PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL

Heriot-Watt University
THE UNIVERSITY EXECUTIVE / Minutes: 7 March 2017
In the Chair: / Professor Richard A Williams, Principal and Vice-Chancellor
Present Also: / Professor Julian Jones, Vice-Principal
Professor Ammar Kaka, Vice-Principal (Dubai)*
Professor Robert Craik, Vice-Principal (Malaysia)*
Professor Gill Hogg, Deputy Principal (Engagement and Staff Development)
Dr Gillian Murray, Deputy Principal (Enterprise and Business)
Professor John Sawkins, Deputy Principal (Learning and Teaching)
Professor Robert MacIntosh, Head (Social Sciences)
Professor Beatrice Pelloni, Head (Mathematical and Computer Science)
Professor Fiona Waldron, Head (Textiles and Design)
Professor Mushtak Al-Atabi, Senior Deputy Vice-Principal (Malaysia)*
Mr Richard McGookin, Director of Planning
Mr Mark Adderley, Director of Human Resource Development
In Attendance: / Mr Brett Dodgson, Clerk
Apologies: / Professor Malcolm Chrisp, Head (Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure, and Society)
Professor Stephen McLaughlin, Head (Engineering and Physical Sciences)
Professor Heather McGregor, Executive Dean (Edinburgh Business School)
Professor Gareth Pender, Deputy Principal (Research and Innovation)
Ms Ann Marie Dalton-Pillay, Secretary of the University
Mr Andrew Menzies, Director of Finance

* Indicates member participating remotely

MINUTE REF
M17/053 / WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Chair welcomed to the meeting the members of the UE and those colleagues who were in attendance.
M17/054 / BLUE PAPERS
The UE received and noted the Blue Papers including the Operational Plan and Actions Log. It was noted that the presentation from Organisational Development scheduled for this meeting would now be deferred to a later meeting.
The UE noted outstanding actions arising from recent meetings and agreed that members should inform the Clerk where actions had been delayed or not completed.
M17/055 / MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
The UE noted that the minutes of the meeting held 28 February 2017 would be circulated for approval following the meeting.
M17/056 / REPORT FROM THE PRINCIPAL
In a verbal report the Principal noted that the Court had approved the proposed planning envelopes in respect of the 2017 Five Year Financial Plan [minute 17/042]. It was noted that, over March and April, time would be made available following each UE meeting to discuss matters relating to the current planning round. Members of the UE were invited to raise issues for discussion as needed.
The Principal noted progress in the projects comprising the four Transformational Initiatives. It was noted that, at an additional meeting to be held 28 June 2017, the Senate would receive a “show and tell” type presentation from each of the Transformational Initiative Leaders. It was intended that presentations would take the form of digital displays or posters which could then be made available at each campus. Transformational Initiative Leaders were invited to work with their project teams in developing their presentations.
Finally, the Principal noted that the University’s Strategic Dialogue Meeting with the Scottish Funding Council had been held 6 March 2017. It was noted that their had been a very positive dialogue and that colleagues from the Scottish Funding Council had had the opportunity to meet staff and students.
M17/057 / TEACHING EXCELLENCE FRAMEWORK
The UE received a report on the UK Higher Education and Research Bill and noted that the House of Lords had voted in favour of an amendment removing the connection between the Teaching Excellence Framework and differential levels of fees. It was noted that the Bill would now return to the House of Commons.
M17/058 / SUPPORT FOR STAFF: UK WITHDRAWAL FROM EU [Paper: UE/17/024]
The UE considered proposals to provide additional support and advice for staff who could be affected by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
The UE noted the importance of the University’s international staff and agreed that:
1.  the proposals should be put in a global context, making it clear what is provided in each of our locations, and making it clear that the additional UK support was exceptional for these turbulent times. The proposal should clearly define what is provided in each campus and, in particular, should define the scope of the proposed additional support in terms of duration and staff eligibility;
2.  the proposals should make clear that support would be provided in a spirit of partnership but that individual members of staff who were not UK citizens would remain ultimately responsible for taking actions that might be needed to retain the right to live in the UK; and
3.  the proposals should allow for anticipated changes in the procedure to be followed by nationals of European Economic Area countries seeking UK citizenship.
It was agreed that the costs would need to be agreed as part of the current planning round for Professional Services.
The UE agreed that the Director of Human Resource Development should prepare fully costed proposals and that these should be circulated for consideration by correspondence and presented for approval at a later meeting.
M17/059 / GRADUATE LEVEL APPRENTICESHIPS
The UE received a report on the award to the University of funding from Skills Development Scotland to deliver three new Graduate Level Apprenticeship programmes.
It was noted that the three programmes would be IT Management for Business; IT Software Development; and Engineering, Design, and Manufacturing. There would be 25 places on each programme and work was underway to support the launch of these programmes later in 2017. It was anticipated that Skills Development Scotland would in April 2017 invite tenders for a second tranche of funding.
M17/060 / STRATEGIC PROJECTS DASHBOARD [Paper: UE/17/023]
The UE received and noted the Strategic Projects Dashboard as at February 2017.
M17/061 / DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The UE noted that its next meeting would be a strategy meeting and would be held 14 March 2017.

Signed by Chair ………………………………………..

Date ……………………………………………………..

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Approved by correspondence 13 March 2017.

UEM-17-03-07-Web