| Description | Minutes of the body which managed the University of Birmingham Television and Film Unit, covering the period from November 1983 to June 1989. Before this time it had been a sub-committee of the University Educational Services Committee but after this committee was dissolved and its responsibilities redistributed, it became a sub-committee of the University Committee on Computers after that committee took on responsibility for the use of information technology across the institution.
Membership of the committee consisted of the chair of the University Committee on Computers (chair); Pro-Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for the University Committee on Computers; the Director of the Centre for Computing and Computer Science and the Television and Film Unit; the chair of the Educational Development Advisory Committee; the chair of the Television Users Group; and the Producer of the Television and Film Unit
The sub-committee's terms of reference to advise the University Committee on Computers on the formulation of the policy of the Television and Film Unit; to be responsible for the seeking and allocation of resources for the Unit; to be available to advise the Director on academic and administrative matters; to receive and consider reports from the Television Users Group; to take into consideration and make recommendations on any other matter bearing upon the work and development of the Television and Film Unit; and to receive and transmit the annual report of the Director. Meetings were held three times a year
Minutes typically contain discussion of the structure and policies of the Unit. They regularly include the Producer's reports on output including academic productions, commercial contracts, and lists of bookings. There are also annual reports of TV and Film Unit which contain overviews of the work of the Unit, information about services provided to university departments other than production work, details about staffing, and teaching facilities provided, and technical facilities. There are also lists and descriptions of both academic and commercial productions. Minutes also include some reports of the Television Users group, and there is some discussion about staffing, and papers concerning the equipment allocations. In addition, the minutes contain information about publicity and promotional films made by the Unit for University recruitment and marketing purposes, and comment on their reception
Minutes of the meting held on 16 February 1987 include a report of the Working Party to Review the Television and Film Unit, which comments on the advantages of the Unit having an administrative link with the Centre for Computing and Computer Science, and states that the Unit needs the expertise and support from being linked with a large University department. The report comments on the current situation and also has a section on the Unit's future development, both in academic use and commercial activities, and addresses the future leadership of the Unit, before making its recommendations
Minutes of the meeting held on 23 May 1988 includes a paper on the Film Service in the Main Library, which had been in operation for twenty years but which was now to have its management and staff transferred to the TV and Film Unit. Minutes of meetings held later in 1988 and in 1989 include information about the activities of the Main Library Film Service
Minutes of last meeting of the sub-committee, held on 15 May 1989, record that the Committee of Principals and Deans had approved the recommendations of the Working Party to Review Committees Responsible for Information Services that the Television and Film Unit Sub-Committee should be dissestablished from October 1989, and in order to keep the Director informed of user opinion, an Open Meeting for interested users should be organised at least once a year. The Information Technology Committee would have responsibility for IT policy across the University, including IT developments in the TV and Film Unit, and would have access to the Strategy, Planning and Resources Committee to seek funding for new initiatives; and was to be ultimately accountable to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for Information Technology |