| Description | The Committee for the Area Studies Centre replaced the Committee for the Centre for Russian and East European Studies (UB/COM/68) and the Committee for the Centre of West African Studies (UB/COM/67). The new committee was responsible to the Senate for the policies of the Centre for Russian and East European Studies and the Centre of West African Studies. It was available to advise the Directors of both Centres on academic and administrative matters and its other duties were to recommend the budgets for and to allocate the grants for the two Centres; and to take into consideration and make recommendations upon any other matters bearing upon the work and development of the two Centres. It reported to the Academic Executive or Senate as appropriate
Membership consisted of a Pro-Vice-Chancellor as chair; the Deans of Faculties having departments to which Centre members were attached; Deans or representatives appointed by the other Faculties; the Director of the Centre for Russian and East European Studies and the Director of the Centre of West African Studies; Heads of Departments which the committee identified as having a close association with the work of the Centres; members of the academic staff of the Centre for Russian and East European Studies, elected by the departmental committee; and members of the academic staff of the Centre of West African Studies, elected by the departmental committee. Up to three members could be co-opted to the committee. It usually met three times a year.
The committee's routine business consisted of the assessment of academic priorities of both Centres; staff matters including the esatablishment of new posts and applications for promotion; awards of honorary titles and of prizes; discussion of research grants, applications for study leave, and funds for travel and research. Reserved business includes reports of the staffing sub-committee of the Area Studies Committee on increments, probabation periods and applications for promotion which contain personal information relating to individual members of staff including curriculum vitae, and the minutes also contain reports of the electoral board for the Directorship of the Centre for Russian and East European Studies.
Minutes of the committee include copies of the annual reports of both the Centre for Russian and East European Studies (CREES) and the Centre of West African Studies (CWAS), and reports from the Directors of both Centres on undergraduate and postgraduate registrations. There are also detailed reports of research visits made by individual members of staff of both Centres
An additional meeting of the Committee for the Area Studies Centres was held on 23 January 1986 to consider the future of the two Centres in light of the Report of the Vice-Chancellor's Planning Committee which made the recommendation that the Centre of West African Studies and the Centre for Russian and East European Studies could not retain their Extra-Faculty status and that resourcing of these Centres must be judged against that of other academic departments. It was recommended that the Centre for Russian and East European Studies become a department in the Faculty of Commerce and Social Science and that the Centre of West African Studies become a department within the Faculty of Arts, with both Centres having the status of independent departments within the Faculties. Minutes of this meeting include a copy of the draft Report of the Vice-Chancellor's Planning Committee, and detailed responses by both Centres, which conclude that if the Committee for the Area Studies Centres supported the recommendation, the Centres would insist on certain provisos which are set out in the responses.
Following the decision to approve the recommendations of the Report of the Vice-Chancellor's Planning Committee, and the inclusion of the Centres within the Faculty structure, the Committee for the Area Studies Committee was dissolved, and the final meeting was held on 2 June 1987 |