Senate Minutes 06 November 2019

Minutes Of The Meeting Of The Cardiff University Senate Held On Wednesday 6 November 2019, In Room 0.07, Hadyn Ellis Building At 14:15

Attendance

In Attendance

Ms Hannah Darnley, Ms Carolyn Donoghue, Mr Rhodri Evans, Mr Tom Hay, Mr Llywelyn Lehnert,Ms Sue Midha, Ms Alex Payne, Ms Karin Russell (Minutes), Ms Claire Sanders, Mr Simon Wright (Secretary)

814 Welcome and introductions

The Chair welcomed all to the first meeting of the session and, in particular, the new members of the committee.

Noted

814.1  that the Report from the Honorary Fellowships and Degrees Committee (agenda item 9) was withdrawn from the agenda and the paper would be removed from the meeting book;

814.2  that the change in process, whereby only individuals confirmed to receive the Honorary Fellowship or award of an Honorary Degree would be reported to Senate and Council, had been agreed by Senate, at its meeting on 31 October 2018 (Minute 764);

814.3 that given the unconfirmed status of the individuals noted in the paper, members were asked to disregard its contents, ensure destruction of the paper, and not to forward on any details contained therein.

815 Apologies for absence

Noted that the apologies received would be recorded in the Minutes and members were reminded to sign the attendance register.

816 Minutes

The Minutes of the meeting of Senate held on 19 June 2019 (paper 18/665) were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Noted

816.1 that minute 804.5 had not fully captured the concern raised by a member in relation to climate change; and the concern that there was a climate emergency, and at the impact of the strategic partnership and other international collaborations on the University’s carbon footprint.

817 Matters arising

There were no matters arising.

818 Declaration of interests

The Chair reminded members of their requirement to disclose any direct or indirect pecuniary or other interests which could influence their judgement. Disclosure of interests should be made before an item was discussed and the individual concerned should either withdraw from the meeting or not take part in the discussion, as appropriate for that part of the agenda.

Noted that no member disclosed any interests.

819 Constitution and membership 2019-20

Received paper 19/140 ‘Constitution and Membership 2019-20’.

Noted

819.1 that the constitution and membership was submitted to the first meeting of each session;

819.2 that particular changes of note were:

1. Professor Rachael Langford had stepped down as Head of School of Modern Languages from 1st November 2019;
2. Professor Marcela Votruba would be stepping down as Head of School of Optometry from January 2020;
3. Professor Nora de Leeuw would be leaving the University in December 2019; rather than appoint a replacement, duties would be reallocated and the arrangement would be kept under review.

820 Vice Chancellor’s report to Senate

Received paper 19/141 ‘Vice Chancellor’s Report to Senate’. The Vice-Chancellor introduced the paper.

820.1 Student Recruitment

Noted

that the University had performed well in student recruitment, having achieved higher student numbers than last year and beyond planned targets and that this would be taken into account in terms of resourcing levels.

820.2 Climate Emergency

Noted

.1 that in relation to the Climate Emergency, the University was determining what impact it could have in order to add a voice to the organisations declaring climate emergency;

.2 that a new Dean for Environmental Sustainability, Professor Mike Bruford, had been appointed and that the University was hoping to make a public statement before the end of the month.

820.3 Industrial Action

Noted

.1 that following a nationwide ballot of University and College Union (UCU) members, dates for industrial action at the University, and many other universities had been announced; students were being made aware of the outcome of the ballot and, whilst the University fully respects the right of staff to take part in legal industrial action, the priority is to provide education to students;

.2 in response to a question, it was confirmed that there were 147 universities involved in the negotiations, that industrial action would not be taken at all universities and that this was therefore likely to impact on the resolution of pay issues;

.3 the Joint Expert Panel (JEP) had published its first report in September 2018 and a second report was anticipated shortly, and there would be further discussions on the recommendations, including likely engagement with the Pensions Regulator.

821 Report from the Chair of Academic Standards and Quality Committee (ASQC)

Received papers, 19/142 ‘Report from the Chair of Academic Standards and Quality Committee (ASQC)’ and 19/152 ‘Minutes of ASQC 23 October 2019’. Professor Amanda Coffey introduced the paper.

Noted

821.1  that the meeting book included a report from the Chair of ASQC and the minutes of its meeting on 23rd October 2019;

Academic Management Regulations

821.2  that Senate was asked to approve revised Academic Management Regulations which provide the framework under which academic bodies operate;

821.3  that the main changes to the Regulations included:

.1 the removal of duplication of information previously included but which was contained in Ordinances or other Regulations;

.2  a proposed revision to the role of Boards of Studies due to changes to the annual review process and programme approval process;

.3 the confirmation of the requirement for Student Staff Panels to be established;

Resolved

821.4  to approve the revised academic management regulations, as outlined at appendix 1 of paper 19/142, with immediate effect;

Personal Tutor Policy

821.5 that, at its meeting, ASQC had considered a revised Personal Tutor Policy, which was based on the previous Personal Tutor Code of Practice, with further clarity provided in respect of:

.1 a definition for ‘Personal Tutoring’ which was developed in collaboration with stakeholder groups from around the University as part of the work undertaken by the ‘Enhancing the Personal Tutoring System’ Partnership Project;

.2 inclusion of a section on Confidentiality and Disclosure;

.3  inclusion of a reference to the Cardiff Academic expectations;

Resolved

821.6 to approve the revised Personal Tutor policy, as outlined at appendix 2 of the paper 19/142, with immediate effect;

PGR Training Policy

821.7 the policy on the Induction and Training of Research Students reflected and extended the information and expectations contained within the old Code of Practice for Research Degrees with regard to the provision and engagement in training and development activity for both research and professional skills;

821.8 that it was proposed that the policy would come into effect in the 2020-21 session, with principles being adopted as far as possible during the current academic year;

Resolved

821.9 to approve the PGR Training policy, as outlined at appendix 3 of paper 19/142, with effect from 2020-21.

822 Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Attainment Gap

Received a presentation on the ‘Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Attainment Gap’ from Professor Karen Holford.

Noted

822.1 the ‘Black, Asian and minority ethnic student attainment at UK universities: #ClosingtheGap ’ report was published in May 2019 and based on a joint initiative between UUK and the NUS to help universities tackle the black, Asian and minority ethnic attainment gap;

822.2 that the report was significant and welcome and was being used to help inform policy and decision making in universities;

822.3  that the main findings of the report indicated there had been a 50% increase in the number of black, Asian and minority ethnic undergraduates in England between 2007 and 2016 and there was a disparity in the attainment of students from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds once they get to university; data also showed a similar level of disparity in attainment of black, Asian and minority ethnic students at the university;

822.4  that the report’s key recommendations for higher education institutions were:

.1 Providing strong leadership;

.2  Having conversations about race and changing the culture;

.3 Developing racially diverse and inclusive environments;

.4 Getting the evidence and analysing the data;

.5 Understanding what works;

822.5 that senior managers had held a session on the report’s recommendations at the Senior Staff Conference, and had discussed at UEB;

822.6 that a black, Asian and minority ethnic Attainment Task and Finish Group had been established in September 2018, Chaired by Dr Sam Hibbitts, University Dean for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, to develop an understanding of the issues relating to the attainment gap for black, Asian and minority ethnic students, and created recommendations for action that aim to close these gaps and improve the longer-term outcomes for black, Asian and minority ethnic students;

822.7  in response to a question, it was noted that the report included good examples of best practice elsewhere that might be adopted within the University;

822.8 a report on ‘Tackling racial harassment: Universities challenged’, published in October 2019, was based on a formal inquiry by the Equality and Human Rights Commission into the nature of racial harassment in British universities and that Cardiff University had responded to the request to provide evidence;

822.9 that a case study on Cardiff University’s Race Equality Support Panel was cited as a good example of working practice;

822.10 there were four very clear recommendations within the report, which the University was supporting:

1.mandatory duty on employers;

2.adequate powers for regulators;

3.effective complaints procedures;

4.Senior level action on inclusive cultures;

822.11 work was already underway in many areas to meet these recommendations;

822.12 that members of Senate were encouraged to read both reports.

823 Rolling REF Report

Received paper, 19/144B ‘Rolling REF Report’. Professor Kim Graham introduced the paper.

Noted

823.1  that the paper provided a summary of the outcomes of the Summer 2019 Rolling REF exercise;

823.2 that a further Mock REF exercise was ongoing and due to be completed by end of December 2019;

823.3 that in response to a question, at the point of the assessment 145 members of staff did not yet have a 3 or 4 star output available, but that the University was in a good position overall for the return.

824 Research agenda

Received a presentation on the ‘Research Agenda’ by Professor Kim Graham.

Noted

Organisational structure in research portfolio

824.1 that organisational changes had been made:

.1 to implement a more strategic approach and to improve external engagement with funders and business, aligned to internal opportunities;

.2 to increase visibility of work on research culture and environment;

.3 to support the importance of co-creation and growth of leadership capacity in professional and academic staff within the research portfolio;

.4 that the current structure, which incorporated those changes, was reflected in the slides and would be reconsidered each year;

Innovation and impact

824.2 that there was a strong innovation and impact agenda as evidenced by the University’s REF outcome and the Innovation Campus, but there is a need and opportunity to both further embed and increase awareness across the University;

824.3 that there had been a reintroduction of innovation funding by HEFCW of approximately £3M;

824.4 that increasing our translational work and collaboration with business was vital;

824.5  that members of Senate were invited to contribute their thoughts and ideas to the questions on the final slide; the slides and a copy of the KEF documentation would be distributed after the meeting;

824.6 that in response to a question on the HE-BCI metrics, in would be important to think on the methods used in these metrics to then develop the University’s actions.

825 URIEC Change to Terms of Reference

Received paper 19/145 ‘URIEC Change to Terms of Reference’. Professor Kim Graham introduced the paper.

Noted

825.1 that the paper detailed proposed changes to URIEC’s Terms of Reference, including:

.1 a change in the name of the Committee to the ‘Open Research Integrity and Ethics Committee’ (ORIEC) to demonstrate the University’s commitment to Open Research;

.2 confirmation that the Committee would act as an oversight body and receive reports, to ensure that the University met the requirements of the ‘Open Research’ agenda including the signing of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA);

.3 the insertion of a reference to the University’s ‘Policy on the ethical conduct of research involving human participants, human material or human data’ and the ‘Cardiff University template Procedures for School Research Ethics Committees’;

825.2 the proposed changes to the membership of the Committee.

Resolved

825.3 to endorse the proposed changes as listed for recommendation to the Governance Committee, noting that the change to the name of the Committee would require that the Governance Committee Terms of Reference be amended and subsequently approved by Council.

826 2018/19 Annual Statement on Research Integrity

Received paper 19/147 ‘Annual Statement on Research Integrity’. Professor Kim Graham introduced the paper.

Noted

826.1 the University’s third Annual Statement on Research Integrity (Annual Statement), prepared in accordance with the Universities UK ‘Concordat to Support Research Integrity’ (the Concordat);

826.2 that the Annual Statement had been reviewed and endorsed by the University Research Integrity and Ethics Committee, at its meeting on 8 October 2019, in line with its Terms of Reference and its responsibility to act as an oversight body to ensure compliance with the Concordat;

826.3  that the Annual Statement had been presented to, and noted by, UEB, and would be submitted to the Audit Committee for information, and to the Governance Committee to endorse following consideration by Senate.

Resolved

826.4 that the Annual Statement on Research Integrity is endorsed for submission to Governance Committee and Council for approval.

827 Annual Quality Report

Received paper 19/146 ‘Annual Quality Report’. Professor Amanda Coffey introduced the paper.

Noted

827.1 that the Annual Quality Report provided a risk status and narrative for each area of activity relating to the University’s academic quality system from which Council could provide assurance to HEFCW on matters relating to academic quality and standards;

827.2 that improvements had been seen in a number of areas notably Collaborative Provision and Periodic Review risks, which had lowered from ‘amber’ to ‘green’, and Examination Paper Errors risk which had lowered from ‘red’ to ‘amber’ highlighting significant collaborative work undertaken by staff in Registry and Schools;

827.3 that two areas were identified as red status signifying serious issues of concern: those areas were Assessment and Feedback and Student Cases and the report identified the immediate actions being taken to address these concerns;

827.4 that, whilst the work undertaken in 2018/19 to review and revise student cases policies and processes to streamline some areas of work for 2019/20, the volume of work within student cases had significantly increased, mainly due to the rapid and significant increase in the number of student behaviour cases and student complaints, attributed in part to the success of the Disclosure Response Team in making students aware of the options available to them;

827.5 that the impact of the increase in the volume of work had seen a delay in concluding and responding to student cases and, consequently, the risk had been raised from ‘amber’ to ‘red’ to reflect this and a number of targeted actions were being taken to address the identified issues;

827.6 that in response to a question, there had been an increase in programmes achieving 100% satisfaction in the NSS scores which was welcomed, and the University also acknowledged the achievement of other programmes which had achieved satisfaction scores of at least 95%.

Resolved

827.7 that the Annual Quality Report was approved by Senate and would be presented to University Council for consideration.

828 Quality Enhancement Review (QER) update report

Received paper 19/148 ‘QER Update’. Professor Amanda Coffey introduced the paper.

Noted

828.1 that the paper provided an update on the Quality Enhancement Review, which would be conducted by the QAA in March 2020;

828.2 that the paper noted a change to the definition of one of the judgements to be considered by the QER, as detailed in HEFCW circular W19/23HE;

828.3 that the composition of the Review Team and the key dates for the review had now been confirmed and were outlined in the paper;

828.4 that the Students’ Union would also submit a QER student written submission;

828.5 that a Steering Group had been set-up to oversee the preparations for QER and staff had been invited to scrutinise the submissions and provide feedback and assurance; any Senate members who would like to be involved should contact Professor Coffey or Rhodri Evans;

828.6 that a mock review would be held in December 2019, to provide an opportunity to identify the issues which would be raised during the Review Team’s visits;

828.7  that the full QER submission would be made available to members of Senate; however there would be no requirement for Senate members to read and comment on it before it was submitted.

829 Students' Union Relationship Agreement And Student  Charter – Annual Review

Received paper 19/149 ‘Students' Union Relationship Agreement & Student Charter - Annual Review’. Professor Amanda Coffey introduced the paper.

Student Charter

Noted

829.1 that the Student Charter was a regulatory requirement, and there was an expectation that it be reviewed annually;

829.2 that both the incoming and outgoing Sabbatical Officers were involved in reviewing the Agreement and it had been reviewed in line with an agreed schedule;

829.3 that the proposed amendments had been made in line with the most recent HEFCW guidance and incorporated senior staff, academic staff and student feedback;

829.4 that the proposed amendments were intended to improve the accuracy and accessibility of the document and to increase information on topics including, mental health provision, the complaints procedure, and the Welsh Language Standards;

829.5 that the revised Charter would be graphically designed and published online once approved.

Resolved

829.6 that the proposed amendments to the Student Charter were endorsed for recommendation to Governance Committee and University Council;

Students’ Union Relationship Agreement

Noted

829.7  that the Students’ Union Relationship Agreement was a regulatory requirement and there was an expectation that it be reviewed annually;

829.8 that both incoming and outgoing Sabbatical Officers were involved in reviewing the Agreement, with responsibility for sign-off resting with the incoming officers and final approval sought from the University’s Governing Body;

829.9 that the Agreement was reviewed and approved by Council in March 2019, and it was asked that the annual review for 2019/20 commence in June 2019;

829.10 a series of stakeholder engagement activities had been delivered throughout the Summer; the review process concluded with an academic consultation, and final review by the lead staff involved;

829.11 that the Agreement had been reviewed in line with HEFCW circular ‘W14/06HE – Revised guidance on good practice in funding effective, democratic student unions, and student representation’;

829.12 that the proposed amendments to the Agreement had been indicated in the document and they constituted a series of changes which improved the accuracy and accessibility of the document, based on feedback from the stakeholders consulted.

Resolved

829.13 that the proposed amendments to the Students’ Union Relationship Agreement were endorsed for recommendation to Governance Committee and University Council.

830 Transforming Cardiff (TC) Update

Received an update on Transforming Cardiff introduced by the Vice-Chancellor, and with presentations by Professor Rudolf Allemann, Professor Gary Baxter and Professor Damian Walford Davies.

Noted

830.1 that in terms of the financial aspects of Transforming Cardiff, the 2018/19 year end position (unaudited) was favourable in that it reported a £7m deficit which is £3m better than the £10m projected;

830.2 that the single Professional Services function came into effect on 1st August 2019 and would take time to fully develop; progress would be monitored;

830.3 that the three College Pro Vice-Chancellors provided an update on the work undertaken in each college;

College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (AHSS)

830.4 that following the ideas outlined in the Transforming Cardiff paper, a series of Town Hall meetings were held in AHSS;

830.5 that all 10 schools had held workshops in May 2019, which provided clear preferred solutions that had been taken to the College Board-Operations Board Away Day;

830.6 that the outcomes were:

.1 that a School of Literatures, Languages & Creative Practice was not a preferred solution, with other means of transformative change suggested;

.2 that there was a preference not to divest from Languages for All and for it to be run as strategically and efficiently as possible;

.3 Dysgu Cymraeg Caerdydd (Learn Welsh Cardiff) to be retained and mainstreamed as part of our new Welsh Language Strategy, with clear benefits relating to diversity, inclusion and Civic Mission;

830.7 that the themes, proposed actions and timescales had been drafted following the consultation, and there were already a number of key projects being pursued;

830.8 that in response to a question, AHSS confirmed they were discussing and reviewing mitigating actions in relation to the impact on the environment from recruiting international students, which included the possibilities of offsetting;

College of Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE)

830.9 that the College had already been looking at transforming the Schools of Computer Sciences & Informatics and Earth & Ocean Sciences;

830.10 that a new approach to teaching in the School of Engineering was underway, looking to modernise its undergraduate learning and teaching, improve the School’s student progression/attainment and student satisfaction, provide teaching efficiencies for staff, and future-proof the School’s recruitment;

830.11 that in recent years the Schools of Computer Sciences & Informatics and Mathematics had revised their postgraduate taught provision, resulting in an increased demand for their programmes of study over the past 18 months;

830.12 that the Data Science Academy was an initiative designed to facilitate further growth by working with industry, on project-based learning; it would offer postgraduate programmes in a range of high demand areas including data science and analytics, cyber security and artificial intelligence;

830.13 that the College was currently working with high profile organisations such as the Office for National Statistics to develop new programmes, such as an MSc in Data Analytics for Government;

830.14 that there had been a re-design of the taught portfolio in Earth & Ocean Sciences to reflect the market; this included the introduction of a new BSC and MSc programmes and the potential development of a joint undergraduate Geography degree between this school and Geography and Planning;

College of Biomedical and Life Sciences (BLS)

830.15 that the College had presented for discussion, testing, and challenge, proposals under the pillar of Transforming change; these were essential interactions with external agencies that the University was not able to work independently from;

830.16 In relation to reconfiguring the School of Healthcare Sciences:

.1  that the timeline was now aligned to the revised timescale for the Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) recommissioning process, with submission required in September 2020;

.2 that the Eastgate House lease had been renewed for 3 years;

.3 that the College and School was working with Estates to identify future estate needs, develop options and facilitate vacation of Eastgate House at the earliest opportunity.

830.17 To address the need for the recurrent University investment in the Wales Institute for Minimal Access Therapy (WIMAT) and Wales Institute of Forensic Medicine (WIFM):

.1 that HEIW had agreed to fund WIMAT for the next two years and work with the University and other agencies to plan the provision of WIMAT;

.2 that discussions with South Wales Police had secured a commitment to fund the activities of WIFM in the immediate future and to work with the University and others to identify long-term future arrangements for a regional forensic pathology service;

830.18 that an options analysis in relation to the locations of the School of Optometry and Vision Sciences and the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences had been undertaken, and UEB had agreed for both Schools to remain in their current buildings and to focus on optimising occupancy and utilisation of both buildings;

830.19 that Heads of Schools were continuing to hold face to face meetings to  communicate plans and it was unlikely students would be impacted as teaching and laboratory space was not likely to be affected;

830.20 that in response to a question, it was intended that the Heath Park Estate would be the centre of activity for BLS wherever possible, and that the Heath Park West site would become available in around 18 months.

831 Fee and Access Plan 20/21

Received paper 19/150 ‘Fee & Access Plan 20/21’.

832 Research grants and contracts

Received paper 19/151 ‘Research Grants and Contracts’.

833 Emeritus/Emerita Professors and Readers Awarded Titles

Received paper 19/139 ‘Emeritus/Emerita Professors and Readers  Awarded Titles’.

834  Any other business

There was no other business.

835  Date of next meeting

Noted that the next meeting would take place at 2.15pm on 19th February 2020.