Senate Minutes 15 June 2022

Minutes of the meeting of the Cardiff University Senate held on Wednesday 15 June 2022 at 2:15, via Zoom

Attendance

In Attendance

Katy Dale (minutes), Laura Davies, Dr Rob Davies, Ruth Davies, Rhodri Evans, Professor Claire Gorrara, Dr Rob Gossedge, Tom Hay, Professor Wenguo Jiang, Sue Midha, TJ Rawlinson, Dr Andrew Roberts, Professor Karin Wahl-Jorgensen [from minute 971], Simon Wright (Secretary), Professor Helen Williams [from minute 974], Agnes Xavier-Phillips, Darren Xiberras [from minute 971]

964 Welcome and introductions

It was noted that the Deputy Vice-Chancellor would Chair the meeting in the absence of the Vice-Chancellor. The Chair welcomed all to the meeting, especially the Council member attending as an observer.

It was agreed to move agenda item 14 (Recruitment Process for Vice-Chancellor) to come before agenda item 11 (REF 2021 Results Analysis and Overview Report).

965 Apologies for absence

Noted

965.1 that apologies received would be recorded in the Minutes.

966 Declaration of Interests

The Chair reminded members of their requirement to disclose any direct or indirect interests which could influence their judgement. Disclosure of interests should be made before an item was discussed and the individual concerned should either withdraw from the meeting or not take part in the discussion, as appropriate for that part of the agenda.

Noted

966.1  that no member disclosed any interests.

967 Minutes of previous meeting

Noted

967.1 that the minutes should be reviewed for typos.

Resolved

967.2 to approve the minutes of the meeting of Senate on 09 March 2022 (paper 21/831) subject to the above review.

968 Matters arising

Noted that there were no matters arising.

969 Items from the Chair

Noted that there were no items from the Chair.

970 Debate whether the changes to USS will affect Cardiff University’s ability to recruit, retain, and rely on the goodwill of academic staff

Noted

970.1 that the Deputy Vice-Chancellor provided context to the agenda item:

.1      that 14 Senate members had requested an extraordinary meeting of Senate to discuss and vote on the following motion: “the University to publicly demand the USS conduct a new moderately prudent, evidenced-based valuation, or update the 2020 valuation in light of experience, and make an adequate, cost-effective offer for staff as a matter of urgency”;

.2      that this had been followed by a series of responses from, and back to, the Secretary of Senate and the University Secretary that focused on the interpretation of the powers of Senate, and on the relation between Senate and Council, as articulated in Statute and Ordinance;

.3      that a revised agenda item centring on a debate (and as included here) had been agreed with those Senate members;

.4      that the University and UCU had issued a joint statement on the USS pension scheme which was a hugely positive step;

.5      that appropriately, the matter had been raised at Governance Committee, at which it was deemed that there had not been a breach of the Ordinances and that it was important to consider how the interpretation of the constitutional framework had been communicated and to learn from this in the context of the effectiveness review of Senate; this would ensure clarity on the relationship between Council and Senate and it was noted there are learnings from this to be taken forward;

970.2  that the agenda item was introduced by one of the Members of Senate who had proposed the item, as follows;

.1      it was noted that Senate had a duty and responsibility to advise Council as the Governing Body in relation to threats to academic quality and that the Ordinance noted Senate shall review duties and conditions of service and appointment of Academic Staff and make recommendations to Council;

.2       that there had been widespread anger and frustration in relation to the changes to the USS scheme that had culminated in a mandate for industrial action; the industrial action had been withdrawn following the University and the local UCU agreeing to a pro-active approach to resolve matters;

.3      that the changes to the USS scheme meant it was now worse than the Teacher's Pension Scheme (TPS) offered by post-’92 universities, which meant the University could be potentially less attractive to high calibre and younger applicants;

.4      that an article had been issued in Nature Briefing in May 2022 that indicated there was an increase in resignations within academia, which saw academics leaving for roles in industry and the civil service and predicted between fifty percent and two-thirds of employees would leave academia due to dissatisfaction and burnout;

.5      that it was not proposed to discuss the technicalities of the valuation;

.6      that the diversity of Senate membership would provide a breadth of comment to Council on this topic;

970.3  that the agenda item was then opened to comment from those in attendance, with the following points made;

970.4  that within the discipline of English Literature, it was felt the University could not solely rely on being a Russell Group institution in order to attract talented staff;

970.5 that junior staff were better able to move between roles and institutions and may therefore be more likely to leave the institution;

970.6  that there was a reliance on staff good will to undertake work to support students, alongside and on top of their usual workload, and some were reviewing this good will in the light of the USS changes;

970.7 that some areas were seeing applications decrease and there was a concern around a long-term decrease in the quantity and quality of applicants; it was noted that some medical and healthcare disciplines often had applicants from the NHS and the more attractive pension scheme within the NHS may deter some applicants from applying;

970.8 that academic-related staff (e.g. librarians and specialists) would also be impacted by the changes;

970.9  that there was a significant detrimental impact on international grants and collaborations due to Brexit and that the pension changes may have a further detrimental impact on the ability to attract talent from Europe, as the UK pension schemes were already less favourable than those in the EU;

970.10 that there was a feeling that institutions were not standing up for staff and the University sector as a whole in relation to the USS changes; there were also feelings of discontent and low morale;

970.11 that the changes to the USS scheme had occurred at a time of turmoil within the HE sector, which had impacted on the ability to support staff and students, and it was likely this would soon be reflected in the University’s ability to recruit and support students.

Resolved

970.12 that a statement be provided to Council to the effect that Senate was concerned that changes to USS would detrimentally affect the University’s ability to recruit, retain, and rely on the goodwill of excellent staff.

971 Report from the Vice Chancellor

Received paper 21/832C ‘Vice-Chancellor’s Report to Senate’. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor spoke to this item.

Noted

971.1  that a concern was raised in relation to the increase in International PGT fees and whether this would affect the institution’s ability to recruit students; it was further noted that the current discount in fees for postgraduate taught study for alumni was only covering the increase in fees and that loans for PGT study had not been increased in line with cost of living rises, meaning current students were not incentivised to further study; a response noted that this increase had been carefully considered, as the University was aware of the risk in increasing fees, and the increase was in line with other comparable institutions; the decrease in value of UG fees was also noted, along with fact that some international students view a less expensive course as one of lower quality.

972 The Student View

Received paper 21/833 ‘The Student View 2022’. The Students’ Union President spoke to this item.

Noted

972.1  that the Student View was formed of feedback received throughout the year, including responses from Speak Week, which had been bought together to highlight four key themes (Student Connect, Student Space & Campus Opening Times, Industrial Action and Blended Learning);

972.2 that the document was welcomed and praised by Senate;

972.3  that the inclusion of items that had worked well and should be continued was welcomed;

972.4  that it was requested the document be placed on the Students’ Union website to enable it to be shared with colleagues;

972.5  that further detail could be added to the partnership work between staff and students;

972.6  that the data on blended learning was welcomed as evidence of how students felt on this subject;

972.7 that in relation to study and campus spaces, it was noted that the University was at capacity with its current estate and that there were resourcing issues in terms of addressing this that may impact on the timelines to resolve issues;

972.8 that the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience extended thanks to the Students’ Union team for the constructive and thoughtful document; it was noted that the majority of issues highlighted within the report were already known or being actioned; it was also noted the Student View formed part of the annual assurance to HEFCW and that formal responses to the recommendations would be compiled and shared with Senate and Council in the autumn.

973 Update on Court and engagement with stakeholders

Received paper 21/834C ‘Update on Court and Engagement with Stakeholders’. The Director of Development and Alumni Relations spoke to this item.

Noted

973.1  that in July 2021, Council had approved a number of recommendations from the Court Working Group, which included the recommendation to abolish Court; the Privy Council had now approved the application to amend Charter and Statutes to remove references to the Court and the last meeting of Court would be held in September 2022;

973.2  that careful thought had been given to how external members of Court remained engaged with the University and this was presented in the paper;

973.3  that Senate was invited to propose other stakeholders who should also be engaged with; the Grangetown Pavilion and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were proposed; it was noted that there was significant engagement with the Grangetown Pavilion and that this would be formalised.

Resolved

973.4  that any further suggestions of stakeholders be shared with TJ Rawlinson and Ed Bridges.

974 Recruitment process for Vice-Chancellor

Received paper 21/838C ‘Recruitment Process for Vice-Chancellor’. The Director of Human Resources spoke to this item.

Noted

974.1 that the Vice-Chancellor’s term of office ended on 31 August 2023. Ordinance 7 detailed the procedure to support the appointment of a successor and the need to establish a Joint Committee of Council and Senate;

974.2  that Ordinance 7 did not specify categories for the Senate members of the Joint Committee; the paper presented a suggestion of how appropriate representation could be achieved across the different constituent groups of Senate and was based on past practice; it was emphasised that the membership of the Joint Committee was a matter for Senate to determine and it was within its power to adopt a different approach if desired;

974.3  that Ordinance 7 prescribed that Council membership of the Joint Committee could not include employees or students of the University; the paper proposed the inclusion of a student representative within the Senate membership due to the importance of student experience and a shift in the sector to include student representation since the precedent was set in 1999 and repeated in 2011; it was therefore suggested that the Deputy Vice-Chancellor & Pro Vice-Chancellor categories be combined to allow for a student representative; it was also noted that student representatives would be excluded from category 4, in line with the other categories;

974.4 that the nomination form did include a field for categories but did not specify these to allow Senate’s decision to be captured;

974.5 that some Senate members felt categories of membership would limit the academic representation on the Joint Committee, as it was felt the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Head of School roles were managerial representation rather than academic representation; this view was challenged by other members of Senate;

974.6 that there were other possible ways to include student representation on the Joint Committee, such as inviting a student member as an observer; it was noted that amending the Ordinances at this time was recognised as not viable but it was suggested these are amended ahead of any future recruitment;

974.7 that the Students’ Union President was in favour of ensuring student representation, as students were a major stakeholder for the University, and noted this was practice at other comparator institutions;

974.8  that it would be difficult to ensure representatives of the varied membership of Senate without categories; it was also noted whether balance across the colleges could be considered;

974.9  that equality, diversity and inclusion matters would be central to the process;

974.10 that the proposals contained within the paper were put to a vote by Senate members with three points clarified:

1. that category 3 (the student representative) would be determined by the student representatives on Senate, and;

2. that category 4 would exclude student representatives in the same way as it already excluded the DVC, PVCs and Heads of School;

3. that should the proposals within the paper be voted against by a majority, a second motion would be tabled and voted on, namely that the membership of the Joint Committee be formed of one student member to be determined by the student members of Senate and three members of Senate;

974.11 the proposals in the paper were put to a vote with 44 members present, 23 voting for, 17 against and 4 abstentions.

Resolved

974.12  that the composition of the Senate membership of the Joint Committee of Council and Senate was approved by a simple majority to be:

1. One from amongst the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Pro Vice-Chancellors (appointed by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Pro Vice-Chancellors);

2. A Head of School (appointed by Heads of School);

3. A student member (appointed by student members);

4. A member of Senate (who is not the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, a Pro Vice-Chancellor, Head of School or student member;

974.13 that Senate suggested Council review Ordinance 7 to include the possibility of student membership within the Council members of the Joint Committee, ahead of any future recruitment of a Vice-Chancellor.

975 REF 2021 Results analysis and overview report

Received paper 21/835C ‘REF 2021 Results Analysis and Overview Report’. The Pro Vice-Chancellor Research, Innovation & Enterprise spoke to this item.

Noted

975.1 that thanks were extended to all staff who had contributed to the University’s REF submission;

975.2 that the REF 2021 results were extremely positive for the University;

975.3  that there has been an increase in 3* and 4* submissions and the University had submitted 100% of its eligible staff to REF 2021;

975.4 that the University was positioned 14th for Research Power, which was a positive placement for the scale and size of the institution, and 19th for Quality (or GPA) at 3.36; the University had a KPI of achieving Top 12 for Research Power which would have required an overall quality rating of 3.56; it was noted that it was unrealistic to be able to improve the quality rating given the doubling of the University’s submission size and that the University had been able to improve its GPA from 3.27 in 2014 despite the increase in the size of the submission;

975.5 that the impact assessment placed the University 11th overall and placed Cardiff top for the devolved nations;

975.6 that Cardiff accounted for 58.13% of 4* outputs achieved in Wales;

975.7 that there was a sector-wide issue in accurately predicting outcomes of REF and this would be considered as part of the follow-up work;

976.8 that Professor Ken Hamilton left the meeting during this item.

976  Academic Standards and Quality Committee report to Senate

Received paper 21/836 ‘Academic Standards and Quality Committee Report to Senate’. The Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education & Student Experience spoke to this item.

Noted

976.1 that the report presented the key matters considered by Academic Standards and Quality Committee (ASQC) at its May meeting;

976.2  that the report presented a number of minor changes to regulations, which were recommended for approval by ASQC;

976.3  that there had been a significant increase in the volume of Extenuating Circumstances and the associated pressure on staff workload; further review and consultation would be undertaken with staff with an aim to implement changes to the policy for the 2022/23 academic year; any proposals for amendments were welcomed;

976.4 that ASQC had endorsed a role description for an External Advisor for Academic Standards and recruitment for the role would commence in summer 2022; the role would provide external scrutiny and expert advice on degree outcomes, quality assurance and academic standards;

976.5  that the Task & Finish Group established to review the wording of results transcripts and associated communications had reported to ASQC; ASQC had approved the recommendations which had been implemented from 1st June 2022;

976.6 that in response to concerns raised regarding the removal of free-standing modules as a category, the change to Regulation would take place from 2023/24 which would provide Schools with the opportunity in 2022/23 to review the small number of programmes that included free-standing modules and to determine whether the modules could be offered as optional modules; this was to ensure the cohesion of programmes and avoid timetabling issues;

976.7 that Professor Urfan Khaliq and Professor Adam Hedgecoe left the meeting during this item.

Resolved

976.8 that the wording of section 2.4 of section 2A (Policy on the Submission and Presentation of Research Degree Theses) of the PGR Regulations, Policies and Procedures be reviewed since requiring submission of data within a PDF format made it difficult to extract data and detail;

976.9 to approve the amendments to regulations and policies, as detailed in paper 21/844, subject to the amendment outlined in 976.8.

977 Education and Student Experience Committee Report to Senate

Received paper 21/837 ‘Education and Student Experience Committee Report to Senate’. The Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education & Student Experience spoke to this item.

Noted

977.1 that thanks were extended to members of the Education and Student Experience Committee for their support during its first year of operation;

977.2 that the Policy Framework on Partnerships in Educational Enhancements through Reflective Sharing (referred to as Reflective Sharing), which replaced the Peer Review Policy, was presented for approval, following recommendation from Education and Student Experience Committee, which had commended the developmental and supportive aspects of the policy;

977.3 that a revised Timetabling Policy was also presented for approval, which aimed to minimise the number of late changes to teaching timetables;

977.4 that an internal audit had been conducted on the actions taken to address NSS risks and had returned a limited assurance; from this, an operational framework had been developed for overseeing responses to student feedback and resultant action planning processes, and this had been endorsed by the Committee; the framework would take effect from July 2022 and included Professional Services activities;

977.5 that the Learning and Teaching Conference would be held on 29 and 30 June, focused on the theme of student success, and Senate members were encouraged to attend.

Resolved

977.6  to approve the Policy Framework on Partnerships in Educational Enhancements through Reflective Sharing and Timetabling Policy, detailed in paper 21/845.

978  Any Other Business

Noted

978.1 that thanks were extended to the outgoing meetings of Senate:

• Hannah Doe (SU President)
• Chris Grieve (VP Societies and Volunteering)
• Sebastian Ripley (VP Heath Park)
• Megan Somerville (VP Sports and AU President)
• Charlotte Towlson (VP Welfare and Campaigns)
• Orla Tarn (VP Postgraduate)
• Prof Ian Hall (HoS Earth)
• Prof Peter Sutch (interim HoS LAWPL)
• Prof Steward Field (interim HoS LAWPL)
• Prof Jonathan Thompson (interim HoS MATHS)
• Prof Wolfgang Maier
• Prof Ben Hannigan
• Dr Jamie Platts
• Dr Emma Richards
• Dr Josh Robinson
• Dr Alexander Harmer
• Kelsey Coward
• Gail Thomas

978.2  that the meetings of Senate for the 2022/23 academic year had been confirmed and were 30 November 2022, 1 March 2023 and 14 June 2023, all at 2:15.

979 Items Received for Approval

Senate approved the following papers:

Paper 21/844 Regulations & Policies Recommended by Academic Standards and Quality Committee

Paper 21/845 Policies Recommended by Education and Student Experience Committee

980 Items Received for Information

Senate noted the following papers:

21/839 Partnership with Dalian University of Technology

21/840 International Civic mission partnership with University of Namibia

21/841 Minutes of ASQC 17 May 2022

21/760 Minutes of E&SEC 30 March 2022

21/842 Minutes of E&SEC 23 May 2022

21/843 Emeritus & Emerita Titles Awarded Since 1 April 2021