The Convener advised members that a meeting of the new ASC Sub-Committee was scheduled for 23 November 2015. An update would be provided to the February meeting of ASC. 

Members were advised that the update on the implementation of the consolidated Schedules A and B would be submitted to the February meeting of ASC.

The Convener confirmed to members that, further to discussions held with the Dean for International Mobility on reassessment opportunities for visiting students, the proposals presented by ARSC on this issue were compliant with the University's agreements with partner institutions.

The Committee noted that, further to a meeting in December of Deans of Graduate Studies (DoGS), an update would be provide to the February meeting on any further actions identified. 

Dr Stoddart introduced the report for the College of Arts and ASC noted a number of positive developments for session 2014.

Matters identified for the attention of the University included challenges with Central Timetabling (CTT) and accommodation, both of which had been experienced across all Schools. Dr Stoddart considered that the situation with regard to CTT and accommodation had deteriorated and placed staff under increasing pressure. The most urgent issues were identified as lack of appropriate teaching accommodation, particularly for language instruction, and substandard teaching rooms.

Other University issues identified in the report included:

• Inadequate support for students with serious mental health issues with students waiting excessively long periods for appointments;
• Need for improved IT support for projects such as Moodle-Mahara interface to enable innovative assessments using Mahara;;
• Lack of clarify regarding lecture recording;
• Assistance with regard to copyright support for subjects such as Music and Theatre Studies.

The Convener sought clarification with regard to Assessment Procedures (page 9) which referred to mark mapping (100% to 22 point scale) which was not in keeping with the Code of Assessment. Dr Stoddart agreed to provide clarification to ASC at the February meeting.

Action: HS 

Professor Evans presented the report for MVLS and reported a number of positive developments and examples of good practice. It was noted that, as reported last year, the issue with 'closing the loop' continued to create disquiet among staff and created difficulties in addressing issues such as feedback.

Various issues relating to infrastructure, CTT and IT were identified as requiring the attention of the University. In particular, the VLE policy had restricted access to full Moodle and Mahara functionality, which hindered innovation and the ability to personalise the learning experience for students. Staff would welcome the opportunity to explore and test new technologies outwith the limits of institutional IT systems/policies. As reported last year, the provision of a regular shuttle bus between Gilmore Hill and satellite campuses, in particular Garscube, continued to raise concerns. The lack of such a service was viewed as a serious safety matter for students.

Staffing continued to be the source of significant concerns and these had been reported to the College. The shortfall in academic, atypical and administrative staff both for teaching and assessment was ongoing from last year's report, as was the tendency for new appointments to be shaped by research strengths, which created challenges in appointing staff equipped to teach.

Members noted that there was continuing unease regarding the calculation of Grade Point Averages when determining degree awards and discretionary zones in determining final degree awards. In the School of Life Sciences the use of GPA in applying discretion was perceived as not being suitable for degrees within the School. Such an example was the BSc (Hons) students who took only 6 20-credit courses in their final year with the view that a grade profile with 6 data points was not a 'robust discriminator'. A request was made for the School to be permitted to use profiles of all constituent grades. It was agreed that Professor Evans would provide additional information from the School on this issue for the next meeting of ASC in February.

Action: NE

Dr Macauley was unable to attend the meeting; therefore the Convener highlighted key issues from the report, highlighting Good Practice reflected in Computing Science's project management system. Despite the pressures on teaching, as outlined below, the student feedback reflected a high-level of satisfaction with the teaching and School as a whole. Areas requiring attention at University level included:

• Staffing issues continued to be a source of concern and had also been highlighted to the College. The report referred to circumstances that impacted on staff teaching and research activities including increased student numbers, involvement in Transnational Education (TNE) and lack of administrative support which resulted in academic staff being overburdened with administrative duties.
• CTT, accommodation and administration were identified as Hot Topics. The continuing shortage of suitable teaching rooms posed substantial challenges as did the CTT process for handling room change requests. The current CTT system for handling room changes was considered to be deficient and that a more responsive approach to room change requests was desirable. The process of room refurbishment was criticised due to the lack of consultation with staff to identify appropriate renovations and equipment which would aid staff and enhance the student experience.

The report referred to previous CAMS, covering several years, which identified the need for increased administrative support within Schools or, ideally, subject level, to address the issues created by MyCampus. Resourcing such a policy was deemed to be too costly and, consequently, the situation has further deteriorated resulting in undue pressures on academic staff in resolving timetabling issues.

A further issue identified in the report referred to the existing format of MyCampus. This permitted students to choose which laboratory classes they would attend and was identified as problematic. Frustration was expressed that these concerns had been highlighted prior to the rollout of MyCampus. 

The Convener drew the Committee's attention to the Good Practice which reflected improvement in the level of engagement with the annual monitoring process.

Issues identified for University attention included:

• CTT and accommodation

A further issue identified was the need for further guidance on the new system for submitting good cause. ASC agreed that this matter should be referred to the Senate Office.

Action: Clerk

Following the review of each of the College reports, issues requiring University-level attention would be identified and forwarded to the relevant areas for action. In addition, ASC agreed to highlight the following items to EdPSC as key areas of concern arising consistently across many areas of the University:

CTT: The issue of room bookings was raised throughout all the reports with Colleges reporting ongoing difficulties with:

• Room availability, appropriate size and allocation of rooms across the campus, for example back-to-back classes based in the St Andrew's Building and the Main Campus which were not feasible for students or staff;
• Lack of consultation regarding lecture room refurbishment;
• Dissatisfaction with room booking process and subsequent requests for room changes

Accommodation: The issue of room accommodation featured, again, throughout all the College reports. Specific issues identified included: 

• Rooms that require to be upgraded to provide acceptable learning environments;
• Lack of sufficient spaces of adequate and varied size to accommodate teaching needs at all levels;
• Inadequate equipment within teaching spaces and not meeting specific requirements of Schools;

Staffing: Staffing at academic and administration levels were identified as problematic:

• Appointments of staff were largely informed by research strengths, not teaching;
• Shortfalls in both academic, atypical and administrative staff both for teaching and assessment;
• Academic staff required to assume administrative tasks due to lack of administrative staff;
• Staff being overburdened which could ultimately compromise their ability to undertake research and teaching effectively;

ASC would draw the attention of EdPSC to a College report which concluded 'institutionally, the University has lost the art of listening'. ASC was concerned that this reflected a wider sense of frustration experienced by staff throughout the campus at the University's perceived lack of responsiveness to ongoing issues of concern.

Members considered that some sections within the Annual Monitoring form would benefit from review. Two areas identified were:

• Sections 'What needs work?' and 'Action Plans': Members considered that the layout for these questions was fragmented. A proposed layout was for the headings to be presented in two columns for clarity;
• Sections 'Reflection' and 'Innovative': contained elements of repetition.

ASC agreed that the Quality Officers' Forum (QOF) should be asked to consider the proposed amendments in a review of the Annual Monitoring form.

Action: Clerk, QOF 

The Committee discussed the resource difficulties associated with TELT. Whilst a key feature of the University's Learning & Teaching Strategy, there were concerns about the resources available to undertake associated projects. Work Load Models did not make adequate provision for development time, which, given the complexity of some projects, could be significant. Additionally, staff were under increasing pressure to stay abreast of innovations with no allocated time for formal training. It was noted that there was little collaboration between Schools/Institutes on such new developments, resulting in unnecessary duplication. ASC considered that this was both wasteful in terms of resources and staff time and agreed that these issues should be forwarded to the Learning & Teaching Committee for further consideration.

Action: Clerk, Learning & Teaching Committee

ASC received and noted a report detailing the schedule of PSR reports due to be submitted to the Committee during the current session with allocated ASC reviewers for each report. Members were advised that the PSR for Accounting and Finance had been postponed until session 2016-17. New members were invited to note the role of the reviewer as detailed in the paper. 

ASC discussed the viability of holding a special meeting of ASC in June 2016 to review those PSR reports which were not available for the May meeting. There were a number of difficulties identified with this proposal due to the timing of Board of Examiners meeting and marking timetables. Therefore, ASC agreed that PSR reviewers should scrutinise the reports outwith Committee and provide feedback to Professors Briggs and Guthrie for consideration under Summer Powers.  

ASC/2015/21.3.1 Computing Science

ASC received a report providing an update on actions relating to various recommendations arising from the review of Computing Science held in February 2014. The Committee was satisfied with progress made with recommendations 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, and 14 and noted that recommendation 11 had been given full and thorough consideration.

ASC/2015/21.3.2 Nursing & Healthcare

ASC received a report providing an update on actions relating to various recommendations arising from the review of Nursing and Healthcare held in December 2014. The Committee was satisfied with progress made with recommendations 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 and 14.

ASC/2015/21.3.3 Open Studies

ASC received a report providing an update on actions relating to a recommendation arising from the review of the Centre for Open Studies held in March 2013. The recommendation concerned the unsuitability of the Art Room and the proposed timescale for review. No timescale had been provided in the November 2015 response, and in view of the Equality issue associated with this recommendation, ASC requested that an indication of the timescale be provided to the February meeting.

Action: Senate Office

ASC/2015/21.3.4 Politics

ASC received a report providing an update on actions relating to various recommendations arising from the review of Politics in March 2013. With regard to recommendation 3 and the issue of space, as this matter was raised in the CAMS for the College of Social Sciences, ASC considered that no further action could be asked of the subject area. The Committee was satisfied with the progress made on recommendations 9, 10, 14 and 15.

ASC/2015/21.3.5 Theology & Religious Studies

ASC received a report providing an update on actions relating to various recommendations arising from the review of Theology & Religious Studies held in March 2014. The Committee was satisfied that sufficient progress had been made with regard to recommendations 5, 7, 11 and 13.

ASC considered and approved, in principle, the proposal for the introduction of the MSc in Environmental Architecture at the GSA. 

ASC considered the proposal for the development of the MSc Architecture in International Development in collaboration with the University of Rwanda, East Africa. ASC noted that GSA had been asked to provide assurances to the University that a number of quality issues, related to Stage 2 of the programme in Rwanda, would be fully addressed as part of the programme approval process.

ASC approved, in principle, the introduction of the MSc Architecture in International Development at the GSA.