MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 12 OCTOBER 2010

Transcription

1 THE MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY DIVERSITY AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMITTEE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 12 OCTOBER 2010 Present: Professor John Brooks (Vice-Chancellor) Chair Dr Lucy Burke (Co-Chair of the Disabled Staff Forum) Ms Anna Charles-Jones (Co-Chair of the Disabled Staff Forum) Ms Yvonne Harris (Co-Chair of the Black and Minority Ethnic Staff Forum) Mr Barry Harwood (Co-Chair of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Staff Forum) Ms Mary Heaney (Director of Services) Mrs Gill Hemus (Director of Human Resources) Professor Gerry Kelleher (Deputy Vice-Chancellor Strategic Planning) Ms Rita Lewin (Deputy Director of Student Services) Ms Cath Little (Chair of the Gender Staff Forum) Mr Fred McDwyer (GMB) Ms Jane McFadyen (Faculty Nominee Art and Design) Ms Josie Moores (Head of Organisation Development, Training and Diversity) Mr Jonathan Willson (Faculty Nominee Humanities, Law and Social Science) In attendance: Ms Jen Howell (Governance and Secretariat Officer) Ms Mona Patel (Equality and Diversity Officer) 115 APOLOGIES Apologies for absence were received from Ms Gwyn Arnold, Ms Shoba Arun, Dr Kate Cook, Mr Rob Croll, Mr Dennis Dunn, Ms Wendy Kenyon, Dr Geraldine Lee-Treweek, Ms Sue Lewis, Ms Dawn Nicholson, Mr Paul Okojie and Ms Dinah Rogers. 116 IMPACT OF THE BROWNE REVIEW ON EQUALITY ISSUES A verbal update was provided on the outcomes of the Browne report on 'Securing a sustainable future for Higher Education'. In summary the report proposed the following: A Government Student Finance (SF) system with the following elements: - SF learning - paying the costs of learning up front on behalf of students; 1 of 6

2 - SF living - providing students with money for living costs; - SF paying - collecting payments from graduates, via the tax system, and managing payments; - SF giving - providing an easy way for graduates to make voluntary tax deductible payments to their institution; - Both part-time and full-time students would be eligible to apply. Removal of the fee cap; universities would receive all of the fee income up to 6,000 per annum and pay a levy above that; Maintenance loan of one flat rate of 3,750; Increase of maximum grant to students from low income backgrounds to 3,250. Full grant for household income of less than 25,000 and partial grant for income of up to 60,000; Eliminate the need for institutions to provide a minimum bursary the Government grant scheme would replace this; Repayments would be linked to the income of the graduate, with a threshold of earnings of 21,000 per annum; Students with higher earnings would pay a real interest rate equal to the Government's rate of borrowing of inflation plus 2.2 percent; Students earning below the threshold would pay no interest; Unpaid amounts would be written off after 30 years; Student numbers would be controlled by determining a minimum UCAS tariff points score for all students eligible for SF. This would be evaluated each year. If implemented, it was unlikely that the removal of the fee cap would result in additional income for many Higher Education institutions, as the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review was likely to include a reduction in funding for teaching. It was envisaged that there would be no funding allocated to some Band C and all Band D courses (Arts and Humanities) and funding reductions for Band B courses (Science and Engineering). The proposals from the Browne report had mixed implications for diversity and equal opportunities. As part-time students would not be required to pay fees upfront, a wider range of people would be able to access higher education. However, as eligibility for SF was dependent on obtaining a minimum UCAS tariff points score, students applying for Foundation Degrees, Foundation Year and Higher National Diploma courses would be at a significant disadvantage. It was noted that the Equality Challenge Unit would be undertaking a full equality impact assessment on the proposals from the Browne report. 2 of 6

3 117 MEMBERSHIP A paper (DEO/10/08) was submitted providing an update on membership. Seven new members were welcomed to the Committee as follows: Mr Rob Croll, President of the Students Union; Professor Gerry Kelleher, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Strategic Planning; Dr Shoba Arun, Co-Chair of the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Staff Forum; Ms Yvonne Harris, Co-Chair of the BME Staff Forum; Dr Lucy Burke, Co-Chair of the Disabled Staff Forum; Dr Kate Cook, Co-Chair of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Staff Forum; Mr Barry Harwood, Co-Chair of the LGBT Staff Forum. It was suggested that, when appointed, the next Director of Marketing, Communications and Development should be invited to join the Committee. 118 MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 6 MAY 2010 The minutes of the meeting held on 6 May 2010 were approved as a correct record. 119 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING HELD ON 7 JULY 2010 The minutes of the special meeting held on 7 July 2010 were approved as a correct record. 120 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES A report (DEO/10/09) was submitted setting out actions to be taken following the meeting of the Committee held on 6 May 2010 and progress made with regard to those actions: Audit of Staff Disability Disclosure Arising from Minute 109.2, it was noted that an audit of staff disability disclosure was being carried out by the Equality and Diversity Team, to assess the effectiveness of the disclosure procedure Funding for Staff Dyslexia Tests Arising from Minute 109.2, it was noted, as the University had a legal obligation to support employees, it would be appropriate for the University to fund dyslexia tests for staff, if it had been 3 of 6

4 identified as an issue. It was noted that students were expected to contribute 100 towards the testing process. Dyslexia testing was currently carried out by an external agency at a cost of 300 per test. It was agreed that investigation into providing the tests inhouse would be undertaken. In-house testing could reduce the cost and potentially end the need for student financial contribution. It was also agreed that a paper providing in-depth information on the University s dyslexia assessment statistics would be submitted to a future meeting of the Executive. 121 EQUALITY FORA UPDATES There was discussion on communication between staff and the Equality Fora. Concern was expressed that information regarding the Equality Fora might not be reaching members of staff who did not regularly access their . It was also acknowledged that attendance at the termly Fora meetings could be difficult for some staff. The Equality and Diversity Team was currently investigating the use of mobile phone text messaging services as a means of communicating Fora information. It was noted that the Pro-Vice-Chancellor Internal Communications was carrying out a review of internal communications Black and Minority Ethnic Staff Forum A verbal update was given on the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Forum, which had met on 6 October It was queried whether temporary staff were eligible to join the Staff Fora. It was confirmed that temporary staff were eligible to become members of the Staff Fora, but that permission from the employee s line manager was required before attending Fora meetings. It was emphasised that managers should endeavour to accommodate such requests, taking into account the operational requirements of the University Disabled Staff Forum A verbal update was given on the Disabled Staff Forum, which had met on 22 September There was discussion on student and staff Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs). Issues raised included: Some members of the Committee felt that there were outstanding issues regarding the construction of student PEEPs; Staff PEEPs did not always include evacuation information for locations other than the person s usual place of work; Some members felt that information regarding responsibility for PEEPs had not been communicated effectively; Managers had not always received training on the construction of PEEPs; 4 of 6

5 The information on emergency evacuation and PEEPs on the University s Health and Safety website appeared to be out-of-date. It was agreed that the Deputy Registrar would investigate these issues. It was raised that some members of staff were experiencing difficulty when using disabled parking spaces in the All Saints staff car park. Although spaces were available, there was not always sufficient hatching on both sides of the space to address the needs of some users. It was agreed that the Director of Services would investigate the disabled parking bays in the All Saints staff car park. It was noted that the Sickness Absence Policy and Special Leave Policy were being revised and feedback had been requested from the Disabled Staff Forum Gender Staff Forum A verbal update was given on the Gender Staff Forum, which had met on 28 September Issues discussed included: The Forum had been looking at family-friendly policies and would be providing feedback on the revised Special Leave Policy and the Flexible Working Policy; The Equal Pay Audit, which would be undertaken in the near future; The Athena SWAN Charter, which would be considered in the near future; The Forum was considering setting up a wiki to enable a wider range of staff to engage with the Forum Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Staff Forum A verbal update was given on the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Staff Forum, which had held its inaugural meeting on 22 September The Forum was currently working on setting its aims and objectives and on raising its profile within the University. Consideration was also being given to developing third stream opportunities for the Forum and it was suggested that the Co-Chair speak to Dr Jonathan Mildenhall, an MMU alumnus and honorand who had recently visited the University to present a lecture. 122 SINGLE EQUALITY SCHEME A paper (DEO/10/10) was submitted providing details of the University s Single Equality Scheme (SES), which was approved by Directorate on 4 October 2010 for submission to the Finance and Human Resources 5 of 6

6 Committee on 3 November Included in the Scheme s Appendices was the Single Equality Scheme Action Plan , an active document detailing how the SES would be implemented and how effectiveness would be measured. It was agreed that updates on the progress of the action plan would be included as a standing item on the agenda. It was also agreed that relevant extracts from the action plan would be sent to the Staff Fora prior to their next meetings. There was discussion on the SES consultation process. It was noted that students had commented on the need for promoting positive behaviour and building good relationships between different equality groups. Concern was expressed about the low response rate from staff during the consultation. It was also noted that the Equality and Diversity Team had experienced difficulty in engaging faith groups with the consultation. It was suggested that the low staff response rate might reflect wider difficulties around engaging staff with equality and diversity issues. There was concern that some staff may perceive equality and diversity as irrelevant or unimportant. There was discussion on how engagement could be improved. Suggestions included: Explaining how a better understanding of equality and diversity issues could assist other objectives, for example, improving the student experience; Use of a wider variety of training materials. It was noted that the London School of Economics included an interactive quiz as part of their equality and diversity training; Minimising legal terminology in order to make concepts more accessible; Emphasising fairness and respect as the key themes of equality and diversity. 123 REGENERATION ACTION PLAN SUPPORT FOR CHILDCARE It was agreed that this item would be deferred to the Spring 2011 meeting. 124 ANTI-BULLYING & HARASSMENT ADVISORS The University was currently recruiting Anti-Bullying & Harassment Advisors. It was hoped that a variety of staff would be recruited which would reflect the diversity of the staff body. It was noted that training would be provided to volunteers. 6 of 6