SENATE: 26 NOVEMBER 2013
VICE-CHANCELLOR’S BUSINESS
1. Deaths
October 2012 Emeritus Professor George Albert Swan. Professor Swan was an alumnus (1938) who joined the University after the war and went on to become Professor of Organic Chemistry in 1974. Professor Swan retired from the University in September 1982.
4 June 2013 Dr Constance Mary Fraser. Dr Fraser joined the University in 1957 as Staff Tutor in Local History in the then Department of Extra-Mural Studies. She was an active member of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne and, after some 20 years as Secretary and long periods of committee work, served as President for three years from 1990 to 1992.
24 June 2013 Mr Leonard Butler, Senior Technician in the Department of Chemistry. Mr Butler was appointed as Technician in the Department of Chemistry in September 1949 and was promoted to Senior Technician in August 1962, until his retirement on 16 July 1993.
30 August 2013 Emeritus Professor Ian Rannie. Professor Rannie was appointed Junior Lecturer in Pathology at Kings College and Assistant Pathologist to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in July 1942, and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in August 1950. In October 1960 he was appointed as Chair of Pathology in the Dental School, and was accorded the title of Emeritus Professor upon his retirement in September 1981.
31 August 2013 Ms Alison Smith, who recently graduated from the University with first class honours in MEng Hons Chemical Engineering.
1 September 2013 Dr Renée Berrill. Dr Berrill was appointed as Lecturer in Mathematics in the Department of Education on 1st September 1967, until her retirement in September 1985.
8 September 2013 Miss Joyce Banks. Miss Banks joined the University in July 2001 as Secretary in the Medical Student Office and moved to the Accommodation and Hospitality Service Unit as Support Receptionist/Clerk in March 2003.
21 September 2013 Emeritus Professor Pratyush Sen. Professor Sen joined the University as Lecturer in the Department of Naval Architecture and Shipbuilding in September 1979. From August 1995 he served as Head of Department of Marine Technology and was appointed to the Chair of Marine Design and Construction in February 1996. Professor Sen was accorded the title of Emeritus Professor upon his retirement in February 2009.
28 September 2013 Emeritus Professor Robert Clark. Professor Clark was appointed as Chair of Zoology on 1 January 1966, and was accorded the title of Emeritus Professor upon his retirement in October 1989.
14 October 2013 Anders Olsson. Anders was a post graduate Exchange Student in the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology.
19 October 2013 Dr Archibald Douglas. Dr Douglas was appointed as a Senior Research Associate in the Geochemistry Unit in the Department of Geology on 1 August 1966. In August 1973 Dr Douglas was appointed to a Lectureship in Department of Geology and promoted to Senior Lecturer in August 1980, until his retirement in June 1986.
24 October 2013 Dr Elfrieda Dubois. Dr Dubois was appointed as a Lecturer in the Department of French in October 1948. In August 1964 Dr Dubois was promoted to Senior Lecturer, followed by a Personal Readership in French Studies in August 1973 until her retirement in September 1978.
13 November 2013 Emeritus Professor Duncan George Murchison.
Professor Murchison graduated in Geology from King’s College, Newcastle where he was President of the Students’ Union from 1953 to 1954. He then worked as a geologist with Royal Dutch Shell prior to his appointment as Research Associate in the Department of Geology in January 1958. He was appointed Lecturer in 1960, promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1968, appointed as Reader in Geochemistry in 1971 and appointed Professor of Geochemistry at the University in 1976. He was Dean of the University’s Faculty of Science from 1980 to 1983. Professor Murchison served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor from 1986 until his retirement in 1993. During this period he also served as Acting Vice-Chancellor for one year from 1st January to31 December 1991. He was accorded the title of Emeritus Professor on his retirement.
2. Updates, Consultations and Reports
2.1 Report on Executive Board business.
I have attached my report on business considered by Executive Board between 25 June and 12 November 2013. Annex 1
2.2 Executive Board Responsibilities 2013-14
The updated version of the Executive Board Responsibilities document for 2013-14 is attached. The document has been enlarged to map out responsibilities regarding regional engagement. Annex 2
2.3 Missing Student
Senate received an oral report on 2 July regarding a missing student, Jason Fyles (Stage 1, BA (Hons) Town Planning) who went missing on 16 May 2013. A body was recovered from the river Tyne on 26 June 2013 which police later confirmed was that of Jason, following DNA testing and the examination of personal effects. An inquest into the death has taken place although no formal notification has since been received.
On 3 July, I wrote to Jason’s family to express my condolences on behalf of the University, and Jason’s funeral took place on 12 July at which the University was represented.
2.4 The Growth Agenda
The Growth Agenda is a strategic item on the Senate agenda. Mr Richard Dale is the Executive Board member leading on this topic and he will be sharing Executive Board’s initial thoughts on the opportunities for growth.
2.5 Director of Science City
Fiona Standfield has been appointed as the Director of Science City. She has taken up her post from November, joining the organisation for a three year term, bringing more than 20 years’ experience in high-profile and board level roles across the public and private sectors.
As Science City Director, she will take on the lead role in delivering Newcastle Science City’s ambitious aims to advance the cause of the city and the wider region as a driving force for science excellence and industry, including the successful delivery of Science Central.
Fiona previously worked at Royal Mail where she was Business Implementation and Delivery Director and she currently runs her own consultancy firm.
3. Learning and Teaching
3.1 Massive open online courses (MOOCs)
From September next year Newcastle University will begin to offer Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). We have signed an agreement to team up with FutureLearn, the UK’s first multi-institution provider of open higher education courses.
There has been a lot of media interest in MOOCs recently with several more world-class universities announcing their involvement with FutureLearn, adding to the already prestigious group of higher education institutions and other organisations.
Our partnership with FutureLearn , who are leaders in the UK in this emerging field, will allow us to expand our existing suite of online programmes with the launch of two MOOCs in 2014.
FutureLearn is a private company wholly owned by the Open University, with the benefit of over 40 years of their experience in distance learning and online education. Their partners include over 20 of the best UK and international universities, as well as institutions with a huge archive of cultural and educational material, including the British Council, the British Library, and the British Museum.
4. Research matters
4.1 Major Investment in Arts and Humanities Postgraduate Research at Newcastle University, Durham University and Queen’s University Belfast.
Newcastle University, Durham University and Queen’s University Belfast are to receive a total of £11 million from the Arts and Humanities Research Council to establish the Northern Bridge Doctoral Training Partnership to develop the next generation of doctoral researchers. The Partnership, co-ordinated by Newcastle University, has been awarded 157 fully-funded PhD studentships, which represents over six per cent of the total number of AHRC studentships awarded nationally.
The universities are collaborating with high-profile partners from the media, museums and heritage sector, and the creative economy, including The Sage Gateshead, the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums, Seven Stories, Durham Cathedral, The Bowes Museum and New Writing North. They will give the students access to their impressive archives and collections for mutually beneficial research, while the students will also benefit from training opportunities and placements at some of the country’s leading cultural organisations.
In these difficult times, when funding for many arts organisations is under pressure, this is a real vote of confidence in the Arts and Humanities at Newcastle University and will bring real benefits to the arts and cultural sector in the North East of England.
4.2 NERC Doctoral Training Partnership
We have had notification that our NERC IAPETUS Doctoral Training Partnership bid was successful. IAPETUS is named after the ancient ocean that closed to bring together Northern England and Scotland and this reflects the make-up of our consortium; we will be working with Durham (co-ordinators), Glasgow, St Andrews and Stirling, together with the British Geological Survey and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. The consortium will receive £5 million from NERC. This is sufficient to fund in excess of 60 PhD studentships over the next five years.
4.3 Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014
Submission of the REF is due by 29 November and up until the submission date, work is being undertaken to review the quality and quantity of submissions for each Unit of Assessment (UoA). I will ask the PVC Research and Innovation, Professor Wright, to update Senate members at the meeting.
5. Internal Matters
5.1 George Brown Endowment Fund: Request for funds to support the Hatton Gallery Campaign
The Hatton Gallery is one of Newcastle University’s key cultural assets. However, there has been no major investment in its fabric and infrastructure in the past 30 years. This is now significantly impeding the University in its ambitions to provide a high quality venue for the display of historic and contemporary art, to care for a listed building with an important collection, and to engage fully with visitors and learners.
A capital re-development project is planned to transform the Hatton Gallery and a major fundraising campaign was launched on Monday 18th November.
We wish to request £500,000 from the George Brown Endowment to support the capital works. University Endowments Group has confirmed the suitability of the George Brown Fund for this project and the amount available. Financial commitment from the University is requested now in order to maximise partnership funding for the project.
Releasing income from this fund requires the approval of Senate and Council following a proposal by the Vice-Chancellor. I believe this is a worthwhile use of the fund and recommend approval by Senate to this request. Annex 3
5.2 Celebrating Success
We held a “Celebrating Success” event on Recruitment on the 16 October, to say thank you to all involved in our best ever student registration numbers.
5.3 Visit Day – 28 September 2013
The Visit Day on 28 September was extremely successful, with over 15,500 attendees, including 6,100 students. I have written to the staff responsible for organising the Visit Day to express my thanks and appreciation.
5.4 Partnership with Monash relaunch
We have recently re-launched our strategic partnership with Monash University as part of our Internationalisation strategy. Newcastle and Monash Universities share important characteristics. Both are members of their respective leading national university groupings (the Russell Group and the Group of Eight) reflecting their strong commitment to research excellence and research led-teaching. Both were founded with a focus on science and technology. Both compete effectively in their countries and understand the need to develop innovative and collaborative programmes to succeed in a highly competitive environment. Both are international in their perspectives, with a particular interest in South-East Asia (both organisations have campuses in Malaysia). Both understand the importance of the quality of the experience they give to their students, and the need to be relevant to the civic environment in which they operate. Important opportunities have been identified where strategic links could provide substantial added value to both organisations.
Four areas for collaborative working have been identified based on existing links, the priorities of the two organisations and an assessment of areas of joint working, currently focussed within Medical Sciences.
5.5 Industrial Action
UNISON, UCU and Unite all recently balloted their members for industrial action in response to the final pay offer of 1% plus joint work on gender pay and casual work. All three unions voted in favour of strike action. UCU also voted in favour of action short of strike.
A joint strike day took place on 31 October and UCU advised that its members would ‘work to contract’ from 1 November.
I will ask the Executive Director of Human Resources to update members of Senate at the meeting.
5.6 Additional Day Annual Leave
Following my recommendation, Executive Board has proposed, and Council has agreed, to award all staff an additional day’s holiday, to be taken on 23 December 2013.
This is in recognition of the contribution made by staff throughout the year towards a number of significant achievements for the University. These include our excellent results in the National Student Survey, our graduate employability figures, our best-ever student enrolment numbers, and the amount of research income we have been able to attract, all during a period of considerable change and uncertainty.
For the vast majority of staff, this means that the University will close for the Christmas break on Friday 20 December. Some services for students will remain open on 23 December, and alternative arrangements will be made for staff needing to work on that day.
5.7 Newcastle University Information Technology (NUIT)
Executive Board has agreed to establish NUIT, the University’s unified approach to delivering IT service. This will strengthen our performance in underpinning research and teaching, by ensuring that our IT experts are aligned and working together. NUIT will create a community of like-minded professionals who can share approaches, ideas and expertise.
Three Faculty IT Managers will be recruited, reporting initially to the Director of NUIT but located in each Faculty. Once each is in place, professional IT staff located in each Faculty will change reporting line to the Faculty IT Manager. Budgets for staff and for standard IT equipment and services will transfer. Day-to-day priority setting will continue to rest with the local academic or service unit.