the
COURT
MINUTES of the third meeting of the 2002/2003 academic year held on
Monday, 31st March, 2003, in the Council Room, Queen Anne Court, Maritime Greenwich Campus, commencing at 7.30 pm.
Present: Mr C R H Bull (in the Chair)
Dr R M Allen / Mr J R H LoudonMr S Atkinson / Ms V Marshall
Mr R J Baglin / Mrs A-M Nelson
Mr S Collinson / Dr D Quarmby
Dr L Garner / Dr M Stiasny
Mr J C Gould / Lady P Tomlinson
Mr D Heathcote / Prof R H Trainor
In attendance:
Mrs T A Brighton (Minutes Secretary)
Mrs L Cording (University Secretary)
Prof M Cross (Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research, Consultancy and Outreach))
Prof J Humphreys (Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic Planning))
Mr J Morris (Director of Finance)
Prof D Wills (Pro Vice-Chancellor (Resources))
Apologies for absence were received from Mr J E Brathwaite, Mrs G D duCharme,
Mrs M McKinlay and Miss C Phippen.
02/54 WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS
The Chairman welcomed Stephen Collinson, Vaila Marshall and Paulette Tomlinson to their first meeting.
02/55 DECLARATION OF CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
There were no declarations of conflict of interests.
02/56 MEMBERSHIP (CRT 02/43)
The Court noted that:
i following a postal ballot of those Governors appointed under Article 7(2)(a),
Mr James (Jim) Brathwaite, had been appointed as a Governor under Article 7(2)(a) for the period from 1 March 2003 to 31 August 2005
ii the terms of office of three Independent Governors were due to expire at the end of August 2003; and that two Governors had indicated their willingness to be re-appointed, but one Governor would be retiring. Members of Court were requested to provide details of appropriate potential Governors to fill the vacancy to the University Secretary for consideration by the Nominations Committee, prior to recommendation to the Court at its next meeting.
02/57 MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING (CRT 02/44)
The minutes of the meeting held on 9 December 2002 were agreed to be a true record and signed.
MATTERS ARISING
02/58 (i) HONORARY DEGREES (CRT 02/45)
The Court noted that the following had accepted the offer of Honorary Degrees from the University:
Award
Dr Mary Baines OBE / HonDUnivProfessor Timothy Brighouse / HonDEd
Sir David Hardy / HonLLD
Professor Charles Kao* / HonDSc
Lady Arabella Lennox-Boyd / HonDDes
Dr Blake Morrison / HonDLitt
The Rt Rev Lord Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali / HonDLitt
Jonathon Porritt / HonLLD
Anthony Powell / HonDDes
Sir Robert Scott / HonLLD
Leonard Weaver CBE / HonDSc
Allan Willett CMG / HonLLD
*Secretary’s Note: Confirmation of the acceptance of this Award was received after circulation of the Court papers.
02/59 (ii) PROFESSORIAL AND READER APPOINTMENTS (CRT 02/46)
The Court noted the following complete listing of awards of the title Professor, Visiting Professor, Visiting Fellow and Emeritus Professor made by the Professorial and Reader Appointments Committee as a result of the 2002 round of applications:
Professors
Nnamdi Ekere Professor of Manufacturing Processes
Anita Ghatak Professor of Economics
Richard Hayward Professor of Architecture and Urban Design
John Nicholson Professor of Biomaterials Chemistry
Martin Snowden Professor of Colloid and Polymer Studies
Readers
Martin (Czech) Conroy Reader in Rural Livelihoods
Andrew Hall Reader in Innovation Systems for Development
Keith Jones Reader in Sustainable Buildings
Susan Rowland Reader in English and Jungian Studies
Celia Stanworth Reader in Work Futures
Philip Stevenson Reader in Plant Chemistry
Visiting Professors
Bernard Fisher Visiting Professor of Environmental Modelling and
Computation
Dawn Freshwater Visiting Professor of Mental Health
Richard Hallam Visiting Professor of Clinical Psychology
Michael Kelly Visiting Professor of Social Sciences
Peter Searby Visiting Professor of Social History
Visiting Fellow
Geoffrey Stanton Visiting Fellow in Further Education
Emeritus Professors School
Michael Oliver Social Sciences & Law
George Rothschild NRI
Anthony Quiney Architecture and Construction
02/60 (iii) AWARDS CEREMONIES 2003 (CRT 02/47)
The Court noted the confirmed dates of the Award Ceremonies to be held in July and October 2003.
02/61 REPORT FROM THE VICE-CHANCELLOR
The Vice-Chancellor reported on the following issues:
02/61.1 White Paper on the Future of Higher Education – discussion on the implications of the White Paper at the Court Strategy Day had helped to inform the official response to the Secretary of State currently being drafted. An initial response had already been sent to the Select Committee on Education and Skills at which the Vice-Chancellor had subsequently been invited to appear. It was noted that the Secretary of State was due to open the expanded facilities at the Medway Campus the next day (1st April 2003).
02/61.2 Allocation of Funding - the HEFCE Grant Letter, which had recently been received, indicated that the basic increase in grant would only be 2.3% (one of the smallest increases allocated to English universities). On the positive side, Greenwich had been allocated £2.5 million under SRIF and the TTA had announced above-inflation increases in resources for all teacher-training places with an extra amount for providers in London.
02/62 STAFFING AND GENERAL COMMITTEE MINUTES (CRT 02/48)
02/62.1 The minutes of the Staffing and General Committee meeting held on 17 February 2003 were received.
REDUNDANCY APPEALS PANEL (CRT 02/49)
02/62.2 The Court noted the report on the decision of the Court Redundancy Appeals Panel held on 3rd February 2003.
02/63 AUDIT COMMITTEE MINUTES (CRT 02/50)
02/63.1 The minutes of the Audit Committee meeting held on 3 March 2003 were received.
HEFCE AUDIT SERVICE REVIEW VISIT (CRT 02/50)
02/63.2 It was noted that the University had received a copy of the draft Report following the visit by HEFCE in the week beginning 10 February 2003. A report outlining the recommendations in full and actions to be taken would be submitted to Court via Audit Committee in due course.
02/64 FINANCE AND ESTATES COMMITTEE MINUTES (CRT 02/51)
02/64.1 The minutes of the Finance and Estates Committee meeting held on 17 March 2003 were received.
BUDGET 2003-2004: NEED FOR ECONOMIES (CRT 02/52)
02/64.2.1 The Court received a verbal report from the Vice-Chancellor on the need to achieve significant economies before the end of the 2002-2003 financial year. At its recent discussions, the Finance & Estates Committee had concluded that:
i the 2003-04 budget be produced to incorporate a surplus
ii the scale of economies required to achieve a surplus budget would necessitate significant staff reductions, with the likelihood of compulsory redundancies. In order to comply with the terms of the Bond covenant, it was essential that any redundancy costs be absorbed by this year’s deficit budget.
02/64.2.2 It was noted that University officers were currently identifying as a matter of priority a series of radical economy measures, including job losses, for implementation by the end of July 2003. These measures were concentrating on administrative functions.
02/64.2.3 There followed considerable discussion during which the Vice-Chancellor provided assurance that consultation with staff and TU representatives was being undertaken to provide them with the opportunity to contribute to the cost cutting exercise.
02/64.2.4 As part of its deliberations, the Court noted a tabled letter from NATFHE expressing concerns on the implications of proposed changes in the Office of Student Affairs, which, in their opinion, would have a detrimental effect on the quality of service available. It was recognised that many groups of support staff provided crucial services, and that this was being noted n the drive for economies.
02/64.2.5 It was noted that the draft 2003-04 budget would be submitted to the June meeting of Court following consideration by the Finance & Estates Committee.
ISLAND SITE DISPOSAL, WOOLWICH CAMPUS (CRT 02/53)
02/64.3 The Court approved the recommendation of the Finance and Estates Committee that:
i the Director of Estates be authorised to continue negotiations with Powis Street Estates (PSE) to achieve the best possible disposal value in the quickest timescale recognising the special purchaser status of PSE, unless a superior offer is received in the interim
ii delegated authority be granted to the Vice-Chancellor, Chair of Finance & Estates Committee/Chair of Court to accept suitable terms on behalf of the Court for disposal of the Island site, Woolwich Campus.
25/27 WELLINGTON STREET, 1ST AND 2ND FLOORS, WOOLWICH CAMPUS
(CRT 02/54)
02/64.4 The Court approved the recommendation of the Finance and Estates Committee that the Director of Estates be authorised to finalise the details of the assignment of the lease to a local small business to complete the disposal of the premises as part of the overall Woolwich campus disposal procedures.
COLLABORATION WITH CANTERBURY CHRIST CHURCH UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE (CRT 02/55)
02/64.5 The Court approved the recommendation of the Finance and Estates Committee that:
i agreement in principle be granted to the leasing of space on the Medway campus to Canterbury Christ Church University College (CCCUC) for the purposes of joint development in the areas of healthcare education and teacher education programmes
ii the Pro Vice-Chancellors (Academic Planning) and (Resources) continue negotiations on the lease and attendant matters, possibly with a view to submitting a proposal for Chair’s action because of the tight timescale for development
iii authority be granted to the Chair of Finance & Estates Committee and the Vice-Chancellor to approve the leasing of space before the next meeting of the Finance & Estates Committee should that prove necessary.
MEDWAY CAMPUS – MEDWAY COUNCIL AGREEMENT (CRT 02/56)
02/64.6 Noting that under the terms of the Agreement Medway Council would contribute £2.5 million over three financial years, the Court approved the recommendation of the Finance and Estates Committee that the draft Agreement between the University of Greenwich, the University of Kent and Mid Kent College with Medway Council for the development of an integrated campus at Medway (The Universities at Medway Project) to support approximately 6,000 students by 2010 be signed.
NRI BOARD MINUTES (02/57)
02/64.7.1 The confidential minutes of the NRI Board meeting held on 6 March 2003 were received.
02/64.7.2 The Vice-Chancellor reported that:
i it was anticipated that the projected 2002/03 deficit of £1 million would not be overshot
ii there was an encouraging growth in the acquisition of new business for future years
iii the draft 2003/04 Business Plan, which was currently being prepared, was likely to forecast a reduced deficit of £0.5 million and, following consideration by the NRI Board and Finance & Estates Committee, would be submitted to the next meeting of Court.
SCHOOL OF PHARMACY
02/64.8 The Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic Planning) reported on progress in establishing the School noting in particular that:
i the accreditation visit by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in February had been successful; there had been only one significant condition, namely that appropriate staff should be under contract w.e.f. April 2003
ii protracted discussions with a prospective Head of School had proved unsuccessful and the reserve candidate was now being pursued
iii it was still the intention for the School to open in September 2003 but, in the event that the appointment of a Head of School and two other senior academics proved impossible within the next few weeks, a decision regarding possible postponement would be necessary.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY POLICY
02/64.9 The Court noted that, following consideration by the Finance and Estates Committee, modifications were currently being made to the draft Policy, and the amended version would be submitted to the next meeting of Court via the June meeting of the Finance and Estates Committee.
02/65 COURT STRATEGY DAY (CRT 02/58)
02/65.1 The Court received a report by the University Secretary summarising discussions held at the Strategy Day on Saturday, 1st March 2003 and endorsed the overall conclusion that the University should not discontinue any of its functions but should instead seek to adapt and focus its current activities.
02/65.2 In discussion it was noted that student top-up fees were to be introduced from academic session 2006/07 and it would be important to understand in advance the effects of the new pricing regime for students for determining future strategy.
02/66 ACADEMIC COUNCIL (CRT 02/59)
02/66.1 The Court received a report from the Secretary of Academic Council on Items of Academic Significance arising from meetings of Academic Council on 22 January 2003 and 5 March 2003, together with a copy of the minutes of those meetings.
02/66.2 The Court noted that consultations on the proposed amalgamation of the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences and Medway Sciences with the School of Chemical & Life Sciences to form an expanded and re-named School were currently under way. Academic Council would be considering at its next meeting detailed recommendations arising from the consultations for subsequent approval by the Court in June 2003.
02/67 THE STRUCTURE OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR AND THE SEMESTER SCHEDULE (CRT 02/60)
02/67.1 The Court received extracts from a consultation paper considered by Academic Council on 5th March 2003 which proposed, amongst other things, that the present semester system be discontinued. Amplifying on the proposals, the PVC (Academic Planning) reported that the two-semester system had been operating for over 10 years and, with the current changes in higher education, a review of the structure of the academic year had seemed particularly timely. He further reported that, bearing in mind the perceived benefits (eg improvements to the student experience and retention rates, fewer assessments and examinations, and more effective use of administrative resources) the majority of Schools appeared to be in favour of the proposal to revert to a three-term academic year.
02/67.2 In discussion, the Court requested that:
i as part of the consultation process, the view of students, possibly via the Students’ Union, be canvassed to ensure their support for the proposal
ii once Schools had determined their portfolio of programmes in the light of the three-term structure, individual assessment policies for the Schools be clearly set out in future prospectuses.
It was noted that final proposals would be considered by Academic Council at its next meeting following a period of widespread consultation.
02/68 NOMINATION OF DIRECTOR TO MEDWAY CAMPUS LIMITED (CRT 02/61)
The Court approved the proposal that Professor Mark Cross resign from the Medway Campus Limited Board and that his successor be Professor Alan Reed, with full power to represent and act on behalf of the University at all meetings of the Company.