PAPER 1

Minutes of the Course Committee held on Monday, 6 April at 16:30 via web conference

BA (Hons) Business Management, BA (Hons) Events Management and BA (Hons) International Tourism Management

Frances O’Neill Programme Leader – BA Business Management(Chair) Adrien Csernai Foundation Year, October intake, Birmingham
Madelyn Lee Quality Assurance Administrator (Secretary) Daniel Alexandru Serban Foundation Year, October intake, Birmingham
Andrea Bell Programme Leader – BA Events Management & BA Elena Nisfoeanu Foundation Year, October intake, Birmingham
International Tourism Management Laura Ana Maria Hanc Foundation Year, October intake, Birmingham
Janis Gladwin Head of Quality Assurance Nicoleta-Carmen Munteanu Foundation Year, October intake, Manchester
Anju Saini Quality Assurance Administrator Ali Ahmed Foundation Year, February intake, Birmingham
Christine Bennett Lecturer Antoaneta Spiridon Foundation Year, February intake, Birmingham
Hasa Ram Lecturer Izabbela Ludwinska Foundation Year, February intake, Birmingham
John Price Lecturer Cristina-Monica Axuc Foundation Year, February intake, London
Olumide Ologan Lecturer Marius Bursuc Foundation Year, February intake, London
Kamal Pal Lecturer Daley Gabriel Foundation Year, February intake, Manchester
Emmanuel Musa Lecturer Patrycja Obolewicz Foundation Year, February intake, Manchester
Ali Salili Lecturer Diana Barbu Year 1, February intake, Birmingham
Kenneth Ibhaluobe Lecturer Gabriela- Roxana Dragomir Year 1, February intake, Birmingham
Jennifer McGrath Lecturer Raluca-Andreea Staicu Year 1, February intake, Birmingham
Kelliopi Anyfantaki Learning and Teaching Librarian Elvis Baltaretu Year 1, February intake, Birmingham
Joanne Dennison Head of ACE team Mariya Panayotova Year 1, February intake, London
Matas Belzus Year 1, February intake, London

Attendance:
Agenda Item Summary of Discussion Action Point By Whom By When Update

1. Welcome and Members were welcomed to the meeting and apologies for n/a
apologies for absence absence were noted. It was also noted that apologies had
been received from the main campus.
2. The role of the Course The role of the Course Committee was explained. n/a
Committee

3. To receive any The Chair commented that her update will be covered in n/a
communications from agenda point 6 for ‘Course review and reflection’
the Chair
4. Communications from There were no communications from the University. n/a
the University

5. To approve the The Minutes of the meeting held on 25 November 2019 were n/a
minutes of the approved. There were no matters arising.
previous meeting and
consider any mattes
arising
6. To review the minutes n/a
of the Student Forums

6. Minutes from the The minutes of the meeting held on 27 February 2020 in the n/a
1 meeting held on 27 Manchester campus were reviewed. The following matters
February 2020 – were commented on:
Manchester
Developing Professional Practice module (semester 1)
The students had previously commented that there had been
n/a
some confusion on the assessment requirements. The Chair
commented that this feedback was passed to the lecturer to
 ensure that the class were provided with the correct
information.
Developing Professional Practice module (semester 2)
There were comments that not all of the class were not n/a
knowledgeable with IT systems, Excel in particular, and had
requested for the lecturer to slow down in lessons to allow
time for those students to catch up. The Chair confirmed that
this information had been fed back to the lecturer.

6. Minutes from the The minutes of the meeting held on 28 February 2020 in the
2 meeting held on 28 Birmingham campus were reviewed. The following matters
February 2020 – were commented on:
Birmingham
Marketing in the 21st Century module (semester 2)
Students had previously commented there was some n/a
confusion with the portfolio element of assessment. The Chair
confirmed that the Module Leader conducted one-to-one
support sessions for Birmingham students for any assessment
queries.

Contemporary Issues Project

The students had previously requested for there to be an n/a
element of flexibility in what the lecturer teaches, to better
help the students to understand content. It was reported that
this feedback had been passed to the lecturer, who agreed
there could be flexibility with the session content.

Developing Professional Practice (semester 2)

n/a
Evening students had previously commented that not all
students are computer-literate in the class and have
requested for the lecturer to slow down and provided more
detailed explanations. This feedback was fed back to the
lecturer.
6. Minutes from the The minutes of the meeting held on 2 March 2020 in the
3 meeting held on 2 London campus were reviewed. The following matters were
March 2020 – London commented on:

Laptops in room G02

Students had previously raised issues with a number of
n/a
laptops in room G02 not working. This had been fed back to
the Course Support Technician who has conducted an audit on
all laptops.

Essentials of Employability
It was confirmed that comments requesting further interactive n/a
elements to the sessions had been passed to the module
lecturer.

Library opening hours

Students had previously commented that some students n/a
would arrive on campus before lessons to use the library
services, which they are unable to do now due to the change
in opening hours. The Head of Learning Resources stated that
there are no plans to revert to earlier opening hours at this
moment in time.

6. Minutes from the The minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2020 in the
4 meeting held on 16 Birmingham campus were reviewed. The following matters
March 2020 – were commented on:
Birmingham

Query on changing mode of study

n/a
Students had requested information on how to request
changing mode of study from day to evening lessons. The
 Chair had advised students to contact the Registry department
but reminded students that requests are accommodated only
where there is available space in classes.

6. Minutes from the The minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2020 in the
5 meeting held on 16 London campus were reviewed. The following matters were
March 2020 – London commented on:

Personal Tutoring
There were previous comments that not all students were n/a
aware of who their Personal Tutor was. It was reported that
Personal Tutors were contacted and asked to get in touch with
their students.

6. Minutes from the The minutes of the meeting held on 19 March 2020 in the
6 meeting held on 19 Manchester campus were reviewed. The following matters
March 2020 – were commented on:
Manchester
Online learning
The evening students previously raised concerns with the n/a
worsening situation with the Covid-19 pandemic and queried
whether they would be able to attend online lessons from the
campus as opposed to rushing home after work. The Chair
confirmed that since this meeting, all classroom-based lessons
had been moved online and campuses have been temporarily
closed.

7. Course Review The Chair thanked students for their patience whilst the n/a
programme was set up for online teaching and commented
that students have been engaging well and getting the most
out of their new online sessions. The Chair appreciates that
online learning is not the same as face-to-face learning.
The Chair reported that there is a close collaboration with the n/a
main campus and this is helping to swiftly action any issues
that have arisen regarding assessments that cannot be
undertaken online on the new system. Students have been
notified by their lecturers and announcements have also been
put on SOL Pages with any updates to assessments
throughout this period. It was commented that some
assessments have been adapted to better accommodate
online learning. It was commented that plans are being put
into place should the campuses not be re-opened by the time
the new semester begins in June.

The Chair reported that communications had been sent out n/a
during the previous week regarding extensions for most
assignments for the October cohort. It was noted that the
class test for Developing Professional Practice will not be
extended as this can be carried over into the online format.

It was commented that extension to deadlines for the Assessment Chair Asap
February cohort are being looked into, reflecting the same extensions for
process as the main campus, in light of the current situation. February cohort
Communications will be made via SOL Pages in due course. to be confirmed

A student Representative commented that some students do n/a

not feel comfortable recording themselves and submitting this
for the presentation element of assessment for the Essentials
of Employability module. There has been a request for the
assessment to be adapted to online learning as with other
modules. The Chair reassured students that the presentations
will not be difficult to facilitate online as the software being
used allows students to record their Powerpoint Presentations
as well as the audio itself. The Chair is aware that students
feel apprehensive about this assignment, hence why a two
week extension has been granted. It was also commented that
the Module Leader will be uploading video content and
support sessions will be put into place for further support.

The Module Leaders present provided a report on their

modules:

Year 0
Developing Professional Practice (Semester 1)
It was commented that students had been engaging well with n/a
material, thus far, and are currently working on their
presentations. It was commented that there is uncertainty as
to whether students will be able to present due to the current
situation, however it was commented that there is a backup
plan if they are unable to.

Marketing in the 21st Century (Semester 1)

The Module Leader commented that the module is n/a
progressing well, some draft submissions have been looked at
with students being provided feedback for improvement. The
Module Leader is aware that the portfolio element can be
quite challenging for students, so a lot of focus has been
allocated to providing feedback and support.

Marketing in the 21st Century (Semester 2)

It was commented that the deadline for presentation slides n/a
had been extended in light of the current situation with Covid-
19 and online learning. The Module Convener commented
that some drafts have been looked and with some
improvements, she is positive the pass rates will be high for
those pieces of work. The Module Convener was aware of
issues with Portfolio 1 in the previous semester and is
endeavouring to ensure that there is ample support available
for the second portfolio task.

Essentials of Employability
It was reported that the marking for this module is near n/a
completion, with provisional results expected to be displayed
within the week. The Module Leader commented on the high
submission rate and stated that at present there is roughly an
85% pass rate from a total of 94 students.

Business Issues in a Contemporary World

The Module Leader comments that the pass rate for this n/a
semester is higher than the previous semester. It was also
commented that a lot of work has been put into ensuring
students understand the assessment expectations. The Chair
also mentioned that there has been ample feedback received
from the October 2019 cohort for this module, so
improvements are being made for future intakes.

Developing Professional Practice (semester 2)

The Module Leader commented that there had been no issues n/a
raised to him from the students regarding this module. It was
commented that the SOL page is regularly updated with
material to aid them with the test that is soon approaching.

Contemporary Issues Project (Semester 2)

The Chair commented that there had been a good uptake n/a
from students for the formative task, it would have been
preferred to see a higher engagement but understood that
this task was held around the same time that other module’s
summative tasks were due. The Chair asked the students
present to encourage their colleagues to show final drafts in
order to get feedback before the final submission.

Year 1
Business Data Analytics
The Module Leader provided his update by stating that Assessment
students are currently testing data they have created and deadline to be
going through the expectations for the formative assessment confirmed
 step-by-step. It was commented that the deadline has not
been extended, to which the Chair commented that it has and
should now be submission at the end of May, as opposed to
27th April. This would be confirmed following this meeting.

The students raised concerns with this module as they are not n/a
fully aware of what is required of them. The Chair asked if
students had spoken directly to their lecturer with their
concerns, to which the reply was that it would be followed up
outside of this meeting.

Personal and Professional Development

The Module Leader commented that the module is going well n/a
with a high level of engagement and attendance seen. It was
reported that the assessment format will need to be changed
if there will be a pro-longed period of online learning.
However, the Module Leader confirmed that there is a backup
assessment should classroom-based learning not be available
and ensured students that they will receive plenty of
information and guidance if the assessment format does
change.

The Manchester lecturer followed on from the comments n/a

above and stated that her class also sees a high attendance
and commented that there have been no issues raised thus
far.
8. Student Report A student Representative from the Manchester campus stated Assignment Module Leader Asap
that some students were unable to submit their assessment technical issues
for Business Organisations due to technical difficulties. The to be looked into.
Chair asked for the Student Representative to compile a list of
students who had this issue so it could be actioned with the
Module Leader.

The students have raised concerns with their attendance, as a

Chair to explore Chair Asap
high majority of students did not attend lessons in the run-up
 to the government announcing a lockdown. The Chair
commented that she will speak with the attendance team
regarding this and explore whether this has been factored in.
n/a
Some students had asked how to access the online library
from home, stating that access was denied. The Library
Assistant encouraged the students to contact the Library team
if they face any issues with accessing the online resources.

9. Learning Resources The Learning and Teaching Librarian reported that guides are n/a
currently being created to help students access content whilst
they are learning from home. It was commented that there
will also be a library portal, which students will receive further
information regarding this in due course.

10 ACE team The Head of the ACE team reminded the students of the n/a
. resources available, elaborating that there are now video
guides available for each of the workshops previously held by
the team.

It was commented that the team are operating as usual and

are holding online tutorials.

11 Any Other Business The Head of Quality Assurance queried whether module Module feedback Chair and Asap
. feedback data can be incorporated into the next Course statistics to be Secretary
Committee. The Chair will discuss this with the Secretary discussed
following the meeting.

12 Date of Next Meeting To be confirmed. n/a

.