Academic Development Committee
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Parent body
Purpose
Academic Development Committee [ADC] is the key committee of Academic Board responsible for strategic development and evaluation of the College’s portfolio of academic programmes, delivered independently or in partnership with other institutions.
It considers the relationship of new programme ideas and proposals to strategically defined principles, and advises SMT and Academic Board on the strengths and risks associated with possible new taught programmes from a range of perspectives including their intellectual content, their fit with patterns of student demand, their proposed modes of delivery, and the associated business cases.
It gives approval for programmes in terms of their proposed thematic content and broadly defined structure; if SMT endorses launch of the programme following an evaluation of financial and other strategic issues, this is subject to approval of the detailed structure and module content by Programme Scrutiny Sub-Committee.
ADC also evaluates and monitors potential formal institutional partnerships, in particular those relating to collaborative provision and other academic initiatives, advising and making recommendations to SMT and Academic Board.
The detailed work on these matters is undertaken by the Academic Partnerships Committee, which reports to Academic Board. Ongoing issues relating to collaborative provision of academic programmes, once partnerships are established, are considered by LTEC or its sub-committees as appropriate.
Terms of reference
- To consider strategic planning and policy development matters relating to the College's profile of taught and research programmes (whether leading to degrees or not), the marketing of and recruitment to these programmes throughout the world, and overall student recruitment patterns; and to make recommendations to Academic Board and SMT concerning these issues
- To consider and advise on the development of an overall Academic Development Strategy for approval by Academic Board (taking into account factors including those listed in point 1 above)
- To facilitate and monitor implementation of the Academic Development Strategy, establishing clear communications with the individual departments in each School in order to ensure that proposals for new programmes and partnerships are well-informed by strategic considerations and that departments are effectively supported in developing such proposals
- To evaluate proposals and business cases for new academic programmes (including proposals received from Partner Institutions), approving proposals in terms of their proposed academic content/structure/objectives, and making recommendations and commentaries to SMT concerning other strategic or resource implications which may be relevant to its decision on whether to launch a particular programme
- To keep recruitment patterns under review, highlighting and making recommendations to SMT concerning any programmes whose recruitment levels indicate either concerns about their pedagogic/financial sustainability or potential for growth
- Receiving and noting decisions to close programmes for a range of reasons, with Programmes Scrutiny Sub-Committee approving the arrangements for their closure and reporting to Academic Board.
Members
| Composition | Member | Term |
|---|---|---|
| Chair: Deputy Warden | Professor Elisabeth Hill | ex officio |
| Director of Student Recruitment | Mr James Ringer | ex officio |
| Director of Strategic Planning and Projects | Mr David Marks (interim) | ex officio |
| Head of Quality | Mrs Cathryn Thompson | ex officio |
| Associate Director Internationalisation | Mr Geraint Fox | ex officio |
| Academic Director of the Teaching and Learning Innovation Centre | Dr Deborah Custance | ex officio |
| Academic Director of Distance Learning | Dr Marco Gillies | ex officio |
| One member of the academic staff from each School | Dr Francis Gilbert [Educational Studies - PSST] | to 2022 |
| Dr Anamik Saha [MCCS - C&S] | to 2022 | |
| to be confirmed [ - A&H] | ||
| Up to three additional members of academic staff | to be confirmed [ - C&S] | |
| Dr Jennifer George [Computing - PSST] | to 2022 | |
| to be confirmed [ - A&H] | ||
| Students' Union President | Ms Sara Bafo | ex officio |
| A representative of the Students' Union | pending | |
| Secretary | Mr Thomas Flynn |
Additional Attendance
| Composition | Member |
|---|---|
| Careers Representative | Ms Katy Gordon |
| Deputy Director of Finance | Mr Simon Mattison |
Terms of office on committees are for three years, renewable for three further years. If the letters "eot" appear against a person's name in a membership listing, this indicates that he or she will reach the maximum term as a member of the body concerned on 31 August in the year specified.