12/392

REPORT OF THE MEETING OF THE CARDIFF UNIVERSITY EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY COMMITTEE HELD BY CORRESPONDENCE IN OCTOBER 2012

1.BACKGROUND

1.1Due to a number of factors, it was agreed that the October meeting of the Equality and Diversity Committee would be held by correspondence. Agenda items were collected and distributed to all members and officers by 10th October, with feedback on the agenda items requested by 22nd October.

2 AGENDA ITEMS

2.1The following papers were distributed as the agenda items for the Equality & Diversity Committee meeting:

1.Minutes: 22nd May 2012

2.Matters Arising

3.Equality and Diversity Committee Membership and Terms of Reference

4.Draft Policy and Procedures for Supporting Gender Reassignment and Equality for Trans Students and Staff

5.Black History Month Poster

3FEEDBACK AND ACTIONS

3.1Minutes: 22nd May 2012 (paper 11/923)

NOTEDthat Minute 347.4 was queried and a request received to indicate when the module was rolled out and how many people had completed the module

RESOLVED

that the Minute would remain unchanged but the updated figures for those who have completed the training module and those who have completed and passed the module will be fed back to the Equality and Diversity Committee.

3.2Matters Arising (paper 12/333)

NOTED that in relation to item 3 of the Matters Arising paper it was queried whether the new guidelines would contain updated information on the new protected characteristics, a section on publishing completed EIAs (with details on the time frame for publication, formatting, etc.) and if an URL is now available for the guidelines.

RESOLVED

that information on protected characteristics and publishing completed EIA’s would be included in the online guidance and that the URL for the webpage would be circulated to members of the Equality and Diversity Committee.

3.3Equality & Diversity Committee Membership and Terms of Reference (paper 12/334)

1

12/392

NOTED

.1that the membership and terms of reference currentlyincluded provision for four Heads of Schools but these positions were not filled;

.2that membership had been considerably reduced as part of the new committee structure post Cardiff Futures and membership now needed to be rethought in relation to the colleges and the future of the policy network;

.3that paragraph 2.1 of the Terms of Reference refers to the Committee as an advisory body, however paragraph 2.2 (i), (ii), and (iii) also suggests that the committee has some sort of 'executive' function.

RESOLVED

.4that the Chair and Secretary of the Committee would look at the membership and terms of reference of the Committee to consider the points above and bring forward amendmentsto the Committee, as appropriate.

3.4Draft Policy and Procedures for supporting Gender Reassignment and Equality for Trans Students and Staff(paper 12/335)

NOTED

.1that point 1.3 bullet point 4 of the main document should read 'regrading' rather than 'regarding’;

.2that a query was raised in relation to paragraphs 16.3 and 16.4 of the draft policy in relation to the University being legally required to keep records intact for a certain number of years;

.3that there were relatively few instances where student records are legally required to be kept 'intact' for a specified period. Under the Data Protection Act privacy of sensitive personal data is paramount, personal data records are required to be held for 'no longer than necessary' and must not cause unwarranted damage or distress.So the Gender Recognition Act will take precedence in determining what is lawful. Application of the policy does undoubtedly pose audit and records management challenges but it has been reviewed from both a data protection and records management perspective and a pragmatic approach will be taken, involving the individuals’ explicit wishes within the law.

RESOLVED

.4that the draft gender reassignment policy and guidelines would be circulated for wider consultation and relevant feedback incorporated before submission to Governance Committee.

3.5Black History Month Poster(paper 12/336)

NOTED

.1that the coversheet for this item should identify this as an ‘opportunity’ to promote equality;

.2that it would be useful to collect feedback from this event to assist the University to plan future events

1X