The General Council
The General Council of the University was set up by Act of Parliament to give voice to the views of the graduates and academic staff on the regulation and wellbeing of the University.
A report prepared for the General Council by Amber Higgins, Clerk to the General Council, clerkgc@glasgow.ac.uk.
The last General Council meeting was held on Tuesday 19 June 2018 in the Senate Room, Gilbert Scott Building. The Chancellor, Professor Sir Kenneth Calman, was in the chair. This article contains an abbreviated description of the business of the meeting.
A full minute can be found at glasgow.ac.uk/about/generalcouncil/gcmeetings/gcminutes.
Principal’s Report, by Principal & Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli
The Principal thanked the Chancellor for his introduction and welcomed everyone to the meeting.
The Principal reported that progress was being made on a number of the Primary KPIs, but that limited progress had been made on undergraduate satisfaction and research output quality, with assessment and feedback still a concern. It was also reported that the University’s financial position continued to strengthen, with compound of annual growth of 5% since 2014, along with a continued operating surplus. The General Council noted the University continued to improve in the overall rankings and that the University was 80th in world rankings, up eight places on 2016.
The Principal also reported that the University had been involved with a number of key scientific discoveries such as gravitational waves, which had been widely recognised as one of the most important discoveries of our time. In health, the University had played a leading role in combatting the threat from the Zika virus. Other recent breakthroughs include Project MOBIUS, building a higher education virtual-reality (VR) platform for students. Students in topics including physics, chemistry, geology, anatomy, philosophy and history will soon receive schooling through an enhanced VR teaching and learning experience.
The Chancellor thanked the Principal for his informative update and invited any questions. A query was raised about Brexit in relation to student numbers and the impact on the University. The Principal noted that UG numbers would have the biggest challenge and that discussions with the Scottish Government were ongoing to ensure any significant changes were planned in advance, but it was felt that there would not be a significant impact. A further query was raised about student assessment and feedback and how the University planned to make progress on this. The Principal reported that SMG had recently received reports and that each college was putting a plan in place. It was important that time limits were set and adhered to, that feedback was effective and that students realised when they were given feedback.
The Chancellor thanked the Principal for his address.
Report of the Business Committee Convenor, Mr John Marsh
Convenor John Marsh thanked the Chancellor for his introduction and welcomed everyone to the meeting.
The Convenor reported that there had been two meetings of the General Council Business Committee (GCBC) since the last half-yearly meeting. It was noted that the GCBC had consulted on the proposed Ordinance which will modernise the process for nominations and elections for both General Council Assessors on Court but also for the Chancellor, with no objections raised. A specific concern had been raised by a GCBC member at recent meetings in relation to staff-student ratios which had led to a detailed presentation by Dr David Duncan, which the committee had found to be very informative.
It was reported that the meeting of the General Council Clerks and Convenors from ancient Scottish universities had recently taken place at Glasgow. The General Council was pleased to note that Queen’s University Belfast Alumni Council was due to visit the University, as they had heard how well the General Council at the University was working. The Convenor also reported that an initiative with the Careers Service was currently being worked on and it was hoped that they would give a formal presentation at the next meeting on how General Council members can assist and support recent graduates and students.
The Chancellor thanked the Convenor for his report and thanked all the GCBC members for their hard work on behalf of the General Council. It was noted that no questions were raised.
Re-election of General Council Assessors to serve on the University Court
The Clerk to the General Council reported that the current two General Council Assessors on the University Court whose first terms of office were due to expire in August 2018 had intimated that they wished to stand again for another four-year term of office, until January 2022. The General Council raised no objections and it was agreed to extend their term of office for four years. Elected as General Council Assessors until January 2022 are Dr Morag MacDonald-Simpson and Lesley Sutherland.
Draft Ordinances – Election of Chancellor and General Council Assessors on Court
The Clerk to the General Council reported that the Draft Ordinance had now been out for public consultation with very few comments received. The Clerk reported that the Draft Ordinance was due to be approved by Court shortly and then it would be submitted to the Privy Council for formal approval. The General Council raised no concerns over the new draft Ordinances in relation to the elections of the Chancellor or General Council Assessors on Court. Further details can be found in the full minutes.
The meeting also received reports from the Convenor of Court, Elizabeth Passey and Professor Neal Juster, Senior Vice-Principal, and further details can be found in the full minutes.
The next meetings of the General Council take place on Thursday 24 January 2019 and Monday 17 June 2019 in the Senate Room, Main Building at 6pm for 6.30pm.
