2. Committees

The Programme Committee is normally chaired by the Programme Director (or an appropriate nominee) and should be organised by the Programme Director in conjunction with the Programme Administrator or nominated secretary. Programme Committees are regular meetings of all staff-contributors to the programme to consider key matters in the areas of learning and teaching, operations, programme management, quality and standards, admissions, student support, and any other areas relating to Programme business. The Programme Committee is the key mechanism by which decision-making is tracked, development and enhancement of educational provision is managed, and implementation of processes is ensured. Many items require local and sustained oversight by the Programme Committee leading to a lot of business to enact. Click here here for suggested membership and terms of reference for programme committees.

It is recommended that Programme Committees meet regularly, at least three times per year (i.e. termly, or a number appropriate to your programme). It is strategically beneficial to organise the scheduling of the Programme Committee between the Staff Students Consultative Committee and the School LTC. This scheduling enables business from the SSCC to be fed into the Programme Committee and business from the Programme Committee to be fed into the School LTC.

As Programme Director it is worth bearing in mind that Programme Committees report to the School’s Senior Management Team Committee (SMT) and Research Committees via the SGL/HSG, and the minutes from the Programme Committee will go to the School LTC. For more information on the committee structures at Aston click here.

Where Schools have modules that contribute to a number of programmes the Programme Teams should meet together. Here, Programme Committees may comprise of all Programme Directors (alongside other contributing staff). In addition, where necessary, Programme Committee meetings need to involve any collaborative partners. For more information see the Collaborative Provision section of the University website.