Electronic Precinct - October 1998

Committee Business Update

For the information of staff and students, a brief summary of the main points discussed at meetings of the Senate and the Council in the Summer Term 1998 is circulated.

Management Education
The University's provision for management education is to be expanded and developed, building upon the existing provision in the Liverpool Institute for Public Administration and Management and the Department of Economics and Accounting and concentrating on niche market provision, for example the M BA in Football Industries.

Student Recruitment in the Faculty of Engineering
The Engineering Council has introduced new regulations which stipulate that courses which are accredited for Chartered Engineer status must in future have more stringent entry standards. The new SARTOR regulations could restrict the ability of the Faculty of Engineering to recruit students in the requisite numbers and the Dean of the Faculty is therefore formulating a strategic response aimed at increasing the proportion of high quality A level entrants. The Faculty has introduced a scholarship scheme which it hopes will help to attract well-qualified candidates to study Engineering at the University.

Teaching Quality Assessments
The following results have been obtained in recent teaching quality assessments by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (from a maximum of 24 points in each case):

Civil Engineering - 22 points
Materials Technology (Materials Science) - 21 points
Town and Country Planning and Landscape (Civic Design) - 23 points
General Engineering (Combined Engineering/Manufacturing Engineering and Management) - 20 points

University/University College Relations
The University, together with Liverpool Hope University College and University College Chester, has agreed to establish a Joint Development Group to look at ways of promoting closer collaboration between the three institutions. Assessment Appeals Procedure A new procedure has been introduced for appeals against the decisions of Board of Examiners in respect of the determination of degrees or other awards or the classification of degrees. Details of the procedure are printed in the 1998-99 Faculty Handbooks.

News Names
The Department of Orthopaedic and Accident Surgery has been renamed The Department of Musculo-Skeletal Science and the Central Television and Photographic Service has been renamed The Television Service.

Academic Year Schedules
The semester dates for the academic years 1998-99 to 2002-2003 have been agreed as follows:

Session 1998-99
Semester 1:
Monday 28 September - Friday 18 December
12 weeks teaching 3 weeks vacation
Monday 11 January - Friday 22 January
2 weeks assessment

Semester 2:
Monday 25 January - Thursday 1 April
10 weeks teaching 3 weeks vacation
Monday 26 April - Friday 7 May
2 weeks teaching
Monday 10 May - Friday 11 June
5 weeks assessment
Degree ceremonies:
Monday 5 July - Saturday 10 July
Re-sits:Tuesday 31 August - Friday 10 September
(Results by Friday 24 September)

Session 1999-2000
Semester 1:
Monday 27 September - Friday 17 December
12 weeks teaching 3 weeks vacation
Monday 10 January - Friday 21 January
2 weeks assessment

Semester 2:
Monday 24 January - Friday 14 April
12 weeks teaching 3 weeks vacation
Monday 8 May - Friday 9 June
5 weeks assessment
Degree ceremonies:
Monday 3 July - Saturday 8 July
Re-sits: Tuesday 29 August - Friday 8 September
(Results by Friday 22 September)

Session 2000-2001
Semester 1:
Monday 25 September - Friday 15 December
12 weeks teaching 3 weeks vacation
Monday 8 January - Friday 19 January
2 weeks assessment

Semester 2:
Monday 22 January - Friday 6 April
11 weeks teaching 3 weeks vacation
Monday 30 April - Friday 4 May
1 week teaching
Tuesday 8 May - Friday 8 June
5 weeks assessment
Degree ceremonies:
Monday 2 July - Saturday 7 July
Re-sits: Tuesday 28 August - Friday 7 September
(Results by Friday 21 September)

Session 2001-2002
Semester 1:
Monday 24 September - Friday 14 December
12 weeks teaching 3 weeks vacation
Monday 7 January - Friday 18 January
2 weeks assessment

Semester 2:
Monday 21 January - Friday 22 March
9 weeks teaching 3 weeks vacation
Monday 15 April - Friday 3 May
3 weeks teaching
Tuesday 7 May - Friday 7 June
5 weeks assessment
Degree ceremonies:
Monday 1 July - Saturday 6 July
Re-sits: Tuesday 27 August - Friday 6 September
(Results by Friday 20 September)

Session 2002-2003
Semester 1:
Monday 23 September - Friday 13 December
12 weeks teaching 3 weeks vacation
Monday 6 January - Friday 17 January
2 weeks assessment

Semester 2:
Monday 20 January - Friday 11 April
12 weeks teaching 3 weeks vacation
Tuesday 6 May - Friday 6 June
5 weeks assessment
Degree ceremonies:
Monday 31 June - Saturday 5 July
Re-sits: Tuesday 26 August - Friday 5 September
(Results by Friday 19 September)

Guild of Students Constitution
A revised constitution for Guild of Students has been approved. A review of the constitution was carried out to comply with the terms of the Education Reform Act 1994 which requires governing bodies of universities to review and approve the constitution of their student unions at least every five years.

Student Representation
Following consideration of a report drawn up by the President and General Secretary of the Guild of Students, a Working Group is to be established to draw up a code of practice for student representation on committees at departmental and Faculty level. Further consideration is to be given to the r eport's proposals for student representation on central committees.

Management Development
An action plan has been agreed which aims to improve the procedures for the selection and induction of Deans and Heads of Departments so that they can make a more effective contribution at departmental, Faculty and institutional level.

Chairs
Approval has been given for the establishment and filling of the following Chairs:

Chair of Earth Sciences
A third Chair of Psychology
Brough Chair of Paediatric Medicine (The existing Chair of Paediatric Medicine has been renamed The Chair of Neonatal Medicine)
North West Cancer Research Fund Chair in Molecular/Cellular Oncology
Chair of Oral Medicine
Approval has also been given for the filling of the following existing Chairs:
Chair of Medieval History
Derby Chair of Anatomy
Chair of Psychiatry
David Jardine Chair of Electrical Engineering

New Courses
The following new courses have been approved:
Faculty of Arts: Cert.H.E./Diploma in Archaeological Studies
Faculty of Science:B.Sc. in Geography (1+3 course)
P.G.Cert./P.G.Dip./M.Sc. in Parallel and Scientific Computation
Faculty of Medicine: P.G.Cert./ P.G.Dip./M.Sc. in Medical Diagnostic Ultrasound
Liverpool Hope University College: P.G.Cert./P.G.Dip./M.A. in Criminal Justice

Course Withdrawals
The M.Sc. (Eng) in Energy Utilisation and the Environment has been withdrawn.