Summary from the Board of Governors’ meetings

Summary from the Board of Governors’ meetings in September, October and November 2014.

Summary of the business and decisions from the Board of Governors’ meetings on 24 September, 23 October and 26 November 2014

 

The Board of Governors met on 24 September, 23 October and 26 November 2014. The following is a summary of business considered and decisions made at the meetings:

 

• The Board welcomed newly appointed Independent Members Mr Neil Herbert, Mr Neil Gray,
  Ms Diane Lees, Ms Jane Reeves and Mr Chris Swinson, and Staff Member Dr Sarah Barrow. Mr Bob Whetton was reappointed as an Independent Member for a further four-year term.
• The Vice Chancellor briefed the Board on the latest changes in the HE sector including developments in Government policy.
• Professor Stuart had been invited to the annual HEFCE staff conference to talk about Lincoln as an exemplar ‘anchor institution’. The VC also noted that the University was well placed to benefit from funding focused on ‘localism’.
• The VC reported that the University was working closely with the Cathedral, the City and the County to deliver a strong programme of activities for the 2015 Magna Carta Celebrations.
• Governors had attended the launch of the University’s Institute of Health at the House of Lords in October, which had gone very well.  Lincoln had now developed considerable expertise in a number of areas including diabetes and social science, and was recruiting first-rate staff.
• The Board considered regular updates on student application and intake numbers. The University was holding to its strategy of not compromising admission requirements. International student recruitment and conversions had remained challenging, and significant resource had been invested into the International Office. The Director had restructured the Office and its recruitment strategy to include additional staff and the targeting of different overseas markets.
• The VC briefed Governors on the creation by the University of a multi-academy trust called The Lincolnshire Educational Trust Ltd to accommodate both the University Academy Holbeach and Holbeach Primary School.
• Professor Stuart confirmed that the Educational Development and Enhancement Unit (EDEU) had become fully operational at the start of September 2014, bringing a coordinated and proactive approach to the enhancement of student education and engagement in furtherance of the University’s strategic policies. The thread running through all of EDEU’s work was the enhancement of teaching and learning across the institution, with a top priority being to increase the numbers of academic staff with teaching qualifications or Higher Education Academy (HEA) recognition.
• Governors received presentations from the Heads of the Colleges of Science and Social Science on their colleges’ activities and aspirations. They welcomed the appointment of Professor Matthew Cragoe as Head of the College of Arts and looked forward to a briefing from him on the College following the reconfiguration of its Schools.
• The Chief Finance Officer provided monthly summaries of the University’s financial position. Governors noted the Treasury Management Review and approved the Annual Sustainability Statement for 2013/14. In November, the Board noted the end-of-year out-turn for 2013/14 and the External Auditors’ report; signed off the consolidated Financial Statements for the year; and approved the submission to HEFCE of the updated one year forecast.
• The Chair of the Audit Committee presented the Audit Committee Annual Report to the Board, which confirmed that there were satisfactory and effective arrangements in place in key areas of risk management, value for money and data quality. The Board approved the report for submission to HEFCE, together with the Annual Assurance Return for 2013/14.
• HEFCE had visited the University during October to undertake the quinquennial assurance review, focused on the accountability returns submitted by HE institutions and on governance processes. The Assurance Officer had been complimentary about the Board’s practices of frequent meetings and few sub-committees; and had indicated that the University would receive a favourable conclusion, indicating HEFCE’s confidence in the University of Lincoln’s accountability information.
• The Board received a briefing from the Governor acting as sponsor of the University’s KPI “Promoting an internationalised culture of enterprise and innovation across our communities”. The Governor had spoken with a number of staff about their approach to the KPI. It was clear that staff believed that the KPI was critical to the University’s top 40 ambitions and for its overall reputation and league table positioning. Reputation was key to attracting good staff and research students.  Research was also fundamental in developing partnerships with large companies.
• The Board received a report by the DVC (Teaching, Quality and the Student Experience) which noted that the 2014 National Student Survey (NSS) results had seen an overall improvement and had increased the University’s ranking from 70^th in 2013 to 49^th. There were, nonetheless, a number of areas requiring improvement and the EDEU was providing assistance to heads of schools in those areas where there were elements of underperformance, and where some immediate gains were achievable for NSS 2015.
• The Governors received a presentation from the Students’ Union President/Student Governor, covering the key SU achievements during 2013/14, work planned to take forward the Union’s strategy, and the portfolios and aims of the new sabbatical officers. The Union had attained a 74% positive response to the question in NSS 2014 about students’ satisfaction with their SU, up from 69% in 2013 and against a national average of 68%. Governors noted this as a pleasing outcome which complemented ULSU’s distinction of being awarded HE Students’ Union of the Year by the NUS.
• The Board discussed reports from the Director of Estates and Commercial Facilities about major capital projects, including measures to ensure the availability of quality student accommodation. The Board’s Financing The Future Working Group had met frequently to consider the development of the estate to enable delivery of the University’s strategic ambitions.
• Governors agreed that the University’s charitable objectives and those of Macmillan Cancer Support were mutually consistent, thereby enabling a proposed new academic partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support whereby the University would deliver short CPD courses. It had also been proposed that Macmillan would become the ‘Vice Chancellor’s Charity of the Year’ through which staff and students could engage in fundraising.
• The Governors received and noted the Annual Health & Safety Report; the Student Complaints Annual Report; and an updated Code of Practice demonstrating how the various requirements of the Education Act 1994 were implemented in respect of oversight of certain activities of the Students’ Union.
• The Chair briefed Members on the business discussed at meetings of the Committee of University Chairs. A new Code of Governance would be published shortly, and it appeared that the University of Lincoln could be confident of demonstrating overall compliance with the different elements.

Paul Walsh  Clerk to the Board of Governors