University Council Minutes 4 February 2025

Minutes of the meeting held on 4 February 2025 at 9.15 am in TC203, Oxstalls Campus, Gloucester

Academic Board Membership (for C.25.01):

Rakhee Aggarwal
Becki Albrighton
Dr Matthew Andrews
Kit Boulting-Hodge
Katharine Clough
Jess Hale – A
Prof Cathia Jenainati – A
Dr Graham Parton – A
Prof Angus Pryor
Dr Azley Abd Razak
Dr Matthew Reed

University Council Membership:

Bobola Ajibola (also on Academic Board)
Ingrid Barker
Thomas Chambers
James Cooper
Paul Crichard
Nicola de Iongh (Chair)
Ruth Dooley
Chris Fung
Stephen Gardiner
Vanessa Garratt
Clare Marchant (Chair of Academic Board)
Pamela Sissons
Elonka Soros – A
The Rt Revd Robert Springett
Joe Sucksmith
Julie Walking
Dr Peter Warry

Board Apprentice:

Eleanor Hill

In attendance:

Rakhee Aggarwal Exec Dean – EDI (Head of School, Health and Social Care)
Dr Matthew Andrews (Secretary to Council) Chief Operating Officer
Julie-Ann Brooks Director of People
Stewart Dove (for C.25.14), Director of Student Experience
Jess Lawson (from C.25.15), Director (Strategic Planning and Transformation)
Prof Angus Pryor, Exec Dean – Research (Head of School, Creative Arts)
Camille Stallard (until C.25.13), Chief Financial Officer
Tanya Collins (Minutes), Head of Governance and Legal

C.25.01 UoG approach to Academic Portfolio Review

C.25.01.1 Received: a presentation from the Vice-Chancellor and the Director of Strategic Planning and Transformation regarding the University’s approach to Academic Portfolio Review (APR), which included: the history of APR at the University of Gloucestershire (UoG); the Universities UK (UUK) Framework (2022); aims and principles; UoG identity; the APR approach taken in 2024, including outcomes and implementation; and future considerations and Curriculum Transformation. Attendees were reminded of the confidential nature of the presentation slides.

C.25.01.2 Considered: the following questions in breakout groups:

a. whether the aims and principles of Portfolio Review were appropriate;
b. what else should the University consider during APR;
c. whether they agreed with the recommendations outlined in the presentation.

C.25.01.4 Noted feedback from the breakout group discussions included the following points:

a. taking a ‘wrapper’ approach to how courses were sold to different markets, encompassing campus, accommodation, wellbeing, links to industry etc. to promote a sense of community;
b. the success / importance of getting people to attend for Open Days etc. to support recruitment;
c. whether the academic offer could include more distinct courses;
d. offering more personalised routes for students to appeal to a wider audience as well as involving them in the cocreation of them and getting their perspectives;
e. that Learning Analytics and other data may help identify how courses could be tailored;
f. that the UoG curriculum modules could allow students to adapt their programme to suit their interests e.g. digital literacy, equality, sustainability etc.;
g. the challenge of balancing the University’s heritage with new thinking to create something different, modern and fresh, industry-relevant etc. whilst also building the UoG identity;
h. understanding behaviours and the process of applicants searching for courses including the use of AI terms for course titles and descriptions which could influence students;
i. that student mental wellbeing difficulties in the sector were increasing and the importance of student employability and mental fitness. It was noted that priorities identified for the first year of Curriculum Transformation would assist with timetabling, reducing assessment load etc.;
j. that sometimes it was better to rebrand courses than to create new ones;
k. exploring other markets e.g. the retired market in the context of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE);
l. the use of stakeholder engagement with employers, service users, the public etc.;
m. emerging areas of significance and opportunities included Business West and tailoring provision to local economic strategy, nuclear, and shifts in healthcare which may require changes to the way people were trained e.g. analogue to digital, hospital to community etc.;
n. there was consensus that the aims and principles of the APR were appropriate, but it was recognised that it needed to take more account of what students were looking for and promote a greater sense of connection with the University.

C.25.01.5 Resolved: the Vice-Chancellor thanked attendees for their contributions which would be taken away to consider and build on through the APR process moving forward. The evolving portfolio was also highlighted, including new parts of the portfolio that were coming through, and alignment with the Research Strategy.

C.25.02 Prayer
The Rt Revd Robert Springett led the meeting in a prayer.

C.25.03 Welcome and Apologies

C.25.03.1 Received and Noted: apologies from Elonka Soros and for early departure from Camille Stallard. The Chair welcomed Rakhee Aggarwal, Executive Dean – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (Head of School, Health and Social Care), Professor Angus Pryor, Executive Dean – Research (Head of School, Creative Arts), and Tanya Collins (minutes) to the meeting.

C.25.04 Business of the Agenda
Noted: that there had been no request to unstar any item on the agenda, and therefore it was assumed that papers C/10/25 to C/13/25.

C.25.05 Declarations of Interest
Received: a declaration of interest from Paul Crichard as an employee of Serco which was also a supplier to the University.

C.25.06 Minutes of the meeting held on 26 November 2024
Resolved: it was agreed that the minutes were an accurate record of the meeting held on 26 November 2024 subject to misspellings of ‘confidential’ in the action table on page 8.

C.25.07 CONFIDENTIAL: Matters Arising (C/01/25)
This item was considered under Confidential Business.

C.25.08 Chair’s Business

C.25.08.1 Received and Noted: an update from the Chair, reporting that Jess Lawson, Director of Strategic Planning and Transformation (SP&T) / Assistant Secretary to Council, would be leaving the University in May 2025, and that it was also the final meeting as Senior Independent Governor (SIG) for Dr Peter Warry. The Chair thanked Peter for his time in the SIG role which he had conducted with grace and dignity. It was noted that Governance and Nominations Committee would be discussing the SIG role at its meeting later that week.

C.25.08.2 Received: an update from the Committee Chair on key discussions held at the following meeting:
a. Finance and General Purposes Committee, 21 January 2025.

C.25.08.3 This item was discussed under Confidential Business.

C.25.09 SU Report (C/02/25)

C.25.09.1 Received: the Students’ Union (SU) update, noting in particular:

a. the latest key activities and initiatives over the reporting period;
b. updates from each of the campaigns being led by the SU Officers;
c. headlines of UoG data from the Students Organising for Sustainability UK (SOSUK) Drugs and Alcohol Impact Survey and comparisons with national averages. Data for national averages would be published by SOSUK in April 2025. Work was being undertaken with the Student Wellbeing team to promote a harm reduction approach; d. SU attendance at the All-Party Parliamentary Group in January 2025 to discuss the Renters’ Rights Bill to support NUS lobbying for student-friendly amendments to the Bill;
e. the SU Welcome Back offer had grown significantly in line with increased student recruitment;
f. the SU was struggling to keep up with demand for the relaunched ‘Student Food Pantries’.

C.25.09.2 Considered:

a. that the proportion of UoG SOSUK survey respondents who were using drugs to cope with stress was concerning and how it might reflect on the University even though it represented a small number of students. Work was being undertaken on the titling, weighting (i.e. drugs and alcohol impact), length, and internal communications regarding the survey to encourage better take up next time to get a bigger measure of usage and impact at the University;
b. a recent UUK report had been published which covered work a taskforce which had been established to help universities understand and address student drug use in the context of student health and wellbeing, which was recognised to a big issue;
c. the ongoing engagement and work being undertaken by the SU to reduce the Awarding Gap;
d. the importance to ensuring the longevity of campaigns to support the increased recruitment of international students after the current Welfare and Diversity Officer finished his term of office.

C.25.10 CONFIDENTIAL: Vice-Chancellor’s Report (C/03/25)
This item was considered under Confidential Business.

C.25.11 CONFIDENTIAL: 2024/25 December Finance Report including Forecast 1 (C/04/25)
This item was considered under Confidential Business.

C.25.12 CONFIDENTIAL: Asset Disposals (C/05/25)
This item was considered under Confidential Business.

C.25.13 CONFIDENTIAL: City Campus Update Report (C/06/25)
This item was considered under Confidential Business.

C.24.14 Annual Student Experience Report (C/07/25)

C.25.14.1 Received: the Annual Student Experience Report for 2023/24 which included updates on key projects, initiatives, and developments on the following:

a. student support model;
b. ‘reasonable adjustment plans’ for disabled students;
c. working towards a ‘suicide-safer’ University;
d. responding to expectations related to harassment and sexual misconduct.

C.25.14.2 Noted:

a. the popularity and success of the Nova digital assistant. As of the previous week, there had been more 13k conversations with students with only 222 of which needing to be referred to colleague for action, which represented a 98.3% resolution rate;
b. that there had been positive early feedback from Personal Tutors and students regarding the provision of personalised ‘reasonable adjustment plans’;
c. the commitments to creating a ‘suicide safer’ University in response to an increasing focus on institutions’ approaches to suicide prevention work, UUK guidance, and principles of continuous learning. This included equipping relevant staff with the relevant skills to navigate those complex and sensitive conversations;
d. it was heartening that students felt able to disclose experiences and seek resolutions regarding sexual harassment and misconduct using the online reporting tool and that most were doing this openly, rather than anonymously;
e. work that was required to meet the Office for Students (OfS) condition of registration relating to the prevention of harassment and sexual misconduct which would come into effect from 1 August 2025, including student and staff training, and the expectation that providers will ensure there was capacity and resources to facilitate compliance. The University was already well positioned in terms of systems, policies and reporting tools in place, but work was still underway in relation to training and education.

C.25.14.3 Considered:

a. whether it would be worth Council revisiting the prevention of harassment and sexual misconduct in light of the incoming OfS condition of registration;
b. an observation that OfS appeared to be becoming bureaucratic which added to staff workloads, impacted resources etc. and opportunities to raise this were discussed, including the Committee of University Chairs (CUC) responding to the OfS Consultation Strategy for 2025 to 2023 which closed later that month; c.
ways in which the University may be made aware of student disabilities and that some students choose not to declare these or seek support. The disability disclosure rate for students at UoG was higher compared to benchmark data within the sector;
d. whether training for all student facing staff should be mandatory as part of the ‘suicide safer’ commitment and the challenges around this including resources, personal experiences etc.;
e. that the traction and success of Nova could provide an opportunity to market the tool commercially.

To Note: Director of Student Experience

C.25.14.4 Resolved: Council noted the report.

C.24.15 CONFIDENTIAL: Academic Board Update for Council (C/08/25)
This item was considered under Confidential Business.

C.25.16 CONFIDENTIAL: Plans for Council Away Day
This item was considered under Confidential Business.

C.25.17 CONFIDENTIAL: Project Miscible Update (C/09/25)
This item was considered under Confidential Business.

C.25.18 Council and its Committees: Meeting Dates* (C/10/25)
Resolved: Council:
a. noted the previously agreed dates for 2025/25;
b. considered and approved the new dates for 2026/27, subject to further changes to reflect the recommendations made in the Governance Effectiveness Review.

C.25.19 CONFIDENTIAL: Major Incident Exercise July 2024* (C/11/25)
This item was considered under Confidential Business.

C.25.20 Annual Sustainability Report* (C/12/25)
Noted: the Annual Sustainability Report.

C.25.21 Council Schedule of Business* (C/13/25)
Received and Noted: the Council Schedule of Business and made no recommendations for change.

C.25.22 Minutes from Council Committees*
Noted: that the minutes from the following meetings would be available from the University Committees page on the staff Sharepoint site.
a. Renumeration and Human Resources Committee, 25 September 2024
b. Finance and General Purposes Committee, 21 January 2025

C.25.23 Any Other Business
Noted: that it was the last meeting of Council for Jess Lawson who would be leaving the University in May 2025. The Chair thanked Jess for her valuable contributions to the work of Council and its committees and to the University, and noted that she would be missed, and wished her well with her future plans.

C.25.24 Date of Next Meeting
Council Away Day on 12 and 13 May 2025 (location to be confirmed).