Court news

As expected, the February meeting of Senate was dominated by lively debate on the long-awaited report of the Sustainability Review Group.

Financial Management
The Court received reports from the Acting Director of Finance and the internal auditors. The current financial position was explained and a series of measures proposed to ensure that the University delivered a surplus by year end. The second report made a number of recommendations in relation to management accounting and reporting, all of which were approved by the Court.

Sustainability Review
The Court received the report of the sustainability review group, chaired by the Deputy Principal, Professor Michael Davies. The text of the report including its findings and detailed recommendations are available at: http://www.dundee.ac.uk/pressoffice/sust2007.

The Court discussed the recommendations at length, noting the volume of correspondence from interested parties. Some Court members felt that not enough consultation had taken place with staff and the campus unions and that therefore Court should not yet endorse the recommendations. It was pointed out, however, that the University and the unions had issued a joint statement agreeing to work together constructively and openly to strive to avoid compulsory redundancies.

The President of the Students' Association reported on student concern with the proposals. It was crucial that current students did not suffer as a result of the savings, and that existing commitments were honoured.

Some members were concerned that the proposals did not go far enough, particularly given that external factors would make the HE environment more challenging and competitive. It would be difficult, they argued, to introduce further savings later if the current proposals did not achieve their targets.

Summing up, the Principal spoke of the University's responsibilities for the financial and academic management of the institution. The University had a responsibility for the wellbeing of current and future students as well as its staff, and this was only possible if the institution was on a stable and sustainable footing.

Crucially, however, the University was accountable externally as well as internally and had to manage its finances prudently. The Principal accepted that further consultation might lead to a refinement of the recommendations, but stressed that both the timescales and the targets must remain as proposed if the overall aims of the review were to be realised and long-term sustainability achieved.

The Court approved the recommendations, subject to further consultation and discussion on the implementation of the recommendations.

Capital Developments at Ninewells
The Court received reports from the Director of Strategic Planning on progress with the Clinical Research Centre (CRC) and the Translational Medicine Research Collaboration (TMRC). The Court was reminded that the creation of the CRC would greatly enhance the infrastructure and competitiveness of medical research in Dundee. The project redesign had been successfully completed, and the changes were now being implemented. The TMRC was already yielding substantial research funding for both the Medical School and the College of Life Sciences. Construction costs for it had increased since the December Court meeting, but the level of external contributions had also risen by over £1m and this meant that the maximum loan required for the project was within the borrowing request made to the Scottish Funding Council.

Student Recruitment
The Court received a report from the Director of Admissions and Student Recruitment which set out the current position with regard to recruitment for 2007/8. Undergraduate applications were holding up well, and the focus now was on converting applications into firm acceptances. It was too early to make a concrete assessment of the level of postgraduate taught applications, although numbers appeared to be comparable with 2006/7.

The Court received a report from the Secretary in relation to the situation in the School of Nursing and Midwifery. The School had under-recruited in 2006/7 in both Dundee and Kirkcaldy, such that the usual January intake had been abandoned. To deal with the consequences of this, a recovery plan was in place to reverse the situation and boost recruitment for 2007/8.

Membership of Court
The Court welcomed two new members: the new Rector, Craig Murray, and his nominee as Rector's Assessor, Mike Arnott. The Court warmly thanked the outgoing Rector's Assessor, Mrs Esther Roberton, for her contribution as a Court member over six years.

The Court also confirmed its decision, taken at the December meeting, to limit the maximum terms of the Chancellor's and Rector's Assessors. The Privy Council would now be asked to approve the amendment.