Author: Philip Greenish, Chair of Council
Please note: information in this blog was accurate at the time of the meeting – 26 May 2021 – and may now have been superseded.
Council met on 26 May via Microsoft Teams. After the usual preliminaries and extending a warm welcome to Professor Phillip Wright – Senior Vice President (Academic), the Vice-Chancellor delivered his report, starting with the recent press coverage of the Broadlands Papers and the reason why the University is constrained in our actions. While a number of papers have recently been released, others remain under embargo by the Cabinet Office in accordance with the terms under which they were procured by the University. The Vice-Chancellor then briefed Council on the latest position on national research funding, on recent discussions on the obligations on Universities to tackle sexual misconduct on campus, and the emerging responses to the Augar Review, including the potential for UK university fees to be reduced. Council was delighted to be reminded of the University’s success in the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) assessment and offered its congratulations to all who have been involved.
Olivia Reed, President of the University of Southampton Students’ Union (SUSU), presented a comprehensive report. Olivia drew attention to campaigns and events such as PGT Orientation, the Summer Festival (running 4 – 18 June), Clubs and Societies which are returning to some form of activity, and on Varsity events against the University of Portsmouth. She briefed on Plans to re-open bars and spaces within SUSU on campus. Work is progressing on the SUSU Strategy for 2021-2025, and she reported on significant improvements to SUSU governance. The SUSU financial outturn will be within the deficit limit set by their trustees. She reported on improvements to SUSU spaces and facilities planned ahead of the next academic year. Finally, she outlined her assessment of student concerns which include uncertainty over the future of education delivery, assessment and feedback, and student safety as many students emerge from lockdown and prolonged periods of isolation. This is Olivia’s last formal Council meeting, and members thanked her for her outstanding contribution to our discussions.
We then received the annual report on Health and Safety (H&S) from the Vice Chancellor. The strong response to the pandemic has improved collegiate working at the University, raised the profile of health, safety and risk generally, and strengthened relationships with Southampton City Council, local NHS providers and local resilience forums. However, a new approach to hazard-themed audits in 2019 and 2020 has exposed a number of risks which are of concern, although many are now being addressed.
The Health and Safety Audit and Assurance Committee also reported following its March meeting. The Committee, which comprises a number of external H&S experts chaired by a Council Lay member, considered the University’s response to the pandemic to have been extremely good and, in many ways, better than many other large organisations in the UK. However, although Council has seen a steady improvement in the management of H&S, the Committee decided that it could not provide full assurance to Council because of audit findings which had still to be resolved. We asked for a further report at our November Council meeting.
We then considered the Research and Enterprise Strategy, introduced by the Vice-President (Research & Enterprise), Professor Mark Spearing. We noted that some of our principal competitors had grown their research funding, following significant increases in staff numbers over the last three years, however, our funding and publications per full-time equivalent (FTE), remain competitive with our peer institutions. We were also pleased that both our grant applications and acceptances were ahead of expectations for 2019-20.
After the March Council, we convened a Task and Finish Group to examine ways of improving Council’s processes, taking into account lessons learned during COVID-19. The Group reported its findings and Council approved all its recommendations. From the start of the next academic year, we will have four full Council meetings held in person whenever possible, preceded by a discussion dinner and visit to a part of the University (during all of which we will strictly adhere to any government guidance on matters such as social distancing in place at that time). We will have an annual awayday in the spring and will plan three additional, virtual meetings to deal with matters that do not require a full meeting or are urgent. We will reschedule Council committee meetings to reduce duplication and to make better use of people’s time. We agreed new rules for Council papers, which will be sponsored by a member of the Senior Executive. We will review progress after a year. We then agreed the design principles for a new suite of Key Performance Indicators which will align with the new strategy which is under development.
The new Estates and Infrastructure Committee (EIC) met last month under the chairmanship of Mr Bill Shannon (a Lay member of Council). Bill reported on the deliberations of the Committee and on key issues which are being addressed, to allow us to make more rapid progress on the estate.
In other matters, we endorsed the University’s response to the Universities UK (UUK) consultation on the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) pension scheme, which had been reviewed in detail by the Pensions Committee. We received a report from the Vice-President (Education) on degree outcomes and potential grade inflation. We were provided with comparative data which shows that our grade inflation has been lower than most Russell Group institutions. A more detailed report on attainment gaps and the impact of special considerations processes will come to us in the autumn. We received an update on the Sustainability Strategy which showed good progress. Finally, we considered two elements of our international activities: Trans-national Education (TNE) strategy and our Asia-Pacific activity. We approved the development of a diversified portfolio of TNE and a framework and methodology necessary to achieve the diversified portfolio that we seek. We then noted the potential for greater partnership, alumni engagement and student recruitment in Asia-Pacific. University of Southampton Malaysia (UoSM) has the potential to provide a hub for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) activities.
Council will meet again on 9 June to further contribute to the development of the University’s next strategy.