the
COURT
MINUTES of the second meeting of the 2003/2004 academic year held on
Monday, 8th December, 2003, in the Council Room, Queen Anne Court, Maritime Greenwich Campus, commencing at 5.30 pm.
Present:Mrs A-M Nelson (in the Chair)
Mr R J Baglin / Mr J R H LoudonMr J E Brathwaite / Mr K Mahmood
Mrs G D duCharme / Mrs M McKinlay
Dr L Garner / Dr D Quarmby
Prof S Golding / Lady P Tomlinson
Mr J C Gould / Prof R H Trainor
Mr D Heathcote
In attendance:
Mrs T A Brighton (Minutes Secretary)
Mrs L Cording (University Secretary)
Prof M Cross (Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research, Consultancy and Outreach))
Mr R V T Daly (Acting Director of Finance)
Prof J Humphreys (Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic Planning))
Prof D Wills (Pro Vice-Chancellor (Resources))
Apologies for absence were received from Mr S Atkinson and Professor L Johnson.
03/24DECLARATION OF CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
There were no declarations of conflicts of interest.
03/25MEMBERSHIP (CRT 03/18)
03/25.1The Court noted the resignation of Ms Vaila Marshall, effective from 26th October 2003, the date of her letter of resignation.
03/25.2The Court noted that there were currently three vacancies. Four potential Governors had been contacted and following approaches by three of the candidates, briefing meetings to enable assessment of their individual suitability for appointment to Court, had been arranged. A response from the fourth candidate was still awaited. It was further noted that the Skills Audit responses from Court Members would help the Nominations Committee in making the final selection.
03/25.3The Court noted the difficulty in identifying suitable prospective Governors and agreed that, for the next round of appointments, consideration be given to advertising for interested parties as a means of supplementing the normal processes of appointment to Court.
03/26RE-APPOINTMENT OF CHANCELLOR (CRT 03/19)
The Court RESOLVED to re-appoint the Right Honourable the Lord Holme of Cheltenham CBE as Chancellor of the University for a third term of office of three years from 1 October 2004 to 30 September 2007.
03/27REPLACEMENT OF VICE-CHANCELLOR (CRT 03/20)
03/27.1The Court noted that a Search Committee had been appointed with the following membership:
Anne-Marie Nelson, Chair of Court
Gillian duCharme, Chair of Staffing & General Committee
John Gould, Chair of Audit Committee
James Loudon, Chair of Finance & Estates Committee
Denis Heathcote, Director of Information & Library Services
Professor Liz Meerabeau, Head of the School of Health & Social Care
Professor Mike Driscoll, Vice-Chancellor, University of Middlesex
The University Secretary to act as Clerk to the Search Committee.
03/27.2The University Secretary reported that Heidrick & Struggles, consultants in executive search, had been appointed to assist the process of appointing a replacement Vice-Chancellor. The consultants would be meeting with the VCG and Heads of School/Administrative Offices in the near future to gain a clearer understanding of the University, its objectives and the characteristics that staff would like the next Vice-Chancellor to possess which would in turn help to inform the job specification.
03/27.3It was noted that a timetable for the appointment process had been formulated as follows:
early January 2004 advertisement of Vice-Chancellor’s post
w/b 23 February 2004long-listing of candidates
w/b 1 March 2004interviews of short-listed candidates
w/b 8 March 2004interviews of final candidates
It was hoped that an appointment would be announced in early March to enable a period of handover and to ensure that the necessary period of notice could be served out to allow a September 2004 start.
03/27.4The Chair of Court stated that candidate confidentiality prevented the direct involvement of all Court Members in the process of interviewing the sort-listed candidates. Members were invited to send any comments or suggestions on how to facilitate a greater involvement in the process to the Chair via the e-mail address of which had been set up to promote staff involvement in the appointment process.
03/28MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING (CRT 03/21)
The minutes of the meeting held on 20 October 2003 were agreed to be a true record and signed.
MATTERS ARISING
03/29(i)HONORARY DEGREES COMMITTEE (CRT 03/22)
The Court noted that, to date, the following had accepted the offer of Honorary Degrees from the University:
Honorary Graduand
/Award
David BEHAN / HonLLDSir Neil COSSONS OBE / HonDLitt
Professor Sir Peter HALL / HonDTech
Dr Beverly MALONE / HonDUniv
Lord MORGAN of Aberdyfi / HonDLitt
Sir Graeme ODGERS / HonLLD
Councillor Jagir SEKHON OBE / HonLLD
William SOUTH CBE FIEE / HonDTech
Colonel Cyril YOUNG / HonLLD
03/30REPORT FROM VICE-CHANCELLOR (CRT 03/23)
The Court received a confidential written report by the Vice-Chancellor updating Court Members on key developments since the last meeting not appearing as specific agenda items, including Thames Gateway, the possible School of Renaissance at Medway, proposals for a Centre for Creative and Cultural Industries, the educational strategy for Greenwich Peninsular, interactions with HEFCE, government policy, management Away Days and proposals to launch University of Greenwich “Friends” groups.
03/31STAFFING AND GENERAL COMMITTEE (CRT 03/24)
The Chair of the Staffing & General Committee introduced the report to Court detailing principal items of significance arising from the meeting of the Committee held on 5th November 2003, noting in particular that:
iFramework Agreement for the modernisation of pay structures – a new agreement had recently been approved by the Universities and Colleges Employers Association and the relevant recognised Trade Unions, and balloting was now taking place. If approved, there would inevitably be financial consequences for the University. In addition a number of significant innovations would be introduced such as contribution related pay progression and a job evaluation scheme for both academic and administrative staff. It was noted that the University was about to commence pilot studies in this area.
iiRevised Procedures: Professors and Readers Appointments Committee – a number of changes to the criteria, procedures and categories had been considered but principal elements included:
-Professors – the inclusion of a new route to professorial title of “record and reputation as an outstanding educator” which would recognise the importance of the teaching and learning contribution
-Reader – clarification of the research based title of Reader
-Visiting Professor/Visiting Fellow – conferment of these titles at any time of year rather than through the regular annual cycle of the committee as well as extending the boundaries to allow nominations to be made through academics and administrators other than Heads of School.
Noting that the changes had now been approved by Academic Council, the Court approved the recommendation of the Staffing & General Committee to approve revisions to the Procedures with effect from 1st January 2004, on the assumption that the proposal to broaden the categories of Professorship would not result in a reduction in the calibre of Professors.
03/32 FINANCE & ESTATES COMMITTEE (CRT 03/25)
03/32.1The Chairman of the Finance & Estates Committee introduced the report to Court detailing principal items of significance arising from the meeting of the Committee held on 17th November 2003.
03/32.2In relation to the Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2003 (CRT 03/26), the Acting Director of Finance reported that the draft financial statements had remained largely unchanged following consideration by the Finance & Estates Committee and then subsequently by the Audit Committee. It was noted that increased student numbers were largely accountable for the 6.8% increase in income which in turn was a major factor in the year-end underlying historical cost surplus of £0.3 million. This result represented a significant improvement in University finances and was considered to be a pleasing position of stability upon which to build. It was further noted that, whilst all the key bond covenants had been met, income and expenditure reserves were uncomfortably low. It was imperative that measures be taken to strive towards achieving levels of reserves no lower than 10% of turnover. The Acting Director of Finance reported further that the External Auditors now appeared satisfied that the accounting treatment of the Medway lease which had been discussed at length at the Audit Committee, was correct although the Auditors had reiterated their advice that the position would need to be kept under continuous review as lease negotiations continued.
03/32.3The Court approved the Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 July 2003 for:
ithe University of Greenwich
iiGreenwich Property Limited
iiiUGMT Limited
ivCentre for Contaminated Land Remediation.
03/32.4It was noted that an extra meeting of the Finance and Estates Committee, to be held on Tuesday, 3rd February 2004, would be reviewing the management accounts for the five months to 31 December 2003 to assess the necessity of initiating financial contingency actions to ensure that the 2003-04 surplus budget be met. The Court agreed that:
iin the event of likelihood of a shortfall in the 2003/04 financial year, the Vice-Chancellor and Chairman of F&E Committee be authorised to sanction the following contingency actions, if considered to be necessary at the February Committee meeting:
(i)postponement of appointments to vacant posts
(ii)re-scheduling of discretionary non-salary costs
(iii)re-scheduling of property maintenance projects to August 2004 or later
iiin the event of adverse signals prior to the February Committee meeting that the budget would not be met, the Vice-Chancellor and Chairman of F&E Committee be granted authority to implement the contingency actions earlier.
03/32.5In the light of the discussions on the Court committee structure and 3rd stream activities, the Court agreed the recommendation of the Finance & Estates Committee that:
ithe NRI Board in its current form be wound up with immediate effect
iian NRI Advisory Board be established to include external lay representation
iiithe Finance & Estates Committee continues to receive NRI Management Accounts as part of its regular scrutiny of the overall Management Accounts.
03/33AUDIT COMMITTEE
03/33.1The Chairman of the Audit Committee introduced the report to Court detailing principal items of significance arising from the meeting of the Committee held on 24th November 2003, noting in particular that:
iFinancial Audit – although not quite completed at the time of the Audit Committee, the External Auditors anticipated giving unqualified opinions in relation to the accounts. They had expressed particular satisfaction in the overall improvement in the University’s financial controls and had complimented the Finance team on their contributions to a successful audit.
iiInternal Auditors – the Internal Auditors had responded positively during the course of the year to previous concerns in performance. The levels of assurance had improved significantly over the same period of time and the Internal Auditors had expressed themselves more confident in the University’s internal control mechanisms.
iiiRisk Management – Resource limitations had provided difficulties in satisfying HEFCE’s timescale on compliance. However, the Committee had been impressed by the progress achieved in promoting and embedding the risk management culture over a relatively short period of time.
03/33.2In relation to the Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2003 (CRT 03/26), the Court approved:
ithe External Auditor’s Audit Highlights Memorandum for the year ended 31st July 2003 (CRT 03/28)
iithe draft Directors’ Letter of Representation (CRT 03/29) to the External Auditors for signature by the Vice-Chancellor and Chair of Court.
03/33.3The Court approved the draft 2002-2003 Audit Committee Annual Report (CRT 03/30) for signature by the Vice-Chancellor and the Chairman of the Audit Committee together with the 2002-2003 Internal Audit Annual Statement (CRT 03/31) prior to submission to HEFCE. On behalf of the Court, the Chair thanked the Members of the Audit Committee for the thoroughness of their monitoring of control systems over the past year which had resulted in the pleasing improvements in the overall levels of assurance.
03/33.4Noting that the Audit Committee had requested that a policy statement be drawn up to formalise arrangements for communicating important information to Members of Court, the Court approved, for immediate implementation, the proposed Information to Governors Policy Statement (CRT 03/32) attached as Appendix 1 to these minutes.
03/34ACADEMIC COUNCIL (CRT 03/35)
The Court received a report from the Clerk of Academic Council on Items of Academic Significance arising from the meeting of Academic Council on 19 November 2003 reporting on:
ithe University’s response to a HEFCE consultation document reviewing the funding method for teaching, where it was noted that the proposed changes to price group weights were likely to have a negligible effect on the overall funding for Greenwich. If approved, the new funding methodology would be implemented for 2004/2005.
Iithe 2002-2003 Annual Report on Student Complaints, where it was noted that 34 complaints had been considered through the official Student Complaints Procedure, including one resolved using the offices of the independent arbiter and that a trend for using the procedure by students in cases where appeal procedures had not supported their cases seemed to be evident.
iiithe 2002/2003 Annual Report of the Research Ethics Committee, where it was noted that whilst the Committee was functioning effectively, there were concerns that not all research projects with ethical implications were being brought to the attention of the Committee and measures were being taken to raise the profile for research ethics within the University.
03/35COURT TASK AND FINISH GROUP (CRT 03/33)
03/35.1The Court considered the Report by the Court Task and Finish Group on “Encouraging Academic Enterprise – a strategy for developing the University’s third stream”. In introducing the report the Chairman of the Group, Dr David Quarmby, announced that the report was timely bearing in mind the publication of the Lambert Review of Business-University Collaboration the day before. The remit of the Review, which had been commissioned by the Treasury, focussed principally on third stream funding but also covered university governance and how universities ought to interact with industry. Dr Quarmby was pleased to note that the findings of the Lambert Review accorded with the conclusions of the Group’s report, namely that universities should seek to exploit their links with local industry for mutual benefit and the acknowledgement that research is as important to universities as the transfer of knowledge. He reported further that the third stream strategies, if implemented, would require investment of central resources against a medium term return. There were a number of barriers within the current infrastructure which would need to be resolved to accommodate a culture of academic enterprise, such as, commercial inexperience, limited financial and personnel resources. In addition, deficiencies in the current financial systems would make monitoring of profitable performance difficult and it was noted that the review of the financial reporting systems being undertaken under the auspices of the Finance & Estates Committee would be beneficial in this area.
03/35.2The Court:
inoted the analysis and conclusions in the Report and endorsed the goals to be adopted (as set out in paragraph 9.2 of the report) in developing a third stream strategy
iirequested that the Vice-Chancellor’s Group report back to the next meeting of the Court with their preferred plans to take forward the recommendations in paragraph 10.1 of the Report as summarised below:
(a)How best to champion ‘academic enterprise’ within the top management structure and across the University’s academic leadership at School level together with the financial implications
(b)A strategy and implementation plan, to contain as much detail as is practicable in the available time, covering the development of external relationships with key agencies and networks, the development of an ‘academic enterprise’ agenda within the University, the appropriate scale of central resource to support this, the possible creation of a central, biddable academic enterprise fund, the appropriate vehicles for business development within Schools, and the review of policies for reward-sharing, within the context of the newly implemented
(c)Clearer management and accountability processes (including management information systems) which are regularly reported via the Executive Committee to the Court
iii agreed that consideration be given to establishing an Advisory Board for a limited period to guide and encourage the development and implementation of the third stream strategy.
ivthanked Dr Quarmby and the other members of the Task and Finish Group for their contributions to the deliberations of the Group and the interesting and comprehensive report.
03/36HEALTH CARE EDUCATION DEVELOPMENTS AT MEDWAY (CRT 03/34)
03/36.1The Court received a progress report by the PVC (Academic Planning) on health care education developments at Medway noting:
iSchool of Pharmacy – a Head of School had now been appointed and would be taking up post on 12th January 2004. Interviewing for the two senior academics was currently taking place. It was likely that all the required conditions of approval stipulated by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society would be met by their deadline of 31st December 2003 and it was envisaged that the M Pharm programme would commence in January 2004.
IiHealth Care education developments – the University and CCCUC would be jointly running pre-registration adult nursing programmes at the Medway Campus from January 2004. Future plans included the provision of training for learning disability nursing, physiotherapy and physicians assistant training which would fully establish the Medway Campus as a significant centre for health care education.
03/36.2The Court noted the developments with interest and requested that financial projections for the two academic developments together with details of the rationale for the nursing courses be submitted to the next meeting of Court.
03/37RISK MANAGEMENT (STUDENT NUMBERS) (CRT 03/36)
03/37.1In relation to its consideration of Risk 5 on the Institutional Risk Register - “Inability to attract significant numbers, home or overseas, to a significant extent” - the Court received:
ia report by the PVC (Academic Planning)
iian analysis of recruitment as at 27th November 2003
03/37.2The Court noted:
ithat the University had met its HEFCE contract and was unlikely to incur any holdback
iithe actions taken to mitigate against the risk of under-recruiting but requested that a further, more comprehensive, report be submitted to a future meeting in order to clarify the issues surrounding recruitment, the implications of underlying trends and the ramifications of those trends on recruitment policies.