| Description | The Academic Board of Senate replaced the First Degrees committee and Higher Degrees committee. The first meeting was held on 5 November 1991. Its terms of reference were very similar to the committees it replaced, and it was authorised to consider and act with the delegated authority of Senate on proposals for new first and higher degrees and to monitor the content and appropriateness of programmes offered by the University. Membership consisted of the Vice-Chancellor; Vice-Principal; Pro-Vice-Chancellors; members of staff nominated by each Faculty Board; three members of Senate appointed by the Senate; and the President and a Vice-President of the Guild of Students. Meetings were also attended by a representative of the Careers Service. Later on in the life of the committee, it was chaired by a Pro-Vice-Chancellor.
Minutes record discussion of the same kinds of functions and activities as the committees the Academic Board replaced. There is information about codes of practice, including for external examiners; reports on examination procedures; reports from Faculty Boards, both for first degrees business and higher degrees business concerning new programmes, amendments to programmes and changes to the syllabus, and the withdrawal of programmes, with often quite detailed proposals and reports; codes of practice for monitoring and informing undergraduate and taught postgraduate students of their progress; discussion of thesis submission rates and Research Council sanctions policies for higher degrees; regular academic audits run by the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals, including Faculty and Scrutiny Team reports; papers on teaching quality, including discussion of undergraduate teaching by postgraduate students; papers on the progress and assessment of research postgraduate students; and codes of practice on the admission and assessment of research students and overseas students.
Towards the end of 1992, meetings contain discussion about a proposal for a diversified programme at Newman and Westhill Colleges, and the accreditation of Newman/Westhill. Minutes of meetings held in 1993 contain papers relating to Quality Assurance and the Quality Assessment visit, with emphasis on quality and efficiency, and curriculum development and assessment. There is also a copy of the report of the Teaching Scrutiny Group with minutes of the meeting held on 4 March 1993. Minutes of other meetings held in 1993 mention the establishment of a Graduate Research School to include postgraduate taught students
Discussion of the introduction of anonymous marking and modularisation appears in minutes of meetings from 1994 onwards, and there are also reports of Accreditation panels for programmes at affiliated institutions. Minutes of the meeting held on 3 February 1994 include a report of the Graduate Research Committee to the Academic Board concerning the length and standard of theses, and minutes of subsequent meetings of the Academic Board include regular reports of the Graduate Research Committee, which had a remit to include all postgraduate research programmes and taught masters programmes. Minutes of the meeting held on 11 May 1995 include a paper on the establishment of a Teaching and Learning committee to cover teaching quality issues following the effectiveness of Teaching Scrutiny Group set up by the Academic Board, and minutes of meetings held in the mid 1990s and late 1990s contain increased discussion of Learning and Teaching strategy and quality assessment. There are also copies of codes of practice covering student appeals and plagiarism. Minutes of meetings held in 1999 and 2000 contain details about the Quality Assurance Agency and Quality Assurance Exercise, as well as discussion of internal quality assessment exercises. An increasing proportion of business discussed by the committee was that raised by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, who chaired the committee from the mid to late 1990s
After the abolition of the Faculty structure in 1998, programme proposals initially came to the Academic Board via the Schools. By November 1998 there were sub-committees reporting to the Academic Board. These were the Undergraduate committee, Postgraduate Taught committee, Postgraduate Research committee and External Programmes committee (later the External and Collaborative Programmes committee). By 2004 these committees were the Undergraduate committee, Postgraduate committee, Educational Development committee, Programme Approval Panel, External and Collaborative Programmes committee. Minutes of the Academic Board routinely include brief reports of these committees
The terms of reference of the Academic Board had evolved by 2000, and were by then 'to take prime responsibility, to the Senate, for learning, teaching and assessment developments, and for the assurance and enhancement of the academic quality and standards of all University programmes and awards'. It received reports of sub-committees on all matters delegated to those committees, which usually included the approval of new programmes of study prior to their approval by the Academic Board.
Minutes of the meeting held on 11 October 2001 include a copy of the annual report of the Student Support and Counselling Service 2000-2001, and minutes of meetings from the 2000s contain evidence of increased emphasis on student welfare, with codes of practice on reasonable adjustments, mitigations procedures and mental health policies, as well as a drugs policy. There is also information about the Students' Charter Review, and the National Student Survey.
Minutes of meetings held in 2004 and 2005 include papers relating to Deans Review meetings and School Quality Reviews.
The last meeting for which minutes survive was held on 2 June 2005. These minutes state that the next meeting was to be held on 6 October 2005, but later records have not been transferred to the University Archives |