Present:
Dr Robin Hirsch, Chair (Departmental Undergraduate Tutor); Professor Steve
Wilbur ( Head of Department); Dr Graham Roberts; Professor Bernard Buxton
(Programme Director, MRes CVIPGS); Dr Steve Hailes (Programme Director,
MSc DCNDS); Professor Simon Arridge (Programme Director, MSc VIVE); John
Washbrook (Director of Studies); Dennis Timm (Technical Support Group);
Barry Stein (Technical Support Group);Sarah
Berke (Departmental Administrator); Jonathan Hull (minutes) (Undergraduate
Administrator); Mark Delacour MSci 2; Adam Hardy CS 2; Rajender Bakhshi
CS 2,Louise Morrow MSC CS; Clair
Worledge MSC IT; Raakhee Jagwani CS3; Dheraj Dagar CS3; Simon Prince Mres;
Daniel Lynch MSc CS; Luis Alejandro Flores MSc DCNDS; Ravin Thanabalan
MACS1; Ben Halton MSc CS;A. Theodorou
MSC IT; JJ Giwa
Robin
Hirsch (RH) opened the meeting and asked for items to be discussed under
any other business, and welcomed participants to the first meeting of the
new year
1).
Apologies for absence
There
were apologies for absence from Chris Clack (staff) and Rob Dupuis DCNDS
2).
Approval
of minutes
The
minutes of the meeting of 2nd March 2000 were approved
3).
Matters
arising from the last meeting: none
4).
GeneralIssues
i)
Registration
Sarah
Berke (SAB) stated that the registration debrief report contained details
and feedback on this years’ registration process
ii)
Student
membership of the BCS
SAB
said the Department had received details of registering with the BCS, unlike
last year the Departmental Administrator’s office would not be dealing
with applications. In order to qualify for the 20% discount there must
bea minimum of 25 students wishing
to join. Action: RH asked student reps to consult their fellows
to gauge the level of interest.
iii)
Representation on Faculty Committees
RH
said student representation was required on various faculty committees
Actionstudentreps
to canvass for nominees.
iv)
Student
Common Room
J.J
Giwa reported on the refurbishment of the common room. A kitchen is being
installed in time for next term. RH opened the discussion. The consensus
from the floor was that the room was used as a discussion room and needs
a quiet area, but doubted whether the kitchenette would work because of
the need to bring in the raw materials to make drinks, and that the students
would have to clean up after themselves, and a fridge would not be provided
to store perishables. A coffee machine was not a viable option because
of the room’s location. Students pointed out the Engineering department
have a coffee machine and a manned kiosk, though that department is larger
and located in a nine-storey building. The only option was for a vending
machine. RH proposed not going ahead with the kitchenette idea, which was
met with approval. Action: SAB to investigate a machine vending
at 50p per cup.
At
this point Graham Roberts (GAR) noted that fire extinguishers were being
used to prop open doors which is illegal and asked that this practice cease
immediately.
v.
Request for a muslim prayer room
The
provision of a central roomhas been
discussed with College and some progress made. There is no space available
for a dedicated room in the Department, RH advised that a room could be
booked through central room bookings.
vi.
Late
access to labs
Simon Prince on behalf of R Dupuis raised the problem of accessing machines. SAB pointed out there was late access on Thursdays and the take up level had not been overwhelming, and reiterated that weekend access was not feasible as there needs to be a trained first aider. SP said Mres students had swipe card access to the building at weekends but rooms were key locked. Steve Wilbur (SJW) stated that they should not have access at weekends at all.
vii.
Michael Rogers was not present to move item 7
viii.
Request
for a departmental CD writer
Adam Hardy proposed the installation of this device at the Helpdesk so students could download free software etc. GAR supported strongly, and said it would be beneficial to students. Action: to be raised at Services committee.
ix. Laptop points
In reply to the points raised by Dheraj Dagar and Raakhee Jagwani, regarding laptop access in the student common room and the 2nd and 3rd year labs, SAB said that it had previously been stated that this was not feasible; the common is not cabled and there is no space in the labs. Room B10 could have room for more points but not B13 or 26. SJW said that health and safety issues had to be taken into consideration.
x. Discussed under 4 (iv)
5. DCNDS request for more disc space
To be discussed offline with Steve Hailes.
6.MREsComplaint about number/quality of machines
SP stated that there were not enough machines for MRES students who often were 2 to a machine, supervised practicals being a particular problem. SJW suggested these could be reorganised, from the floor one student stated it cost £2,500 to do an MRES and sometimes a machine was not available. Recruiting of demonstrators has been a problem. Action: to go to Services Committee
7.Undergraduate Issues
i. Dheraj Dagar stated that the 3rd year labs did not have enough machines, half don’t work, the lighting is poor and the air conditioning doesn’t work.. Mark Delacour said that the second year labs often had 3rd years in them and were unable to get a machine. He was advised that they should be politely asked to leave. SAB advised that the labs were to be upgraded over the Christmas break. JJ asked that any faults be reported to her. DD also stated that the 3rd years would prefer the same type of machines as used in the second year labs. Action Services committee
ii. Rajender Bakhshi raised the problem of clashing coursework deadlines. RH advised to plan coursework to take account of deadlines. JJ has a calendar system where lecturers are supposed to enter the dates for submission of coursework. Action: RH to email tutors to remind them to use JJ’s planner.
iii. 3rd year projects: Raakhee Jagwani (RJ) stated that the third years had too much work with the group and individual projects. GAR suggested each student negotiated with their supervisor about how much time to allocate to the group project.Action:3rd year reps to advise their contemporaries.
iv. Exam timetabling is done centrally by the Registry and there is no possibility of better spacing.
v. RJ said that some students had 5 hours lectures from 9-2 without a break due to option choices, especially affecting the MSci students. RH advised this was the trade off for having this choice. Action: SAB to try to ameliorate in the future.
vi. The increase in laser printer quota is already an item for discussion at the Services Committee and quotas will be increased. GAR reported that no strong case had emerged for an increase in disk quota. MD said 80-90% of second years needed an increase and would approach tutors accordingly. RH advised that a CD writer would help
vii. Student lockers: 22 lockers have been found and need to be shared out. RH asked reps for ideas on how they can be allocated. A proposal was first come first served, and another to rent them out though JJ advised there was no provision for paying for them.
viii. DD noted that most other department’s had a group photograph taken in front of the portico. GAR advised that this could be done with a digitalcamera. Action: RDH
ix. Goldman Sachs prize: some students had complained that the prize of £100 of book tokens was inappropriate as no-one who graduated would need toread a book again. As this was a donated prize by a company, nothing could be done to change this.
The meeting ended at this point (before the end of the agenda) as it was 2pm and a lecture was taking place immediately on cessation of the meeting.