Court news

Unusually for Court, the first full meeting of the new session considered a number of reports dealing with learning and teaching issues. The Court also heard an update on progress in the University's RAE preparations.

Finance and Sustainability
The Court received reports from the August and October meetings of the Finance & Policy Committee, as well as a report on the progress to date against the targets contained in the sustainability review, approved by Court in February 2007. The Voluntary Severance Scheme had produced a significant number of applications and had been extended to the end of October 2007. The Senior Management Team hoped to have considered all remaining applications by the end of November to be able to report on the success of the scheme at the next Court meeting on 17 December 2007.

Botanic Garden
The Court received the final report of the Botanic Garden Working Group, chaired by Professor Peter Gregory of the Scottish Crop Research Institute. Following discussion, the Court agreed that the University should retain the Garden, that it should reduce its annual recurrent financial contribution to around £75k and that it should work with the Friends of the Botanic Garden, Dundee City Council and Dundee College to improve the income and reduce the costs of the Garden.

Learning and Teaching Issues
The Court considered the Scottish Funding Council consultation document on proposed revised quality assurance arrangements (SFC/04/2007C). The document suggested, amongst other things, that Universities should provide annual reports endorsed by their governing body (ie the Court) on the oversight of quality in learning and teaching and on plans for improvement.

The Court received a series of reports under the heading: surveys, league tables and other student issues. These informed members about the University's overall performance on student retention, and actions it is taking to improve it. They also reported on feedback from the National Student Survey and the International Student Barometer. Finally, Graham Nicholson, the Director of the Careers Service informed Court members about the work the service was doing to enhance the employability of the University's graduates. This was being achieved through implementation of the web-based personal development planning package as well as through the introduction of credit-bearing modules in career planning and internship.

Research Assessment Exercise
Professor Boxer provided members with an update on preparations for the Research Assessment Exercise. With the submission date of 30 November 2007 approaching, a great deal of activity was underway to finalise submissions for each of the units of assessment. The vast majority of staff selections had now been made, with only a small number of staff awaiting a final decision. The University would be making submissions in 24 units, two more than in 2001. The total number of staff to be entered had risen from 430 in 2001 to around 500 for the current exercise, with notable increases in the Colleges of Arts & Social Sciences (in Education, Psychology and Accountancy in particular) and Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing. Professor Boxer was firmly of the opinion that the quality of the submission was better than that of 2001; but of course it was likely that this was the case across institutions in Scotland. Professor Boxer was confident that the University was making a very good submission.

Membership and Committees
The Court welcomed Rob Kennedy, the new Director of Finance, to his first meeting. The Court also approved the membership of its committees for session 2007/8.

The Court learnt that, under the provision of the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003, the members of governing bodies of children's charities, of which the University was deemed to be one, were now required to undergo Disclosure Scotland checks. The process of carrying out the checks would take place over the following months.

Other Matters
The Court approved, subject to ratification at a subsequent meeting, the Senate's recommendation that the President of the Students' Association be added to the list of officers authorised to exercise disciplinary powers in terms of Ordinance 40 - Student Discipline, although in this case only when acting as part of a Disciplinary Panel.

The Secretary informed the Court that an Environmental Task Group had been set up under the co-convenership of Professor Colin Reid and himself. This Group would work to improve the University's green credentials in four areas in particular: i) waste management and recycling, ii) energy and utilities usage, iii) green travel, and iv) fair trade.