No 6711
Wednesday 27 September 2023
Vol cliv No 1
pp. 1–17
1 October, Sunday. Michaelmas Term begins.
2 October, Monday. Congregation of the Regent House at 9.55 a.m.: Election and admission of the Proctors. Annual address by the Vice‑Chancellor (see below).
3 October, Tuesday. Full Term begins.
15 October, Sunday. Preacher before the University at 11.30 a.m., Ms Chine McDonald, of St Catharine’s College, Director of Theos.
|
Discussions (Tuesdays at 2 p.m.) |
Congregations (at 10 a.m. unless otherwise stated) |
|
31 October |
2 October, 9.55 a.m. |
|
7 November |
20 and 21 October, 9.30 a.m. |
|
21 November |
25 November |
|
12 December |
The Vice-Chancellor gives notice that she has accepted with gratitude a donation of £2.2m, payable over four years, from Mike Ashby, Emeritus Professor of Materials, to endow a University Associate Professorship or a University Assistant Professorship in Materials Science, which will be supported by the income from a Mike Ashby Fund. The Council is publishing a Grace (Grace 1, p. 15) to establish the Fund.
The Vice-Chancellor gives notice that she will deliver an address to the University following the Congregation on Monday, 2 October 2023 for the election and admission of the Proctors (required by Statute C IV and the Special Ordinance made under it) and after swearing‑in the University Constables under the Universities Act 1825. The election will begin at 10 a.m. Members of the Regent House and other members of the University community who wish to be present are therefore asked to be seated in the Senate-House by 9.50 a.m.; proceedings are expected to end before 11 a.m.
Matriculated members of the University community attending should wear academical dress (black gowns, hoods are not required). Tickets will not be issued and refreshments will be served afterwards.
The Vice-Chancellor gives notice that the Congregations called for Friday, 20 and Saturday, 21 October 2023 at 10 a.m. will now start at 9.30 a.m. in Great St Mary’s, the University Church, for the submission of supplicats and Graces under Statute B II 2. The Congregation will then be adjourned and recommence in the Senate-House from 10 a.m.
In a Notice published on 26 July, the Council provided a reply to remarks on the General Board’s response to the marking and assessment boycott, published on 22 June (Reporter, 2022–23; 6706, p. 773; 6710, p. 881). That reply on 26 July confirmed the specific limited criteria the Board had agreed to apply when making decisions about whether to exercise its discretion under Regulation 1 of the Ordinance for the Approval of Class-lists. Although the substance of the criteria was generally conveyed, the criteria themselves were not clearly set out as such in the Board’s 22 June Notice, as the 26 July reply implied them to have been. It is regretted that this may have suggested that the question in the remarks was not a fair one.
1This Notice was originally published on the Reporter website and is reproduced here in accordance with Regulation 2 of the Ordinance for the Cambridge University Reporter (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 109).
The Council, on the advice of the Finance Committee, has approved an amendment to the Financial Regulations. This amendment takes effect from 1 October 2023 and revises the Regulations reproduced in the Statutes and Ordinances (p. 1057).
The purpose of the Financial Regulations is to ensure the proper use of finances and resources in a manner which not only satisfies the requirements of internal control expected of a substantial and prominent organization, but also fulfils any legal or financial obligations as laid down by the Statutes and Ordinances of the University, HM Revenue and Customs, the Office for Students, and other authorities.
The amendment increases the current procurement threshold above which departments require three competitive quotes from £1,000 to £5,000. In Schedule 1 – Competition Procedures of the Regulations, the two references to £1,000 in the column for the Total Value (before VAT) have therefore been updated to refer to a threshold of £5,000.
Related changes have also been made to the Financial Procedure on expenses.
The Council has agreed to trial a new meeting schedule in 2023–24. It will meet nine times, with six long, in-person meetings (including one combined with a strategic meeting in March) and three short, online meetings. The dates of those meetings are available to download as a calendar, along with calendars of other central committees.1 The Council will review the arrangements early in the Easter Term 2024 before agreeing its meeting schedule for 2024–25.
As a result, the Council has agreed that Discussions will take place at 2 p.m. on the following Tuesdays in 2023–24:
|
Michaelmas Term 2023 |
Lent Term 2024 |
Easter Term and Long Vacation 2024 |
|
31 October 7 November 21 November 12 December |
23 January 13 February 5 March 19 March |
30 April 14 May 28 May 25 June 9 July 16 July |