DRAFT

RAVENSBOURNE COLLEGE OF DESIGN AND COMMUNICATION

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Digest of a meeting of the Management Committee held on 3rd September 2007

STAFFING ISSUES

An interim Head of Finance is in place and will remain until the new Head of Finance, Tracey Damerum, joins on
1st October. Short listing has begun for the Communications Officer and Careers Adviser roles, the latter being
on 6-9 month contract basis to cover maternity leave. James Uren commences Senior Lecturer BMT on 3rd
September. The General Assistant vacancy will return to full time status. The 2 Technical Tutor roles are being
held pending input from the Acting Head of Design. The vacancy for Loan Resource Assistant is currently under
review.

JOB DESCRIPTIONS

The Job description for the Head of Learning Enhancement has been revised and once approved will be Hay
evaluated.

The job description for Project Co-ordinator – Diversity will be reviewed by the Director of Information Services
and Head of Marketing & Communications in order to clarify the status of the current contract.

Job Description for Research & Development Officer - A temporary member of staff begins on 3rd September for
an initial period of 6 months with a review in four month’s time to look at the possibility of extending this to one
year The key areas of work are: Development of the Alumni Association, supporting research into identifying
potential donors for the Ravensbourne Fund and assisting with statutory/charitable bids.

ORGANOGRAM

Management Committee members were asked to check their individual areas for accuracy and to advise Kathy
Steele of any changes/amendments.

FE ADDITIONAL LEARNING SUPPORT FUNDING

It was noted that the 06/07 claim for LSC funding for discrete additional learning support has fallen substantially
below the funding received to supply the support and consequently a clawback of approximately £18,000 from
07/08 Students Services budget is required. The Director of Information Services was asked to clarify the 06/07
underspend with the Head of Student Support and Access.

Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication

Digest of Minutes of the Management Committee
3rd September 2007

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NEW STUDENT INDUCTIONS – WELCOME SPEECH

Members of Senior Management have been scheduled to give Welcome/Introductory talks to new students. The
Head of Marketing and Communications and Head of Quality & Academic Services undertook to provide
information for managers to follow during induction speeches. Next year this will be included in the
Communications Strategy.

PROCUREMENT STRATEGY

It was noted that the aims are to professionalise how procurement is handled in terms of better documentation
and contract management, to streamline the processes with the introduction of procurement cards and to
improve in house skills with training. Director of Finance to provide final version with costs at next Management
Committee meeting.

CLR REPORT

Following review of the CLR by John Ratcliff, approval is sought for immediate proposals to begin at the start of
the new academic year with regard to Penalty System, User Guide and the stock held in Shop. A discussion
was held with regard to Penalty Systems and it was agreed that penalties should remain financial, but be
bolstered to enhance effectiveness. It was also suggested that warning letters could be used (which would be
kept on student files), deposits taken at the beginning of the academic year and/or credit card details held in
case of loss or damage to equipment. It was agreed that it is important not to unduly disrupt students’ study but
that they should be held responsible for equipment borrowed. The report also noted that in future the Shop will
only stock course specific materials and not general stationery items. The Director of Resources asked for
comments on the User Guide as soon as possible. The Director asked that John Ratcliff be thanked for his work
in researching and informing the report.

STUDENT NUMBERS 07/08

It was noted that student numbers have fundamentally not changed, compared to last year, and that HEFCE
core funding target will be achieved. However, it was noted that the Faculty targets appear to have reduced
during the academic year and that figures for courses that have been closed (fast-track Fashion and MA) were
not reallocated. It was also noted that the targets for ASNs given through LLN funding have not yet been
achieved. A discussion followed and it was noted that the distribution of specific ASNs across each LLN figure
has yet to be considered. These numbers are to be provided for the next Management Committee meeting and
will also have to be balanced against the College’s priority of fulfilling HEFCE numbers. This item is also to be
discussed at the Management Committee Away Day on 18th September 2007.

CAR PARKING REVIEW

The Director of Resources advised Management Committee that a review of the car parking at the College is
currently under way and that recommendations regarding security, including the penalising of ‘parking offences’,
maintenance and repair, and a parking permit system, will be made in a full report in September.. User research
will start at the beginning of term. It is important to recognise that this is a Health and Safety issue, particularly in
relation to access for emergency services.

Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication

Digest of Minutes of the Management Committee
3rd September 2007

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SMALL AND SPECIALIST INSTITUTIONS (HEFCE)

Within HEFCE’s review of the teaching funding method there is provision for a review of the special funding that
is attributed to small and to specialist institutions. HEFCE plans to move from the allocation of an institutional
premium as a generalised way of supporting small and specialist institutions towards a system of targeted
allocations. An advisory panel has been established to make recommendations about how to implement the
targeted allocation approach and will use the comments and information collected from institutions to help
develop thinking about criteria that could be used to determine how the approach is implemented. HEFCE has
requested comments by 18th September. Management Committee was asked to consider the letter and cited
reports and to comment accordingly.

CENTRAL INFORMATION STORAGE

An overview of current information structures within the College shows that most information is available on one
of 3 web pages. However, an information audit is required in order to assess what information is not currently
available. Such an audit would also complement work currently being undertaken by ICT concerning the
College’s Disaster Recovery plan. Management Committee was asked to consider the document and approve
the suggested way forward, with comments to be given to the Director of Information Services.

CONSULTANCY POLICY

Following consultation with academic staff, the Consultancy policy has been revised and revisions listed for
approval. Management Committee was asked to email any concerns to the Director of Postgraduate
Development and Innovation.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of the Management Committee will be on Monday 17th September 2007 at 9.30 am in the
Boardroom.

Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication

Digest of Minutes of the Management Committee
3rd September 2007

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