Skip to main contentCambridge University Reporter

No 6231

Wednesday 13 July 2011

Vol cxli No 35

pp. 977–1044

Reports

Report of the Council on the construction of Phase 1 of the University Sports Centre on the West Cambridge Site

The Council begs leave to report to the University as follows:

1. The West Cambridge Master Plan was approved by the Regent House by Grace 8 of 14 May 1997 and outline planning approval for the Master Plan was obtained in April 1999. The Master Plan incorporates extensive infrastructure support, and a land-use mix including: University teaching and research facilities; research organizations including incubator units for science-based businesses; shared amenities – sports facilities, cafes, shops, and campus centre facilities; residential use – accommodation for University staff and postgraduates including a nursery; and a park and cycle facility.

2. The full scheme of the University Sports Centre, which will be located at West Cambridge, was originally approved during the period 2000–01 by the University Sports Syndicate, the Planning and Resources Committee, the West Cambridge Development Group, and the Buildings Committee. The full scheme consisted of a 50-metre swimming pool, multi-purpose sports hall, Eton and Rugby Fives courts, squash courts, gym, aerobics, fencing, indoor and external tennis courts, and a sports science and medicine facility. The cost of the Sports Centre in 2001 was estimated to be £37m. This estimate was last updated in 2007 when inflation had increased the overall cost to approximately £45m.

3. Neither benefactors nor other sources of funding have been forthcoming and the project had not progressed further since 2002.

4. Full Planning Permission was granted for the Sports Centre in 2002. The Planning Permission was renewed in 2007. A further planning application was made in 2010 to extend the 2007 Planning Permission. This latest application is yet to be determined by the Cambridge City Council planning authority but approval is expected shortly.

5. The Council now proposes that a first phase of the new University Sports Centre building be constructed on the West Cambridge Site. The facilities within the first phase will comprise a sports hall, fitness facilities, multi-purpose room, changing rooms, and offices. Space for squash courts and Eton and Rugby Fives courts will be accommodated within Phase 1 but will not be fitted out. This much reduced scheme has been estimated to cost £16m which will be financed from a University loan.

Phase 1 location plan at West Cambridge

6. In this Report the Council also proposes the disposal of the land and building housing the Physical Education Centre at Fenner’s, with the proceeds of the sale being applied to the funding of the new Sports Centre.

7. The Finance Committee have agreed to make a loan of £16m to fund the project subject to approval of the revised Business Case by the Planning and Resources Committee, which was forthcoming at the meeting held on 16 March 2011. The £16m loan comprises: £10m from the University Chest; £5m underwritten by the Chest until a fundraising campaign raises a £5m benefaction; and a further £1m underwritten until the sale of the Physical Education Centre building at Fenner’s is completed. The sale of the Physical Education Centre, as shown on the attached plan, will not take place until the Department of Physical Education relocate to the new building, when the total capital realized from the sale will be used to offset the loan from the Chest to the project. It is estimated that the value of the sale would be in excess of £1m. It is proposed to sell the freehold interest in order to maximize the capital receipt. For clarity it should be noted that these arrangements have no bearing on the Wilberforce Road Sports Ground and the facilities therein which will continue to provide for the University’s needs for Athletics, Hockey, and general training. Similarly, the University Cricket Ground, the Indoor Cricket School, and the University Lawn Tennis Club facilities at Fenner’s will continue to provide for the University’s needs in those areas.

Location plan of the Physical Education Centre at Fenner's

8. It is expected that the running costs of the new building will be £145,000 a year. The running costs, the interest charges, and the capital repayment schedule will be met from income from membership fees, hiring charges, and charges for classes drawn from within and outwith the University. A reasonable level of community use of the facilities is required under the current planning conditions and it is anticipated that this will continue to be a requirement following the latest planning application. The Finance Committee and the Planning and Resources Committee, in approving the loan, considered the detailed Business Plan to be robust and realistic in terms of servicing the loan and meeting the costs of the proposed facilities.

9. The new building will be designed to achieve a BREEAM sustainability rating of ‘Very Good’, which is the minimum required by the University. Attempting to attain a higher rating would not be cost effective and could not be achieved within the existing budget. The City Council’s requirement for 10% on-site renewable energy provision will be met.

10. Drawings of the proposed scheme are displayed for the information of the University in the Schools Arcade.

11. The Council recommends:

I. That approval be given for the construction of a new building on the West Cambridge Site for Phase 1 of the University Sports Centre as proposed in this Report.

II. That approval be given to the disposal of the freehold interest of the site of the Physical Education Centre as shown on the attached plan.

III. That the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Planning and Resources, on the advice of the Director of Estate Management, be authorized to accept a tender for the building contract and all associated works in due course, subject to full funding being available.

27 June 2011

L. K. Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor

I. M. Le M. Du Quesnay

Vanessa Lawrence

N. Bampos

Nick Gay

R. Lethbridge

Richard Barnes

David Good

Rahul Mansigani

D. Casserley

Andy Hopper

Mavis McDonald

Stephen J. Cowley

Christopher Hum

Rachael Padman

M. J. Daunton

F. P. Kelly

John Shakeshaft

R. J. Dowling

Report of the General Board on the establishment of a Professorship of Medical Genetics and Genomic Medicine

The General Board beg leave to report to the University as follows:

1. The field of Medical Genetics is concerned with the application of genetic principles to medicine, with the care and management of inherited disease in extended families, and with teaching and research in the diagnosis and prevention of genetic disorders. Following the remarkable advances in molecular biology generally, and recent successes in mapping and sequencing the human genome especially, molecular genetics has become of major importance. Genetic analyses are now performed across the entire genome, and hence the field is now often referred to as ‘genomics’, and goes beyond DNA sequence determination to investigate global patterns of gene expression and regulatory features of genome functions.

2. These major advances in technologies and knowledge apply not only to research, where Medical Genetics and Genomic Medicine is one of the principal research themes in the School of Clinical Medicine, but also to the teaching of medical students. ‘Genomic Medicine’ will become increasingly important in the clinic, and the Department of Medical Genetics is taking a pioneering role in these developments, not least by the establishment by the Department of a next generation sequencing facility, the Eastern Sequence and Informatics Hub.

3. The first Professorship of Medical Genetics was established in 1995 for the tenure of Professor M. Bobrow. In view of the importance of the field the General Board agreed to establish a second and permanent, non-clinical Professorship of Medical Genetics. Professor J. A. Todd was elected to this Professorship from 1 October 1998.

4. Following the retirement of Professor Bobrow, the Faculty Board of Clinical Medicine have concluded that it would be highly desirable for the field of this Professorship to extend beyond the clinical specialty of Medical Genetics to the wider application of genomics to clinical medicine (‘Genomic Medicine’). In addition to providing broader academic leadership in the application of genetics and genomics to clinical medicine, this would also make it likely that the work of the Professorship could be linked to the activities of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, and in particular its Human Genetics Programme, to the mutual advantage of the School and the Institute. The Professor would continue to take part in the provision of clinical services for medical genetics and hold an honorary clinical contract.

5. The General Board accordingly propose the establishment for one tenure from 1 October 2011 of a Professorship of Medical Genetics and Genomic Medicine, to be assigned to the Department of Medical Genetics. The full costs of the Professorship would be met from the NHS Clinical Academic Reserve. In the event of any shortfall in this NHS funding, the Faculty Board have agreed to meet the full costs of the office from within their existing resources. The General Board are assured that an appointment at this level will attract a strong field of well-qualified candidates; they have agreed to concur in the view of the Faculty Board of Clinical Medicine that an election to the Professorship should be made by an ad hoc Board of Electors, and that candidature should be open to all persons whose work falls within the field of the title of the Professorship.

6. The General Board recommend:

That a Professorship of Medical Genetics and Genomic Medicine be established in the University for one tenure from 1 October 2011, placed in Schedule B of the Statutes, and assigned to the Department of Medical Genetics.

6 July 2011

L. K. Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor

Christopher Crow

Rachael Padman

N. Bampos

Simon Franklin

J. Rallison

William Brown

Andrew Gamble

Jeremy Sanders

H. A. Chase

C. A. Gilligan

Patrick Sissons

Sarah Coakley

David Good

Report of the General Board on the re-establishment of the Charles Darwin Professorship of Animal Embryology

The General Board beg leave to report to the University as follows:

1. The Charles Darwin Professorship of Animal Embryology was established in 1967, from the income of the Bles bequest, for the tenure of Professor C. R. Austin. Following the retirement of Professor Austin in 1981, the Professorship was re-established for a further single tenure. The Professorship has now lapsed following the retirement of Professor R. A. Laskey on 31 March 2011, and the Managers of the Dr E. J. Bles Fund have proposed that it should be re-established for a further tenure.

2. The General Board have accepted the Managers’ proposal, which has the support of the Faculty Board of Biology and the Council of the School of the Biological Sciences. The Board have agreed that election to the Professorship should be made by an ad hoc Board of Electors and that candidature should be open to persons whose work falls within any aspect of Animal Embryology, excluding those whose primary interests are economical, technical or medical.

3. The General Board recommend:

That the Charles Darwin Professorship of Animal Embryology be re-established from 1 October 2012 for one tenure, placed in Schedule B of the Statutes, and assigned to a Department within the School of the Biological Sciences once the research interests of the person elected to the Professorship are known.

6 July 2011

L. K. Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor

Christopher Crow

Rachael Padman

N. Bampos

Simon Franklin

J. Rallison

William Brown

Andrew Gamble

Jeremy Sanders

H. A. Chase

C. A. Gilligan

Patrick Sissons

Sarah Coakley

David Good

Report of the Board of Graduate Studies on future arrangements for central consideration of Graduate Student matters

The Board of Graduate Studies begs leave to report to the University as follows:

1. The Board of Graduate Studies is a body established under Statute A, VI, 1(b) (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 9). Its membership and responsibilities are determined by Ordinance (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 124). This Report proposes that matters of policy relating to Graduate Students and the qualifications for which they may be registered should be transferred from the Board to the General Board through that Board’s Education Committee, with consequential proposals regarding the membership of the Board of Graduate Studies and of the Education Committee. The proposals require no change in the Board’s formal responsibilities. The responsibilities of Degree Com­mittees would not be affected. Their implementation will enable the Board, which has hitherto had a very heavy agenda, to give increased attention to individual student cases and operational matters affecting Graduate Students, University institutions, Degree Committees, and the Colleges. The aims of the proposals, which have the support of the General Board and their Education Committee, are to: bring together cognate activities regardless of student type; streamline procedures to generate efficiencies (including saving academic staff time); and align policy and operations for all types of students to achieve greater clarity and equity of treatment. They complement changes in the central administrative support provided by the Office of the Board of Graduate Studies.

2. The opportunity is taken also to propose a change to the quorum of the Board’s membership required for the approval of candidates for higher doctorates (paragraph 12).

Student operations

3. The Board of Graduate Studies will retain responsibility for those matters covered in the Ordinances relating to the Board and to activities covered in the regulations for Graduate Students (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 434), including graduate admissions and graduate scholarships.

4. Work is underway, within the Unified Administrative Service and in support of the Council’s wish for integrated student services, to establish: one administrative unit with responsibility for all student records; an integrated Examinations Office (bringing together work hitherto undertaken separately by the Offices of the Boards of Graduate Studies and of Examinations); and a single office to handle all student complaints, examination appeals, and allowances.

5. As part of this work, a review is being undertaken of procedures for consideration of examination allowances for Graduate Students with the aim of establishing procedures parallel to those used by the Council’s Applications Committee for other students.

6. Other actions include directing complaints by Graduate Students at the informal stage to the relevant Degree Committee for consideration rather than, as at present, them being mediated by the Board. An annual report will be made to the Board and the General Board’s Education Committee providing data on the number and types of complaint and on cases considered by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, and drawing out issues of general applicability that require attention by the bodies concerned with graduate education.

7. The Board would report to the General Board through consideration of its Minutes by the Education Committee, and would continue to make an annual report to the General Board and the Council.

Education and Student policy

8. In order to bring together consideration of policy matters, it is proposed that, from 1 October 2011, the matters listed below be handled by the General Board, through their Education Committee, rather than by the Board of Graduate Studies. Consideration of teaching and learning issues by a single body would allow for better consistency of policy, particularly in relation to Master’s provision. It would also remove duplication of effort by reducing the number of central bodies considering graduate matters, and would expedite the processing of business. These matters are already considered by the General Board, through their Education Committee, as well as, hitherto, by the Board of Graduate Studies. The Education Committee would consult the Board of Graduate Studies where policy matters have operational implications.

(a)Educational provision, including:

(i)approval of new courses, discontinuation of (and changes to) courses, including new M.Phil. and M.St. programmes and certificate and diploma programmes requiring Graduate Student Status;

(ii)consideration of proposals for new graduate-level qualifications;

(iii)consideration of proposals by Degree Committees to amend the regulations for qualifications which require registration as a Graduate Student, and for the Ph.D. Degree by Special Regulations and other qualifications which the Board of Graduate Studies currently oversees.

(b)Quality assurance, including, for example, monitoring of External Examiners’ reports (and Degree Committee responses) for taught post­graduate qualifications; postgraduate student surveys (to complement the Education Committee’s monitoring of Cambridge students’ responses in the National Student Survey); marking and classing criteria; and monitoring of compliance with, and review of, the Code of Practice for Research Students.

(c)Educational policy, including, for example, postgraduate student numbers, plagiarism, transferable skills, and employability.

(d)Minutes of other bodies: the Education Committee would consider the Minutes of the following bodies which currently report to the Board of Graduate Studies: the Postgraduate Admissions Committee, the Transferable Skills Steering Group, and the M.St. Liaison Group.

9. The transfer of these responsibilities would not require changes to the Education Committee’s Terms of Reference (see http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/cam-only/committee/education/terms/).

Membership

10. In light of the proposals above, it is also proposed that the membership of the Board of Graduate Studies be reduced and reconfigured to become:

Class (a): one member of the Regent House appointed by the General Board as Chairman, who shall also be a member of the Education Committee;

Class (b): six members of the Regent House appointed by the General Board;

Class (c): two members of the Regent House appointed by the Senior Tutors’ Committee, one of whom should normally be a Graduate Tutor.

Given the predominantly reserved nature of the business, student membership of the Board would no longer be appropriate.

11. It is also proposed that the membership of the Education Committee be augmented by the addition of a second appointee, appointed by the General Board, from the membership of the Board of Graduate Studies and a second student member as a graduate student representative (this person to be the graduate student member of the General Board in class (d) of the General Board’s membership).

12. At present eight members of the Board of Graduate Studies, present at a meeting, are required for the approval of candidates for Higher Degrees, that is, the Sc.D., Litt.D., D.D., Mus.D., and LL.D. Degrees. It is proposed to reduce that number to five, the same number as are required to be present for approval of candidates for other doctorates. In practice the vast majority of recommendations by Degree Committee for approval are unanimous.

Recommendations

13. The Board of Graduate Studies accordingly recommends:

I. That the regulations for the Board of Graduate Studies (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 124) be amended with effect from 1 January 2012 as follows:

Regulation 1. (Membership of the Board)

By amending the regulation so as to read:

The Board of Graduate Studies shall consist of:

(a)one member of the Regent House appointed by the General Board as Chairman, who shall also be a member of the Education Committee;

(b)six members of the Regent House appointed by the General Board;

(c)two members of the Regent House appointed by the Senior Tutors’ Committee, one of whom shall normally be a Graduate Tutor.

Members in classes (a) and (b) shall be appointed in the Michaelmas Term to serve for four years from 1 January next following their appointment. Members in class (c) shall be appointed in the Easter Term to serve for three years from 1 October.

Regulation 5.

By deleting this regulation.

II. That the following regulations be amended:

(A) General regulations for the degree of Master of Philosophy (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 497)

Regulation 1.

By deleting in the last two lines of this regulation the words ‘, and after submission to, and approval by, the Board of Graduate Studies’.

(B) General regulations for the degree of Master of Research (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 531)

Regulation 1.

By deleting in the last two lines of this regulation the words ‘, and after submission to, and approval by, the Board of Graduate Studies’.

(C) General regulations for the degree of Master of Studies (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 536)

Regulation 1.

By deleting from line 4 the words ‘the Board of Graduate Studies and’.

(D) General regulations for Certificates of Postgraduate Study (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 558)

Regulation 1.

By deleting from lines 4 and 5 the words ‘, and after submission to, and approval by, the Board of Graduate Studies’.

(E) Regulations for Diplomas and Certificates open to non-members of the University (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 567)

Regulation 2.

By deleting from lines 3 and 4 the words ‘, and the Board of Graduate Studies where appropriate’.

III. That for the following degrees the number of votes, cast at a meeting, required for a resolution to be valid be amended from eight to five;

Doctor of Music (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 490): Regulation 7.

Doctor of Divinity (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 453): Regulation 9.

Doctor of Law (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 464): Regulation 8.

Doctor of Science and Doctor of Letters (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 535): Regulation 8.

7 June 2011

John Rallison (Chairman)

Loraine Gelsthorpe

Robin Hiley

Graeme Barker

Simon Goldhill

Joan Lasenby

David Cardwell

Jane Heal

Rachael Padman

Sarah Coakley

Paul Hewett

David Sargan

Geoffrey Cook