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These minutes are for information only and are not a formal record of the meeting. A copy of the official record is held by the Secretary to this Committee SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES LEARNING & TEACHING POLICY COMMITTEE MINUTES Wednesday 3 November 2004 Professor P G Robb (Chair) Ms N Antoun Dr M Bentham Dr J Campbell* Dr A Contadini Dr P Deans Ms C Dratz* Dr B Fuehrer Mr T Harvey L Hatami* Professor P Jaggar Dr M Khan* H Mehdyzadeh* Professor W Menski Dr J Parker Mrs A Poulson Dr R Snell Mrs S Yates Mrs K Clarke (Diversity Advisor) was present for minutes 1 - 5. In attendance: Mrs J Airey Ms C Berry Mr M Humphreys Those whose names are marked with an asterisk were unable to be present. 1. Membership & Terms of Reference The membership and terms of reference of the Committee (Appendix A) were noted. The Chair welcomed new members to the Committee. 2. Minutes i) The minutes of the meeting held on 14 May 2004 were approved, subject to the following amendment: Minute 63: The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine had agreed to host Blackboard Enterprise 6.1, rather than the Royal Veterinary College. ii) Extracts from the Research Policy Committee minutes of 12 May 2004 (Appendix B) were noted. 3. Matters Arising Resubmission of Failed Coursework (Minute 53) It was confirmed that this would only be available where the facility to resit already existed. There was no intention of extending the eligibility for September resits. The Academic Registrar would ensure that this was clear in the regulations. 4. Draft Disability Policy 1 The draft policy (Appendix C) had been to Faculty Committees and was about to be considered at Staffing Committee, Equality Committee and Executive Board. The Committee noted that changes in legislation, while viewed positively, had had resource implications for parts of the school including the Library. The question of the responsibility of Heads of Department for students who were away on a year abroad was raised, particularly for elements of schemes which may be beyond the Head’s control. The Committee was informed that new regulations were likely to strengthen the responsibility of the School for students in such a position, and the Diversity Advisor would be investigating this further. Members of the Committee were asked to send comments on the draft policy directly to the Diversity Advisor. 5. Teaching Guidelines The Committee considered and welcomed the teaching guidelines at Appendix D, which were intended to formalise existing good practice. 6. Curriculum Reform The intention of the paper at Appendix E was to outline a more efficient and effective way of working, rather than a route and branch reform of the whole curriculum. It was noted that the proposal did not refer to the LLB. The question of whether this was actually a simplification of current practice was raised. The paper set out the idea of a ‘standard’ programme, giving Faculties power to approve programmes which met this pattern. There was no intention to discourage programmes which did not fit the pattern, but these would need to be approved by the Learning & Teaching Policy Committee. This would allow programmes to be approved at a more appropriate level, and give LTPC more time to deal with strategic issues. It was agreed in principle that the proposal should be progressed, and that the Chair would meet with appropriate Associate Deans to discuss concerns and details. Matters which had been raised by the Committee included the following: a) paragraph 5 of the paper suggested creating a category of ‘home’ departments. The implications of this would need to be carefully thought through, as students on joint degrees would normally be attached to their Language Department for the year abroad. This would have implications for the Languages & Cultures Faculty b) there was a need to be consistent in the use of terminology, with a clear explanation of what terms meant (single subject, joint degrees, joint honours, minor subject etc) c) paragraph 2 of Annex A would need to be reworded, to remove the illusion that there was always choice between three-year and four-year versions of a degree. Work was currently being undertaken on the redesign of a programme approval form, and it was agreed that the Head of Learning & Teaching Strategy would meet with Associate Deans to move this matter forward, taking account of the curriculum reform proposals. A revised paper would be brought to either the December or February meeting of the Committee, with a view to asking Academic Board for approval in March. 7. Coursework Extensions The paper at Appendix F outlined the scheme adopted by the Law & Social Sciences Faculty. The Committee agreed that, subject to the first line of the scheme details being amended to read: All coursework handed in late, but before the School deadline, should be accompanied by evidence explaining late submission, e.g. a medical certificate or a note from the relevant tutor in support of the late submission the scheme would become School policy and be extended to all three Faculties (other than for the LLM). The Associate Deans were asked to ensure that their Faculties were informed of this. 2 The Associate Dean (Learning & Teaching) (L&SS) offered to brief other Associate Deans on the operation of the scheme if they felt this appropriate. 8. ICC Programme at the European University of Lefke The document at Appendix G outlined proposals for ensuring that the ICC programme met all the QAA and School QA requirements. These recommendations were approved. 9. Peer Observation of Teaching All three Faculties had undertaken some peer observation of teaching and feedback from this was outlined in Appendix H. The purpose of the scheme was to help colleagues to improve their teaching, and to encourage innovation and dissemination of best practice. However, feedback from staff had not generally been positive, and concerns were expressed about the amount of staff time such a scheme would take up, and the administrative burden it would add. The question of whether peer observation of teaching was a QAA requirement was raised. The Chair would investigate this and the matter would be brought back to a future meeting of the Committee. No decision was therefore made concerning the process itself (Appendix I). 10. Student Evaluation of Courses The Committee considered the report on the pilot scheme (Appendix J), and approved the recommendations. Associate Deans were asked to inform their Learning & Teaching Policy Committees of this outcome, and to remind Heads of Department to send completed forms to the relevant teachers, to give them feedback on their teaching. Consideration would need to be given to the number of questions on the form, as it was quite lengthy, and to the ways in which students could be allowed time to complete it. It was possible to amend the form, and comments should be sent to the Head of Learning & Teaching Strategy. The National Students Survey Questionnaire (Appendix K) was noted. 11. Research Student Support The Committee considered the report on research student support from the Head of Learning & Teaching Strategy (Appendix L). One of the Web addresses in the report had changed, and the Head of Learning & Teaching Strategy would send the revised address to Associate Deans. More than 300 students from other institutions had already completed the skills and training questionnaire, and further developments would be reported to the future meetings of the Committee. The Faculty of Languages & Cultures reported that it would be taking part in the generic training workshop, currently run by the other two Faculties, from the start of next session. 12. English Language Requirements The Committee noted the revised grid, which had been approved by Chair's action (Appendix M). The Committee approved a request from IFCELS that it should be allowed an element of discretion in the application of the grid in the few exceptional cases where there was a substantial disparity in the subscores obtained. Any such discretionary decision would need to be agreed by a second opinion within IFCELS. The paper raised the question of whether the agreed levels of English language ability should be required for students enrolling for School degrees, diplomas and certificates unless the programme included a substantial taught English language component. After discussion, it was agreed that the Head of IFCELS and the Associate Dean (Undergraduate) from the Faculty of Languages & Cultures would discuss the issue and would make a recommendation to a future meeting of the Committee. 3 It was noted that the Language Centre Certificate in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language had yet to be approved by the Committee, and the Associate Dean (Undergraduate) from the Faculty of Languages & Cultures would ensure that the papers passed through the Committee structure as a matter of urgency. 13. September Language Examinations The paper at Appendix N, requesting that September language examinations be made available for Masters students, had been considered and rejected in each of the Faculties. The proposal was not approved. 14. Tutorial Class Size The Faculty of Law & Social Sciences had raised the issue of a mismatch between the sizes of tutorial classes, and the availability of rooms of suitable size (Appendix O). The Teaching Room Review had identified several rooms formerly listed as holding 15 students, when they were in fact suitable for fewer than that number. After discussion the Committee agreed that maximum tutorial class size was an issue which needed to be decided within Faculties, as Faculties would need to budget for any change in class size. It was likely that each Faculty would have a different view on what should be the maximum class size.