School of Science School Board

SCHOOL OF SCIENCE SCHOOL BOARD

Minutes of the First Meeting of the School of Science School Board for the 2010/2011 session held on Wednesday 8th September 2010 in Nelson N007 Commencing 14:00

08/09 1.0 WELCOME AND APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

The Chair welcomed members to the meeting

PRESENT

Prof. Martin Snowden (MS) Prof. Jeremy Everett (JE) Dr. Richard Blackburn _ (Chair) (Head PCE) (RB)_(Head LSS) Dr. Lucie Pollard (LuP) Dr. Dave Wray (DW) Prof. John Mitchell (JCM) (DL&Q) (Director R&E) (Director of Finance) Prof. Steve Leharne (SL) Prof. Alfonso Jimenez Mr. StevenWilliams (SW) (Professorial Rep) (AJ) (Technical Rep) Ms Nazanin Zand Fard Dr Samer El-Daher (SED) Dr Paul Amuna (PA) (Student Rep) (NAZ) (Health & Safety) Mr Clifton Kandler Mr. Brian Banks (BB) SQAO (Notes)

APOLOGIES RECEIVED FOR ABSENCE Prof. Pat Harvey (PH) Ms Nina Hughes (Student Miss Nicola Hunn (NH) (Professorial Rep) Rep) (NINA) (School Admin Rep) Dr. John Spencer (JS) Mr. Fakhar Khalid (FK) Prof. Frank Pullen (FP) (Early Career Academic) (Programme Leader) (Director R&E) Dr Mike McGibbon (MM) Mrs Veronica Habgood Mike Sharp (MSh) (VH) (Independent (Independent School of Engineering) School of Health)

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE NOT RECEIVED Mr. Andrew Larkin(AL) Ms. Lynne Spencer(LS) Dr Lauren Pecorino (LaP) (ILS) (OSA) Ms Bettina Karsten (BK) 1.1 Timed Item :

Mr Clifton Kandler presented to the Board the Institution’s decision to change the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) from Web CT to Moodle.

It was noted that Web CT had been withdrawn from Blackboard and that the replacement would require both further training and would be more costly in the form of licences. The decision to adopt Moodle came from an extensive potential user capability project. The project team also looked at the decisions of other institutions.

Moodle is very flexible and allows local development. It is also more user friendly. The capability of delivering courses on line is very good and the overall cost will be much less. The key issue before launch is staff training. The team are currently training Moodle champions for each School and the general staff training, which will be compulsory, will take place during the period January – July 2011.

Prof. Snowden queried the impact of the new software might have on the MSc Biomedical Science programmes. The Moodle team have already been trialling the biomed online courses on Moodle. It was noted that the transfer to the new system should be painless in light of the trial. Prof. Snowden sought reassurance that there will be no down time. It was stated that should these modules not be available the potential loss of income would be significant. Especially as it will not be possible to run both WebCT and Moodle in parallel.

Heads of Department will nominate potential trainees and suitable time slots for training sessions.

Prof Jiminez assured the Board that at his previous institution the installation and operation of Moodle ran very smoothly.

08/09 TO AGREE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF 26th May 2010 2.0 Minutes of the Fourth meeting of 2009/10 were agreed with some typographical errors.

08/09 3.0 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

Mtg Item Action Progress 24/02 7.1 ACTION: Dr Amuna to provide a formal written report on Ongoing Health & Safety 24/02 7.2 ACTION: Professor Snowden to speak to Mr McNaughton Ongoing about the gas supply problem. 26/05 1.1 ACTION: Prof Snowden (MS) to write to Ms Colley Complete personally to thank her for her contribution to the work of the committee. 26/05 3.1 ACTION: MS to speak to the overseas PhD students to Action ensure that they become compliant with the UKBA transferred to regulations. FP It was noted that only HoDs can authorise absence and that all meetings with students should be recorded on Banner. 26/05 4.1 Action: MS to speak to Fiona Conlan about MSA numbers Complete and Scholarships. 26/05 4.2 Action: MS to meet with JCM, SW and senior technicians Deferred until to discuss the appropriateness of the current technical the presence in the School. appointment of MS, JCm and SW to meet in the interim. the new laboratory manager.

26/05 5.1 Action: MS to write to all School staff emphasising the Ongoing importance of adhering to Health and Safety procedures and initiatives. 2 26/05 5.2 Action: JCM will attend the next H&S meeting to ensure Bruce will academic compliance and that risk assessment has been report after the fully addressed. next H&S meeting 26/05 5.3 Action: JCM to progress the fume cupboard issue. Ongoing There remains a technical problem. 26/05 5.4 Action: API to be raised at the next H&S meeting. Complete 26/05 6.1 Action: MS to write a letter of thanks to relevant Complete Programme Leaders for completing a number of reviews and approvals. 26/05 9.1 Action: JCM to chase the staff development budget Complete currently with the centre. 26/05 9.2 Action: LP to provide a costing for Olivier Mythodrama. Complete 26/05 12.1 Action: MS to liaise with Julie Boyer regarding the timing Complete of communication by the research department in relation to MSc’s by Research and the approval of the examination teams

08/09 4.0 FINANCE (Report Supplied) The University assessment of our performance this last year will not be finalised until the end of the month.

08/09 5.0 HEALTH AND SAFETY (H&S) by Dr Paul Amuna The Board was advised that risk assessment will become an enforceable issue. The H&S committee reported that there were a few items that need to be addressed from the H&S review and in future there will be unannounced visits to the School by the central university H&S team, to perform occasional audits of laboratories, commencing September 2010. The committee advised the Board that Standard Procedures need to be followed throughout the School and all staff members, in their role as supervisors, should ensure that all appropriate forms are completed correctly. Particular attention needs to be paid to postgraduate student forms.

Heads of Departments (HoDs) were asked to ensure all their staff were aware of the importance of risk assessment and that this is transferred to the students. Action: Issue to be raised at L&Q

Some Display Screen Equipment (DSE) forms remain outstanding; it is assumed that where any forms have not been returned then the DSE audit is OK. The H&S committee would prefer a 100% return.

Ethics: The current system is working quite well but more effort is required to achieve 100%. A new committee is to be established for research ethics, the first meeting has been scheduled for October. Training at MSA, Dr El-Daher is planning to take a few days with Dr Dyer and Dr Evans to train staff and students at MSA, this has become a work in progress.

08/09 6.0 LEARNING AND QUALITY (L&Q) by Dr. Pollard (Meeting minutes supplied) The major issue arising from the minutes was staff development at Hadlow College, this has subsequently been addressed by Geoff Hallam. Future Learning and Quality meetings will focus more on Quality Enhancement. School Board approved the review and approval calendar for the coming year. The next Learning and Quality committee meeting will discuss National Student Survey (NSS) figures.

3 08/09 7.0 RESEARCH AND ENTERPRISE (R&E) by Dr. Wray Minutes of R& E meetings are available on the K:drive. It was noted that minutes must be brought to the meeting for approval. Income for research was £1.5 million for the year 2009/10, an increase on the last year. However there were only three major grants won with respect to research this year. A full breakdown of finances was made available to the Board.

08/09 8.0 DEPARTMENTAL REPORT: Pharmaceutical, Chemical and Environmental Sciences by Prof. Jeremy Everett.

Prof. Everett expressed his thanks to Dr Thomas for producing the report before he left. He also thanked Dr Pollard and Dr Blackburn for their support as he settled in to his new role.

Student recruitment figures show a modest increase at undergraduate level but postgraduate numbers are down. A review of the department’s current programme delivery will be undertaken.

There was a good response to the National Student Survey (NSS) but there were a couple of areas to focus on for improvement. Retention numbers need to be considered.

Research and Enterprise activity the department will consider the existing clusters and add and revise where necessary.

Employability numbers are down but this has been severely affected by the current economic climate. This has had a greater effect on Greenwich students although the sector is growing. For example the University of Kent is showing 90% employability.

Prof. Snowden congratulated the department on the NSS results which are exceptional considering the staff student ratio. . He requested the department keep a close eye on student numbers; the deadline for January starters has been extended to the 3rd week of teaching and it may be that the number of January starters may increase due to problems in obtaining visas in sufficient time to start in October. There will of course be the possibility of class numbers increasing dramatically in the fourth week and consequently on the student experience.

08/09 9.0 DEPARTMENTAL REPORT: Life and Sports Sciences by Dr. Blackburn

Dr Blackburn stated that there has been strong growth in recruitment across the department since 2006 and in 2010/11 there has been an increase in two areas and a claim for additional staff in these areas has been submitted. There has been some effort to increase the postgraduate delivery by the introduction of two new programmes.

The department achieved a higher level of success last year and progression figures are generally good; although last year saw a high failure rate in sports science programmes and a meeting with the School of Education has been arranged to discuss this matter.

All staff members have been encouraged to get more involved in the Professional Development Plan process.

New staff appointments

4 Dr Elinor Thomson Microbiologist. However, there will be a need for more staff to improve the staff student ratio (SSR) especially in the sports science area.

Prof. Snowden responded to both departmental reports by outlining the recruitment approval process as undertaken by Prof N. Garrod. This looks at SSR figures and will recommend new blood appointments as necessary. Although this is subject to budget restriction. This process will not apply to Schools that have over recruited. A School bid needs to be collated and potential new blood posts identified in relation to the required numbers. At this moment it looks like Biomedical Science and Sports Science, however, these figures may be skewed if the numbers in PCE increase in January.

Prof. Snowden asked Mr Williams (SW) to calculate the net cost of temporary technical staff becoming permanent employees and report back at their designated meeting. He emphasised that the School will make a strong application for new posts. Prof. Mitchell requested colleagues seriously consider the balancing of finances, especially as new staff may mean less equipment. Prof. Snowden expressed his desire to increase the number of quality visiting lecturers from local companies. Prof. Everett explained that he was exploring the possibility of borrowing equipment from external sources when it is not being used.

It was noted that any programme with less than 15 students registered year on year should require investigation. Currently no science programmes should be considered as being under threat.

08/09 10.0 EXTERNAL EXAMINERS

The Board endorsed the following approvals for external examiners:

Melanie Coutinho, European School of Osteopathy Colin Dennis, International Agriculture at Hadlow The following had their contracts extended: Jonathan Knight, Natural Resources Elizabeth Whitely, Food Safety and Quality Management Jo Charles, Equine Programmes at Hadlow

08/09 11.0 PORTFOLIO PLANNING

The Board noted the following portfolio approvals: MSc Applied Biomedical Science MSc Instrumental Analysis MA Rural Development MSc Strength and Conditioning

08/09 12.0 ANY OTHER BUSINESS

It was noted that future meetings will accommodate Powerpoint slides provided they are with the Officer a week before the meeting. This will ensure the agenda is complete.

PhD students want further access to Search Engines – Athens Accounts – EndNote etcetera – these should be available via the library. Dr Wray to organise for Andrew

5 Larkin to attend the next student seminar and explain how this access works. Action: Dr Wray The Chair requested that formal apologies should be sent to the Officer ahead of the School Board Action: Board Members

The Chair also queried the lack of externality at School Board as School Boards are designated for the same day thus precluding externality. Clarity to be sought. Action: Secretary

Programme Leaders need to identify their student programme representatives and to appoint one for the School Board. Action: Programme Leaders Meeting closed at 16.20

08/09 13.0 DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING 01/12/2010 23/02/2011 25/05/2011

6 Action Points:

Mtg Item Action Progress 24/02 7.1 ACTION: Dr Amuna to provide a formal written report on Ongoing Health & Safety 24/02 7.2 ACTION: Professor Snowden to speak to Mr McNaughton Ongoing about the gas supply problem. 26/05 3.1 ACTION: FP to speak to the overseas PhD students to Ongoing ensure that they become compliant with the UKBA regulations. It was noted that only HoDs can authorise absence and that all meetings with students should be recorded on Banner. 26/05 4.2 Action: MS to meet with JCM, SW and senior technicians Deferred until to discuss the appropriateness of the current technical the presence in the School. appointment of MS, JCm and SW to meet in the interim. the new laboratory manager.

26/05 5.1 Action: MS to write to all School staff emphasising the Ongoing importance of adhering to Health and Safety procedures and initiatives.

26/05 5.2 Action: Dr Alexander will attend the next H&S meeting to Ongoing ensure academic compliance and that risk assessment has been fully addressed. 26/05 5.3 Action: JCM to progress the fume cupboard issue. Ongoing There remains a technical problem. 08/09 5.1 Action: BB to put Risk assessment on the next L and Q New agenda

08/09 12.1 Action: Dr Wray to organise for Andrew Larkin to attend New the next student seminar and explain how this access works.

08/09 12.2 Action: Board Members are requested to submit formal New apologies for absence in advance of the meeting 08/09 12.3 Action: BB to seek clarity about externality at the Board New 08/09 12.4 Action: Programme Leaders to appoint student New programme representatives