UNIVERSITY OF EAST LONDON
School of Psychology
Confirmed minutes of the meeting of the School of Psychology Board held on 9th December 2009
Present: David Rose(Chair), Irina Anderson, Rowan Bayne, Tracy Boakes, Joy Coogan, Pippa Dell, Mark Finn, Nelica La Gro, Chris Pawson, Amanda Roberts, Ian Tucker, Aneta Tunariu, Joanne Wood, Dori Yusef
Officer: Indra Linton
1. APOLOGIES
1.1 Elizabeth Attree, Ilona Boniwell, Tom Dickins, Graham Fennell, Carla Gibbes, Mark Holloway, Ashok Jansari, Gordon Jinks, Claudia Lasite,
Mark McDermott, Rachel Mulvey, Jonathan Passmore, Donald Ridley, Rachel Tribe,.
2. TERMS OF REFERENCE AND CONSTITUTION OF THE BOARD
FOR 2008-9
NOTED:
2.1 that the BSc Programme Leader will provide the Servicing Officer with the names of two BSc programme reps who are willing to be nominated board members for 2009-10.
(Action: Elizabeth Attree)
3. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING
RECEIVED and CONFIRMED:
3.1 the minutes of the previous meeting held on 17th June 2009 as an accurate record with the exception of item 9.20 which will be deleted:
9.20 that a small group of Psychology students are working to develop an hour long CD of zero tolerance to bad behaviour
3.2 Terms of reference and constitution of the board
that between 2 and 4 student representatives are still required as nominated board members, the term of office being one year ie:session only.
3.3 Recruitment, First Week and Enrolment
that Pippa Dell is convening a meeting of the First Week Group within the School next week.
3.4 Schedule of business for the 2009-10 session
that Board members are reminded to submit agenda items for consideration to the Servicing Officer.
3.5 AWAM proformas
that Academic staff should submit amended AWAM proformas to the Associate Dean for review. The Dean of School has asked the Director of HR Services to clarify the AWAM procedure for all staff.
4. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MEETING HELD ON 17TH JUNE 2009
None.
5 REVIEW AND ENHANCEMENT PROCESS (REP) REVIEW: ANNUAL MONITORING OF PROGRAMMES
RECEIVED and CONSIDERED:
5.1 the School Overview Report for Board approval from the Acting School Leader for Quality, Amanda Roberts.
NOTED:
5.2 that Amanda Roberts thanked everyone who took part in the REP process. We were the first School to complete their REP process including all the REP reports and audit forms.
5.3 that copious examples of good practice across all programmes within our School were highlighted as well as with our collaborative partners, which has been even greater than previous years.
5.4 that such examples of good practice include:
· addressing issues and developing provision that actively supports student learning
· an up-to-date awareness of wider UEL policies
· innovative teaching and assessment methods
5.5 that key issues that will be addressed this year regarding collaborative provision are concerns over ICS's (International Correspondence School) assessment cycle. A training day has been provided to improve marking standards and the Acting Quality Leader will put together an action plan to address external examiners feedback.
(Action: Acting Quality Leader)
5.6 that there has also been a UEL initiative to deal with poorly performing modules (ie: low mean marks and low pass rates). Field Leaders are aware which ones these are which will be monitored at Field boards and School Quality meetings.
5.7 that in terms of the Student Satisfaction Survey (SSS), our School performed well overall compared with the greatest levels of student satisfaction compared to the UEL average rating in the areas of teaching, assessment and feedback, academic support and organisation and management.
5.8 that the biggest concerns have been with accommodation with limited high quality space at Stratford. However now that the building work is finished and there are new green spaces, it is hoped that the scoring will be better on this next year. Also there have been issues with Saturday teaching and UEL Plus breakdowns but these are being dealt with.
5.9 that all programmes within the School need to show greater consistency in the use of UEL Plus to enhance the students learning experience as raised in the Student Satisfaction Survey.
AGREED:
5.10 that board members approved the School Overview Report which will be presented to the Validation and Review Sub-Committee (VRSC). Further comments are to be emailed to Amanda Roberts no later than 18th December 2009.
(Action: Board members)
6 STUDENT VALIDATION NUMBERS
RECEIVED and CONSIDERED:
6.1 that enrolled data was extracted from Proclarity, the Management Information System (MIS), and categorized by Fields ie: PY and GCC and then subcategorized by UG and PG.
6.2 that February ie: Semester B targets are separate and count as the next session ie: Feb 2010 targets count towards 2010-11 targets and not 2009-10 as one would expect.
6.3 that our new programme, MSc in Psychology, has significantly over- recruited.
6.4 that Universities have been told by the Funding Council (ie: HEFCE) that UG FT Home over-recruitment will be fined. Overall, UEL has over-recruited by approximately 300 students and Nirmal Borkhataria / Director of Financial Services will be dealing with any subsequent clawback by HEFCE.
7 PROGRESS ON SCHOOL PLAN FOR 2009-10
RECEIVED and CONSIDERED:
7.1 A table depicting progress on the 2009-10 Action Plan.
NOTED:
7.2 that the associated risk column is formatted in a traffic light system.
7.3 that the taster course which is currently incorporated into UEL Direct will probably be offered in early spring by our School as the success of it has declined since being taken over by UEL Connect.
7.4 that the volunteering scheme for undergraduate students is not being developed within our School.
7.5 that the new MSc in Sports Psychology programme is being validated tomorrow within the School of Health & Biosciences.
7.6 that Nelica La Gro / Programme Leader for Careers Guidance had raised her concerns with the School Registrar about the lack of contact that programme student representatives had received regarding their training. This was being pursued with Quality Assurance and Enhancement who have taken over this responsibility from the Student Union.
10 HEALTH & SAFETY CODE OF PRACTICE
(this item was carried forward by the Chair)
RECEIVED and CONSIDERED:
10.1 A written report from the School Co-ordinator for Health & Safety, Donald Ridley.
NOTED:
10.2 that procedures and policies are presently being reviewed and redrafted.
10.3 that all psychology rooms have been inspected recently and there were no major issues.
10.4 that there have been no accidents or injuries of note.
11 SCHOOL LEARNING AND TECHNOLOGY ADVISER
(this item was carried forward by the Chair)
RECEIVED and CONSIDERED:
11.1 a powerpoint presentation from the School's Learning Technology Adviser, Rose Heaney.
NOTED:
11.2 that historically, in 2000 the Centre for Learning Technologies (CLT) was established within Educational Development Services. A year later Learning Technology Advisers (LTAs) who were considered the Academic "Champions of E-Learning" were seconded within each School. From 2003 onwards, LTAs have been recruited externally with more e-learning experience and increased staff development focus.
11.3 that in 2004-5, 4 full-time LTAs came under the jurisdiction of the E- learning team within Learning Development Services. Academic Schools were assigned a 0.5 allocation however this did not take into account the differences in size or interest of the Schools with LTAs spending virtually all their time in their assigned Schools. Such disparities continued and became more obvious in 2006 along with the migration to new virtual learning environments (VLE) as well as the move towards more centralised provision of staff development.
11.4 that towards the end of 2007, the LTA school allocation changed with the Services now supported, staff development and other projects done centrally and a wider focus than VLE (eg: web 2.0). In September 2008 minor adjustments to the LTA allocation were made but more
radical changes were mooted. Also at this time there was increasing focus on non-VLE activities.
11.5 that the current situation is that there are now 6 LTAs who come under the jurisdiction of UELconnect but who still have named School(s) and Services(s), with some being physically based in Schools. Learning Technology Technicians (LTTs) have taken over routine tasks such as the elearn mailbox and there is greater 'project' focus with LTAs working more with the Distance Learning development team.
11.6 that Rose Heaney is the named LTA for the Schools of Health & Biosciences and Psychology with the following remit:
· field any learning technology related request
· carry out non-routine learning technology issues
· one-to-one sessions with new staff
· bespoke staff development
· project initiation / co-ordination / contribution
· Learning & Teaching Committee (possibly including the Research Group)
11.7 that Rose Heaney is not expected to carry out routine requests eg: access to sites (such as elearn mailbox) or organise staff development that is available centrally although LTAs may deliver this on a shared basis.
11.8 that recent activities undertaken by Rose Heaney include:
· supporting staff in both schools in a range of ways (eg:one-to-one sessions, technical troubleshooting, advising, fielding)
· winding up first phase of major Second Life project in School of Health & Biosciences (H&B)
· other small H&B projects such as multimedia resources for herbal medicine; turning point clicker implementation for H&B; and getting a H&B blog off the ground
· central & bespoke staff development
· attending School Learning & Teaching Committee meetings and Research Groups in both Schools
· networking externally (moderator of M25 LT group)
· conference presentations
11.9 that Rose Heaney concluded her presentation by informing Board members that the LTA role is now more centrally focused and project orientated with a blurring of the edges between UELconnect teams.
11.10 that Rose Heaney is based in room AE.1.30 on Wednesdays and on the 5th floor in the School of Health & Biosciences on other days.
8 SCHOOL PLANNING 2010-11
RECEIVED and CONSIDERED:
8.1 the Planning Guidance document for the 2010-11 Annual Planning Process.
NOTED:
8.2 that the draft School Plan will be considered at the SMT meetings and the PLs meeting being held before the School Planning meeting with the VC and critical friends on 22nd February 2010.
9 UEL STUDENT SATISFACTION REPORT FOR OCTOBER 2009
RECEIVED and CONSIDERED:
9.1 a report on the outcomes of the UEL Student Satisfaction Survey for October 2009 complied by Quality Assurance and Enhancement.
NOTED:
9.2 that the findings for Psychology are summarised in the School REP overview report with facilities, appearance and signage cited as areas for improvement (although the Stratford refurbishment had not been completed at this time) as well as access to I.T. resources and module fairs.
9.3 that overall our School fared well in the survey.
12 DEAN OF SCHOOL UPDATE
RECEIVED and CONSIDERED:
12.1 a verbal report from the Dean of School, David Rose.
NOTED:
12.2 School matters
12.2.1 that the student validation exercise has implications for the School budget in terms of HEFCE funding. The good news is that the School
is not expected to be in deficit by the end of session.
12.2.2 that a new PT research administrator has been appointed on a contractual basis.
12.2.3 that Board members were urged to email Viv Ferris / Dean of School's PA with any good news items for the School Information Update newsletter.
12.3 VCG matters
12.3.1 that the interim VC Deian Hopkin is only in situ for a short time due to the permanent VC Patrick McGhee starting on 1st February 2010 although Deian Hopkin will continue as an additional resource.
12.3.2 that Alan Ingle will shortly be retiring and a temporary replacement will start before Christmas.
(Secretary's note: Jill Grinstead has now joined UEL as the interim Secretary and Registrar)
12.4 CMT matters
12.4.1 that the completion of the new library building is scheduled for September 2013 at a cost for between £15 to £20k.
12.4.2 that the strategy for the new Sports Facilities, Tear Drop, was approved by CMT yesterday and is scheduled to be built in 2011 at a cost of £12k.
12.4.3 that the Funding Council has pledged £8k for the Stratford Island building which will house Birkbeck University and the School of Law.
12.4.4 that the QAA institutional audit week is from 22nd to 26th March 2010.
A briefing document plus the timetable can be found on the following weblink http://www.uel.ac.uk/audit2010/faqs.htm .
12.4.5 that the two partners to be visited have been identified as the Tavistock Centre and Wales.
12.4.6 that new timetabling software for UEL is currently at the bidding and tendering stage with CELCAT currently in the forefront.
12.4.7 that David Rose will send out an email to all staff concerning bulk emails.
12.4.8 that year/level 0 will continue in Schools that request it.
12.5 Academic Board
12.5.1 that the Research & Knowledge Exchange Strategy went through a few weeks ago.
13 SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY FUNCTION LEADERS
RECEIVED:
13.1 a detailed tabled report on behalf of the School Leader for Learning and Teaching, Chris Pawson.
NOTED:
13.2 that the School learning and teaching objectives for 2009-10 were aligned with the Inspiring Excellence and Achievement: Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy, 2009 – 2012 objectives.
13.3 that board members are welcome to contact Chris Pawson to progress any ideas.
(Action: board members)
RECEIVED:
13.4 a verbal report from the School Leader for Equality & Diversity, Pippa Dell.
NOTED:
13.5 that students have now written a lecture about raising awareness of equality and diversity.
14 MINUTES OF SUB-COMMITTEES
RECEIVED and NOTED:
14.1 the confirmed minutes of the meetings of the School Quality Committee held on 20th May 2009 and 24th June 2009.
15 ANY OTHER BUSINESS
None.
DRAFT / 11th February 2010UNCONFIRMED / 24th February 2010
CONFIRMED / 3rd March 2010
FILE REF / H:\\indra\schoolboard\9th December 2009
SEE ACTION SHEET ON NEXT PAGE
ACTION SHEET FROM SCHOOL BOARD HELD ON 9th DECEMBER 2009
Minute No. / Action / Action by2.0
2.1 / TERMS OF REFERENCE AND CONSTITUTION OF THE BOARD
BSc Programme Leader to provide the Servicing Officer with the names of two student reps willing to be nominated board members. / Elizabeth Attree
5.0
5.5
5.10 / REVIEW AND ENHANCEMENT PROCESS (REP) REVIEW: ANNUAL MONITORING OF PROGRAMMES
Acting Quality Leader to produce an action plan to address External Examiners feedback.
Board members to email Amanda Roberts with any comments concerning the School Overview Report no later than 18th December 2009. / Acting Quality Leader
Board members
13.0
13.3 / SCHOOL LEARNING AND TEACHING OBJECTIVES FOR 2009-10
Board members to contact Chris Pawson if they wish to progress any ideas. / Board members
1