3 June 2020 at 10:00 .