Dear Colleagues,

I am writing in my capacity of convenor to the Skill South East Group.

Please find attached (and below) the minutes of the last meeting of Skill
South East.

Please note that the next meeting of the group is to be held on Monday 3
December at 12:00 pm and will take place at University College London. There
will be a short presentation given by Dr Ravi Rhana on the issues around
Mental Illness in a Higher Education Framework.This is a departure from the
current practice. This change has been caused by speaker availability.

If there are any items for the Agenda of this Meeting Please forward them to
myself at [log in to unmask]

Many thanks.

James

James White

UCL IT Trainer For Students With Disabilities
Academic Services
Registrar's Division
UCL
Gower Street
London
WC1E 6BT

Tel No. 020 7679 2779
__________________________________




Skill South East Meeting 20th June 2001
1:00 pm University of Westminster

F. Criddle, Central School of Speech and Drama. C. Cockburn, Kings College
London
P. Culshaw, St Mary's College K. Evans, Thames Valley University
B. Giddey, University of Sussex S. Hughes, De Montfort University
S. Jarvis, University of East London B. Jones, London Guildhall
C. Lewis, Skill G. Malins, University of Luton
K. Mann, University of Westminster A. Matthews, Kingston University
H. Mcneely, Goldsmiths College V. Morgan, Queen Mary and Westfield College
M. Pimm, Birkbeck College A. Shaw, Brunel University
A. Velarde, Royal Holloway D. Waite, University of North London
J. White, University College London

Apologies where received from;

J. Beaumont University of Surrey, J. Fink London Institute, L O'Callaghan
Imperial College,
E. Morgan City University, P. Mulcahy University College London, C. Shanks
Brunel


1. News From Skill

 For Information

1.1  Special Education Needs [SEN] bill has been passed and it will come
into force on 1 September 2002 with the following exceptions: Provision of
Auxiliary Aids and Services (e.g. Interpreters), timetabled for 1 September
2003; and buildings, timetabled for 1 September 2005.

1.2 The Disability Rights Commission has been asked to set-up a conciliation
service to mediate in any disputes between students and Higher Education
Institutions.

1.3  It was noted that the definition of 'disability' contained in the bill
is not necessarily appropriate within the context of Higher Education as it
May not cover some disabilities. This is because the bill was an amendment
to previous legislation.

1.4 UCAS has agreed to amend the text in 'How to Apply' for 2002 entry. The
current set of codes will remain in use until 2003 as there was insufficient
time to change them for the 2002 entry period.

1.5 It was noted that the Department for Education and Employment [DfEE] has
altered its name to Department for Education and Skills [DfES]. It is noted
that the web address and all email addresses have all change in line with
this renaming. The web address now is http://www.dfes.gov.uk/.

2 HEFCE MAINSTREAM DISABILITY FUNDING 2nd  ROUND FIGURES

 For Information

2.1 A list of Premium funding Awards to HEI's was attached to the agenda. It
was noted that the figures where provisional and would be confirmed in the
July grant letters from HEFCE.

2.2 If any member of the group would like more information on their
allocation they should contact Fiona Reid (email: [log in to unmask]; Phone:
0117 931 7115).

 Discussion

3.3 It was noted that the system of reporting figures is dependant on the
degree of cooperation with in departments in institutions.

3.4  The group requested further information on various issues. The groups
concerns where raised with Fiona Reid, by the convenor, who issued the
following clarifications;

7 HESA data relating to the academic year 2000-01 needs to be returned to
HESA in September 2001. Your HESA contact within your institution will be
able to give you the exact date when it comes through. However, it is likely
that the person who fills in your HESA return will have earlier dates in the
summer when they will want the data internally;

7 HEFCE only uses the end of year return; we do not use mid year returns;

7 figures returned at the end of this academic year will be used for the
second year of this funding. Please bear in mind the time lags involved.
Thus, figures returned to HESA relating to 1998-99 were used to allocate
funding for 2000-01, and so on. So, the figures that will be returned to
HESA in September 2001 (relating to 2000-01) will be used to calculate
funding for 2002-03. This funding will be announced in the provisional grant
letter in March 2002 and confirmed in the July 2002 letter. So it takes time
for your improvements in data collection to bear fruit;

7 as a rule, funding should not be carried over between funding periods.
This is because, as this is a recurrent fund, we will have problems then
with funding being carried over at the end of every year from now on. Also,
a lot of warning was given about this funding being made available;
institutions first heard how much they would receive way back in March 2000,
well before funding started to flow from Sep 2000. If it seems impossible to
spend the funding by the end of this academic year. I would advise one of
two courses of action;

1. You should state in your annual operating statement, returned to HEFCE on
27 July 2001, that you intend to carry over the money into the next academic
year so long as you can tell us how it will then be spent, and assure us
that it will not be carried over ad infinitum. The final decision will then
be up to your HEFCE regional consultant (who looks at the annual operating
statement as a whole, not just the disability part of it); however, it seems
unlikely that they will quibble small amounts of carryover or try to claw it
back;

2. You should consider whether the total amount allocated actually has been
spent on provision for students within the institution, even if it has not
been spent on additional activities or on the new fund which you may have
set up internally. If so, report this spend. You will still be honestly
reporting to HEFCE that this amount of money was spent on provision for
students with disabilities;

Please bear in mind that a percentage of annual operating statements are
audited.

7 the groups suggestion of guidelines is a good one. However, how the data
are collected is an internal matter for institutions. Rather than HESA
suggesting guidelines, I would suggest your disability officers continue to
raise this issue with their registry themselves. Otherwise HESA would be
accused of being overly directive, especially as they would have to issue
guidelines for every field on the HESA return- unlikely to happen;

7 The groups suggest training sessions. are already run every year, and
representatives are invited from all institutions. I know that at these
seminars, specific attention was drawn to this field, and the importance of
filling it in correctly, I asked them to do this, because I shared your
concerns! It could be that at future HESA seminars, I could ask them to
state that completing this part of the return will probably involve liaising
with the disability office, in particular throughout the year as students
start to receive DSA.

A complete transcript of this email can be obtained through the convenor
James White (email [log in to unmask]).
3.5 It was noted again that many of the issues raised are internal
institutional matters. Therefore members are encouraged to question the
current working practices of their institutions.

3.6 The members where asked to provide how this money was spent. Members
provided the following examples:
7 Access Audits of physical access within the campus. This was could be
carried out by many organisations e.g. The Centre for Accessible
Environments, or All Clear Designs.
7 Curriculum Audits of the teaching methods of department.
7 Audit of Web Sites this could be done by the Digital Media Access Group.
7 Obtaining site licences for the institution for disability related
software such as TextHelp! Read & Write.
7 Pump funding for the set-up of a university based Study Skills unit.
7 Construction of an Accessible Computer Cluster room, this room will have
main items of disability related equipment and software.

3.7 It was noted Pump funding, providing the first years salary for a post
that is to be self-funding, was the best way to provide ongoing services.

4 DISABILITY CAPITAL FUNDING

 For Information

4.1 In the light of recommendations contained in The Special Educational
Needs and Disability Act HEFCE will be releasing #56 million to help meet
the cost of building refurbishments.

4.2 An amount of money will be allotted to each HEI and it will be up to the
HEI to find projects up to the value of the award.

4.3 More information will be made available in due course.

5 ELECTIVE COURSE MODULES FOR STUDENTS WITH DYSLEXIA

 For Information

5.1 Amanda Shaw, Dyslexia Co-ordinator Brunel University, has asked if any
members of the group have any experience of setting up course modules for
students with dyslexia.

5.2 This is relevant particularly in view of the large numbers of students
with dyslexia present in most HEIs and as a response to helping to meet the
needs of dyslexic international students who do not have access to the DSA.
5.3 It was noted that the proposed module would be worth 10 course credits.
It would concentrate on alternate learning styles.

 Discussion

5.4 Many colleagues had options on this matter. The following where the main
points;


7 would the course be open to all students or just those with a disability?
This is relevant as all course units should be available to all students and
there where issues of equal opportunities;
7 people with Dyslexia tend not to utilize support facilities that are given
in a group context;
7 the idea was a positive step to widening the availability of support.
7 was noted that students from outside the United Kingdom were envious of
the support available through the Disabled Students Allowance.
7 the group question how the proposed course would be assessed.

5.5 The group where interested to find the out come of this project.


6 NOTICE BOARD

 For Information

6.1 Felicity Criddle, Central School of Speech and Drama, would like to help
create a disability co-ordinators position in her institution. She would,
therefore, like any information on Disability Co-ordinators job descriptions
pay scales etc. She can be contacted by email at [log in to unmask]

6.2 After seven years of service Patrick Mulcahy, Disability Co-ordinator
University College London, will be leaving his post at the end of June. The
group wish him well in his future employment. Please contact James White
with any disability enquires relating to University College London.


7 DATES OF MEETINGS

 For Information

7.1 The next meeting of the group will be held at University College London
on Monday 3 December 2001 at 12 pm. Please note this is a departure from
current practice due to speaker availability.

7.2 the second meeting of the group will take place in the spring term at
Royal Holloway.




JAMES WHITE
UCL IT Trainer For Students With Disabilities
Academic Services
 UCL
Gower Street
London
WC1E 6BT
Tel No. 020 7679 2779
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
24 August 2001