| Description | The committee was set up following the establishment of the Biochemistry department in August 1968, with a principal function to keep the Deans of both the Faculty of Science and Engineering and the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry informed of the department's needs and priorities, since the department sat outside the Faculty structure. Initially, Working Parties were set up to consider aspects of the Honours course, and the committee also discussed the biochemistry syllabus for medical students
Membership of the committee consisted at first of the Deans of both Faculties, and other academic staff. A change in the constitution was discussed at the meeting held on 18 June 1969 in order to bridge the gap between science and medicine and to address the need to represent staff in the Biology department. It was recommended that membership would consist of the Vice-Chancellor and Principal; chair of the Department of Biochemistry; Deans of the Faculties of Science and Engineering and of Medicine and Dentistry; all other Professors in the Department of Biochemistry and the Professor of Clinical Chemistry; two members nominated by the Board of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry; one member nominated by the Board of Science and Engineering; chairman of the Biological Group Committee; two representatives of the non-professorial staff of the Department of Biochemistry; one postgraduate and one undergraduate student in the Department of Biochemistry, following discussion earlier in 1969 about student representation on the committee.
Minutes typically contain discussion of the department's needs and its development, and there is information about the allocation of research and equipment grants, including details of research contracts and applications for equipment grants; academic appointments and reviews of salaries, together with reviews of the grading of technical staff; alterations to accommodation for teaching and laboratory work; alteration to programmes within the department; and the expansion of student intake, particularly of medical students
Minutes of the meeting held on 9 October 1970 include a report of a study group of the Department of Biochemistry formed to consider the relationship between Clinical Chemistry and the Department of Biochemistry. Minutes of the meeting held on 7 May 1971 discuss the establishment of an Inter-Faculty Macro-Molecular Analysis Service, and minutes of the meeting held on 31 May 1979 mention that the Faculties of Science and Engineering and Medicine and Dentistry support the proposal for the establishment of a Management Committee of the Macromolecular Analysis Service reporting to the Biochemistry Committee.
Minutes of meetings held in 1972 and 1973 contain discussion of Review Body consultative documents, and the implications for the Department of Biochemistry in relation to its possible placement within a Faculty of Life (Biological Sciences). Minutes of the meeting held on 17 November 1972 express the view that the Department remain a full member of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.
The minutes include some reserved business relating to staff appointments and promotions, and these documents include personal information relating to individual members of staff including curriculum vitae. This reserved business was recorded separately as Minutes B, while Minutes A record open business.
Minutes of the meeting held on 2 October 1981 includes references to the first draft of the Academic Plan, which was intended to present to the University Grants Committee an outline of the structure of the University if it was required to operate on a reduced budget, and its implications for the Department of Biochemistry
The last meeting of the committee was held on 6 October 1982, and the minutes express the concerns of committee members about the future of the Department of Biochemistry within the University, citing the perceived weakening of links with the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry following the absorption of the department within the Faculty of Science and Engineering. The committee was disbanded by Senate on 3 November 1982 and responsibility for it was passed to the Faculty of Science and Engineering |