UCML Executive , 22 February 2013
Minutes
Meeting chaired by Jocelyn Wyburd notes by Ali Dickens (LLAS)
Present: Naomi Segal, Jocelyn Wyburd, Lesley Twomey, Ulrich Tiedau, Mary-Anne Ansell, Elena Polisca, Lucille Cairns, Andrew Ginger, Margaret Littler, Kate Beeching, Claire Gorrara.
1. Apologies for absence: Jim Coleman, Teresa MacKinnon, Tony Shannon-Little, John Morley, Gerda Wielander, Rebecca Tipton, Mary Fischer / Michael Gratzke, Terry Lamb, Ramona Gonczol, Fil Nereo
Plenary meeting 18th January notes not yet available
Ali to action (done)
2. Discussion of any issues arising from Executive and Plenary Minutes and not already on the agenda
Minutes from 28th September 2012 matters arising
· p2. LinkedIn page for UCML, YouTube feature and closed area of website – all to be actioned by Teresa
Action Ali, Teresa
· p.2 Send things to be tweeted etc. to Teresa
Action All
· Future plenary – possibility might be considered of using online Moodle space
· More engagement with employers would be useful especially in the light of the British Academy State of the Nation report http://www.britac.ac.uk/policy/State_of_the_Nation_2013.cfm. Might be prudent for members to liaise locally with their careers services.
p6 Error in reference to Shaping the Future was probably in relation to Speak to the Future. Need to check on this and progress on STF and whether HELG has met.
Action: Ali
Update on Plenary 18th January 2013 – snow disrupted attendance and a virtual classroom was used extensively for chairing in addition to discussion. It worked reasonably well for presentations but less well for discussions. Only audio was used on this occasion but Google hangouts allows video. Also the chat facility can be used for questions/comments. It was felt that there are limitations to using this so it doesn’t present an alternative to face-to-face plenaries However it was agreed to offer virtual access to plenaries (but not for keynote speakers) and to use online tools for small group meetings to save time and travel costs. It was felt that Executive meetings should remain face-to-face if finances allow and members are encouraged to book off-peak and advance travel to assist in keeping the costs down.
3. Chair’s Report and discussion of any issues arising from the Chair’s report
UCML Chair’s Report to Executive, 22 February 2013 (available at http://www.ucml.ac.uk/events/22-02-13.html)
Jim apologised to the Executive for being unable to attend the meeting in person.
He reported that he had been called on to advise some departments at risk of seeing specialist degrees withdrawn.
The Chair noted that Jim will provide confidential advice so members are requested to encourage colleagues to approach UCML when under threat. Issues which may arise were discussed e.g. staff-student ratio issues, contact hours.
Contact Hours
It was discussed whether UCML should try to provide some comparative data on this. For example contact hours for ab initio language courses data could be collected to illustrate needs for this area of language learning.
Action: Elena to contact reps for different languages
Staff-student ratios
In terms of staff student ratios (SSRs) it was agreed that this was more problematic and much harder to get reliable or comparable data. It was suggested that low ssrs in languages might be offset with KIS employability data showing that language graduates are very employable, but in the main that this was not an area which UCML could pursue.
Data collection
In terms of contact hours data it was agreed that there would be a need to distinguish language modules from content modules. A short survey monkey questionnaire for language was suggested which could include a snapshot by language as some languages are a ‘special case’ e.g. Chinese.
. It might be possible to approach HEA for financial support for this or to do a more systematic survey. The issue was raised as to the risks of publishing the data as it could work against some colleagues in some institutions so it was agreed not to publish the raw data which would be anonymised in publications.
Action ?
Jim also reported on the UCML-HEA Collaborative Provision in Languages event, hosted by the British Academy on 11 February which attracted over 50 attenders. The attendance of Chris Millward (who presented) and of Linda Allebon from HEFCE reflects the unique position of languages, which remains, with Engineering, the only vulnerable discipline area with strategic importance. The outcome was several strands of possible action which Jim will present to HEFCE as a concrete plan of action. Also a confidential summary has gone to HEFCE which is still interested in supporting languages and wants to fund an activity led by the sector and which will make a difference (HEFCE catalyst fund). The bid will need more input from the Exec when it is worked up into a bid to this funding stream and Jocelyn and Naomi will be meeting with HEFCE in April. HEFCE is keen to support diversity of provision in languages for a wide range of students as currently languages are not well represented across the sector. Collaboration remains supported by HEFCE who believes that this will help solve the issue as it has done in other subjects.
Jocelyn gave an update on Jim’s initiative to get a TV series with charismatic presenter to promote languages. He spoke to the BBC but the channel is not interested at present. It was also clarified that UCML initiatives will not overlap with Speak to the Future which is the PR activity for languages as HEFCE is concerned with HE delivery rather than creating a demand.
Jim has personally congratulated Teresa Tinsley on The British Academy report Languages: The State of the Nation published on 14 February, and the Executive group added its congratulations to Teresa on the report which is very rich in useful data. Members were urged to circulate the link to this (see above item 2).
It was also noted that John Morley from this committee was involved in the recently published HEA-UCML-AULC survey of Institution-Wide Language Provision in universities in the UK (2012-2013).
Jim attended the final UK meeting of the Language Rich Europe project at Europe House on 4 February which provided an opportunity for networking. Claire reported that the Cardiff meeting was very disappointing in that is was purely dissemination rather dialogue while Naomi confirmed that the London meeting was good. It was noted that the British Council were in attendance at this meeting and that they don’t normally attend UCML plenaries although they are on the listed of invitees. It was suggested that they might attend if they were invited to present. It was agreed that the UCML list should be checked for names of representatives from the British Council and from Language Rich Europe.
Action Ali
Jim acknowledged the support provided to UCML and languages by the Higher Education Academy and noted that HEA is very willing to receive suggestions from UCML for further initiatives in the present and next year. The Committee added its thanks to HEA for funding the Institution Wide survey report and for funding the Collaborative Provision in languages event, in particular, the languages lead, Fil Nereo.
Jim as now delivered Liz Hudswell’s leaving gift from UCML on a recent visit to LLAS the committee added their formal thanks to Liz
4. Report from Vice Chair (Languages and Intercultural Education)
Reform of A levels
Jocelyn will keep the group informed on how A level boards are structuring the new A levels (AS levels will go). She reported that ‘A’ levels will still use multiple exam boards.
Reform of Key Stage 4 qualifications in England
Jocelyn reported that the EBacc is now back to being a performance criterion but changes mean that languages are no longer a core subject but can be one of 6 out of the 8 subjects required. The proposal for certification for the EBacc has also now been abandoned. There will be a review of core subject GCSEs for the EBacc but it is not likely that languages will become one of these, especially as schools can now get top marks for A-C students without a language. The U-turn in respect of the EBacc was a result of lobbying from other subjects who wanted to be included in it which resulted in English and Maths remaining core while other subjects became optional.
University applications, see http://www.ucml.ac.uk/languages-education/he-languages
This year’s UCAS statistics show a further drop in applications to both European (-6.1%) and non-European (-6.7%) languages, at a time when overall applications are up 3.5%. This remains a cause of great concern for UCML.
UCML/AULC/HEA survey of IWLPs published:
http://www.ucml.ac.uk/languages-education/he-languages
Languages Education section of the website: http://www.ucml.ac.uk/languages-education
Jocelyn reported that this has been restructured into 3 sub-areas of
· Languages in HE
· Languages in primary and secondary
· Associated projects/associations
She requested that UCML Executive members: circulate the link to this section to their member associations to raise awareness of its contents. She is often approached for A level statistics or UCAS statistics and these are all available from the site and it would be helpful if this became known as a one-stop shop for statistical information on languages for universities. She also reminded the group that the UCML Facebook page is being updated with the above news and to also make this know to their colleagues.
Action All
The issue of restructuring the website was also raised and Jocelyn will liaise with Teresa and LLAS to look at this issue. Comments on this were invited from the committee. It was also identified that some of the material on the LLAS site needs to be cross-referenced with the UCML material.
Action Jocelyn, Teresa, Ali
5. Report from Vice Chair (Research)
See also the report from the UCML Plenary (18th January)
Naomi gave an update on the REF –the search for new user members is ongoing. A call was issued to subject associations and the nominations will be reviewed. Individual contacts will be made if further nominations are needed.
She reported that 2-3 more assessors for languages are to be appointed, which seems a lower number than expected. Some ad hoc assessors might also be appointed, however. It is also likely to be acceptable that disciplinary expertise can be applied across languages. A decision has been made on double weighting, whereby an institution can put forward an item for this but I the case of it being deemed unsuitable a reserve item is advisable.
Naomi responded (also in plenary report) to the Open Access Research BIS survey. The target date for this to be implemented is 2020. There is concern over CC-BY licences being used and that there is not enough understanding of the differences between the sciences (where things change rapidly) and the humanities. Articles are on average longer in non-sciences. OAPen-UK website http://oapen-uk.jiscebooks.org/ includes much of the general views on this initiative which started in Netherlands.
Action Teresa to tweet on this.
A question was raised as to whether there was a need for an equivalent of
the Academy of Social Sciences (http://www.acss.org.uk/) for the
Humanities outwith the British Academy, but it was agreed that this was
probably not the remit of UCML. It was suggested that A-HUG (Arts and
Humanities User Group contact: Professor Robin Osborne, University of
Cambridge () is a learned society which seems to be the only group representing the Humanities which could be a group to fill a similar lobbying role for humanities. Lucille reported that AUPHF is running an event on Open Access, she will provide details for tweeting etc.
Action Lucille
The Council for the Defence of British Universities was named as another body which might have a role to play in this.
All members were requested to cascade information to colleagues to raise awareness of what UCML is doing.
Action All
6. Report from Vice Chair (External Communication and Engagement)
See also the report from the UCML Plenary (18th January) and Stats relating to who is following on twitter etc.
Members were requested to give feedback on the website to Teresa, especially the twitter feed on the homepage.
Action All
There was a repeat request for an update on progress with YouTube and LinkedIn page.
Action Teresa
7. Report from Honorary Secretary
See also the report from the UCML Plenary (18th January)
There are some upcoming vacancies for Treasurer & English Language Teaching for which nominations are sought by the end May. Voting will be held in June. All other posts can be extended.
Action All
8. Report from Treasurer
See also the report from the UCML Plenary (18th January)
9. Reports from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Scotland
See minutes from UCML Scotland Meeting: Fri 1st Feb 2013 (http://www.ucml.ac.uk/events/22-02-13.html)
The main issue for UCMLS is visibility. A request is being Planned for a UCMLS tab on the website to add Scotland relevant papers and events
Action Jocelyn, Mary/Michael, Ali
It was noted that mother tongue +2 is the Scottish language policy for its citizens (as a lifelong learning goal). Pupils in Primary start with one language. Colleagues in Scotland are also keen to initiate a Routes-style project for Scotland and are planning to lobby for a Routes project.
Wales
Claire reported that the Routes initiative is being very helpful in bringing colleagues together. A further year of funding for Routes has now been confirmed.
For Wales UCAS applications are down 10-15% and languages are doing particularly poorly in post 1992 institutions and Swansea is surviving but much depleted in its language provision. By contrast Welsh medium teaching is thriving but somewhat at the expense of MFL as there is little support for multilingualism. Colegau Cymru is a good example of how collaboration works for Welsh language provision/Welsh medium teaching which might be helpful for the HEFCE bid (see item).
There are also 11 Confucius classrooms across Wales and good links between languages and the employability agenda.
It is useful to note the spread of languages as depicted in the Languages State of the Nation (full report) map of languages in the British Isles.
Interest was shown in having a Wales page on the website.
10. Reports from other Executive members