Court meeting: 22 April 2024
The University’s governing body, the University Court, met on 22 April 2024.
Summary of the key topics discussed
Presentation
Prior to the formal meeting of Court, Court received a presentation on the Edinburgh BioQuarter.
Rector’s welcome
Simon Fanshawe, University Rector, formally opened the meeting and thanked Court members for the welcome he had received on taking up this role. He expressed his hopes for the University’s future success, built on the free exchange of ideas and constructive debate.
Update from the Principal
Peter Mathieson, Principal & Vice-Chancellor, updated Court on a number of recent developments, noting in particular excellent recent research funding figures, with £224.9M in research awards recorded by the University in the first five months of the 2023/24 academic year, a 16.6 per cent increase relative to the three-year average figure. This increase in awards had been driven by some significant successes including: Medical Research Council funding for The Scottish Full Body Positron Emission Tomography Facility (£13.8M), Economic and Social Research Council Behavioural Research UK Leadership Hub investment (£13M) and an award from the Human Dignity Foundation to Moray House School of Education and Sport (£6.9m) as well as a range of other major awards across all three Colleges.
Main Agenda Items
Student Experience Update
Court received an overview of recent work to enhance the student experience, including enhancements to and evaluation of the Student Support Model and work to ensure that feedback on assessments would be provided within the agreed three-week turnaround time.
Students’ Association Report
The President of the Students’ Association provided updates on the sabbatical officers’ recent activities, highlighting in particular the high rate of nominations for both Student Awards and Teaching Awards, which reflected the efforts and contributions of students and staff well beyond their core activities:
Court thanked the student members of Court, Sharan Atwal and Lauren Byrne, for all of their contributions, noting that new EUSA sabbatical officers would join Court as of the June 2024 meeting.
Finance and Planning Round
The Director of Finance provided a report on forecast financial results and Court received an update on the planning round process. It was noted that inflationary pressures and patterns of international student recruitment, which had affected the UK higher education sector as a whole, had both had an impact on finances. Budget holders had been asked to consider expenditure carefully as part of the planning round that would lead to an institutional budget for 2024-29.
People and Money System Update
Court received an update on work relating to the People & Money system, including an improvement plan. Work in this area now reported into the University Initiatives Portfolio Board, ensuring appropriate governance as one of the University’s prioritised strategic change projects. The University’s executive leadership was continuing to work towards full implementation of the recommendations of the independent report on People & Money and Court would continue to exercise appropriate oversight of this.
University Initiatives Portfolio Board
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Data Report 2024
Court received the annual report on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) data relating to students and staff and approved this for publication, in fulfilment of statutory requirements. Court thanked Professor Sarah Cunningham-Burley for all of her contributions in the role of University Lead on EDI, as she approached the end of her term in this role. It was noted that the University had successfully renewed its Athena SWAN institutional silver award.
Athena SWAN Institutional Silver
Estates
Court approved funding for works in progress to remediate the presence of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in University buildings, in the context of recent nationwide concern over the durability of this material.
Court thanked the Director of Place, Gary Jebb, for his service to the University, noting that this would be his final meeting of Court before retirement from the role.
Other items
Court reviewed a mid-year report on performance measures to support Strategy 2030. Election regulations were approved for the introduction of Senate members drawn from Professional Services. Draft Resolutions regarding degree programme regulations were referred to Senate and the General Council for consultation, in line with standard procedures. Regular reports from the Sports Union, the Development and Alumni Office and Court’s committees were considered. Court also received a risk report and an annual update on managing security-related risks in internationalisation.
More detailed information on the University Court, including the membership, agenda, open papers and approved minutes can be found on the University Court webpages: