• Who are the Senate Team?
• Do I need to produce a cover sheet?
• Why do I need to produce a route map?
• Why do I need to use a template?
• How do I obtain urgent approval for a matter via Senate Chair's Action?
• What is the best way of proposing changes to a University regulation or ordinance?
• How do I report changes in committee membership?
• May I use track changes in papers?
• May I use coloured ink in papers?
• Will you tell me if you make changes to my paper?
• Who can give me advice on creating a paper for Senate?
• Are there any other sources of advice with respect to committees of the Senate?

Who are the Senate Team?
The Senate Team consists of Dan Derricott (Director of Education Policy & Quality), Sophie Black (Assistant Registrar, Governance) and Lyudmyla Demchuk, Operations Administrator (Education Policy and Quality). The Senate Team can be contacted via Senate at warwick dot ac dot uk to help with any Senate related question.

Do I need to produce a cover sheet?
In combination, Senate papers produced for a meeting are usually in excess of 400 pages, so cover sheets provide the reader with a useful summary of the contents of a paper and an indication of what action is expected. Reports should be no more than 4 sides of A4. If your report is two sides of A4 or less in length (excluding appendices/annexes), the report and cover sheet may be consolidated using the cover sheet template only.

Why do I need to produce a route map?
Route maps allow members and attendees to understand which committees and groups have already seen a report or proposal, and which further committees it will be submitted to.

Why do I need to use a template?
The templates for cover sheets and papers ensure that relevant information is included and that it is organised in a consistent way to help members and attendees to access information as quickly as possible. Templates have been produced for papers which emanate from a committee of the Senate, and for papers which are 'general', and have therefore not come forward from a committee.

How do I obtain urgent approval for a matter via Senate Chair's Action?
All Senate Chair's Action requests must be emailed to the senate at warwick dot ac dot uk resource account once they are ready to be referred to the Vice-Chancellor for approval on behalf of Senate (please note that any requests sent direct to the Vice-Chancellor/Executive Office will be redirected to the Senate Secretariat). The request will be checked by the Senate team and logged so that duplicate requests are not created and also so that it can be reported correctly at the next Senate meeting once approval has been obtained.

It is important that you provide with your request a supporting text which:

• provides a brief high-level summary of the change(s) you are requesting, bearing in mind that the VC may not be familiar with the context for the request.
• lists any staff/committees/committee chairs who have seen and approve of the request. Please attach any relevant documents, and particularly emails to your request which show a chain of approval.
• explains why it needs to be approved via Chair’s Action and cannot be considered and approved at the next Senate meeting.

If you are requesting an urgent change to a regulation via Chair's Action, it is important that you speak with the Senate Secretariat as early as possible.

What is the best way of proposing changes to a University regulation or ordinance?
A guidance document is available on this web pageLink opens in a new window. It is important that you consult widely with all stakeholders regarding amendments to Regulations. The most up to date regulations and ordinances are published on line in the University's Calendar. Once any changes have been approved by both the Senate and the Council, colleagues in Institutional Governance update the Calendar. If you wish to propose changes please make sure you use the on-line version as the starting point for your paper in order to ensure that you are working with the current version and that proposed changes are conveyed clearly. An easy way to remove all of the formatting/shading etc. is to paste the text into Notepad (a text editor that can be found in the Accessories folder on your Start menu). Doing this removes all of the additional formatting from the text, so it can then be cut and pasted into MS Word and edited as needed.

When making proposals please strike through any portions that you wish to propose are removed, and underline any proposed new portions. It would be preferred if you did this directly in Word, rather than using track changes. Please see 'Can I use track changes in papers?', below.

Please ensure that any papers that include proposed changes to regulation or ordinance are provided in Word format, as this is required for onward transmission to the Council.

Please note that colleagues must consult as widely as possible with other departments and key staff members who may be affected by changes to a regulation which you wish to amend in order to avoid unforeseen consequences.

How do I report changes in committee membership?
Please follow the online process at: https://warwick.ac.uk/services/gov/committees/senate/committeemembership/

May I use track changes in papers?
Track changes can cause issues as the mark up can turn off or on unprompted when documents are re-opened. Also, when PDFs are converted en-masse track changes are lost. For this reason, with respect to illustrating proposed changes to text, it would be appreciated if you marked these changes up in Word (deletions struck through and additions underlined) rather than using track changes. If the use of track changes is unavoidable, please flag this when you submit your paper.

May I use coloured ink in papers?
Please keep the use of coloured ink in papers to a minimum, using only if it is required to make a point, rather than for aesthetic reasons.

Will you tell me if you make changes to my paper?
If it is felt that significant changes to your paper are needed, these will be discussed with you and you may be asked to re-work your paper. For this reason, you should ensure you or a nominated colleague is available to discuss your paper following submission. However, sometimes smaller, stylistic changes are made by the Senate Team. To prevent re-occurrence of stylistic anomalies, we would suggest that you refer to any final version of your paper and use this as a template for future papers (particularly in the case of papers from committees that are likely to be produced on a fairly regular cycle).

Who can give me advice on creating a paper for Senate?
If you need any more support regarding originating a paper, please don't hesitate to get in touch via Senate at warwick dot ac dot uk.

Are there any other sources of advice with respect to committees of the Senate?
A meeting of the Secretaries of the Senate and Council is arranged on a termly basis, and this acts as a communication and information forum for the exchange of briefings, to alert the wider group to issues on the horizon and to share best practice. Attendance at these meetings is therefore encouraged.