Update on major issues

Updated 30 September 2013

The University Strategic Plan for the period 2013-18 is now available online. The plan sets a high-level agenda for the University through seven aspirations, from enhancing structures for collaboration across the collegiate University, to recruiting and retaining the best academic staff and ensuring equality of opportunity for under-represented groups.

Background

Council agreed the process for creating a new Strategic Plan in Michaelmas Term 2011 and work commenced in earnest in Hilary Term 2012.  A series of groups developed material in the core strategic areas, with members drawn from key Council committees, Conference of Colleges and OUSU.

An overarching group was convened to co-ordinate this work and provide overall focus on the University’s key challenges and priorities. This group included the four heads of the academic divisions and the director of the Department for Continuing Education; the five Pro-Vice-Chancellors with portfolio and the Registrar; two representatives of the Conference of Colleges; an external member of Council, and another member of Council elected by Congregation; the Proctors; and the President of OUSU.

The draft Plan was circulated for comment across the collegiate University at the end of Michaelmas term 2012, with submissions invited from individuals and bodies. The draft Plan was also the subject of a Congregation Discussion, which took place on 19 February 2013. 

The Plan was subsequently reworked in the light of comments received from the consultation (which are available to view on the Strategic Plan website). The revised Plan, which was approved by Council on 20 May for submission to Congregation, was published as a supplement to the Gazette of 23 May 2013. The explanatory note in the Gazette provides a summary of how the comments received were addressed in the final version of the Strategic Plan presented to Congregation.

Updated 12 July 2013

A consultation took place in Hilary term about two possible variations to the current system for titles and merit pay for academics. The Personnel Committee sought views from members of Congregation and University and college bodies on two proposals:
i.    the introduction of the title of associate professor;
ii.    the introduction of merit pay for lecturers with the title of professor.

Details of the proposals were set out in the consultative paper, which was published as a supplement to the Gazette on 30 January 2013. Responses to the consultation, which ended on 22 April 2013, are available on the Task Force website.

A wide range of divergent views were expressed in the consultative exercise, and the majority of the responses, including the majority of the 159 responses received from individuals, were broadly supportive of the outline proposals.

Council has agreed to put before Congregation in Michaelmas term resolutions proposing a new system for merit pay for academics, and proposing that the main lecturer grades be retitled associate professor. The resolutions and supporting material, which will set out versions of the original proposals refined to reflect some useful revisions proposed by respondents, will now be prepared and will be published at the beginning of Michaelmas term 2013.

Background information

At its meeting of 14 January 2013 Council approved the recommendation of the Personnel Committee and PRAC to lift the suspension of the University’s various arrangements for salary review and merit pay. Council agreed to the reintroduction of regular exercises to consider distinction awards to statutory professors and readers and other eligible academics. Council also agreed that a recognition of distinction exercise to consider applications for the conferment of the title of professor should be held annually from 2013-14, with funding made available from 2014 for salary increments for lecturers awarded the title of professor.   

Before launching the next recognition of distinction exercise, the Personnel Committee wanted to canvass views on two possible variations to the current system for academic titles and merit pay: the first was the possible redesignation of the university lecturer grade as ‘associate professor’; the second was the possible introduction of merit pay for all university lecturers with the title of full professor, rather than this being reserved for a selected subset as proposed by the Task Force on Academic Employment in its 2010 report.

Updated 16 May 2013

In recent months a number of changes have taken place in the Bodleian Libraries. These changes come as the Libraries strive to meet the challenges of growing collections, the need to create spaces for 21st century scholarship, and to improve services, even in the face of fiscal constraints.

The Libraries are currently finalising their Strategic Plan for the period 2013-2017, taking into consideration feedback from readers and staff, which was gathered as part of a consultation exercise in Michaelmas term. The Implementation Plan, which provides detailed goals and actions out of the Strategic Plan, is currently being drafted, and both plans will be released together for review — in the first instance by the Curators of the University Libraries — at the end of Trinity term.

Further information

The following information is available on the Bodleian website:

•  An update from Bodley's Librarian, dated 13 May 2013
• An update from Bodley's Librarian, dated 13 February 2013
• An update from Bodley's Librarian, dated 7 November 2012
• An update from Bodley's Librarian, dated 16 July 2012
• Report from the Curators of the University Libraries, Michaelmas term 2012
• The Bodleian Libraries' draft Strategic Plan 2013-17

A transcript of the Congregation discussion, which took place on 13 November 2012 on the topic of the libraries and their future, is available on the Congregation meeting website.