the
COURT
MINUTES of the first meeting of the 2007/2008 academic year held on
Monday, 15th October, 2007, in the Council Room, Queen Anne Court,
Greenwich Campus, commencing at 5.30 pm.
Present:Mrs A-M Nelson(in the Chair)
Prof P AinleyMr S Atkinson / Mr J H R Loudon
Mrs M McKinlay
Mr R J Baglin / Dr T Meers
Baroness Blackstone / Dr A S Pugh
Mr V Choudhary / Dr D Quarmby
Mr S Etherington / Ms C Rose
Dr L Garner / Mr R Spinney
Mr J C Gould
In attendance:
Mrs T A Brighton (Minutes Clerk)
Mrs L Cording (Secretary Registrar)
Mr R V T Daly (Director of Finance)
Mr K Ellis (University Safety Adviser) (until min 07/9)
Prof J Humphreys (Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research & Enterprise))
Dr J Newbery (Head of School: Science) until min 07/4)
Dr M Noble (Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning & Quality))
Prof D Wills (Deputy Vice-Chancellor)
Apologies:
Mr J E Brathwaite
Sir Callum McCarthy
07/1ELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR OF COURT
It was unanimously resolved:
ifollowing a proposal by Stuart Etherington, seconded by Alaric Pugh, that Anne-Marie Nelson be appointed Chair for the year 2007/2008
iifollowing a proposal by Simon Atkinson, seconded by Mary McKinlay, that John Gould be appointed as Vice-Chairman for the year 2007/2008.
07/2WELCOME
On behalf of the Court, the Chair welcomed Professor Patrick Ainley to his first meeting.
07/3PRESENTATION BY DR JOHN NEWBERY, HEAD OF SCHOOL OF SCIENCE
The Court received a presentation on the work of the School of Science from the Head of School, Dr John Newbery.
07/4AGENDA ITEMS
Dr Les Garner reported that his request for an item to be placed on the agenda for discussion at the meeting had been denied. The Chair explained that, although not minuted, the Court had discussed the proposed move of the School of Educationand Training to Avery Hill at the previous meeting. Members of Court were reminded that the Court Standing Ordersstipulated that the Secretary Registrar should be notified of any agenda items not less than 10 days before the meeting.
07/5DECLARATION OF CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
There were no declarations of conflict of interests.
07/6MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING (CRT 07/1)
The minutes of the meeting held on 2 July 2007 were taken as read and signed as a true record.
07/7MATTERS ARISING
7.1Estate Strategy 2006-2016
The Chair recalled that Members had asked that a more financially explicit report be submitted at this meeting. As the concerns were financial, the report would be submitted first to the Finance Committee.
7.2Change of Title of the School of Education and Training
The Court noted that consultations with staff on the possible change of name to the “School of Education” were continuing as somemembers believed that retention of the current name more adequately reflected the work of the School. Court would be informed of the decision reached in due course.
7.3Chancellor
The Vice-Chancellor reported that the search for a replacement Chancellor was continuing. A dinner in recognition of Lord Holme’s service to the University would be held immediately after the December Court meeting.
7.4Framework Agreement for the Modernisation of Pay Structures
The Court noted that implementation of the new grading structure for administrative staff was still under discussion.
07/8ANNUAL REPORT ON HEALTH AND SAFETY (CRT 07/2)
The University Safety Adviser presented the annual report on health and safety activities within the University. As this was the first report, the paper summarised the health and safety arrangements currently in place and set out significant activities and developments during the course of the 2006-2007 academic year. On the basis of the information provided, the Court was satisfied that robust systems of managing health and safety existed within the University.
It was noted that an annual report would be routinely presented to October meetings of the Court. The Court askedthat next year’s report focus on health and safety issues addressed by the Safety Unit during the course of the preceding year.
07/9NATIONAL STUDENT SURVEY 2007 (CRT 07/4)
Introducing the analysis of the results of the 2007 National Student Survey (NSS), the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Quality) reported that theUniversity’s results were broadly similar to those for both 2005 and 2006 with an overall satisfaction rating of 3.72. There were some strong scores in specific Schools and also in the areas of teaching, resources and personal development but the scores also highlighted some major areas of dissatisfactionwith Assessment and Feedback and Organisation and Management of programmes.
In response to the 2007 Survey, a number of measures had been identified to address the issues raised; for example, Schools were putting together action plans and the student portal would be used to communicate with students about the survey and about the ways in which the University was responding to their views. The 2008 survey was due to start in the second week of January and a publicity campaign to promote participation by students had already been instigated. Evidence suggested that institutions which achieved a high response rate generally returned more favourable scores. The University was hoping to achieve a response rate of 60%.
Court Members shared the Officers’ disappointment with the results. However they needed more detail to understand the poor results and the proposals for their resolution. The Court acknowledged that many of the measures already implemented would take time to improve results. All agreed that a prompt response to feedback would ensure a more positive outcome in future surveys.
07/10VICE-CHANCELLOR’S REPORT
The Vice-Chancellor reported verbally on the following recent developments:
10.1Comprehensive Spending Review(CSR)– The latest review had resulted in an overall increase of 2% on mainstream education.
10.2Funding of Second Undergraduate Degrees – The Government had announced that HEFCE funding for students studying equivalent level qualifications (ELQs),ie qualifications equivalent to or lower than one they had already achieved, would be withdrawn from 2008-09. Consultation on possible exceptions was under way but the impact of the decision on the University’s funding could amount to up to £2 million over four years.
10.32007 Times Higher Awards– An NRI project on tsetse fly control had been short listed for the Times Higher Awards Best Research Project. The winner would be announced at the presentation evening to be held on 29th November 2007. The University would be hosting a table and a number of NRI’s contacts and funders had been invited.
10.4Thames GatewayInstitute of Urban Renaissance -The University and its collaborative partners, the University of Essex and CanterburyChristChurchUniversity, had been short listed as one of two consortia bidding to host the Thames Gateway Institute of Urban Renaissance.
10.5Fundraising – The Rochester Bridge Trust had agreed to provide sponsorship of £225,000 over five years for a readership in bridge engineering.
10.6Senior Appointments –
(i)Professor John Humphreys would be succeeded as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research & Enterprise) by Professor Tom Barnes, currently Deputy Vice-Chancellor at AucklandUniversity, who would take up post on 1st January 2008;
(ii)Dr Iain Cumming had been appointed as Head of the School of Pharmacyw.e.f August 2007;
(iii)interviews for the new Head of Schoolof Humanities & Social Sciences would be held the following day.
10.7Research Assessment Exercise–work on the University’sRAE submission was progressing to timescale. The submission contained entries for over 200 academic staff.
10.8University of Kent – Members of the Vice-Chancellor’s Group had recently hosted a lunch for Julia Goodfellow, the new Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent. Both universities looked forward to a good working relationship.
07/11STUDENT RECRUITMENT
The Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning & Quality) reported verbally on student recruitment. Registration was still under way but at this early stage student numbers were slightly ahead of last year’s position. Overseas recruitment was steady although applications had been lower than in previous years. Part-time recruitment was a little less positive and work was in hand to promote part-time study. A more detailed report on recruitment would be available at the next meeting of Court.
07/12AUDIT COMMITTEE (CRT 07/5)
The Chairman of the Audit Committee introduced the report to Court detailing principal items of significance arising from the meeting of the Committee held on 24thSeptember2007. The following items were noted:
12.1External Auditors
Following their merger with Grant Thornton, RSM Robson Rhodes had resigned as auditors of the University with effect from 27th July 2007. The Vice-Chancellor had filled the casual vacancy thus created with the appointment of Grant Thornton UK LLP and the Committee had approved their appointment as the University’s external auditors with immediate effect for the period to cover the 2007-08 and 2008-09 audits.
12.2 Financial Regulations
It was reported that the Finance Committee had referred the draft revised Financial Regulations to the Audit Committee for approval. The recommendation of approval to Court of Financial Regulations currently fell within the purview of the Finance Committee andAudit Committee members had felt it necessary to seek Court clarification on whether approval rested with the Audit or the Finance Committee.
The Court resolved that the Finance Committee should retain its responsibility for reviewing and recommending the Financial Regulations and referred the draft Financial Regulations back to that Committee for approval at its November meeting.
12.3Value for Money
The Court noted that Value for Money Studies on Treasury Services and Commission Paid to Overseas Agents would be carried out during the course of the academic year.
12.4Internal Audit
It was noted that the 11 reports had been considered at the recent Audit Committee meeting and the Internal Auditors had now completed most of the work agreed for the 2006-07 session.
07/13MEMBERSHIP
The Secretary and Registrar reminded the Court that there was currently one vacancy but several vacancies would arise at the end of the session when a number of long-standing members would reach the end of their permissible period of appointment. The Nominations Committee would be meetingon 8th November to consider nominations for future appointments. She was pleased to report that there was a good field of candidatesfrom a variety of sources including an advertisement on the Public Appointments website which had yielded a surprisingly strong response. Members of Court were asked to give some thought to identifying possible future members from local employers.
07/14REVIEW OF COURT COMMITTEES (CRT 07/6)
The Court recalled that, following a review of its committee structure, the current structure, terms of reference and membership had been agreed at its meeting on 28th June 2004. Appointments to committees were for a period of three years and under normal circumstances committee membership would be reviewed at this time. However, the review of the effectiveness of Court Committees scheduled to be undertaken during the previous academic year had not taken place and it was now being proposed that the present memberships of committees remain in place. The Court therefore noted that:
ithe current membership of Court Committees would continue for the 2007-2008 session
iia methodology for the review of Court Committees would be considered at the next meeting with the results of the review reported at the meeting in March 2008.
07/15HONORARY DEGREES (CRT 07/7)
The Courtapproved the recommendations for Honorary Awards to be made at the Awards Ceremonies being held in July and October 2008.
07/16RISK MANAGEMENT (CRT 07/8)
The Court considered a report on Risk 20 of the Institutional Risk Register - “Inadequate Resources available to Schools/Offices for growth as a result of failure to implement corporate strategy” assessed has having a residual risk rating of 9.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor reported that, whilst the Corporate Plan envisaged some growth in student numbers, changes in the level and type of programmes based on changing demand were likely to be more significant. The financial resources available to facilitate these changes were limited. Income generated from variable fees provided some flexibility but the internal processes which reviewed and proposed new academic programmes and planned, operated and monitored budgets required tight control. The Court noted the measures in place to mitigate the risk.
07/17REVIEW OF PROGRESS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF OPERATING PLAN
2006-2007 (CRT 07/9)
The Court received a review of progress on implementation of the 2006-2007 Annual Operating Plan and noted progress in achieving the 13 targets scheduled for monitoring between June 2007 and September 2007. Members welcomed the fuller detail of the report which was useful in helping them discharge their responsibilities for monitoring the performance of the University.
FORMAL AGENDA
07/18 AGENDA ITEMS 2007-2008 (CRT 07/10)
The Court endorsed the list of agenda items for the 2007-2008 academic session.
07/19MINUTES OF MEETINGS
The minutes of the following meetings were received:
iAcademic Council – 20 June 2007 (CRT 07/11)
iiAudit Committee – 24 September 2007 (CRT 07/12)
07/20SPARROWS FARM FLAT, AVERY HILL CAMPUS (CRT 07/13)
It was noted that since the construction of the all-weather “bubble “pitch at the Sparrows Farm on the Avery Hill Southwood site in 2004, Charlton Athletic had leased the residential flat as a base for the caretaker who managed the pitch. The three year lease had expired the previous month and Charlton Athletic had expressed interest in renewing the lease agreement for a further three years.
The Court approved the renewal of the lease of the flat at the Sparrows Farm Centre, Avery Hill Campus, as a residential unit to Charlton Athletic for a further three years to September 2010 at an annual rent of £6,900.
07/21APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT EXTERNAL CHAIR FOR ACADEMIC APPEALS, DISCIPLINARY AND COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE (CRT 07/14)
The Court approved the appointment of John Lauwerys, former Secretary and Registrar, University of Southampton, with immediate effect until July 2010 as a second Independent External Chair for Academic Appeals, Disciplinary and Complaints Procedures.
07/22PROFESSORIAL AND READER APPOINTMENTS 2007 (CRT 07/15)
The Court noted the awards of the title Professor, Reader, Visiting Professor, Visiting Fellow and Emeritus Professor made by the Professorial and Reader Appointments Committee as a result of the 2006-07 round of applications (see appendix).
07/23COURT APPEALS COMMITTEE (CRT 07/16)
The Court noted the report on the decision of the Court Appeals Panel held on 24th September 2007.
07/24EXECUTION OF DEEDS (CRT 07/17)
The Court noted:
ithe signing as a Deed of the following “Group A” document:
(i) / LEASE re: Sports Ground, Kidbrooke Lane, Well Hall, London, SE9 6TE between UoG and Blackheath Football Club Limitediithe signing as a Deed of the following “Group B” documents:
(i) / ASSIGNMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS re Sodium Channel Blockers between UoG and Greenwich University Enterprises Limited(ii) / COUNTERPART LICENCE TO ALTER re: Kings Hill Conference Centre, 6 Alexander Grove, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent between (1) Kings Hill Trustee No 1 Limited and Kings Hill Trustee No 2 Limited as trustees of the Kings Hill Unit Trust (2) UoG and (3) Kings Hill Estate Management Company Limited re alterations to the building.
(iii) / DEED OF SURRENDER re: the Sports Ground, Kidbrooke Lane, Well Hall, London SE9 between the Poly Sports and Social Club acting by Robert Whittington and UoG
(iv) / MEMBER AGREEMENT re Universities Advertising Group (UAG) between (1) 39 Participating Member Universities (2) Associate Member Universities and (3) Deansgate 37 Limited.
The meeting ended at 8.00 pm.
T A Brighton
30.10.07
LC/COURT/2007-2008/minutes/2007 October 15
Appendix 1 to minutes of the Court meeting held on 15 October 2007
PROFESSORIAL AND READER APPOINTMENTS 2007
Professors
Keith JONESProfessor of Facilities Management
School of Architecture and Construction
Alan POWERSProfessor of Architecture and Cultural History
School of Architecture and Construction
Readers
Jixin MAReader in Computer Science
School of CMS
Hantang QIReader in International Business Strategy
BusinessSchool
Steve WOODHEADReader in Computer Networks and Systems
School of Engineering
Visiting Professors
Martin CROOK
Geoff DENCH
Vlado DIMOVSKI
Jae Pil JUNG
Herbert KOTZAB
Bauer REINHARD
Clarence SPIGNER
Metka TEKAVCIC
Steve TOMKINS
Meiqing WANG
Visiting Fellows
Beata CZARNECKA
Jane CONLON
Dorota DOBIJA
Emeritus Professor
John HUMPHREYS
Emeritus Reader
Edwin WEBB
the Court: 15 October 2007 page 1