Awards Committee

10/10/06 Student Reps - Shirley Corston and Peter G Le Maistre

The committee recommended for approval by the Curriculum,Awards and Validation Committee the following awards.

• Postgraduate Certificate in Systems Practice
• Postgraduate Diploma in Systems Practice
• MSc in Systems Practice
• Professional Certificate in Physics
• Certificate in Legal Studies
• Professional Certificate in Effective Practice (Youth Justice)
• Foundation Degree in Youth Justice

A BSc in Computing with Psychological Studies was approved for Chair’s action.

The Committee also approved:

• A Graduate entry route to the BA (Hons) in Social Work (Scotland)
• Amendment to the credit transfer scheme for the above
• Credit transfer arrangements for Master of Business Administration Awards

Science Faculty Committee

22/09/06 Student Reps – Shirley Corston and Carey Shaw

More October starts on the way with S205 and S207 moving to autumn starts in 2008.

Waymark Credit - A scheme is under consideration to allow for some recognition to be made available in the future for students on 60 point courses who complete only part of the course, probably initially in respect of first level course.

Re-presentation of courses:

• 2007: S279 (30 point replacement for S267 and S269 combined).
• 2008: S104 (to replace S103) – 2 presentations per year

Planned new courses:

• TBA S154 – an introduction to S104
• 2007 S186 Volcanoes Earthquakes Tsunamis (10 points)
• TBA S187 Forensic Science (10 points)
• 2008 SA188 Introduction to Archaeology (10 points)
• 2008 S189 Weather (10 points)
• 2007 SK??? Chronic Health Problems i – Cardiovascular conditions (15 points)
• 2008 SK??? Chronic Health Problems ii - Obesity
• 2008 S310 Ecosystems (30 points)

New academic certificates are being planned - whether in place of or addition to existing certificates and/or diploma was not clear.

Longevity of recognition of courses towards degree awards. The university notes that in some cases, awards due to be made in 2006 and 2007 may include recognition of courses taken in the early years of the OU – 30 years ago. This aspect is under consideration but there are no proposals for change at present.

Interesting BBC programmes coming up are “Adam’s Cosmos” with Adam Hart Davies and "Climate" with David Attenborough.

A level 2 certificate in Physics is planned.

There is to be internal support (funding to Central Academic Units) for Post graduate research students.

Widening Particpation Advisory Group

14/09/06 Student Rep - Alex Hamilton

http://www.open.ac.uk/widening-participation/

It has been noticed that quite a lot of students on K100 do not have English as their first language, possibly causing problems for them and tutors marking their assignments. This may have led to drop outs and students misunderstanding what was expected of them. The university is now looking at the necessary requirements to help students whose first language is not English while at the same time retaining the open policy.

A presentation of Region 4 (West Midlands) initiatives in Widening Participation was given. A large number of initiatives have taken place in the Midlands since the AD (Assistant Director) joined in February.

http://www3.open.ac.uk/near-you/west-midlands/p3.asp

Mental Health Working Group

04/09/06 Student Rep - Christine Fitze

Making Your Teaching Inclusive
Note: The link is to an O U site that is specifically aimed at staff and professionals - I've included it because it is a useful resource and may help not only increase awareness but also aid in understanding some issues that are beyond personal experience.

Mentoring Scheme – this is a pilot scheme at that allows mentoring support to students with mental health problems. The pilot has run into a hiccup or two because students who have already been granted the Disabled Student Allowance (D S A) didn’t have an element of that award to cover mentoring. The suggestion now is to promote the scheme to students who have not yet applied for D S A.

Prisoners in Secure Units – Currently the university have no way of being able to identify whether or not a student is a prisoner or held in a secure unit (the address isn’t necessarily a good indicator as the student could be a member of staff, or the place could actually be a residential home). It is hoped to have a meeting with the Home Office to find out the position regarding Health and Safety and other issues on how the OU should work with students in Secure Units. General guidelines are being produced. This is an area O U S A has already taken an interest in and Vice President Equal Opportunities has a working group in place looking at the issues and implications.