ASC had drawn EdPSC's attention to a number of general points arising from Periodic Subject Review during 2016-17 including the role, training and support of Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs). The Assessment & Feedback Working Group had been asked to address these, and it had been decided that the work would be taken forward by Dr Nathalie Sheridan (LEADS) and a progress report was expected to be made to ASC in November 2017. 

A further response from Estates & Buildings regarding refurbishment of teaching space and timetabling issues was still awaited. 

In May 2017 ASC had noted that of 36 requests for responses to External Examiner comments only 25 replies had been received from Schools. Members had asked for further information on the process for following up such requests and on the extent to which the gaps were ultimately filled in.

Senate Office had advised that the reports submitted for 2016-17 were being cross checked against the previous year's reports to determine whether the School had addressed the issue. If not, there would be a follow-up with a letter from the Clerk of Senate.

In May 2017 ASC had received a proposal from GSA to amend the wording of regulations for the PhD by published work. GSA's understanding was that it was not permitted to digitise the published works that were being examined and therefore that the regulation should be amended to require such materials only to be submitted in print. Members had questioned this position. Subsequent advice from the Research Strategy & Innovation Office indicated that the proposed amendment was not necessary as the current wording incorporated sufficient flexibility, and this was relayed to GSA. The regulations for the degree of PhD by Published Work were therefore published unchanged in the 2017-18 Calendar pending any further information from GSA. 

At its meeting in May 2017 ASC had agreed to a proposal that additional time should be granted in all exams/tests to students with relevant disabilities. Normally the additional time would be 25%, with some rounding where the exam was of less than an hour's duration. There had been a suggestion that demand for such provision would be limited but more recent information indicated that the impacts of the change in policy could be very significant, particularly where class tests were timetabled within the standard lecture slot and the additional time would take the total duration to beyond the time available in the booked lecture room. Senate Office would therefore be investigating the issues further before the new policy could be implemented.

Action: Senate Office

ASC received the report from the meeting of the ASC Programme Approval Group (PAG) which had considered the proposed introduction of the BEng Civil Engineering to be awarded jointly by the University of Glasgow and the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT). The report indicated that the Group had approved the proposal subject to requested amendments. The Convener advised that the amendments had been completed so that the programme was now fully approved.

Members noted that one of the issues highlighted by the PAG was that, in accordance with SIT regulations, no exit awards would be available on the programme. This was out of line with normal practice at the University of Glasgow. It was noted that some variation from normal practice was to be expected in collaborative programmes where Glasgow was not the lead institution. It was therefore very important that full information about the prevailing regulations should be made available by the partner institution at an early stage in development of the collaboration.

ASC received a summary of feedback from Colleges after the first year of operation of the revised programme and course approval processes. Under the new arrangements Schools were now responsible for approving new and amended courses and Colleges for approving new and amended programmes. The feedback reflected the shifting workloads associated with the reallocation of responsibility and the amount of work involved in ensuring that the documentation was completed to a high standard. The College of Science & Engineering would be holding further training for School Boards of Studies.

Dr Bowie advised that in Arts work was on-going to try and improve the process and they were also aware of the need for further training for School staff. Dr Aitken offered to write to Deans of Learning & Teaching offering further support. It was suggested that LEADS involvement in this would be helpful.

Action: Director of Senate Office

ASC approved the following recommendations:

1. In order to ensure the presence of a Cognate member on School Committees, and of a former PAG member on College committees, named staff should be identified by Senate Office to each School/College at the beginning of each session. This would ensure that former PAG members had clear information about the meetings they were expected to attend, and that Schools/Colleges were confident they would be able to meet the membership requirement. This would address problems experienced in 2016-17 in achieving full coverage of the different Boards of Studies.
2. At present, no further change to approval levels (e.g. devolution of minor programme changes to Schools) should be progressed. Senate Office would consult again with Colleges at the end of the 2017-18 academic year.

Action: Senate Office 

ASC/2017/5.1.1 2016-17: Summary of Recommendations

The Convener noted that from six reviews 73 recommendations had been made. Prominent issues included supporting staff (including GTAs and early career staff) and supporting students (including the range of support mechanisms and receipt of feedback on assessment). It was noted that a number of the issues raised would be addressed by Working Groups established by the Learning & Teaching Committee. ASC accepted that there were no concerns indicating urgent action being required.

ASC/2017/5.1.2 2016-17: Summary of Good Practice / Key Strengths

ASC received the summary of good practice and key strengths, noting 58 areas identified from the six reviews undertaken in 2016-17. As previously agreed, the work of identifying and disseminating the relevant activities would be taken forward by the Good Practice Adviser in LEADS. Members noted that issues identified as good practice in some reviews had been identified as areas for enhancement in recommendations made in other reviews, and that bringing these together was likely to be fruitful.

ASC/2017/5.2.1 Academic Development Unit

ASC received the responses to the recommendations arising from the PSR held on 7 December 2015. The responses reflected the fact that the Learning & Teaching Centre had been undergoing re-organisation at the time of submission of initial responses, and the updated responses reflected the new structure of the Learning Enhancement & Academic Development Service. Overall members found that the responses were very thorough and that no further updates were required except as follows:

Recommendation 4: The response indicated that an 80% attendance was University policy. ASC noted that this was not correct but that it was legitimate for programmes to set an attendance level as a requirement for the award of credit where this could be justified in terms of achieving the ILOs. Members queried whether the 80% requirement was practicable on the PG CAP and requested some further information regarding the way that this requirement was implemented given staff commitments that might clash with PG CAP teaching sessions.

Recommendation 8: ASC requested that a further query be forwarded to Human Resources concerning their statement that it was not possible for HR to automatically register relevant new employees on the PG CAP programme. Members considered that HR had misunderstood the recommendation, in that what was being sought was a means of simply identifying to LEADS the relevant new staff, not that HR should undertake the registration process on the programme.

Action: Senate Office

ASC/2017/5.2.2 English Literature

ASC received an updated response to Recommendation 9 concerning an apparent contradiction between different published statements regarding promotion criteria. Members agreed that the further response provided by Human Resources did not clarify the matter so ASC requested a further response specifically addressing:

• Whether there was a contradiction between one statement indicating that all criteria had to be met to achieve promotion and the other statement indicating that a preponderance of criteria was required.
• If HR's position was that this was not a contradiction then an explanation was required.

Action: Senate Office

ASC/2017/5.2.3 Interdisciplinary Studies

The previous response to Recommendation 1 had indicated that there was a requirement, applying only to international students, to sit the diagnostic test associated with the Academic Writing Skills programme. The updated response from Interdisciplinary Studies indicated that this had been an error: there was no such requirement and all students were encouraged to complete the test. ASC was satisfied with this response and no further update was required.

ASC/2017/5.2.4 Mathematics & Statistics

ASC received an update on two recommendations. The response concerning Recommendation 5 (embedding graduate attributes throughout the curriculum) was very thorough and no further update was required.

Recommendation 13 concerned the flexibility of choice for students between Colleges. A protocol had been agreed at the start of 2016-17 by Chief Advisers for dealing with students who found that they had chosen the 'wrong' award (BSc, MA or MA Soc Sci) and this had facilitated some transfer between Colleges. The Convener agreed to gather further information and report back on how this had operated.

Action: Convener

ASC/2017/5.2.5 Scottish Literature

ASC received an update on Recommendation 2 (School GTA working group) and on Recommendation 6 (the suggestion that a University regulation was blocking study abroad opportunities). ASC was satisfied with both responses, and noted that the Subject area was clearly taking positive steps to encourage and support study abroad within the limits of the availability of suitable opportunities for the Subject.

ASC/2017/5.3.1 Central & East European Studies

The Convener advised that the Subject area and College had taken the urgent action required under Recommendation 3 to correct information available on their website, particularly in relation to the availability of postgraduate taught provision.

ASC agreed to report to EdPSC the proposed remit and composition for 2017-18 as detailed in Appendix 1. 

ASC agreed to report to EdPSC the proposed membership for 2017-18 as detailed in Appendix 2.

It was noted that the Quality Officers' Forum Convener remained a vacancy. Dr Aitken advised that this was one of the aspects of the management of quality assurance that was being reviewed during session 2017-18, and that in the meantime the existing process was continuing, with convenership rotating between the Quality Officers.

Dr MacFarlane had scrutinised the proposal and noted that the changes were largely related to the process of PGT Credit Reform being undertaken by GSA, where courses would in future be based on 20 credits rather than 15 credits.

ASC agreed to give in-principle approval to the proposed major amendment to MDes Sound for the Moving Image, for implementation in 2019-20. 

It was noted that the proposed amendments were more substantial than for the proposal above.

ASC agreed to give in-principle approval to the proposed major amendment to MLitt Curatorial Practice, for implementation in 2018-19. However, the following issues needed to be addressed as part of the validation process:

• MLitt should not be listed as an 'exit award'.
• More detailed consideration was required in relation to the impact of the changes on the ILOs.
• There should be reflection on how not only formal contact hours but also independent learning hours was reflected in the documentation, to ensure that credit was being rated appropriately and that there was transparency as to what was required of students.  

ASC found the representation of the proposed changes in tabular form for this programme and for the MDes Sound for the Moving Image particularly helpful.

ASC agreed to give in-principle approval to the major programme amendment proposal for MSc Visualisation, for implementation in 2019-20.

Following the RCVS Royal Charter coming into effect in 2015, giving formal recognition to Veterinary Nursing as a profession, SRUC proposed the introduction of a BSc Veterinary Nursing/BSc (Hons) Veterinary Nursing for introduction in September 2018.

ASC agreed to give in-principle approval to the proposal.

SRUC would arrange a validation event and submit a report to ASC later in session 2017-18. ASC requested that consideration be given to:

• The impact on the student experience if students were required to move to Edinburgh for their honours year after three years at Dumfries.
• The assessment of clinical practice and how this would be quality assured.
• How objective 2 (placements in a wide variety of clinical and non-clinical settings) would be achieved in view of the statement under 'Programme Duration' (p. 2) that placements were normally undertaken within one practice.
• The total number of learning hours and equating this to the correct number of credits (bearing in mind the work placement hours required).  

ASC approved a request from SRUC to bring forward to February 2018 the date of the revalidation event for MSc Agricultural Professional Practice. 

ASC noted the report from the meeting held on 27 April 2017. 

ASC noted that the full report from the PSR of History of Art was approved by the Clerk of Senate under Summer Powers, following scrutiny by two members of the Committee. 

The degree programmes below were transferred from being listed under the Generic Regulations for Taught Masters Degrees to the Degree of Master of Science (non-generic).

Master of Science (MSc) Aerospace Engineering & Management

Master of Science (MSc) Civil Engineering & Management

Master of Science (MSc) Electronics & Electrical Engineering and Management

Master of Science (MSc) Mechanical Engineering & Management

ASC noted the following new programme was approved for introduction in September 2017:

College of Arts

Master of Science (MSc) Translation Studies: Translation & Professional Practice (Nankai)