Senate minutes 11 March 2026

Minutes of the Meeting of the Cardiff University Senate Held on Wednesday 11 March 2026 at 14:15, in the Lecture Theatre of the Hadyn Ellis Building.

Attendance

In Attendance

Katy Dale, Hannah Darnley, Laura Davies, Rob Davies, Rhodri Evans (Secretary), Sally-ann Efstathiou, Sian Ballard, Professor Claire Gorrara, Professor Kerry Hood, Tom Hay, Victoria Holbrook, Professor Dawn Knight, Professor Caroline Lear, Sian Marshall, Chinma Metu (minutes), Dr Angharad Naylor, Dr Liz Wren-Owens, Craig Watkins Council Member (observer), Dr Robert Weaver Council Member (observer), Dr Paula Sanderson, Professor Amanda Tonks, Professor Helen Williams, Darren Xiberras.

1169 Welcome and Introductions

1169.1 The new members were welcomed to their first meeting.

1170 Apologies for Absence

1170.1 The apologies received would be recorded in the Minutes.

1171 Declaration of Interests

1171.1 The Chair reminded members of their requirement to disclose any interests which could influence their judgement. No disclosures of interested were received.

1172 Minutes of Previous Meeting

1172.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 12 November 2025 (paper 25/322C) were confirmed as a true and accurate record and were approved by the Committee.

1173 Matters Arising

1173.1 There were no matters arising raised.

1174 Items from the Chair

Noted

1174.1 there were no chair’s actions since the last meeting to report;

1174.2 that members were reminded that all committee papers and minutes are issued under the Cardiff University Committee Papers and Minutes Publication Policy and must be handled in accordance with their designated classification: Highly Confidential (C1) and Confidential (C2), documents must not be disclosed, shared, copied, or discussed beyond authorised recipients; papers categorised as Non-Classified can only be released internally or externally on request subject to redaction of any personal data in external disclosures, and any requests for disclosure of papers should be directed to Committees@cardiff.ac.uk in the first instance;

1174.3 that a minute’s silence was held in memory of a recently deceased member of staff and condolences had been passed on to the family.

1175 Report from the Vice-Chancellor

Received and considered paper 25/304C ‘Vice-Chancellor’s Report to Senate’. The Chair spoke to this item.

Noted

1175.1 that there continued to be active engagement at the Kazakhstan campus with visits from schools hosted and prospective students welcomed on campus during various events;

1175.2 that further transnational education initiatives were being developed with Tianjin University, China and Singapore Institute of Management, each operating under different models. The transnational education initiatives would not directly impact QS rankings, however, the initiatives enhanced the University’s global profile and supported international student recruitment.

1175.3 that the education and student experience and colleges and schools Professional Service transformation was progressing; there had been extensive consultation and the new structure had been communicated to staff and meetings with staff about their new roles were in progress. The University continued to invest in staff capacity and capability; the focus remained on strategic appointments, and ensuring strengths aligned with the institutional priorities;

1175.4 that Professor Simon Thomson had been appointed to the post of the Director of Flexible Lifelong Learning; the role would develop strategies to enhance the University’s performance in this area, expand the learning portfolio, and strengthen the University’s global reach;

1175.5 that the implementation of Our Academic Future was in progress; new School names had been approved for the four new Schools and the Heads of Schools had been appointed;

1175.6 that a new Pro Vice-Chancellor (Campus Futures) role would lead the next phase of work to transform Cardiff’s physical infrastructure, champion innovative education and research environments, and strengthen the University’s role as a global-civic and future‑ready institution;

1175.7 that the University continued to be actively involved in regional partnerships, with sustained activities to formalise business engagement; initiatives were underway to move from individual to organisational relationships, to ensure a more strategic and joined-up approach to regional engagement;

1175.8 there continued to be reasonable confidence in Undergraduate Home, Undergraduate International, Postgraduate Taught Home recruitment but the outlook remained uncertain for Postgraduate Taught International;

1175.9 that the Quality Enhancement Review team had visited the University and met with staff and students during the first week in March 2026; a formal update on the outcome of the review would be presented to the next meeting of Senate;

1175.10 that Professor Baljit Khakh, a global authority on astrocytes and brain function, had been appointed Director of the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) at the University funded by the UK Government’s Global Talent Fund and The Moondance Foundation.

1176 Report from the Students’ Union President

Received and considered paper 25/305 ‘Students’ Union President’s Report February 2026’.  A representative from the Students’ Union spoke to this item.

Noted

1176.1 that four motions had been passed at the Annual General Meeting reflecting the main priorities of the elected officers;

1176.2 that student engagement this term included was focussed on providing support for students impacted by timetabling issues, and for better support for those affected by sexual violence and harassment;

1176.3 that changes had been made to the portfolio of the Student’s Union sabbatical team and elections to the posts for 2026/27 would be held later in the month.

1177 Draft Code of Practice for REF 2029

Received and considered Paper 25/306C ‘Draft Code of Practice for REF 2029’. The PVC Research, Innovation and Enterprise spoke to this item.

Noted

1177.1 that the framework for REF 2029 had been published; the framework included a requirement for each institution to submit a Code of Practice as a mandatory component for all HEIs submitting to REF 2029;

1177.2 that there had been direct engagement with diverse stakeholder groups based on experience of previous REF exercises; this included providing feedback on communication, recognition of diverse contribution, research independence, disciplinary distinctiveness, EDI and appeals;

1177.3 that the EDI training materials provided by an external organisation were not currently available in Welsh; that this issue had only just been identified and a commitment had been made to providing EDI training materials bilingually;

1177.4 that feedback on the draft REF 2029 Code of Practice would be also sought from the REF Strategy Group and University Research Committee prior to final approval by UEB and submission to Medr for approval by 06 May 2026; once approved, the Code of Practice would be implemented and would guide the University’s approach to REF 2029.

1178 Modernising Governance

Received and considered paper 25/307 ‘Modernising Governance and Constitutional Reform Update’.  The Director of Transforming Governance spoke to this item.

Noted

1178.1 that the revised Council, Senate and committee structure had been published on the intranet; further work included publishing the University Executive Board’s structure and revising the University’s scheme of delegated authority;

1178.2 that the function of the Honorary Fellowships and Degrees Committee was focused on process and operations rather than to perform a governance role delegated by Senate and Council; that it was proposed for the Honorary Fellowships and Degrees Committee to be dis-established and to become a sub-group of UEB;

1178.3 that work to review the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances, including clarifying the role of Senate as recommended by the Bicameral Review, had been initiated; the Constitutional Reform Group had identified several design principles; that engagement with staff and students would be undertaken;

1178.4 that there would be no changes to Senate membership for 2026-27 despite the changes to college, schools and professional services structures; this was to allow the wider work on constitutional reform to take place.

Resolved

1178.5 to approve the disestablishment of the Honorary Fellowships and Degrees Committee as a joint committee of Council and Senate.

1179 Future ready – transforming strategy into action

Received and considered paper 25/308 ‘Future ready – transforming strategy into action’. The Dean for Student Success spoke to this item.

Noted

1179.1 that the report detailed achievements against the education and student experiences priorities and in response to student views, the challenges faced by the University in these areas, and the ambition for 2035 which included a transformative educative vision, inclusivity and belonging, innovation, and student success and building on past foundations;

1179.2 that shaping a future ready experience that transformed students would be the strategic focus of the education and student experience priorities; three programmes of work across three thematic areas which included Student Success (for all), Curriculum 2035, and Flexible Lifelong Learning would be developed;

1179.3 that a review of assessments and the use of artificial intelligence was ongoing; the University was planning to implement a two-lane assessment model to mitigate the misuse of generative AI in assessments;

1179.4 that a range of activities were being undertaken to improve graduate prospects and employability; the graduate attributes framework was under review, and the employment panel meetings provided the opportunity to understand industry needs around graduate employability.

1180 Education and Student Experience Committee Report to Senate

Received and considered paper 25/310 ‘Education and Student Experience Committee Report to Senate’. The Interim Pro Vice-Chancellor Education and Student Experience spoke to this item.

Noted

1180.1 that the Inclusive Education Framework had been reviewed and updated to take account of the new University strategy and the Future Ready priorities;

1180.2 that the University Suicide Prevention Strategy had been updated to align with current national guidance, including the AMOSSHE Collective Responsibility, Collective Action to Prevent Student Suicide; a new integrated action plan for Student Health and Wellbeing had been developed for 2025/26;

1180.3 that there continued to be good progress in implementing the actions in response to the Student Views 2025; monitoring continued to take place with input from the Students’ Union.

1181 Annual Enhancement Report

Received and considered paper 25/311 ‘Annual Enhancement Report’. The Interim Pro Vice-Chancellor Education and Student Experience spoke to this item.

Noted

1181.1 that the report provided an update on strategic, student led and challenge led enhancement to education and student experience and evaluated the intended impact of the activities being undertaken;

1181.2 that the HEFCW/Medr regulatory monitoring over the three-year period had decreased, primarily in response to improvements in student satisfaction in recent years;

1181.3 that there had been improvements in progression rates, withdrawal rates and retention following drops over the Covid period;

1181.4 that there continued to be sustained improvement in the National Student Survey outcomes, including improvements to the main thematic areas of Teaching on my Course, Assessment and Feedback, and Student Voice;

1181.5 the Cynllun Cynefin framework focused on increasing the number of students studying through the medium of Welsh and for expanding bilingual academic offerings and student support as well as enhancing the student experience.

1182 Academic Standards and Quality Committee Report to Senate

Received and considered paper 25/312 ‘Academic Standards and Quality Report to Senate’. The Head of Education Governance spoke to this item.

Noted

1182.1 that the External Examiners continued to confirm that the standards of award met the requirements of the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications and were aligned to standards at other institutions;

1182.2 that in advance of the implementation of the 2-lane assessment module, and before the commencement of the 2026/27 academic year, a review of the assessments in the final year of all undergraduate degree programmes and all postgraduate taught Master’s programmes would be completed to ensure that students undertake secure assessments;

1182.3 that the University had confirmed its willingness to endorse the Micro-credential Framework for Wales and Northern Ireland developed by QAA.

Resolved

1182.4 to recommend to Council the academic year dates for 2027/28, detailed in paper 25/312, for approval.

1183 Recruitment and Admissions End of Cycle Report 2025/26 Entry

Received and considered paper 25/313C ‘Recruitment and Admissions End of Cycle Report 2025/26’. The Director of Communications, Marketing and Student Recruitment spoke to this item.

Noted

1183.1 that the report provided a summary of the University’s recruitment and admissions performance for 2025 entry, identified challenges experienced in the cycle, and outlined activity underway to maximise enrolment for 2026 entry;

1183.2 that the development of flexible postgraduate degree programmes were ongoing and multiple entry-points to postgraduate degree programmes would be offered by the University to meet the needs of students and employers;

1183.3 that the responsibilities of the Pro Vice-Chancellor International would be subsumed within the broader remit of the remaining Pro Vice-Chancellors.

1184 Motion: Secret Votes

Received and considered paper 25/309 ‘Motion: secret votes’. The proposer, Dr Martin Caminada, spoke to the motion.
Motion: To advise the Council to embed a requirement for secret votes in the University’s ordinances, which would include adjusting Ordinance 3, Paragraph 15 accordingly.

Noted

1184.1 that a non-secret vote on any plans or proposals prepared at University Executive Board or College level could cause conflicts of interest for Senate members who had a line manager at University Executive Board or College level involved in preparing such plans or proposals, or who were other ways dependent on these;

1184.2 that such conflicts of interest could be mitigated by requiring each Senate vote to be a secret one;

1184.3 the following points were noted in discussion of the motion:

(i) that Senate members should be able to vote without fear of consequences;

(ii) that secret votes would provide consistency and ensure that minority views were heard and represented;

(iii) that frequently a vote was not called as the Chair could determine a clear consensus had been reached on a topic, and only where there was no consensus or if requested by a member a vote would be conducted;

(iv) that if the vote carried, it was agreed that there would be no change to the wording of the proposal to Council;

1184.4 the Motion was put to a vote by Senate members, and the Motion was carried with 28 members voting for and 10 members voting against.

1185 Motion: Conference Rooms

Received and considered paper 25/321 ‘Motion: ‘conference rooms’. The proposer, Dr Martin Caminada, spoke to the motions.

Motion 1: to call upon the UEB to remove any room charges for academic events hosted at Cardiff University.

Motion 2: to call upon the UEB to reach out to current and previous organisers of such events to examine how the university can become a more attractive place for organising these

Noted

1185.1 that the use of room fees could prevent and went against the spirit of academic collaboration;

1185.2 that room fees would make Cardiff University a less attractive place to organise conferences and workshops, and some universities that do not charge such fees;

1185.3 that it would be hard to justify organising a workshop or conference at a university that charged room fees, compared to organising it at a university that did not charge such fees, especially since the latter was more common;

1185.4 that the resulting drop in conferences and workshops being organised at the University would negatively affect the University’s international esteem;

1185.5 [Redacted]

1185.6 Motion 1 was put to a vote by Senate members, and the Motion was not carried with 12 members voting for and 20 members voting against;

1185.7 Motion 2 was put to a vote by Senate members, and the Motion was carried with 21 members voting for and 1 member voting against.

1186 Any Other Business

Noted

1186.1 Senate’s thanks to Professor Nicola Innes who would be departing the University in April;

1186.2 Senate’s thanks to members whose terms of office had already ended:

• Dr Hesam Kemalipour
• Dr Alastair Hemmens
• Professor Mark Gumbleton

1187 University Research Committee Terms of Reference

Received and considered paper 25/314 ‘University Research Committee Constitution’.

Resolved

1187.1 to approve the Constitution of the University Research Committee.

1188 University Research Integrity and Ethics Committee Terms of Reference

Received and considered paper 25/315 ‘Updated Open Research, Integrity and Ethics Committee (ORIEC) Constitution’.

Resolved

1188.1 to approve the draft updated constitution.

1189 Items Received for Information

The following papers were received for information:

• 25/316C Our Future Academic Delivery (Workload) Model
• 25/317 Minutes of Academic Standards and Quality Committee
• 25/318 Minutes of Education and Student Experience Committee
• 25/319C Research Grants and Contracts (annual report) August 2024 to July 2025
• 25/320 Cardiff University Press Annual Report Overview 2024/25