Approved 23rd May 2007
The University of Greenwich at Medway SB(06/07) M2
SCHOOL of ENGINEERING
SCHOOL BOARD
MINUTES
The SECOND Meeting of the School Board of the academic session 2006 / 2007 was held Wednesday 7th February 2007 in Room N008, Nelson Building, Medway University Campus, Chatham Maritime.
In attendance:-
S Archer S Ashenden M Butler I Cakebread
V Cosgrave M Clements N N Ekere (Chair) A Grant
T K Ho S Metcalf (Notetaker) R Seals (part) J Wetherall
C Wilson S Woodhead M Zhou (part)
Student Representatives:-
Ahmed Abubakir - BEng H Electrical & Electronic Engineering Year 2
Adam Finn - BEng H Business Management Year 1
Angad Panesar - BEng H Mechanical Engineering Year 3
Deepak Patel - MSc Computer Systems & Software Engineering
Apologies were received and noted:-
D Armour-Chelu Z Benterkia R Bhatti A Coutroubis
T Feasey J Frankland J Gao C Li
J Mandlik C May A Reed M Sharp
M Thomas G Whapshott
Student Representatives:-
I Alici - MSc Electrical & Electronic Engineering
I Owers - BSc H Mechanical Engineering Year 3
L Tidy - BSc H Computing (Medway) Year 1
P Wallis - HNC Civil Engineering Year 2
Professor Ekere (Chair) opened the Meeting and thanked Staff and Student Representatives for attending this second Meeting of the School Board of the academic year 2006 / 2007. The Chair used the opportunity to introduce a new member of staff; Dr Michael Zhou, Senior Lecturer in Structural Engineering.
1. Apologies for absence
The Chair informed the Meeting of the apologies that had been received (see above list).
2. Minutes of last Meeting – Wednesday 29th November 2006
Copies of the Minutes of the last Meeting were available at the Meeting and these had also been previously distributed via email to all staff. The Minutes are also available on Engweb. The Chair asked for any comments or amendments to the last Minutes. There being none, Dr Woodhead moved for approval of the Minutes and asked that the Minutes be accepted as a true record and the motion was seconded by Mr Cakebread.
3. Matters Arising
The Chair asked the School Board if there were any matters arising from the previous Meeting and these were reviewed.
IET Accreditation
Dr Ashenden formally announced that IET accreditation has been awarded to all programmes IEng and CEng within the Engineering Systems and Computer and Communications Engineering Departments. A letter containing the full report is awaited and it is understood no conditions were applied.
Dr Ashenden explained, in particular to the student representatives, the implications the award has on membership; that an IMECE award indicates the approval and will be meet the requirements of more that one accrediting body and that the award benefits employability and professional advancement. He further explained that the first cohort of students requiring a review will be on completion of the third year of study.
Item 3.7 Page 5
Dr Woodhead reported that the development of a training package for students to demonstrate the understanding of requirements whilst on placement is in progress. A meeting with external partners is due to take place in the near future to discuss the requirements and benefits. The package is designed mainly for use by students in years 2 and 3 to help them get industrial placement and to improve prospects. It is anticipated that the package will be part of the induction programme and be in place by September 2007.
4. Terms of reference and current membership
It was agreed that there were some vacancies in the membership and that 3 yearly elections are due to be held.
Action: To update the membership and organise an election to ensure full membership with the inclusion of 2 additional members of staff with voting rights. Professor Ekere
5. Review of the draft Annual Reporting and Planning Document
2006 – 2007.
A draft copy of the ARPD was circulated to staff and a copy has been made available in advance on Engweb. The importance of reading the draft document, giving it consideration and providing appropriate feedback within the required timetable was stressed. Professor Ekere informed the School Board that the School’s ARPD must be sent to the VC’s office by Friday 16th February 2006. The Chair further explained that the ARPD is a 2-year reporting/planning process, which will also serve as a self-evaluation document in future School reviews.
The Chair reported that as part of the University’s 5-year Schools’ review cycle the School of Engineering review will take place in September 2007.
The review of each section of the draft ARPD was led by the author as follows:
Section 1 Strategy and Targets Professor Ekere
Professor Ekere reported that the School Executive had discussed this section of the ARPD earlier to look at suggestions for improvement. Attention had focused on Strategy and Targets to ensure the School objectives reflected the University’s Corporate Plan. He noted the mission of the School to become a centre of excellence for Engineering Education Internationally, Nationally and within the local environs of Kent. It was also noted that there is now a greater focus on Employability to support the new University Corporate Plan.
Dr Zhou left the meeting
Dr Seals joined the meeting
A request was made to bring to the attention of the Chair any successes within the School. It was felt that there are challenges facing the School but with the recruitment of new staff with expertise in niche areas which will significantly enhance our School academic profile, the outlook is positive.
The enhancement of Teaching and Learning was discussed and it was felt that there are many challenges facing staff to ensure accuracy and integrity of data and flexibility of course options within programmes. It was generally felt that the communication channel is too long when dealing with student complaints.
Action: Dr Seals to provide a statement for the ARPD on the issues relating to the appropriate infrastructure and plans.
The view was expressed that the proposal for central timetabling may signal problems and prove challenging for 2007-08 particularly in relation to the part time mode of study.
Section 2 Quality and Standards Mr Grant
Mr Grant reported that the School Quality Office had received the majority of reports from External Examiners, Department and Programme areas and summarised the Quality action plan for the School for 2007-2008. It was noted that the use of PSU statistical data as evidence to support some Programmes reports. The Departmental report was awaited from the Department of Computer and Communications.
Action: School Quality Office to chase outstanding reports.
The need to improve the reporting on collaborative provision in particular with UK partners, through the Link Tutor role, was identified. It was noted that the record for 2004-5 is incomplete. It was felt that the role of the Personal Tutors and Programme Leaders is to be more clearly articulated.
The difficulty in obtaining a response to requests to follow-up on student destinations, particularly those studying part time, is proving a challenge.
Section 3 Budget Report and Resource Requests Dr Ashenden
Section 4 Staffing Report Dr Ashenden
Dr Ashenden led discussions on Sections 3 & 4 and reported that the School has been able to operate a balanced budget. Professor Ekere expressed the need to ensure that our School continues to operate a balanced budget in the face of increasing expenditure on staff salaries and other costs associated with teaching materials.
It was noted that funds had not yet been received from e-Skills for the ITMB programmes.
Dr Ashenden reported that there was generally a downturn demographically which affects the recruitment of students. The introduction of fees appeared to have no adverse effect at the moment, although it was generally agreed that it may be too early to judge. Recruitment is good compared with other Engineering institutions.
Section 5 Research and Enterprise Dr Woodhead
Dr Woodhead led discussions on Section 5 and reported that the membership and terms of reference had been revised for the Research and Enterprise committee. Dr Woodhead reported that the appointment of Mr Wilson and Professor Li had made a positive impact.
Dr Ashenden left the meeting
It was noted that the pump priming for student bursaries is coming to an end and the question arose as to whether any additional funding is forthcoming.
Dr Woodhead left the meeting
Section 6 Portfolio Planning Mr Grant
Mr Grant led discussions on Section 6 and reported that the School is raising the profile of the undergraduate provision with the proposal of many new programmes. With the addition of BITE programmes and others the number and diversity of programmes is widening and overseas recruitment was positive.
Section 7 Risk Management Professor Ekere
Professor Ekere welcomed input from staff.
Professor Ekere thanked colleagues for their contributions and suggested the Board was in a position to approve the draft document and for him to take chair’s action to send the final copy to the VC’s office by the deadline of Friday 16th February 2006.
It was agreed for the amended draft to be updated and made available on Engweb for staff to view and comment. Mr Wetherall proposed that Chair’s action be taken and Mr Cakebread seconded the motion.
6. Any Other Business
Professor Ekere invited the Student Representatives to highlight any issues not previously raised.
Mr Panesar, BEng H Mechanical Engineering Year 3, requested clarification of the admissions procedure for overseas students.
Ahmed Abubakir, BEng H Electrical & Electronic Engineering Year 2, expressed the concerns and difficulties facing students in finding work placements. It was noted that experience was preferred by employers before offering work placement and this was proving challenging.
Concern was expressed that the accessibility of the Libraries varied between campuses. It was felt that consideration be given to extend the Library access times at Chatham Maritime and that this would be beneficial to students particularly those in the Hall of Residence.
7. Date and time of next Meeting
Professor Ekere thanked all staff and student representatives for attending the Meeting and for their contribution and comments. The Chair confirmed that the next School Board Meeting will be held on Wednesday 23rd May 2007.
The Meeting closed at 5 pm
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