28.
9.4
9.5
would capitalise on the particular strengths of the College. Even if key resources decisions had to be taken elsewhere, there would seem to be merit in those
decisions being taken in the knowledge of an Academic Board view, in that academic and resource decisions are necessarily inter-related.
Members learned of the involvement of the Board in the definition of the programme for basic studies, particularly English and Chinese, but encouraged the Board to concern itself with going beyond a concern for language training so as to embrace communication in a wider framework relevant to the needs of the vocational courses, possibly by asking the Faculty Board to discuss this.
Members learned that the College had been the subject of a critical appraisal in 1975 resulting in the Ben Fisher Report. While this had apparently been discussed in the Academic Board at the time, few members now on the staff had been at Baptist College at that time, so that many were unaware of the nature of the recommendations. This was just one example of a mobile staff leading to a lack of continuity in dealing effectively with policy issues. The Board was now felt by the staff to be much more active than at that time, and it would be deeply involved in considering any report which reached it through the Department of Education following the present CNAA comparability exercise.
BBQ/ajg
4th March 1981