Senate Minutes 23 June 2021

Minutes of the meeting of the Cardiff University Senate held on Wednesday 23 June 2021, via Zoom.

Attendance

In attendance

Hannah Darnley, Laura Davies, Rhodri Evans, Professor Claire Gorrara, Dr Rob Gossedge, Dr Julie Gwilliam, Rashi Jain, Professor Wenguo Jiang, Vari Jenkins, Dr Emma Kidd, Sue Midha, Gareth Owen, TJ Rawlinson, Dr Andrew Roberts, Ruth Robertson (minutes), Claire Sanders, Professor Phil Stephens, Professor Andrew Westwell, Simon Wright (Secretary)

918 Welcome and introductions

The Chair welcomed all to the meeting, especially the new Head of Modern Languages, Professor David Clarke. It was noted the meeting would be recorded to assist with production of the attendance list and minutes.

919 Apologies for absence

Noted

919.1 that apologies received would be recorded in the Minutes.

920 Minutes

920.1 The Chair reported that a query with respect to the minutes had been received. The query related to a post meeting note inserted after minute 906.8 on Academic Renewal. It was proposed that the note be removed and the matter discussed under matters arising.

Resolved

920.2 to confirm the minutes of the meeting of Senate held on 24 February 2021 (paper 20/708) as a true record subject to the removal of the post meeting note as detailed above.

921 Matters arising

Academic renewal (minute 906.8)

Noted

921.1 the updates received from each College on the consultation on proposals relating to academic renewal:

1. that between March 2019 and Jan 2020 the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences held 10 town halls (1 in each School); 10 workshops; 4 Dean-facilitated cross-College workshops; College Board-Operations Board away day; all-staff survey with responses shared and three town halls addressing these. An initial plan was the circulated for consultation, and a series of actions were finalized in March 2020;
2. that in the College of Physical Science and Engineering Academic Renewal projects have all been proposed from Schools themselves and have been the subject of regular discussion at College Board and College Operations Group;
3. that the College of Biomedical and Life Sciences began discussions on Academic Renewal with Schools in November 2020, indicating possible areas for consideration. These broad areas were refined by Schools and presented back to BLS College Board in January 2021, ensuring that Academic Renewal delivery plans were informed and driven by the Schools. Since February, all changes to programmes have been driven through normal University processes;

921.2 that a point was raised by a member of Senate relating to the final version of the Programme Development Policy published, which included changes which had not been approved at a meeting of Senate.  These changes were substantive and academic staff, in ENCAP in particular, had concerns for a wide variety of reasons.

Resolved

921.3 the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Students would check the version of the Programme Development Policy published to establish if there had been a post Senate change;

921.4 that if Senate had not approved the change, this would be addressed according to the appropriate governance route.

IHRA definition of antisemitism and the APPG of British Muslims’ definition of islamophobia

Noted

921.5 that Council had discussed the proposal to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism and the APPG of British Muslims’ definition of islamophobia at its meeting of 19 April 2021 and noted:

• (minute 1923.1) that the University had received a letter from the National Hindu Students Forum asking if the University is considered to be a safe space for Hindus;
• (minute 1923.2) that adopting selected religion or race specific definitions may appear to exclude any other faith groups or races not covered and that the Council did not wish to be divisive as a result of adopting a definition;
• (minute 1923.3) that the University has existing policies in place to safeguard groups within its community and is fully committed to supporting its various religion and race communities.

921.6 that following detailed consideration of the proposals, and taking into consideration the view of Senate as well as Council members, the Council had agreed not to adopt the IHRA definition of Antisemitism and the APPG of British Muslims’ definition of Islamophobia at this point in time;

921.7 that Council had also resolved that the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Sub-Committee would support a review of University policies to safeguard groups within its community and ensure that all communities feel protected.

922 Declaration of interests

The Chair reminded members of their requirement to disclose any direct or indirect interests which could influence their judgement. Disclosure of interests should be made before an item was discussed and the individual concerned should either withdraw from the meeting or not take part in the discussion, as appropriate for that part of the agenda.

Noted

922.1 that no member disclosed any interests.

923 Report from the Vice-Chancellor

Received paper 20/709C ‘Vice-Chancellor’s Report to Senate’. The Vice-Chancellor introduced the paper.

Noted

923.1 the contents of the Vice-Chancellor’s report to Senate and the following additional items, reported orally;

923.2 that following an internal recruitment exercise, Professor Damian Walford Davies had been appointed to the role of Deputy Vice-Chancellor from 1 August 2021;

923.3 that the Vice-Chancellor would appoint to the resultant vacancy for the role of Pro Vice-Chancellor for the College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences swiftly to ensure continuity of business; in accordance with Ordinance 8, the job specification and person specification would be circulated to Senate after the meeting.  Senate members are requested to return comments to the Vice-Chancellor’s Office by 1 July 2021;

923.4 that the University had received correspondence from a number of parties, arising from external debate on freedom of speech and gender critical beliefs and the correspondence was being considered by the University; the Chair invited members of Senate to comment if they so wished; no comments were raised at the meeting.

924 Report from the Chair of Academic Standards and Quality Committee (ASQC)

Received papers 20/710 ‘Report from Chair of ASQC’ and 20/667 ‘Minutes of ASQC 18 May 2021’. The Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience introduced the paper.

Noted

924.1 that Senate was asked to approve the following proposals which had been scrutinised by the Academic Standards and Quality Committee:

1. a revalidation process for taught programmes, to replace periodic review;
2. amendments to the admissions regulations;
3. amendments to the Award, Programme, Module and Assessment Regulations;
4. a revised remote study policy;
5. amendments to the postgraduate research regulations, policies, and procedures;
6. a new Procedure for the Re-Registration of Former Research Degree Students for Examination.

924.2 that the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education & Students reassured Senate that she was listening to academic staff concerns with respect to the operation of the extenuating circumstances policy and intended to review the policy over the summer; that improvements to processes had already been identified based on staff feedback; that student communication and the SIMS task were being updated; the current priority was to successfully complete the summer exam boards and re-sit boards:

924.3 that the University had signed up to the Academic Integrity Charter, developed by the QAA, to pledge to implement its principles and commitments, which included working with staff and students and, in collaboration across the sector, to protect and promote academic integrity, and take action against academic misconduct.

Resolved

924.3 to approve the recommendations in paper 20/710.

925 REF 2021 submission – analysis report

Received papers 20/711HC ‘REF 2021 Submission - Analysis Report’. The Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Enterprise introduced the paper.

Noted

925.1 Redacted;

925.2 Redacted;

925.3 Redacted;

925.4 Redacted;

925.5 Redacted.

926 Proposals for education governance

Received papers 20/712 ‘Proposals for Education Governance’. The Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education & Student Experience introduced the paper.

Noted

926.1 that proposals were being put forward that had been subject to extensive consultation.  These included: establishing new education and students experience committees at School, College and Senate sub-committee levels; establishing school postgraduate research committees and a PGR Strategy Group; and to amend the Academic Regulations and Ordinances accordingly;

926.2 that the constitution of a new sub-committee of Senate ‘Education and Student Experience Committee’ had two-thirds fewer members appointed by Senate than ASQC and a proposal that this should be rectified to mirror the balance of membership at ASQC;

926.3 that Boards of Studies were not listed as bodies which had been part of the consultation exercise, however they would have been able to respond to the open staff consultation; that in future consultations, the views of Boards of Studies will be solicited, and that the PVC Education and Students would take this forward;

926.4 that, in smaller Schools, single committees undertake multiple roles therefore implementation at School level will need to consider these situations.

Resolved

926.5 To recommend to Council:

1. amendments to Ordinance 10: Constitution of Committees (appendix 1 of paper 20/712) to vary the membership and make minor modifications to the terms of reference of ASQC;
2. amendments to Ordinance 10: Constitution of Committees (appendix 1 of paper 20/712) to establish an Education and Student Experience Committee, subject to review of the proposed membership to increase the number of members appointed by Senate.
3. amendments to Ordinance 9: Academic Bodies to confirm that the Doctoral Academy should no longer be regarded as an academic body (appendix 3 of paper 20/712).

926.6 to approve the amendments to the Academic Regulations for Academic Governance as listed in appendix 2 of paper 20/712;

927 Civic Mission and Research and Innovation Sub-Strategies

Received papers 20/713C ‘Civic Mission and Research & Innovation Sub-Strategies’. The Vice-Chancellor introduced the paper.

Noted

927.1 the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Enterprise confirmed that the Research & Innovation Sub-Strategy had been developed in consultation and aligns strongly to the previous version. The proposed version includes more specificity in areas of change;

927.2 the Chief Operating Officer confirmed that consultation on the Civic Mission Sub-Strategy had taken place both internally and externally, including with the current Welsh Government Education Secretary and the Future Generations Commissioner. The Sub-Strategy had been adapted to reflect the significant changes in the external context such as climate change and the UN actions on sustainable development and the skills led recovery from COVID-19.

Resolved

927.3 to recommend the sub-strategies to Council.

928 Cardiff University Ethics Policy for Human Research

Received papers 20/657 ‘Ethics Policy for Human Research’. The Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Enterprise introduced the paper.

Resolved

928.1 to recommend the updates to the Ethics Policy for Human Research as set out in paper 20/657 to Council.

929 Changes to staff categories of Council

Received papers 20/714C ‘Changes to Staff Categories on Council’. The University Secretary introduced the paper.

Noted

929.1 the implementation mechanism for the previously agreed changes to staff categories on Council.

930 Any other business

Vacancy on Senate

Noted

930.1 that a further vacancy on Senate was advertised in Staff Blas on 16 June, with nominations due by 16 July 2021. Senate members would also be contacted over the summer in relation to the Senate elected member of Council.

Vote of thanks to outgoing members

930.2 the Chair thanked those outgoing members whose terms end at the end of the academic year and were therefore attending their last meeting:

• Karen Harvey-Cooke
• Dr Helen Shaw
• Kersty Hobson
• Dr Jane Davies
• Athanasios Hassoulas
• Christoph Teufel
• Alexandra Williams

930.3 The following sabbatical officers (who will end their term on 30/6/21):

• Tomos Evans, Students’ Union President
• Jane Chukwu, VP Postgraduate
• Jude Pickett, VP Sports and AU President
• Luke Evans, VP Societies and Volunteering
• Georgina East, VP Welfare and Campaigns

930.4 the Chair particularly thanked and paid tribute to Professor Karen Holford pending her departure on 31 July 2021 to take up the post of Vice-Chancellor of Cranfield University.

930.5 Professor Holford’s long and distinguished membership of the University; initially as a student, then as a member of staff becoming Head of School, Pro Vice-Chancellor and ultimately Deputy Vice-Chancellor.  Senate marked Professor Holford’s great and valued contribution to the University by a round of applause.

931 Items received for information

Senate noted the following papers:

Paper 20/715 Fee and Access Plan 2022/2023
Paper 20/526 Cardiff University Research Integrity - Compliance with External Conflict of Interest Requirements
Paper 20/716 Research Grants and Contracts
Paper 20/717 Changes to Ordinance 12
Paper 20/718 Emeritus and Emerita Titles