Court meeting: 5 December 2022
The University’s governing body, the University Court, met on 5 December.
Summary of the key topics discussed
Update from the Principal
Peter Mathieson, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, reported on:
- Ongoing work to implement the finance component of the People and Money system, which has been challenging and has affected many in the University
- An internal recruitment process which is underway for the appointment of a new Head of College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine
- The award of Principal’s Medals to staff and students in recognition of their exceptional support to the University and/or wider community
- The opening of the King’s Buildings Nucleus
- The University’s partnership with the Mastercard Foundation has been renewed and will enable hundreds of fully-funded scholarships to be offered to students from largely sub-Saharan African countries.
People and Money
An update on the implementation of the People and Money system and wider work on the future provision of strategic change and continuous improvement support was reviewed. Urgent work is underway to make overdue payments, improve research grant processes and budgeting and forecasting, as well as to communicate with those affected and improve training provision for users and improve resourcing in the Finance Operations team.
A paper and an associated open letter from many elected members of Senate and co-signatories on the People and Money system was also considered and statement responding to the letter has been published. It was agreed that:
- A timely and rigorous external review should be instigated with a proposal on commissioning, scope, and timescale of the review to be submitted to Court for approval, recognising that this needs to be balanced against completion of the stabilisation work currently underway;
- The outcomes of the external review should help to inform future decision-making and oversight for major change projects and system procurement and implementation;
- Consideration will be given by the Remuneration Committee to the People and Money planning and crisis response when assessing performance as part of its annual review of remuneration of members of the Senior Leadership Team.
Student experience
An update on student experience work covering the first quarter of the academic year was reviewed. The first phase of the new student support model has been implemented and has been well received to date, with work underway to prepare for implementation across all Schools at the start of the next academic year.
Annual Report and Accounts
The University’s Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22 was approved and has now been published.
Other items
Regular reports from the Students’ Association, the Sports Union, the Director of Finance, the Development and Alumni Office, Senate and Court’s committees were also considered. A 2021-22 year-end report for the Strategy 2030 Key Performance Indicators was reviewed. An update on work to determine a framework for size and shape planning for the student population was considered. The University’s Outcome Agreement 2022-23 was reviewed and approved.
More detailed information on the University Court, including the membership, agenda, open papers and approved minutes can be found on the University Court webpages: