UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

BOARD OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES

Minutes of the meeting of the Board of Undergraduate Studies held on Monday 28th October 2002.

Present: Professor J Jones (in the Chair), Professor R Burns, Dr K Flint, Mr T Kwok, Mr R Leng, Dr G Martin, Professor A McFarlane, Professor S Petersen, Professor A Phizaklea, Mr A Reiss

Apologies: Professor T Bugg, Dr J Burrows, Dr R Naylor, Professor M Whitby

In Attendance: Dr D Petley (for item 13/02-03(b) only), Mr N Hull, Dr J Taylor

01/02-03 Terms of Reference

REPORTED:

(a)  That the Terms of Reference of the Board were as follows (revisions since 2001/2002 are shown in italics):

(i)  To consider and make recommendations to the Academic and Quality Standards Committee on issues relating to the assurance and enhancement of the quality of learning and teaching across all undergraduate provision.

(ii)  To make recommendations to the Senate, after consultation with academic departments and the Faculty Boards, on all matters affecting undergraduate study in the University including strategic considerations.

(iii)  To scrutinise all new undergraduate course proposals and report to the Academic Quality and Standards Committee on consideration of such proposals.

(iv)  To consider reports from the Faculty Boards on the periodic reviews of undergraduate courses.

(v)  To advise the Academic Quality and Standards Committee on matters relating to examinations in undergraduate courses.

(vi)  To advise the Academic Quality and Standards Committee on the role of internal and external examiners for undergraduate degrees.

(vii)  To report to the Academic Quality and Standards Committee annually on the issues raised in reports by external examiners.

(viii)  To consider submissions from the Faculty Boards for non-standard examination methods, including seen papers, open-book examinations and reading times, and to make recommendations to the Academic Quality and Standards Committee.

(ix)  To exercise delegated powers on behalf of the Academic Quality and Standards Committee in approving, on personal grounds, minor variations in the arrangements for the sitting of undergraduate examinations by individual students.

(x)  To consider all matters affecting admissions practices and policy and make recommendations to the Academic Standards and Quality Committee.

(b)  That the Senate, at its meetings on 4 July 2001 and 2nd October 2002, approved the terms of reference under (a) above and had also resolved:

That the responsibility for consideration and approval of four-year undergraduate Masters courses lie primarily with the Board of Undergraduate Studies.

02/02-03 Membership 2002/2003

REPORTED:

That the Senate, at its meeting of 2nd October 2002, had approved the membership of the Board of Undergraduate Studies for the academic year 2002/2003 as follows:

First Appointed
Chair (a Pro-Vice-Chancellor) / 2002 / Professor J Jones
Two full-time members of the academic staff from each of the Faculties or Arts, Science and Social Studies appointed by the Senate:
Arts / 2002 / Professor M Whitby
2001 / Professor R Burns
Science / 2002 / Professor T Bugg
2002 / Dr G Martin
Social Studies / 2002 / Mr R Leng
2002 / Professor A Phizacklea
One full-time member of staff from the Faculty of Medicine appointed by the Senate / 2001 / Professor S Petersen
One member of the Board of Graduate Studies appointed by the Senate / 2002 / Dr J Burrows
The Chairs of the Undergraduate Studies Committees of the Boards of the Faculties of Arts and Social Studies and the Chair of the Sub-Faculty of Science
Arts / 2001 / Professor A McFarlane
Science / 2001 / Dr K Flint
Social Studies / 2001 / Dr R Naylor
Two members nominated by the Union of Students / 2002 / Mr T Kwok
2002 / Mr A Reiss

03/02-03 - Reserved Items

06/02-03

See separate minutes (attached) for academic members of the Board only.

07/02-03 Minutes

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the last meeting of the Board held on 6th June 2002 be approved.

08/02-03 Matters Arising on the Minutes

REPORTED:

(a)  New Degree Courses (minute BUGS30/01-02(a)&(b) refer)

That the Senate, at its meeting of 3rd July 2002, had approved the Board’s recommendations under the following minutes:

(i)  87/01-02(d)(ii) – MChem in Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry with Industrial Training as set out in Paper SFS50/01-02;

(ii)  87/01-02(d)(iii) – BA in Law and Business Studies (3 year) (QD) and BA in Law and Business Studies (4 year) (QD) as set out in Paper UFSS97/01-02.

(b)  Periodic Review of Computer Science and Computer Systems Engineering (minute BUGS31/01-02 refers)

That the Academic Quality and Standards Committee, at its meeting of 12th June 2002, had resolved that:

(i)  the report of the Periodic Review of Computer Science and Computer Systems Engineering, as set out in Paper BFS29/01-02, be approved;

(ii)  it was the view of the Committee that the Department’s response to the report, as set out in paper BFS30/01-02, was inadequate as a statement of how the Department intended to address the issues and recommendations raised in the report;

(iii)  the Committee approved the recommendation of this Board that the formal response to the Review report from the Department of Computer Science be revised to include further details of the steps that will be taken to implement the recommendations of the report and a suggested time frame in which they will be carried out.

(c)  Regulation 9.3 (minute BUGS32/01-02 refers)

That the Senate, at its meeting of 3rd July 2002, had recommended that Regulation 9.3 governing the degree of BSc and undergraduate Masters’ degrees in science (except for Engineering) be amended to allow the Boards of Examiners to require to withdraw students who have failed necessary laboratory work, as set out in Paper SFS76/01-02.

(d)  Regulation 9.5 (minute BUGS33/01-02 refers)

That the Academic Quality and Standards Committee, at its meeting of 12th June 2002, had recommended that Regulation 9.5 governing the degree of BA (leading to Qualified Teacher Status) be amended as set out in Paper UFSS95/01-02.

(e)  Appeals Regulations (minutes BUGS34/01-02 refers)

That the Academic Quality and Standards Committee, at its meeting of 12th June 2002, had recommended that the amendment to the appeals process for undergraduate and postgraduate courses to take into account the Human Rights Act and related legislation, as set out in Paper BUGS8/01-02, be approved.

09/02-03 Chair’s Action

REPORTED:

That the Chair, acting on behalf of the Board, had approved a proposal from the Warwick Business School for the addition of reading time to the module Forecasting (IB3210), as set out in paper BUGS07/02-03.

10/02-03 Chair’s Business

REPORTED:

That a review of the undergraduate curriculum, as established by the Steering Committee at its meeting of 7th August 2002, would commence shortly.

11/02-03 New Degree Course

CONSIDERED:

The recommendation of the Board of the Faculty of Social Studies, at its meeting of 16th October 2002, that the proposal from the Centre for Lifelong Learning for a new Foundation Degree in Post-Compulsory Education and Training, be approved as set out in paper UFSS14/02-03 subject to amendments so that the Learning Outcomes are ‘demonstrated’ rather than ‘developed’ (section 9) and clarification is provided of the monitoring and evaluation processes, to include arrangements for the establishment of an SSLC (section 13).

RECOMMENDED:

That the proposal from the Centre for Lifelong Learning for a new Foundation Degree in Post-Compulsory Education and Training be approved subject to the amendments requested by the Board of the Faculty of Social Studies and to the Centre for Lifelong Learning being asked to ensure:

(a)  the provision of more detailed learning outcomes in section nine of the course proposal form;

(b)  the satisfactory completion of sections 10 and 11.

RESOLVED:

That the Chair, be empowered to approve the above amendments on the Board’s behalf.

12/02-03 Composite Reports of the Undergraduate Staff-Student Liaison Committees

CONSIDERED:

The Composite Reports of the Undergraduate Staff-Student Liaison Committees (2001/2002) from:

(a)  the Faculty of Arts (Paper BFA23/01-02);

(b)  the Faculty of Science (Paper SFS75/01-02);

(c)  the Faculty of Social Studies (Paper UFSS20/02-03).

RECOMMENDED:

That the composite reports be approved, as set out in papers BFA23/01-02, SFS75/01-02 and UFSS20/01-02.

13/02-03 Undergraduate Admissions

CONSIDERED:

(a)  A proposal from the Leicester-Warwick Medical School to waive the English Language requirements of the University for overseas applicants who have appropriate dentistry qualifications (Paper BUGS08/02-03).

(b)  A proposal from the School of Engineering to consider students from the Hong Kong Institutes of Vocational Education for direct entry into year two of their undergraduate programmes (Paper BUGS09/02-03).

(c)  A report from the Undergraduate Admissions Office regarding the newly introduced Ontario Secondary School Diploma and their recommendations for the baseline level for offers of admission (Paper BUGS12/02-03).

RESOLVED:

(d)  That the proposal from the Leicester-Warwick Medical School to waive the English Language requirements of the University for overseas applicants who have appropriate dentistry qualifications be approved as set out in paper BUGS08/02-03, subject to the careful monitoring by the Leicester-Warwick Medical School of students admitted with such qualifications.

(e)  That the proposal from the School of Engineering to consider students from the Hong Kong Institutes of Vocational Education for direct entry into year two of their undergraduate programmes be approved as set out in paper BUGS09/02-03.

(f) That the Chair would seek further clarification from the Assistant Registrar (Undergraduate Admissions) regarding the proposal for the setting of a baseline level for offers of admission from students with the new Ontario Secondary School Diploma and that the Chair be empowered to consider the proposal on behalf of the Board.

(g) That the Assistant Registrar (Undergraduate Admissions) be requested to attend future meetings of the Board of Undergraduate Studies if an item regarding undergraduate admissions practice is on the agenda.

14/02-03 Report from the Sub-Faculty of Science

CONSIDERED:

A report from the 16th October 2002 meeting of the Sub-Faculty of Science (Paper BUGS10/02-03) concerning its recommendations regarding:

(a)  the timing of the first meetings of the Sub-Faculty of Science and the Board of Undergraduate Studies;

(b)  a proposal from the School of Engineering to discontinue BEng and MEng degrees in Electrical Engineering after the 2003 intake (Paper SFS07/02-03, copy attached).

RECOMMENDED:

(c)  That the proposal from the School of Engineering to discontinue their BEng and MEng degrees in Electrical Engineering after the 2003 intake be approved as set out in paper SFS07/02-03.

RESOLVED:

(d)  That the Board consider further the timings of the first meetings of the Sub-Faculty of Science and the Board of Undergraduate Studies once staff responsible for the timetabling of University Committees have been consulted, such that if possible:

(i)  the first meeting of the Sub-Faculty of Science occurs later than week three of the first term to allow departments in the faculty more time to prepare papers;

(ii) the first meeting of the Board of Undergraduate Studies be scheduled at an appropriate time to allow all its business to proceed efficiently through the committee structure.

15/02-03 The format for the transfer of marks

RECEIVED:

An oral report from the Secretary to the Board on the issue of the format for the transfer of marks between departments.

RESOLVED:

That the Secretary to the Board write to all Chairs of Departments and Examinations Secretaries reiterating the University regulation that marks must be transferred in written form and be hand-delivered, it being noted that the use of e-mail is acceptable providing both the sender and the recipient use their official University e-mail addresses.

16/02-03 Warwick Skills Programme

RESOLVED:

That this item be deferred to the next meeting of the Board.

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