Effectiveness Review of Council 2013 - Cardiff University

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Recommendation 9 – consideration should be given to setting up a
programme of visits for lay Members or to establishing a means of
arranging individual visits.
.7 In order to keep abreast of changes and benchmarking with other
comparable Universities it is recommended that all members should
commit to CPD on governance issues (staff members will have to be
centrally funded to do this). This could usefully be discussed at the one to
one meetings with the Chair of Council.
Recommendation 10 - the University should consider how best to tailor
individual development needs of Council members and should consider
providing all lay members with access to the TImes Higher Education so
that they have a broader information base.
.8 There is general support for the idea that Away Days should remain an
important part of the calendar as time for discussion of new strategies as
well as review of performance against targets. Members expressed a view
that awaydays presented a real opportunity to contribute to strategic
development.
Recommendation 11 - is to keep under review whether a half day could
be given to performance review and another day for “forward thinking
and development of the business.
7. Review of Committees
7.1 At its meeting held on 11 July 2011 Council approved a series of changes to
the committee structures. This followed meetings under the auspices of the
Cardiff Futures programme. Council also agreed to review the impact of
these changes and in this regard an interim interview was reported to Council
on 7 July 2012 with a further review to follow before the end of session
2012/13.
7.2 The aim of the changes in 2011 was:
To increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the decision making
structure of the University;
To ensure effective governance and assure transparency and
accountability;
To decrease duplication of business; and
To increase consultation and representation of key stakeholders, thereby
improving engagement and communication.
7.3 As a consequence the following changes were introduced:
.1 Research Committee, Learning and Teaching Committee and Innovation
and Engagement Committee were put into abeyance for Session 2011/12,
replaced by Policy Networks. The Committees were subsequently formally
disestablished by Council.
.2 Human Resources Committee was abolished and replaced by a Policy
Network;
.3 the work of existing Committees such as Academic Promotions, Awards &
Progress, Equality and Diversity, was undertaken by Standing Panels with
specific authority delegated to them by parent Committees in the new
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