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Executive Committee

Summary notes of the Executive Committee held on 19 December 2005

1. Business continuity and disaster recovery planning

   The Director of Marketing and Communications outlined a number of principles and procedures, summarised within a draft Crisis Action Plan, and designed to form the basis of a new b usiness continuity and disaster recovery plan for the University. This sought to address recommendations made in Internal Audit report 3 of 2003/04, and had been refined following discussions at the Monday Morning Management Group and with the recently appointed Head of Security.

   Based on a distinction between 'physical' emergencies, such as fires, notificable diseases etc, whose status was usually clear cut, and 'reputational' situations, which required more careful consideration, the following specific proposals were made.
   

   •  The Vice-Chancellor, or her designate, would decide when a situation presenting a possible reputational risk should be deemed to be an emergency and, if so deemed, appoint a chairman to manage the situation.

   •  In respect of physical emergencies, an Emergency Control team should be formed. This would be chaired by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, with the Registrar as the designated deputy.

   •  The Emergency Control Team should oversee preparation of the final version of the Crisis Action Plan and the production of an Emergency Operations Manual.

   •  The Head of Security would update and circulate contact details of all core members and alternates of the Emergency Crisis team and of key officers to the same group of individuals.

   •  The Director of Marketing and Communications and Head of Security would organise training for dealing with physical emergencies.

   Agreed:
   i)   That in-principle approval could be given to the proposals. The Director of Marketing and Communications would arrange for an Executive Policy Statement to be submitted to the Committee for final approval. He would also consult with the Head of Security about arrangements for dealing with emergencies in the student residences in the city centre.
   ii) That the Director of Computing Services would prepare supplementary guidelines on measures taken to ensure IT resilience and also ensure that robust communication systems were in place to enable remote contact with all Committee members.
   iii) That the Director of Human Resources would arrange for a proper record of staff next of kin to be maintained on the TRENT system.
   

2. Proposed redisgn of the University homepage and draft University presentational template
   
   

   The Director of Marketing and Communications presented a redesigned version of the external homepage. This followed the earlier review of the internal homepage, and was intended to improve appearance and functionality, with greater consistency of format and content between University and top-level Faculty/School and departmental web pages. The version put forward was the clear preference of two redesigned versions tested with a sample group of staff and students. Its design had been informed by the Committee's feedback on the redesigned internal homepage and was comparable with the websites of other research-intensive HEIs. Use of templates would continue to allow a degree of individual variation by departments according their own needs.
   
   It was noted that optimal categorization of the headings on the left-hand navigation of the new version was crucial. This could be helped by use of a 'mouse-over' function to reveal sub-headings. Committee members were invited to send detailed comments to the Director of Marketing and Communications after the meeting.
   
   Draft slides of a University PowerPoint template was also presented to the Committee. It was proposed that these would be freely available, in downloadable or disc format, so as to provide basic material about the University that could be incorporated into presentations made by staff. The text was followed that given in the draft Facts and Figures leaflet, and the images used were intended to be simple and striking.
   
   Agreed:
   i) That, subject to minor amendment, the redesigned external homepage could be approved for adoption across the University.
   ii) That the draft PowerPoint slides should be circulated to Committee members after the meeting, to allow further consideration of the layout, with a view to making a final decision at the next meeting.
   

3. HEFCE matters
   

   (a) Draft sustainability framework
   
   The Executive Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor said that the essential requirement of the sustainability framework was to demonstrate to the HEFCE that the University had in place a framework for managing its key resources over the longer-term, in accordance with strategic objectives, and monitored by Council. This was achieved at three levels: strategic planning at the level of Council, linked to risk management and VFM assessments, and underpinned by KPIs; the Annual Planning Cycle carried out at Faculty and departmental levels; and detailed performance monitoring. It was also noted that sustainability was possible only with continued recurrent and capital investment from Government.
   
   It was proposed that the sustainability framework be submitted to the HEFCE by its deadline of 3 January 2006, and then presented to Council at its next meeting in March 2006.
   
   Agreed: That draft sustainability framework could be approved for submission to the HEFCE.
   
   (b) Draft response to the review of the teaching funding method
   
   The Executive Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor said that this draft response highlighted the poor timing and potentially destabilising effects of the proposed changes to the teaching funding method, given the increasing complexity and turbulence of the general financial planning environment. It emphasized the need for a period of stability in order to adjust to the impact of variable tuition fees and to assimilate fully the changes to the methodology that had already been introduced by the HEFCE over the past three years.

   The main proposal to replace premiums by targeted allocations was likely to cause such instability, in the absence of an increase in the funding envelope for the sector, by simply redistributing existing funds between HEIs. This was incompatible with the new emphasis on financial sustainability. There was also insufficient information on how targeted allocations might be linked to the HEFCE's strategic priorities.
   
   Agreed: That the draft response could be approved for submission to the HEFCE.
   

4. University Risk Register: Progress report on improvement actions - December 2005
   

   Reports were received on improvement actions taken to mitigate the risks associated with: (i) the weakness of central support infrastructure for research; and (ii) the failure to develop business continuity plans in the event of disaster.
   

5. Comparative estates statistics
   

   The Director of Estates introduced the latest set of estates statistics comparing performance in 2003/04 with that of 2002/03. A comprehensive report was available on request.
   
   
   The following items were received without comment:  

Notes of the Faculty of Science Executive: 1 November 2005

Notes of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Heads of Department Committee: 31 August, 29 September and 25 October 2005

Notes of the Division for Lifelong Learning Executive: 3 November and 15 November 2005

Notes of the Research Committee: 15 November 2005

Notes of the Arts Committee: 17 November 2005

Notes of the Oakfield Executive Group: 5 December 2005

Notes of the special Meeting of the University and the Local Association of University Teachers Joint Consultative and Negotiating Committee: 26 July 2005

Notes of the Equalities and Diversity Committee: 10 November 2005

Date of next meeting: Wednesday, 18 January 2006

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