No 6189
Wednesday 19 May 2010
Vol cxl No 30
pp. 845–896
23 May, Sunday. Whitsunday. Scarlet day. Preacher before the University at 11.15 a.m., The Right Reverend Timothy Stevens, of Selwyn College, Lord Bishop of Leicester (Ramsden Preacher).
25 May, Tuesday, Discussion at 2 p.m. in the Council Room (see below).
30 May, Sunday. Trinity Sunday. Scarlet day.
1 June, Tuesday. End of third quarter of Easter Term.
8 June, Tuesday. Discussion at 2 p.m. in the Council Room.
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Discussions at 2 p.m. |
Congregations |
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25 May, Tuesday |
21 June, Monday at 2.45 p.m. (Honorary Degrees) |
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8 June, Tuesday |
24 June, Thursday at 9.30 a.m. (General Admission) |
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6 July, Tuesday |
25 June, Friday at 10 a.m. (General Admission) |
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26 June, Saturday at 10 a.m. (General Admission) |
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17 July, Saturday at 11 a.m. |
The Vice-Chancellor invites those qualified under the regulations for Discussions (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 107) to attend a Discussion in the Council Room, on Tuesday, 25 May 2010, at 2 p.m., for the discussion of:
1. Report of the General Board, dated 28 April 2010, on the establishment of a Pembroke Visiting Professorship of International Finance (Reporter, p. 792).
2. Second Report of the General Board, dated 7 May 2010, on the Directorship of the Museum of Zoology (Reporter, p. 830).
The Report published on p. 861 will be discussed on Tuesday, 8 June.
The Vice-Chancellor gives notice that she has received from the Governing Body of Wolfson College, in accordance with the provisions of Section 7(2) of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act 1923, the text of a proposed Statute to amend the Statutes of the College. The current Statutes of the College and the amending Statute are available on the College’s website (see http://www.wolfson.cam.ac.uk/); paper copies may be inspected at the University Offices until 10 a.m. on 28 May 2010.
The Vice-Chancellor gives notice that she has received with gratitude a benefaction of £2m from Dr Colin Forbes, formerly a University Lecturer in the Department of Geology and a Curator of the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, to support the Museum.
The Council is submitting a Grace to the Regent House (Grace 1, p. 881) for the approval of regulations to govern the Forbes Fund.
The Vice-Chancellor gives notice that at the Congregations for General Admission to Degrees to be held on 24 June, 25 June, and 26 June 2010, tickets will be required for admission to the Senate-House. Admission tickets are issued by Colleges, and prospective graduands should apply to their Colleges for admission tickets for their personal friends whom they wish to invite to the Congregations. Other members of the University who wish to be present are also asked to obtain tickets from their Colleges.
The Congregations will be divided into separate sessions, with intervals between the presentation of candidates from successive Colleges, except that candidates from Darwin College, Wolfson College, and Clare Hall will be presented in a single session, as will candidates from Lucy Cavendish College, St Edmund’s College, and Hughes Hall. Visitors may not leave the Senate-House except in the intervals between sessions.
Members of the University are required to wear academical dress in the Senate-House. Any member of the University who is not acting as an officer at the Congregations and who holds a degree of another university or degree-awarding institution may wear the academical dress appropriate to that degree; save that this provision shall not apply to those presenting for, or receiving, degrees. The days of General Admission are ‘scarlet’ days, and Doctors in the different Faculties are asked to wear their festal gowns. Visitors may wish to know that the University Combination Room will be open throughout the three days of General Admission for the sale of light refreshments.
The doors of the Senate-House will be opened at 9 a.m. The Congregation will begin at 9.30 a.m. and graduands are asked to arrive by the following times:
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King’s College |
9.20 |
Pembroke College |
3.20 |
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Trinity College |
10.10 |
Gonville and Caius College |
4.10 |
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St John’s College |
11.35 |
Trinity Hall |
5.05 |
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Peterhouse |
1.50 |
Corpus Christi College |
5.55 |
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Clare College |
2.30 |
The Congregation will be dissolved at about 6.25 p.m.
The doors of the Senate-House will be opened at 9.30 a.m. The Congregation will begin at 10 a.m. and graduands are asked to arrive by the following times:
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Queens’ College |
9.50 |
Emmanuel College |
2.35 |
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St Catharine’s College |
10.45 |
Sidney Sussex College |
3.25 |
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Jesus College |
11.40 |
Downing College |
4.10 |
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Christ’s College |
12.35 |
Girton College |
5.00 |
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Magdalene College |
1.50 |
The Congregation will be dissolved at about 6 p.m.
The doors of the Senate-House will be opened at 9.30 a.m. The Congregation will begin at 10.00 a.m. and graduands are asked to arrive by the following times:
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Newnham College |
9.50 |
Darwin College, Wolfson College, and Clare Hall |
2.35 |
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Selwyn College |
10.40 |
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Fitzwilliam College |
11.30 |
Robinson College |
3.05 |
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Churchill College |
12.20 |
Lucy Cavendish College, St Edmund’s College, and Hughes Hall |
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New Hall |
1.50 |
3.55 |
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Homerton College |
4.35 |
The Congregation will be dissolved at about 6 p.m.
The Vice-Chancellor gives notice that she intends to appoint the following persons to deputize for her, in accordance with Statute D, III, 7, in conferring degrees on the days of General Admission.
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Morning |
Afternoon |
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King’s |
The Provost of King’s |
Peterhouse |
The Master of Peterhouse |
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Trinity |
The Master of Trinity |
Clare |
The Master of Clare |
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St John’s |
The Master of St John’s |
Pembroke |
The Master of Pembroke |
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Gonville and Caius |
The Master of Gonville and Caius |
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Trinity Hall |
The Master of Trinity Hall |
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Corpus Christi |
The Master of Corpus Christi |
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Morning |
Afternoon |
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Queens’ |
The President of Queens’ |
Magdalene |
The Master of Magdalene |
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St Catharine’s |
The Master of St Catharine’s |
Emmanuel |
The Master of Emmanuel |
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Jesus |
The Master of Jesus |
Sidney Sussex |
The Master of Sidney Sussex |
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Christ’s |
The Master of Christ’s |
Downing |
The Master of Downing |
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Girton |
The Vice-Mistress of Girton |
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Morning |
Afternoon |
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Newnham |
The Principal of Newnham |
New Hall |
The President of New Hall |
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Selwyn |
The Master of Selwyn |
Darwin |
The Master of Darwin |
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Fitzwilliam |
The Master of Fitzwilliam |
Wolfson |
The President of Wolfson |
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Churchill |
The Master of Churchill |
Clare Hall |
The President of Clare Hall |
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Robinson |
The Warden of Robinson |
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Lucy Cavendish |
The President of Lucy Cavendish |
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St Edmund’s |
The Master of St Edmund’s |
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Hughes Hall |
The President of Hughes Hall |
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Homerton |
The Principal of Homerton |
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The Registrary gives notice that the latest time for the receipt of supplicats and any necessary certificates of terms for persons who propose to take degrees at General Admission on Thursday, 24 June, Friday, 25 June, or Saturday, 26 June 2010, is 10 a.m. on Monday, 14 June. No further additions to degree lists can be accepted after that date.
The Council has received a proposal from the General Board, acting on a recommendation made by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, to amend the regulations for the review of the results of examinations for postgraduate qualifications (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 440). The purpose of the amendment is to include under the review process those students who have been successful in an examination, but who wish to challenge a decision by the relevant authority not to permit the student to progress to the next stage of her or his intended qualification. The General Board have recommended that the review procedure for examinations for undergraduate and certain other qualifications (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 238) should be similarly amended.
The Council is accordingly submitting a Grace (Grace 2, p. 881) to amend the regulations as set out below.
Regulation 1.
By amending the regulation so as to read:
1. The following regulations shall apply to any University examination listed in the Schedule to these regulations, and shall be limited to those cases where (i) the candidate has failed to be approved for the qualification for which he or she was examined or (ii) the candidate was approved for the qualification but did not meet the standard required, as specified by the Degree Committee, to be permitted to register for a second qualification for which registration as a Graduate Student is required.
Regulation 2.
By amending the regulation so as to read:
2. No representatives under these regulations shall be considered unless they relate to
(a)the conduct of the examination or;
(b)a decision by a Faculty Board or comparable authority not to allow a student who has completed the requirement for the B.A. Degree to progress to that Part of a Tripos required for the M.Eng. or the M.Math. or the M.Sci. Degree.
Regulation 6.
By inserting a final sentence so as to read:
The same procedures shall apply to representations falling within Regulation 2(b) above, save that the Chairman of the Faculty Board or comparable body shall consider the representations with at least two other members and report to the Registrary accordingly.
Regulation 7.
By inserting after the words ‘Chairman of Examiners’ in both instances they appear the words ‘(or the Chairman of the Faculty Board or comparable body as the case may be)’.
Regulation 12.
By inserting a new sub-paragraph (d):
(d)that, with regard to representations falling within Regulation 2(b), there existed material circumstances (excluding circumstances relating to the candidate’s course of study) of which the Faculty Board or comparable body were unaware, or that procedural irregularities occurred in the Faculty Board’s or comparable body’s decision which were of such a nature as to cause reasonable doubt as to whether that body would have reached the same decision had the irregularities not occurred, or that there is demonstrable evidence of prejudice, bias or inadequate assessment in that body’s decision.’
Regulation 13.
By inserting in sub-paragraph (a) after the words ‘the Chairman of Examiners’ the words ‘(or the Chairman of the Faculty Board or comparable authority if the complaint relates to Regulation 2(b))’.
Regulation 16.
By inserting a new sub-paragraph (d):
(d)to require (if the complaint relates to Regulation 2(b)) the Faculty Board or comparable body to reconsider their decision.
Regulation 17.
By inserting in line 2 after the words ‘the Chairman of Examiners’ the words ‘(or the Chairman of the Faculty Board or comparable body if the complaint falls within Regulation 2(b))’.
Regulation 19.
By inserting a final sentence so as to read:
The same power of delegation may be exercised by a Chairman of the Faculty Board or comparable authority for complaints falling within Regulation 2(b).
The Council has considered the remarks made at the Discussion of this Report on 27 April 2010 (Reporter, p. 795). It notes that the speakers in general supported the proposals in the Report but suggested further areas which needed attention.
Dr N. A. Dodgson referred to the University’s M.A. Degree. The Council believes that the Degree continues to serve valuable purposes which outweigh any negative external perceptions of it. The QAA is well aware of the Degree’s status and has not expressed any concerns about it.
He also queried the purpose of the Senate. Under Statute A, I, 7 the Senate elects the Chancellor and the High Steward; it also appoints members of the Nomination Board which considers nominations for these two high offices.
Dr J. S. Myers drew the Council’s attention to the increase in number of graduate students not in statu pupillari under the definition in the current Statute K, 3(h) which would follow from the proposals in the Council’s Report. He referred in particular to the definition of the Graduate Union as ‘an association of members of the University in statu pupillari [who are pursuing in the University a course of graduate study or research, as defined by the constitution of the Union]’ (a reference to members of the University in statu pupillari also appears in the Ordinances for the Cambridge University Students Union). The Council has referred consideration of the wording in the Ordinances of the two bodies to the Standing Advisory Committee on Student Matters.
Reference was also made to the student membership of the Council. As noted by Mr S. R. Wakeford the Standing Advisory Committee on Student Matters has been considering the proposal that the President of the Cambridge Students Union and the President of the Graduate Union should be, ex officio, members of the Council. The Council will consider the recommendations of the Committee.
The Council is submitting a Grace to the Regent House (Grace 3, p. 881) for the approval of the recommendations in this Report.
The Council has considered the remarks made at the Discussion held on 27 April 2010 (p. 797) of the Council’s Report on the construction of a lift in the Old Schools (p. 676), which recommended that approval be given to the Council’s decision to withhold authorization for submission to the Regent House of an initiated Grace.
The Council is grateful to members of the Regent House and others who have commented in the Discussion.
The Council considers that the level of interest expressed in this matter is such that it would be appropriate for the initiated Grace itself now to be voted upon, and the Council is therefore submitting it, and itself calling a ballot on the Grace (Grace 4, p. 882) according to the timetable set out below.
The Council gives notice that votes will be taken by postal ballot on Grace 4 of 19 May 2010 (Reporter, p. 882). In connection with this ballot the Registrary will arrange for the printing and circulation of any fly-sheet signed by ten or more members of the Regent House which reaches him by 1 p.m. on Thursday, 10 June. The sheets must bear, in addition to the signatures, the names and initials (in block capitals) of the signatories (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 112). Documents which are submitted by fax to (3)32332 or scanned documents containing a signature sent to the Registrary at Registrary@admin.cam.ac.uk will also be accepted. Voting papers and fly-sheets will be distributed through the University Messenger Service to members of the Regent House on or before Monday, 28 June. The last date for return of voting papers will be Thursday, 8 July 2010.
The Council has now submitted its response to the second call for evidence to the independent (Browne) review of higher education funding and student finance. The response may be viewed at http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/special/downloads/browne-review-submission.pdf.