Author: Philip Greenish, Chair of Council
Please note: information in this blog was accurate at the time of the meeting – 8 March 2023- and may now have been superseded.
Council now meets in person four times a year with up to three virtual meetings and an Awayday. As our Awayday will be on Teams this year, we took the opportunity of the evening before Council to meet the Deans and the Vice-President (Operations) in person and hear from them how each of the Faculties and Professional Services is responding to the University Strategy. We were pleased to see genuine but realistic ambition and a consistency of thinking which demonstrated clear alignment with the University’s values. We were able to continue the discussion informally over dinner.
We spent the following morning visiting and being briefed on Student Services, starting in the Student Hub and covering student support, careers and employability, and widening participation and social mobility. We were extremely impressed by the quality of support provided for our students, which in many respects is at the leading edge in the sector, and by the commitment of the staff who we met. We were also pleased to see that we are increasing staff resource to further improve the employability of our students. The morning provided strong assurance to us of the University’s commitment to students in this crucial area.
Our Council meeting was held in the Senate Chamber. In his report, the Vice-Chancellor provided updates to key items presented in his monthly written reports to us. He briefed us on the machinery of government changes and the recently published Science and Technology Framework which highlights five key technologies, four of which are particular strengths of the University. The Nurse Review on the UK’s Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Organisational Landscape has also just been published and the Vice-Chancellor outlined the key recommendations and where they might impact on us. He reported on the current industrial action and the 2023 USS triennial valuation process that will begin with the valuation of scheme assets at the end of March, which is looking positive. Undergraduate and postgraduate applications are again looking good, and are above both the sector and our comparator group. We discussed the Civic Partnership Agreements (which have subsequently been signed with our five local Councils). Finally, we discussed the latest news on Horizon Europe and concerns on both the decline in research funding in real terms and in the number of PhD students.
Oliver Murray, President of the Students’ Union, then drew our attention to a number of items in his excellent written report which included the results of the Union’s cost of living survey. We discussed the issues raised in the report at length and noted the support already provided by the University to students in particular need. Council’s concern was noted, and the University will consider what more can be done. This will include increasing efforts to bring knowledge of available support to the attention of our students.
This is the meeting at which Council is asked to approve the University Economy Model (UEM), which provides a five-year financial projection and forms the basis for the preparation of an annual budget. The model, which had already been considered by the Finance Committee who recommended it to Council for approval, reflects financial challenges primarily related to inflationary cost pressures, but shows the University is on track to achieve its investment plans and continued strategic momentum.
The Modernising Governance Project has been making good progress and the new Charter has been submitted to the Privy Council for formal approval (subsequently we learnt approval has been granted). Related discussion with Senate and negotiation with the Trade Unions has been very constructive. Pending conclusion of further talks with the Trade Unions on one Ordinance (No. 8 – employment of staff at Level 4 and above) and a set of “Overarching Principles”, we agreed to approve all the other new Ordinances.
As I have reported previously, the Halpin Partnership has been conducting an independent review of Council effectiveness, overseen by a steering group chaired by the Vice-Chair of Council, Dame Judith Macgregor. Halpin presented their final report to Council at this meeting, concluding that, overall, governance arrangements at the University are good with some areas demonstrating leading edge practice. In a long report, Halpin have offered commentary and a large number of commendations, suggestions and recommendations to further improve our governance. Council warmly received this positive and helpful report and we will develop an action plan in response to be shared with our community.
In other business, we reviewed the last (November) survey of staff engagement, the results of which were broadly comparable to the first such survey in April 2022. We took reports for noting on the OfS Regulatory Framework and on Research Integrity, Ethics and Governance, including the Research Integrity Statement, and we noted the latest management accounts.
Council’s last virtual meeting was held on Teams on 1 February. We take the opportunity of these virtual meetings, which are usually shorter, for deep dives on key aspects of Council’s responsibilities. On this occasion, we reviewed the Education and Student Experience Strategic Plans in depth. We were briefed on the TEF submission, which had been submitted to OfS a few days earlier, and we looked critically at how the strategic plans will deliver improvements to our students’ experience and outcomes. We reviewed how the plans for education and student experience are interlinked and considered three strategic major projects which are due to launch this year. We welcomed the good progress on these plans and thanked all those who are taking this crucially important work forward in such an energetic and exciting way.
This is an informal summary of two Council meetings which have covered, as usual, much important business. Formal minutes will be published in due course.