Postgraduate Taught Committee
February 18th, 2015
11am, Room 534
MINUTES
Attendees; Prof Nazanin Derakshan [Chair], Prof Denis Mareschal, Prof Rick Cooper, Prof Matthew Longo, Dr Eddy Davelaar, Dr Iroise Dumontheil, Dr Anne Miles, Naomi Adams, Sandra Adams, Rasa Striukaite [minutes]
- Apologies
Sandra Adams
2. Approval of previous minutes and matters arising
DM reminded the issue with MSc Psychology students and their feedback. AM said that recently there were no complaints regarding this.
ND asked the Programme Leaders to send the External Examiners reports to RS.
Minutes of the Previous Committee Meeting approved.
3. New targets and new fee rates for 2015 – 2016
ND mentioned the new targets for the 2015 – 2016 admissions; they are: 50 for PG Dip/MSc Psychology and 60 for all the other MA/MSc Programmes.
AM said that these numbers might be a little too high; DM said that we should do best trying to achieve best possible numbers.
RC said that the fees for programmes might be one of the main issues for the applicants and holds them back.
ND reported that the fees for Masters Programmes were reduced and now are the same as UCL prices. ND reminded that there were 86 half-scholarships for students this year; however they are not yet allocated.
DM also mentioned that there is Kenway legacy scholarship. He also said that all the information about the scholarships should be put on the departmental website. He also suggested to have the information about the various scholarships in the Open Evening.
NA also suggested to publish the information that10% discount applies for students who do their undergraduate degree at Birkbeck.
ACTION: RS to publish these on the main Department page.
- Admissions overview
CC / CNN / DS / EN / PRM / MRes Func. NI / MRes Psych / MPSY
MSc / MA / MSc / MA / MSc / MA / MSc / MSc / MRes / MRes / MSc
FY / MSc 1Y / PG Dip FY / PG Dip 1Y
Unconditional / - / 1 / 5 / - / 5 / 1 / 8 / 1 / - / 1 / 4 / - / 2 / -
Accepted / - / 1 / 4 / - / 3 / - / 2 / - / 1 / 3 / - / 1 / -
Conditional / 1 / - / 2 / 1 / - / 1 / 1 / - / - / 1 / 1 / - / 1 / -
Accepted / 1 / - / - / - / - / 1 / 1 / - / - / 1 / - / - / - / -
DM said that these numbers are lower than previous year, but he also added that most of the students start applying for our courses in April.
AM raised an issue about the foreign degree compatibility to the British honours; DM explained that there are few different degrees: standard, ordinary and honours and we don’t accept those with ordinary degree as its lower than British honours.
IR raised a question about the supplementary form asking if it’s necessary. ML said that he finds it useful sometimes before making a decision. ACTION: RS to find out if its possible to add the supplementary for to the online application. However DM said that it is up to the Admissions tutor to make a decision if an applicant meets all the other requirements but has not submitted the form.
ND and DM raised a question if there should be one admissions tutor for the whole Masters courses. Pros: one admissions tutor would have a view of all the courses and could refer the applicants from one programme to another if applicable; contra: Course Director would have no responsibility over the applicants, one admissions tutor is not able to know specifics of every single programme, one admissions tutor would need to answer all of the queries. Decision: to leave it as it is for now.
The Admission’s Tutors and Administrators were encouraged to keep growing recruitment numbers.
5. Postgraduate Programme related matters
5.1 Developmental Sciences MSc: rebranding and restructuring
DM noted that the numbers of the applicants rapidly dropped for the MA/MSc Developmental Sciences Programme. It has been discussed with NK about the rebranding and restructuring the Programme; replacing some modules with the new ones to make it more attractive. NK is going to look at it; however it’s not expected to be done for next year’s intake (expected to be done for the intake of 2016/17).
5.2 New external examiners for Developmental Sciences and Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychology Student
ND introduced two new External Examiners, both from the Department of Psychology at the University of Reading: Dr Eva Feredoes for MSc/MA in Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychology and Dr Graham Schafer for MSc/MA in Developmental Science.
5.3 Proposals for a new MSc in Translational Health Sciences
ND and DM were discussing creating a new programme that would be contemporary, current and catching, like Translational Health Sciences. ND also noted that it would be good to have a programme where the students could apply
ED and DM noted that the new programme should be first defied and only then the name should be given.
6. Student related matters
6.1 Staff face to face time; Feedback on coursework/essay
ND said that the students want more contact with the lecturers, more face to face communication regarding their feedback.
DM suggested of giving more explicit information about who the students should be seeing in case they have any questions; tell them about their personal tutors, course leaders on the Induction day.
IR mentioned that some other universities have office working hours; however she finds it very difficult because most of our students are working and it’s always about agreeing on the convenient time of the meeting.
IR also reminded that External Examiners were happy with the feedback they are giving to the students as it is quite informative.
6.2 Categorical marking and high marks
ND reminded that it was agreed to use categorical marking for coursework.
IR said that sometimes she finds it difficult to use it, as some coursework is boarderline.
RC said that categorical marking is good to keep the marking under the control; without it one module can change the whole mark of the student. He also added that bigger range in Distinction grade than in Merit or Pass might be sometimes an issue as well; the distribution should be sensible.
ED the marking more depends on the module; for some modules its more difficult to use categorical marking than for the others. DM suggested to stick with what it is for now. ND advised to keep the marks under the control.
6.3 Issues on late coursework and mitigating circumstances / deadlines
ND expressed a concern on how to deal with the late coursework as there are few cases that would need to be discussed in the mitigating circumstances meeting. She also noted that the students who are submitting late can see the feedback from their colleagues, that sometimes its not fair on the other students either. Also she noted that ISSA officers might be a little pushy at times (not sure if youd like me to put it on here)
AM also noted that some students with the ISSA are taking it for granted and are not even letting the administration know that they are submitting late even if technically they are expected to do so. ED said that it is confusing that students think that they have 2 weeks extension when ISSA says its ‘up to 2 weeks’.
RC and ML expressed the concern that the students who have ISSA cant have 2 weeks extension on the Dissertation as its too late for marking.
It was decided that the Module Leader can decide the time given for the extension.
7. Dates of June meeting
RS suggested to have one meeting for the Mitigating circumstances of all Programmes. It was agreed to have it in June.
It was decided to look at the dates from the previous year - RS to email everyone with the proposed dates.
8. Date of Exam Board
It was decided to look at the dates from the previous year - RS to email everyone with the proposed dates.
9. AOB