Academic Policy & Governance

Synchronous and Asynchronous Meeting Guidance

The University Regulations provide for a range of meetings and committees which are essential to the functioning of the Regulations. The University also supports a range of technical mechanisms which facilitate collaboration and decision-making asynchronously, meaning that colleagues do not need to be in the same virtual or physical space at the same time to discuss matters and reach decisions – this includes both email correspondence and collaboration software like Microsoft Teams. Asynchronous meetings can provide colleagues with more time to reflect on content and contribute feedback, can be more inclusive for colleagues who find synchronous meetings do not promote their best contributions, can provide clear and full records of discussion, and offer increased flexibility. Therefore, some areas wish to (or already do) hold some of the meetings specified under the Regulations asynchronously.

The guidance below aims to not specify individual meeting types where this is possible but instead set out broad categories of meetings which are not to be held asynchronously. Appendix A reviews the individual meeting types mentioned in the Regulations.

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Guidance

Meetings under the University Regulations can be held asynchronously using systems made available by the University for that purpose, with conditions and exceptions as set out below. An “asynchronous meeting” includes those situations where meeting business is dealt with by correspondence or by other University-provided IT systems which enable collaboration and discussion but do not require participants to communicate in real-time.

Any asynchronous meeting under the Regulations must retain all required features of a synchronous meeting, including having a named chair, quorum, and agenda, and must have an agreed record of the meeting being taken. The following conditions must also be met before confirming an asynchronous format:

• The chair of the meeting is confident that an asynchronous format will not compromise the quality of the decision-making to be undertaken.
• No member has provided business for the meeting which they have specifically requested to discuss synchronously.

Some meetings may wish to deal with straightforward business asynchronously and complex discussions synchronously, with the option to move items from asynchronous to synchronous discussion. In this situation, it is expected that unusual or complex cases would be discussed synchronously.

The following meetings under the Regulations may not be held asynchronously:

• Meetings of Boards of Examiners which determine awards based on summative assessment, except where permitted under 16.66b.
• Meetings of Committees of Examiners to hold PhD vivas and other oral examinations.
• Meetings of School/College/Senate committees and panels charged with interviewing responding parties, such as in cases of appeals, fitness to study, fitness to practise, plagiarism, student conduct, and misconduct in research, except for:
• preliminary disposals of appeals (under §27.5.7/§28.7.8);
• conduct meetings where a student has failed to attend without good reason (under §33.38) or Conduct Committee and Appeal meetings held under §33.41;
• or meetings where both the responding party and the meeting convener request an asynchronous option, e.g. for disability reasons, and where the Clerk of Senate has granted permission for the meeting to be asynchronous.

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