Skip to main contentCambridge University Reporter

No 6196

Wednesday 21 July 2010

Vol cxl No 37

pp. 1101–1188

Notices

Calendar

13 September, Monday. Library closed.

20 September, Monday. Library reopens.

1 October, Friday. Michaelmas Term begins. Congregations of the Regent House at 9.30 a.m.: Address by the Vice-Chancellor Emerita; Admission of the Vice-Chancellor; Election and Admission of the Proctors (see below).

5 October, Tuesday. Full Term begins.

6 October, Wednesday. First ordinary number of the Reporter in the academical year 2010–11.

12 October, Tuesday. Discussion at 2 p.m. in the Senate-House (see below).

Discussions at 2 p.m.

Congregations

12 October

1 October, Friday at 9.30 a.m.

26 October

23 October, Saturday at 2 p.m.

9 November

27 November, Saturday at 2 p.m.

23 November

7 December

Admission of the Vice-Chancellor: Notice

19 July 2010

The Proctors wish to remind members of the University that two Congregations of the Regent House will be held in the Senate-House on Friday, 1 October 2010, and that the first Congregation is the Congregation appointed for the formal admission of Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, W, to the office of Vice-Chancellor.

In accordance with the relevant regulations, and in the absence of the Chancellor, the Proctors will preside at the first Congregation. By authority of Grace 3 of 17 July, the Proctors expect to confer upon the Vice-Chancellor the degree of Master of Arts. A second Congregation will follow, at which the Vice-Chancellor will preside, for the election and admission of the Proctors for 2010–11.

Both the Vice-Chancellor Emerita and the new Vice-Chancellor are expected to address the University.

At the conclusion of the proceedings those attending will be received by the Vice-Chancellor in the Combination Room (up to the capacity of the Room) and refreshments will be served there. In accordance with the usual custom for 1 October, tickets will not be issued, but it would be helpful in arranging the refreshments if members of the Regent House and others who plan to attend could give notice, either by letter to The Vice-Chancellor’s Office, The Old Schools, Cambridge, CB2 1TN, or by email to 1October@admin.cam.ac.uk.

Those wishing to attend are asked to be in the Senate-House by 9.30 a.m. All members of the University are reminded that they are required to wear academical dress when attending Congregations and that 1 October 2010 will not be a ‘scarlet day’, so black gowns should be worn and only Cambridge academical dress may be used.

Notice of a Discussion on Tuesday, 12 October 2010

The Vice-Chancellor invites those qualified under the regulations for Discussions (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 107) to attend a Discussion in the Senate-House, on Tuesday, 12 October 2010, at 2 p.m., for the discussion of:

1. North West Cambridge Project: Green Paper (Reporter, p. 1010).

2. Report of the Council, dated 28 June 2010, on the expansion of Kettle’s Yard (Reporter, p. 1051).

3. Report of the Council, dated 28 June 2010, on the construction of an extension to the Whittle Laboratory at West Cambridge (Reporter, p. 1053).

4. Joint Report of the Council and the General Board, dated 19 and 7 July, 2010, on a Combined Equality Scheme on race, disability, and gender (Reporter, p. 1117).

5. Report of the General Board, dated 13 July 2010, on the establishment of a Professorship of Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience (Reporter, p. 1128)

6. Fifteenth Report of the Board of Scrutiny, dated 28 June 2010 (Reporter, p. 1129).

Notice of Benefactions

19 July 2010

The Vice-Chancellor gives notice that she has received the following benefactions:

(a)a benefaction of £250,000 from the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Weston Family towards the refurbishment of the Scott Polar Research Institute Museum;

(b)a benefaction of £135,036 from Madame Bouhon-Bustin, a further gift, in memory of her daughter, Isabelle Bouhon, for the Isabelle Bouhon Fund (Grace 1 of 27 January 2010);

(c)a benefaction of £500,000 from the Trustees of the Monument Trust towards the ‘Completing Kettle’s Yard Project’;

(d)a benefaction of £49,000, in the first instance, from the Lloyds Register Educational Trust for one-year postgraduate scholarships for candidates for the M.Phils. in Engineering for Sustainable Development, Micro- and Nanotechnology Enterprise, and Scientific Computing;

(e)a bequest of £257,682 under the Will of Dr Robin Paul towards a new building for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology;

(f)a benefaction of £120,000 from the Reece Foundation to support the Outreach Programme in the Department of Engineering.

Honorary Degree Committee: Notice

The Vice-Chancellor invites nominations for Honorary Doctorates. Full details of how to make a nomination, and a nomination form, are online at http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/degrees/honorary/, where a list of Honorary Degrees conferred since 1977 may also be found. The names of those receiving Honorary Doctorates in 2010, and the orations, appeared in Reporter, p. 663.

Nominations should be made in confidence, and will be treated confidentially by the University Council’s Honorary Degree Committee. It is helpful if the broad support of a Faculty, Department, or College is evident from the nomination, though multiple letters of support are not necessary.

Nominations may be made at any time, but those received by 15 September 2010 will be considered at the Michaelmas 2010 meeting of the Honorary Degree Committee, for conferment in 2011 or 2012.

Suggestions may be made by email to honorary.degrees@admin.cam.ac.uk, or by writing to the Vice-Chancellor, University Offices, Trinity Lane. Informal advice may be sought from the Secretary of the Committee, Mr Matthew Moss, in the Vice-Chancellor’s Office (email matthew.moss@admin.cam.ac.uk).

Report of the Council on a technical review of the Statutes, and Ordinances (simplification and clarification): Notice

12 July 2010

The Council has considered the remarks made at the Discussion on 6 July 2010 ( Reporter, p. 1177) of the Council’s Report, dated 14 June 2010, on a technical review of the Statutes, and Ordinances (simplification and clarification) (Reporter, p. 992).

The Council notes that no opposition was expressed to the Council’s proposal to initiate the process of technical revision on the basis set out in the Report. Various detailed matters were mentioned, and, so far as they need to be taken into account, the Council will refer them to the Technical Advisory Group to be established subject to the approval by Grace of the Council’s recommendation.

Reference was made in the Discussion to recent amendments to the Statutes of the University of Oxford, and to the role of the Privy Council. The report of the scoping study, chaired by Professor Yates, which was annexed to the Council’s Report, makes clear that the scoping group was aware of these matters.

If the recommendation of the Report is approved the Council will (as mentioned in the Report) appoint Professor David Yates to chair the Technical Advisory Group. The Council is pleased to announce that the following have also agreed to serve as members of the Group: Professor Dame Sandra Dawson, Professor Christopher Forsyth, Professor Paul Luzio, and Professor John Spencer. The Council is grateful to these colleagues for their willingness to serve.

The Council therefore submits a Grace for approval of the recommendation of the Report (Grace 10, p. 1153).

Devolution of the approval of certain graduate degrees to Degree Committees: Notice

12 July 2010

The Board of Graduate Studies is the body which is currently responsible for the formal award of the majority of graduate awards and degrees (some graduate Diplomas, the Certificates of Postgraduate Study, the M.St., M.Phil., M.Res., M.Sc., M.Litt., Ph.D. Degrees, the Ph.D. Degree by Special Regulations, and Higher Doctorates). (The Board does not approve the LL.M., M.B.A., M.Fin. or M.A.St. Degrees.) The Board is also responsible for the first stages of complaints relating to the examination process.

On average, the Board approves approximately 2,500 degrees a year of which the majority are straightforward. The Board approves the award of degrees following a recommendation from the relevant Degree Committee, which in turn act upon marks and reports made by Examiners. This process is extremely protracted as compared to the undergraduate examination system.

The Board of Graduate Studies have reviewed the arrangements for the approval of the award of graduate degrees in consultation with the Degree Committees, and have agreed that the responsibility for the award of the degrees of Master of Philosophy, Master of Research, and Master of Studies should be devolved to Degree Committees with effect from 1 October 2010 and should apply to students admitted on or after that date. The decision has been made on the grounds that (i) the Board would continue to provide advice to Degree Committees and be free to consider complaints without having been previously involved in the decision making process; (ii) it would expedite the decision making process for the award of the degrees.

On the recommendation of the Board of Graduate Studies the Council have agreed to submit Graces (Graces 1–4, p. 1150) to the Regent House for the approval of amendments to the general regulations for the degrees of Master of Philosophy, Master of Research, and Master of Studies, and to the regulations for the Board of Graduate Studies to enable the responsibility of the approval of the award of degrees to be devolved to the Degree Committee concerned.

Court of Discipline: Notice

The Court of Discipline met on 29 June 2010 to consider charges brought by the University Advocate under Statute B, VI, 28, on a complaint by the Senior Proctor, against an undergraduate member of the University. The members of the Court were: Professor G. J. Virgo (Chairman), Mr M. M. Beber, Mrs N. Blanning, Professor I. M. Hutchings, Dr K. C. Plaisted-Grant; with Mr A. Bennett (Secretariat) as Clerk of the Court. On the application of the defendant, the Court consisted of senior members only and sat in camera.

The defendant was charged with two offences contrary to Regulation 6 of the General Regulations for Discipline in that the student had used unfair means in a Tripos Examination in 2010, namely possession and use of material relevant to the examination that was not specifically authorized. The defendant pleaded guilty to both charges. The Advocate outlined the circumstances of the case. The defendant’s representative presented the defence case and addressed the Court in mitigation.

The Court concluded that the charges brought by the Advocate were proved, that the offences were serious, and that there was a need to mark them by significant penalty. The members of the Court also took into account substantial evidence in mitigation which was presented, and that the student had admitted the offences and had expressed remorse and profound regret.

The Court agreed that a penalty relating to the result in the examination in which the unfair means had been used was required, such that the defendant’s existing classification should not be allowed to stand. The Court agreed that the defendant’s classification in the Tripos Examination concerned should be reduced from Class II, Division 2 to Class III. The Court advised the Vice-Chancellor to issue an amended class-list for the examination, in accordance with Statute B, VI, 16.

The Court further ordered that the student should not be allowed to seek an allowance, under the relevant University regulations, for the examination concerned.

Notice by the Editor and Publishers of the Reporter

This is the last ordinary number of the Reporter in the academical year 2009–10. The first ordinary number in 2010–11 will be published on 6 October.

The Cambridge University Reporter appears each Wednesday during Term. Special Numbers are also published from time to time.

Editorial

Notices for publication in the Reporter should be sent to the Editor, Cambridge University Reporter, University Offices, The Old Schools, Cambridge, CB2 1TN (tel. 01223 332305, fax 01223 332332, email reporter.editor@admin.cam.ac.uk). Copy, preferably in electronic form, should be sent as early as possible in the week before publication; short notices will be accepted up to 4 p.m. on Thursday for publication the following Wednesday. Inclusion is subject to availability of space.

Subscriptions

Subscription rates for the academical year 2010–11 are as follows:

£11.25 if copies are to be delivered to a College or a University building, or collected by the subscriber from the Press Bookshop; £62.70 if posted.

The Lecture-list is included in all subscriptions covering the Michaelmas Term. Extra copies are available at £2.50 a copy (£4.00 if posted). The Special Number showing the College Accounts is not included in the subscription rates, but copies may be obtained for an additional payment of £14.40 a copy (£21.40 if posted).

An Index for the year will be supplied to every subscriber.

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Internet

In response to the Data Protection Act 1998, certain material published in the online Reporter will be restricted to those with internet access on the University of Cambridge network (i.e. the ‘cam.ac.uk’ domain).

University Combination Room: Notice of closure

The University Combination Room will be closed from 3.30 p.m. on Friday, 20 August until 9 a.m. on Monday 6 September 2010.

Language Centre: Notice of closure

The Director gives notice that the Language Centre (including the John Trim Centre for Independent Learning) will be closed during the Long Vacation from 4 p.m. on Friday, 30 July, until 10 a.m. on Monday, 6 September 2010.