Summary notes of the Executive Committee held on 24 August 2005
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Undergraduate recruitment for 2005/06 entry: Report of the Recruitment Co-ordination Meeting
The Executive Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor summarised the latest position on undergraduate admissions, based on discussions at the recent Recruitment Co-ordination Meeting and a subsequent report compiled by the Recruitment and Admissions Office. Very preliminary figures were also given for postgraduate admissions.
For Home/EU undergraduate applications, and excluding recruitment to DfLL programmes, a total of 1789 unconditional firm offers had been accepted.
With regard to Overseas undergraduate applications, and again excluding DfLL programmes, 312 offers had been accepted. A 'no-show' rate of at least 10 percent could be expected to reduce the final number of students registering.
Agreed: That well-qualified Overseas applicants should be accepted for undergraduate programmes whenever possible, and that all available measures should taken to keep PGT applicants 'warm', thereby ensuring a good conversion rate. The Deans would relay these messages to Departments and Admissions Tutors, and report back to the Committee.
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Allocation of funding for University Studentships 2006/07
The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) said that the University Studentship Working Group proposed to allocate 42 studentships across departments according to the same methodology as used last year, namely contribution to QR income and updated RAE dry run data.
As with last year, it was proposed that the each allocation would be converted into a cash sum, with departments being encouraged to use this as flexibly as possible to obtain maximum benefit. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) highlighted the additional flexibility and opportunities offered by the revised arrangements for the ORAS scheme (under which HEIs would be responsible for allocating their own award holders, against a formula-based allocation), and from the 130 research studentships created as part of the Great Western Research initiative (noting that matched funding from business was required).
Agreed:
(i) That the allocation proposed could be approved, subject to two studentships being set aside for the purpose of fostering inter-disciplinary research. Deans would encourage departments to submit proposals as soon as possible, to be assessed on a competitive basis.
(ii) That the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) would arrange for details of the revised ORAS scheme to be circulated.
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- National Student Survey
The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching) reported that the preliminary results of the National Student Survey had just been received. This was only in the first year of operation, and although comparative data was still to be released and there had been some doubts about the quality of the statistical analysis that had been undertaken to date, a number of issues were emerging that would need to be addressed within the University.
The next stage would be to formally ask departments to review and respond to the results. They would also be used to inform an internal survey planned for later on in the academic year, in conjunction with the Students' Union.
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Quarterly report from the Department of Research and Innovation Services
The Director of Research and Innovation Services presented a report on activities in his department over the last quarter. The following points were highlighted:
• A number of able staff had been recruited recently, and were already establishing good working relationships with Deans, Heads of Department and academic staff.
• In order to advance one of the key strategic objectives of the University, there had been a particular emphasis on the strengthening of existing external collaborative relationships, and the development of new relationships at local, national and international levels.
• This activity had been based on priorities identified by academic departments.
The focus was on supporting the growth of activity and income across the University, rather than the more traditional role of generating IPR, patents and business start-ups.
The Vice-Chancellor said that the report provided clear evidence that the Department of Research and Innovation Services was now delivering on a broad agenda across the University. There was still scope to offer additional support, especially by increased engagement with the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
The Committee noted the report. Subsequent reports would provide a shorter summary of activity, with more detailed information available on request. A glossary of acronyms would also be provided.
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Corporate Plan 2006/07 to 2008/09: Timetable
The Executive Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor presented a timetable for preparation of a new Corporate Plan covering the period 2006/07 to 2008/09. This followed the requirement set by the HEFCE that HEIs submit a Corporate Plan every three years. It was proposed that the Strategic Planning Group would draw up the overall framework for the plan for consideration by the Executive Committee and at the Vice-Chancellor's Retreat. A draft of the full plan would then be put out for consultation by relevant bodies across the University before the end of December 2005. Subject to revision, the final version would be considered by the Executive Committee once again, before final consideration by Senate and Council in June/July of 2006.
Agreed: That the timetable could be approved. More explicit consideration would need to be given to the implications of new Corporate Plan for support service departments.
The following items were received without comment:
Notes of the School for Health Executive: 31 May and 21 June 2005
Notes of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Heads of Department Committee: 18 July 2005
Notes of the Strategic Planning Group: 16 August 2005
Notes of the Oakfield Executive Group: 4 August 2005
Notes of the Health and Safety Committee: 21 June 2005
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