Senate The May meeting of Senate began with the endorsement of a proposal from the President of DUSA that the post of Students' Assessor on the Senatus be retained, that the postholder be nominated by the Association and attend the Senatus as an observer. Dr P Gregor would continue to serve until such time as an election for his successor can be arranged in the Autumn term of session 2001/02.
Members then moved on to consider a recommendation from Personnel Policy Committee "that attainment of the Certificate in Higher Education should be encouraged by departments at the appropriate time in an individual's career, and in many departments, should be a condition of completing the probationary period".
In the course of discussion it was noted that reference to the Certificate included all three of the University's courses which were accredited by the Institute of Learning and Teaching (ILT). Members generally accepted that attainment of the Certificate should be the norm for probationary staff but that flexibility should be retained to allow heads of departments to judge at what stage in an individual's career it would be most appropriate to undertake such a qualification to avoid conflict with establishing a research record.
In his report the Principal thanked the academic and administrative staff involved in the preparation of the submissions for the RAE and reported that Professor Georgina Follett would succeed Professor Ian Howard as Dean of Duncan of Jordanstone College. On Planning issues he reported that work was proceeding on the outcomes of the financial sustainability‚ group, on establishing budgets and on the capital programme. The aim was to achieve the most stable financial position for 2001/02. Discussions were scheduled to take place with Deans on 10 May followed by a 24 hour meeting of Court in the following week. The results of these discussions would be fed back to the regular Senate and Court meetings in June at which there would be an opportunity to discuss the issues in an open and transparent manner. In addition, the Research Sub-Committee was holding special meetings on the distribution of SRIF funding with a view to making a submission to SHEFC by 31 May on how the University's allocation was to be spent. In the longer term, work was progressing on a learning and teaching improvement plan, on commercialisation and on the University's research strategy.
Unusually, on this occasion one of the Faculty Board reports provoked spirited discussion. Law and Accountancy's proposal to phase-out the Economics module in the first year of the BAcc programme was regarded by some as premature and should have involved consultation with the Department of Economics. In response it was stated that the proposal had been made for sound educational reasons mirroring changes in the requirements for professional recognition and that the module in question would be replaced by a business management module which would more closely integrate with other higher level modules in that area of the discipline within the degree programme. The heads of departments concerned and the Deans of Arts & Social Sciences and Law & Accountancy had met with the Vice-Principal and amongst other things discussed the transfer of resources. That latter issue was acknowledged to be the province of PRC and not a Senate matter.
The Dean of Arts & Social Sciences expressed regret at the lack of a productive and cooperative relationship between the two departments and suggested that a supra-Faculty group look at the potential synergies between them, particularly in offering joint postgraduate courses. However that suggestion was felt to be inappropriate since cooperation would only be effective if it was desired by both parties. The Principal offered to facilitate discussions if that would be helpful.
While the proposal was approved, Senate noted that the resource consequences of the proposal would be considered by PRC and noted the potential danger of staff from one discipline being appointed to teach that discipline in another department. It also invited the two departments and their respective Deans to consult on the potential for new, cooperative activities.
The remainder of the meeting swiftly passed over a number of general housekeeping issues such as the membership of Senate Committees for next session and the draft academic calendar before approving the terms of an amendment to Ordinance 19 to establish, at some point in the near future, a new Faculty of Education and Social Work.
Dr I K Francis
Academic Secretary
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