Unconfirmed
University of Bradford
assembly
Minutes of the Meeting held on 24 November 2008
Present: / Professor M Cleary, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor P Rogers (Chair), 200 members of the Assembly, to the capacity of the John Stanley Bell Lecture Theatre.Apologies: / Dr J Baruch, Dr A Cullen, Professor B M Featherstone, Dr M Seymour, Ms L Cumming
In Attendance: / Mrs L Binns-Hall, Legal and Governance Officer
1.08-09 Minutes of the Meeting held on 22 November 2007 (ASSY 1/07-08) RESOLVED:
1.1 that the minutes of the meeting held on 22 November 2007 be approved as an accurate record of the meeting.
2.08-09 Report from the Standing Committee of Assembly
Noted:
2.1 that Professor Rogers, Dr Baruch (Chair of the Standing Committee of Assembly and the Assembly), Dr Maitland and Mr Harding met recently to discuss and suggest topics which the Vice-Chancellor was requested to consider including in his annual address.
2.2 that the Vice-Chancellor agreed to cover those items in his presentation.
3.08-09 Vice-Chancellor’s Annual Address (ASSY2/08-09)
Noted:
3.1 that the Vice-Chancellor’s presentation had been amended since being placed on the Intranet; that the revised presentation would be uploaded to the Intranet in due course.
3.2 A presentation given by the Vice-Chancellor and Principal reflecting on the University’s performance, its future plans and in particular, the following matters:
The University’s activities to broaden the geographical area of student recruitment;
The likely impact of the ‘credit crunch’ on the University;
Major challenges facing the University over the next five years;
An explanation of the University’s Redundancy Policy.
Noted:
that the University currently operated a Voluntary Severance Scheme as a means of managing staff reductions; that the University would only move into the compulsory phase as a last resort if the targeted level of VSS applications had not been achieved, at which point a Redundancy Committee would be established.
that the Voluntary Severance Scheme had been recently revised to make the Scheme more attractive to staff; that the number of staff reductions required at the School of Health Studies had been achieved as a result of the revisions to the Scheme.
4.08-09 Questions to the Vice-Chancellor
4.1 Question from Dr Ruth Bartlett “Could the Vice-Chancellor tell us how the University’s position in relation to part time students could be improved?”
4.2 Response from the Vice-Chancellor
Noted:
4.2.1 that the University’s provision of part time courses had been discussed at the Senior Management Residential; there had been many discussions about the proposed knowledge exchange with some views expressed in favour of improving the current provision rather than investing in a new build with state of the art facilities;
4.2.2 that the University was also investing in £1M of Escalate funds in developing a Learner Centre on F floor for the provision of facilities for students for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
4.2.3 In addition to the improvement of facilities and to the University estate, the Vice-Chancellor recognised the importance of developing courses fit for purpose which accommodate credit accumulation.
4.3 Question from Professor Donna Pankhurst “In the mid 90s much work had been done in semesterization/modularization, the logic being that operating a cap credit system would attract students. The results were not as predicted, which was clearly due to a lack of understanding of what the students wanted. Where is the evidence/reassurance that going down the route to attract part time students would be any more successful now than then?
4.4 Response from the Vice-Chancellor
4.4.1 that one area in which the University had not achieved its growth targets under the corporate strategy 2004-2009 was part time course provision; that many of its competitors had achieved high growth, this clearly indicated that there was a market for part time provision which others were tapping into; that the difficulties that prevented the University from succeeding in part time provision were due to a number of factors (structures/cultures/regulations/estates).
4.5 Question from Professor Paul Rogers “Are there any additional resources for International Recruitment this year?”
4.6 Response from the Vice-Chancellor
4.6.1 that the University was currently looking at substantial investment through the introduction of scholarships for international students.
Response from the Director of Academic Administration
4.6.2 that the University would be investing £100k during 2008/9 to fund additional visits to existing overseas markets.
Further Question from Professor Rogers
4.6.3 “that during times of recession, people do seek more higher education opportunities – is there any evidence this applies to International students abroad?”
Response from the Vice-Chancellor
Noted:
4.6.4 That it was likely that the fluctuation in exchange rates could affect international recruitment from some areas; that the rapid pace of economic developments in China/India had resulted in rapid growth of recruitment from those Countries, but the University also needed to look at its overall international recruitment strategies including consideration of partnership investments for attracting more postgraduate taught students.
4.7 Question from Mr David Jamookeeah “In terms of the comprehensive spending review: what assurances are there which mean the University will not get into financial difficulties in the future?”
Response from the Vice-Chancellor
Noted:
4.7.1 that Health studies in particular faced challenges nationally because of the changes to the NHS contract pricing calculations; that the University needed a strategy which allowed for economic recovery and to work toward achieving a position where the three to four year forecast is good, which would allow for reinvestment.
4.8 Question from Professor Diana Anderson “The University is trying to
recruit more postgraduate students. How does the Vice-
Chancellor see that balancing given there’s a limit on home
undergraduate recruitment?”
Response from the Vice-Chancellor
Noted:
4.8.1 that postgraduate recruitment is very important and postgraduate taught courses build on the strength of the University’s research reputation; that Schools needed support and creativity in the development of postgraduate taught courses. (the Vice-Chancellor encouraged individuals to come forward with ideas for developing new courses)
4.9 Question from Dr Marina Bloj “that postgraduate taught (Masters) courses were very competitive and other Universities were also experiencing difficulties in recruiting; that the time and effort in recruiting was a difficult balance in achieving the desired results.
Response from the Vice-Chancellor
4.9.1 that the Vice-Chancellor acknowledged that some areas of postgraduate recruitment were disappointing, and encouraged people to take more risks in developing new courses.
5. Date and Time of next meeting
Noted:
5.1 that the next meeting would be held at 1pm on Wednesday 22nd April 2009 in the Small Hall.
25.11.08LBH
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