Senate minutes 30 November 2022

Minutes of the meeting of the Cardiff University Senate held on Wednesday 30 November 2022 at 2:15pm, via Zoom

Attendance

In Attendance

Katy Dale (minutes), Laura Davies, Dr Rob Davies, Ruth Davies, Rhodri Evans, Professor Claire Gorrara, Tom Hay, Rashi Jain, Professor Wenguo Jiang, Jan Juillerat, Professor Andrew Lawrence, Sue Midha, TJ Rawlinson, Dr Andrew Roberts, Claire Sanders, Dr Henrietta Standley, Dr Amanda Tonks, Dr Liz Wren-Owens, Simon Wright (Secretary)

981 Welcome and introductions

Noted

981.1 the Chair welcomed all new and returning members to the first meeting of Senate of the academic year;

981.2 the Chair also welcomed the Council member (Jan Juillerat, Vice-Chair of Council) attending as an observer;

981.3 the Chair detailed the process for the meeting.

982 Apologies for absence

Noted

982.1  that apologies received would be recorded in the Minutes.

983 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

983.1 that no member disclosed any interests.

984 Minutes of previous meeting

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 June 2022 (21/964C) were confirmed as a true and accurate record and were approved to be signed by the Chair.

985 Matters arising

Noted

985.1 [minute 970.12] that a statement had been provided to Council on 17 June 2022 relating to Senate’s concern that changes to USS would detrimentally affect the University’s ability to recruit, retain, and rely on the goodwill of excellent staff;

985.2 [minute 974.13] that Governance Committee in September had discussed the proposed amendment to Ordinance 7 – Procedure for Appointing a President and Vice-Chancellor (to remove the restriction on Council to be able to appoint a student member to the Joint Committee) and agreed to defer making changes until Senate had been consulted; changes to Ordinance 7 would be bought to a meeting of Senate for discussion; it was noted that the changes were not time urgent.

986 Constitution and membership of Senate 2022-23

Received paper 22/257 ‘Constitution and Membership of Senate 2022-23’. The Vice-Chancellor spoke to this item.

Resolved

986.1 to recommend to Governance Committee and Council the proposed changes to Ordinance 5 (Senate) to reflect the changes made to the education governance structure.

987 Constitution and membership of sub-committees

Received papers 22/163R ‘Academic Standards and Quality Committee Constitution and Membership 2022-23’, 22/137R ‘Education and Student Experience Committee Constitution and Membership 2022-23’, 22/109 ‘Honorary Fellowships and Degrees Committee Constitution and Membership 2022-23’ and 22/230 ‘Academic Promotions Committee Constitution and Membership 2022-23’. The Vice-Chancellor spoke to this item.

Noted

987.1 that the proposed minor changes to the Academic Standards and Quality Committee and Education and Student Experience Committee constitutions aimed to ensure representation from each college within the six members of academic staff category;

987.2 that the proposed minor change to the Honorary Fellowships and Degrees Committee constitution allowed academic members to serve a second term and aimed to address the high number of vacancies on the committee.

Resolved

987.3 to approve the Academic Standards and Quality Committee Constitution;

987.4 to approve the Education and Student Experience Committee Constitution;

987.5 to approve the Honorary Fellowships and Degrees Committee Constitution.

988 Items from the Chair

Noted the following items approved via Chair’s Action since the last meeting:

.1 Extenuating Circumstances Policy

Revisions had been approved following consultations with staff and students; there had been a range of views expressed and the 2022/23 policy aimed to address the concerns raised, especially in relation to volume; the policy continued to enable students to self-certify and the period of extension had been reduced from two weeks to one week to address concerns in relation to staff workload; the Students’ Union President noted students were concerned with the reduction of the extension period to one week; the University would review the policy in Spring 2023 following the January examination period;

.2 Dental Therapy and Hygiene Regulations

New regulations for the DipHE Dental Hygiene and the BSc Dental Therapy and Hygiene, which had been drafted to provide greater clarity for staff and students;

.3 MA Social Work Regulations

The MA Social Work programme was reviewed and a new programme of specific regulations drafted, outlining explicitly for staff and students the governance and operation of the programme including Social Care Wales requirements;

.4 MScD Orthodontics Regulations

New regulations drafted for the MScD Orthodontics to ensure clarity and continuity following withdrawal of the general Regulations for Non-modular Postgraduate Programmes;

.5  Applicant Fitness to Practise Policy

Minor changes to the Applicant Fitness to Practise Policy;

.6 Contextual Admissions Policy

Minor changes to the contextual admissions policy to specify the actions to be taken for healthcare programmes.

989 Report from the Vice-Chancellor

Received paper 22/259C ‘Vice-Chancellor’s Report to Senate’. The Vice-Chancellor spoke to this item.

Noted

989.1 that the good performance in research grants and contracts was pleasing;

989.2 that the University had not met its targets for international recruitment and the paper contained details of the steps taken to return to previous levels for 2023 entry and beyond.

990 Supporting research excellence

Received paper 22/260 ‘Supporting Research Excellence Paper’. The Dean of Research and Innovation for the College of Biomedical and Life Sciences spoke to this item.

Noted

990.1 that the Dean of Research and Innovation for the College of Biomedical and Life Sciences was presenting the paper on behalf of the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Enterprise;

990.2 that following the publication of the University’s REF 2021 results, consultation events had been undertaken with colleagues across the University to reflect on the 2021 submission and plan for future research assessment exercises;

990.3 the next REF submission exercise was scheduled for 2028;

990.4 the reflection activity had contributed to a proposal for a new framework supporting research excellence and to address the weaker performance in research output within REF results;

990.5 that quality was a core value of supporting research excellence and there was an emphasis on driving quality through collaboration and local innovation, supported and managed by a central team within Professional Services.

991 Review of the bicameral relationship between Council and Senate: Action from the Governance Effectiveness Review

Received paper 22/206R ‘Review of the bicameral relationship between Council and Senate’. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor spoke to this item.

Noted

991.1 that as part of the recommendations of the Governance Effectiveness Review (GER) 2021, Council had approved the establishment of a task and finish group to review the effectiveness of Senate; that the intention of the recommendations of the GER had been further discussed and articulated and it had been agreed that the group should review the effectiveness of the bicameral relationship between Council and Senate;

991.2 that the paper proposed the establishment of a Task and Finish Group to determine the scope and membership of the bicameral review; the Task and Finish Group established by the paper would not be conducting the review themselves;

991.3 that it had been originally proposed that the Vice-Chancellor would Chair the Task and Finish Group; this had been delegated to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, which was appropriate given the Vice-Chancellor’s role as Chair of Senate;

991.4 that Governance Committee had reviewed an iteration of the paper and confirmed that a Senate member nominated by Senate should be included in the Task and Finish Group;

991.5 that Governance Committee had endorsed the paper and Council had approved the paper at its meeting on 24 November 2022, subject to discussion and comment and feedback by Senate at this meeting.

Resolved

991.6 that Senate members are invited to provide comments on the paper for a further seven days (by close of play on Wednesday 7 December 2022);

991.7 that any amendments to the membership and Terms of Reference arising from Senate comment and feedback would be considered via correspondence with the Chair of Council; this would allow agreement of the final membership and Terms of Reference by 23 December 2022;

991.8 that Senate members would be invited to submit nominations in January 2023, against confirmed membership and Terms of Reference for the Task and Finish Group.

992 Student View – University Response

Received paper 22/242 ‘Response to the Student Views’. The Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience spoke to this item.

Noted

992.1 that Senate had received the Student View at its meeting in June 2022; this had presented four key themes (blended learning, student connect, study space and industrial action) and an executive summary, alongside a number of recommendations;

992.2 that meetings had been held with the Students’ Union sabbatical officers and colleagues to discuss the University response and actions;

992.3 that the response provided a summary of activities undertaken in 21/22 and it was pleasing to see the enhancements achieved in continuously challenging circumstances; the University was working to close the feedback loop and promote the enhancements made in 21/22;

992.4 the report also provided details of focuses for 22/23, responses to the mini student-views and associated actions; it was noted that every aspect was being taken forward by a form of governance within the institution;

992.5 that thanks were extended by the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience to the Students’ Union Sabbatical Officers for their engagement on these items.

993 Education and Student Experience Committee report to Senate

Received paper 22/261 ‘Education and Student Experience Committee Report to Senate’. The Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience spoke to this item.

Noted

993.1 that the report provided an overview of key matters considered by the Education and Student Experience Committee at its meeting on 3 November 2022;

993.2 that Senate were asked to consider and recommend the proposed minor changes to the Widening Participation Strategy contained in the paper; these changes were aimed to ensure the strategy reflected the current position and priorities and improved the experience of students from a widening participation background; the changes were minor but had significant impact;

993.3 that the University had undertaken a number of actions over the summer to support students in relation to the cost of living; these had been developed in discussion with the Students’ Union.

Resolved

993.4 to recommend to Council the amendments to the Widening Participation Strategy.

994 Academic Standards and Quality Committee report to Senate

Received paper 22/262 ‘Academic Standards and Quality Committee Report to Senate’. The Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience spoke to this item.

Noted

994.1 that the report provided an overview of key matters considered by the Academic Standards and Quality Committee at its meetings in July and November 2022;

994.2 that arrangements for the Annual Review and Enhancement process for 2022/23 had been confirmed and there would be three areas of focus: student satisfaction; programme information and delivery of teaching; assessment outcomes and academic standards;

994.3 that the schedule for confirming programme information for 23/24 had been confirmed and the deadline for schools was 28 April 2023; exceptions were permitted by College Deans for methods of assessment with specific criteria;

994.4 that positive feedback had been received on the revalidation process for 21/22 and this had provided a sensible basis for the second year of its operation in 22/23.

995 Annual Quality Report

Received paper 22/165 ‘Annual Quality Report’. The Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience spoke to this item.

Noted

995.1  that a draft version of the Annual Quality Report had been received and reviewed by Academic Standards and Quality Committee;

995.2 the report provided an overview of the University’s academic quality system and its operation, including actions taken to ensure its continuing enhancement; the report was key in providing assurance to Council, who then provided assurance to HEFCW, on the quality standards and management at the University;

995.3 that the University continued to satisfy the external requirements in this area and the standards of its awards continued to be appropriately set and maintained; the University had taken positive steps to address concerns in relation to student experience;

995.4 that exam paper errors had been an issue raised in a previous Annual Quality Report and issues in this area had not persisted;

995.5 that risks within the Annual Quality report were calculated based on the impact and likelihood of the risk occurring; these were aligned with the institutional risk register.

995.6 that key areas of the report were noted to Senate;

National Student Survey (NSS) outcomes

995.7 there had been an increase in overall satisfaction (which was now within benchmark) and there were increases in all thematic areas in the 2022 survey; 38 out of 60 subjects had showed improvements and 21 had declined;

995.8 the University remained under significant monitoring by HEFCW and there was a need to sustain and continue to show improvements in these areas and ensure all HEFCW thresholds were met;

995.9  there would be changes to the 2023 NSS survey which would make comparison between previous years challenging; a question on overall satisfaction would remain in the 2023 survey for Welsh institutions but not for English HEIs, who would have an additional question on freedom of expression; all HEIs would have an additional question on communication of mental health support;

Assessment Errors

995.10 there had been an increase in assessment mark errors; some of these had required reporting to HEFCW and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) where there had been data breaches;

995.11 that work was being undertaken with the Internal Audit team to review the process for recording and communication of assessments marks; it was hoped this would determine the processes were robust;

Degree Outcomes

995.12 that there had been a decrease in the proportion of first classes degrees in 21/22 to 29%; this was below the pre-pandemic level which was unexpected as some elements of the safety net remained in place;

995.13 that this was a one-year occurrence and further analysis would be undertaken to understand the causal factors;

995.14 there were no concerns with the University’s academic standards or awards in relation to this;

Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Awarding Gap

995.15 that there remained a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic awarding gap and a strategic commitment was in place to eradicate this;

995.16 that work in this area was being undertaken as part of the Inclusive Education project; Closing the Gap reports had also been issued by UUK in 2019 and 2022 which provided recommendations to address this; work was underway to review actions in this area;

995.17 that there was resource from HEFCW for this and further support would be provided to schools;

995.18 that there was intersectionality with other characteristics;

Academic Integrity

995.19 that there had been a continuing increase in the number of academic misconduct cases; this had been highlighted as an area for urgent enhancement and increased awareness amongst students;

995.20 that this would be taken forward by the Rethinking Assessment Project and there would be a specific group established to review this area;

995.21 that the main focus was on enhanced student awareness of academic integrity in order to better prevent it;

Education Partnerships

995.22 a new Education Partnerships sub-committee had been established to scrutinise proposals for new education provision with partners and provide oversight and monitoring of existing provision;

995.23 this allowed for more visibility and resource in this area.

Resolved

995.24 to review whether the institutional risk register could be made available internally;

995.25 for references to ‘BAME’ in the report to be replaced with ‘Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic’;

995.26 to recommend to Council approval of the Annual Quality Report.

996 Any other business

Noted there was no other business.

997 Items received for information

Senate Noted the following papers:

• 22/161 Minutes of ASQC 7 July 2022
• 22/263 Minutes of ASQC 9 November 2022
• 22/264 Minutes of ESEC 3 November 2022
• 22/255 Students' Union Relationship Agreement and Student Charter
• 22/155 Annual Statement on Research Integrity 2021-22
• 22/265C Annual Report from the Academic Promotions Committee
• 21/919R HEFCW Triennial Visit Report
• 22/222C Fee and Access Plan (FAP) Monitoring 21-22
• 22/266 Research Grants and Contracts Annual Report
• 22/268 Employee membership of University Sub-Committees 2022/23 (appointments made by Senate)