MINUTES | Academic Council Meeting Meeting held on 20th May 2014 Members present: In attendance: Caroline Arnold | CCO Education Liz Houghton | LUSU Councillor/Department Rep Colin Mang | Faculty Rep (LUMS) Charlotte Creighton |Lonsdale EWD Officer Josh Cannon | Department Rep (FASS) Amelia Pagan | Grizedale Women’s Welfare Officer Megan Thornton | Furness VP Welfare Lucy Clews | Department Rep Shannon Regan | Bowland Academic and Welfare Officer Amy Bowden | County VP Academic and Welfare Benjamin Harper | County Education and Opportunity Officer James Gaffney | Pendle Education officer Jeriel Bacani | PPR Rep Neo Poon | Department Rep (FST) Shyam Savania | Furness Education Officer Justice Moses K. Aheto | FHM Dept Rep Phil Apter | Cartmel VP Academic and Welfare Joe O’Neill | VP Education Lucy Ryan | PG Board Katarzyna Fraczkowska | PG Board Alex Cleaves | Bowland Ed and Welfare Chris Cottam | Education and Support Manager Apologies: Dimeji Ademiju | Fylde VP Welfare Stavros Pantos |LUMS Dep Rep Aleksandra Maciejewska | LUMS Dep rep Nicholas Charalambides | FASS Dep Rep Jordan Tudor | FHM Faculty Rep Yash Todar | FST Faculty Rep Paul Cambre | FST Rep __________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Apologies 2. Minutes of previous meeting Minutes from previous meeting were passed. 3. Matters Arising Josh Cannon’s apologies were missed, minutes will be edited. 4. Student Led Teaching Awards Panel has met to agree the recipients of these awards and they will be announced shortly. There will also be an award that Academic Council awards for a team. Deadline will be the last Academic Council of term. Information will be made available online. 5. Faculty Updates Colin Mang – Looking into solving the problems in PGR registration. Fixing problems with PGR workspace in Charles Carter. Maths and Stats support centre in LUMS is being set up. 6. Joe Update Senate has met, policy passed at LUSU Council on Zero Hours Contracts, working on a Union conference for later this year including some alumni speakers. There have been some problems around exams in engineering, meeting tomorrow to resolve this. ISS to look into extending PGR email accounts after graduation. 7. QAA Chris Cottam – Students Union to draft student submission, based on consultation events. Academic Council to play a central role in this submission. The QAA will include a student panellist. Chris will return to future meetings to answer any questions. 8. Student Charter JO has been looking at the Student Charter and how it is enforced. Previously been very little consultation when it is reviewed annually. Have raised questions about how relevant it is to post graduates. Josh Cannon - questioned how possible it is to put some of this into practice Lizzie Houghton – needs to be put into practice Lucy Ryan – generally undergraduate – centric but very vague and would be difficult to agree infractions. JO – Other unis present their charter is different ways. Need to look at the best way to present this. LH- could have a specific agreement or contract for post graduates. JC – Questioned why we have one, JO clarified this was a government order. Caroline Arnold – There needs to be more focus on employability opportunities or provision Academic Council to bring back suggestions to the next meeting. JC- Can the date when they consult and form the charter be changed as it is in summer when there are few students around. JO to look into this. 9. LUMS Stat Centre Motion Colin Mang outlined that this has been put forward to ensure it is policy to continue the work for the future. Funding is currently being sourced and the service being designed.. The hard work of Colin and the department reps was noted. Academic Council agreed to the motion unanimously. Colin will bring this to LUSU council to become policy. 10. AOB Academic Tutors – Shyam Savania – Some students not finding out until very late who their tutors are. Others have to see them weekly. CM reported that he sits on a group looking into standardising the guidelines. This proposal is going to the next meeting of Senate and will be discussed at the next Academic Council. Colin Mang – Maths and State provision motion The Union Notes: 1) Many students in LUMS have experienced difficulty with the curriculum requirements relating to mathematics and statistics. 2) LUMS currently does not provide any support services for students who have difficulty with mathematics or statistics. 3) LUMS does provide support services to help students with academic writing and literacy. The Union Believes: 1) That students should receive sufficient educational support to ensure that they can successfully complete their programs of study. 2) That numeracy skills are just as important as literacy skills. The Union Resolves: 1) The Faculty Representative for the Management School shall work with the Faculty to establish a support service to assist students with mathematics and statistics work. Proposed by: Colin Mang, CCO: LUMS Faculty Representative