The Academic Board held its first meeting on 2nd November 1964, following the establishment of the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) in the same year. The Academic Board succeeded the Board of Studies (LSBU/3/9) and the Educational Committee, (LSBU/3/3) which was established in 1892.
Its original terms of reference were the raising and maintaining of academic standards, contributing to the academic aspect of the Polytechnic's future development and considering the recommendations of the Boards of Studies. The large body, composed mainly of elected and ex-officio members of staff, sometimes working through subcommittees, widened its work from new courses and syllabuses for the CNAA to administrative and academic problems of all kinds. Over the years the Board grew in influence, spreading the responsibility for institutional academic development and standards amongst a group of staff much wider than had ever previously been the case. The Academic Planning Committee was replaced with committees for strategic planning and academic management.
The current Academic Board is accountable to the Board of Governors for the academic activities of the University. It also creates and maintains connections with industry, advises and supports the University's relationship with its UK and international partners and advises on the instruction of fellowships, scholarships, prizes and other aids towards study and research.
The Academic Standards Committee was established in 1988 with the primary purpose of validating, evaluating and monitoring courses. It also discussed awards and assessment, admissions and recruitment, staff development and research and student support services.
The Academic Structure Committee was Chaired by the Polytechnic's Director and established in 1972. The Committee met 28 times, received and circulated a number of topic papers, considered 67 submissions by individuals or groups and met 25 members of staff. Its careful recommendations, set out in the reports, advocated a departmental structure as against the then fashionable course-school matrix, to consist of 19 departments, reasonably uniform in size, in six faculties. Major resource responsibilities were to be at faculty level with four 'development areas' identified in Law, Education and Psychology, Applied Social Science and Humanities.
Despite widespread consultation, the proposals in the first report were savaged. The Committee withdrew its proposals and its second report in November 1973, after 30 more meetings, met with indifference rather than hostility, and seemed likely to be adopted however administrative support could not be gained and the proposals misfired. Modest changes were later implemented with minimum change to the existing departments, with the establishment of four faculties in 1973-74, which were Administrative Studies, Built Environment, Human Studies & Education and Science & Engineering.
History of Accumulator
Victor Adebowale was made an Honorary Fellow of the University in 2005.
Victor, Baron Adebowale has done ground-breaking work as both a campaigner and a leader for the homeless, the unemployed, the disadvantaged and those with learning disabilities. He is currently Chief Executive of one of the UK's leading social care organisations and prior to this, he held a number of posts at the helm of some of the most important UK organisations dealing with social care and exclusion. He is also one of the first People's Peers elected to a life peerage in 2001.
Victor points out that his role is "not to vote on things I know little or nothing about but on those matters I've got an interest in". Despite the 'modernisation' of the House of Lords, becoming a member still includes a lot of tradition and Victor admits to unwittingly breaking many of the rules, but he says "I don't have a problem with tradition. I do have a problem with bigotry, racism and poverty".
Born in 1962, in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Victor Adebowale was educated at Thornes House School before going on to the University of East London.
Experiences from early in his life in Wakefield have helped to inform Victor's sensibility to social needs and exclusion. He has talked in the past with fondness of a family friend, 'Janet', who had a learning disability: "She went to a school up the road and she used to come round to the house everyday." That contact clearly influenced Victor's insight into people with learning disabilities leading an ordinary life.
Victor and Turning Point, where he is Chief Executive Officer, have been campaigning hard for the rights of people with learning disabilities with the publication in 2003 and 2004 of two hard-hitting reports, focusing on their exclusion. These reports have already had an impact at many levels of Government, but Victor believes that the work has only just begun and too often "people with learning disabilities are treated like second class citizens" and he equates the level of prejudice faced by those with learning disabilities, with the situation black people faced in sixties America.
Victor is known for his direct approach and quality of leadership. As he says, "Growing up in poor housing is why, early on, Lazlo's hierarchy became apparent to me – where complex systems depend on the simpler one and I valued the need for clothing, shelter and food". He has continued to exercise this theory – and he believes that if Turning Point can provide a service that works for the poorest and hard to reach, it will make access and implementation of those services easier for the rest of society. One winter, he used Admiralty Arch as a shelter and controversy ensued. "But", as he pointed out, "here was an empty building, it was cold and people needed shelter. We put the two together."
Victor began his career in Local Authority Estate Management before joining the housing association movement. He spent time with Patchwork Community Housing Association, then became the Regional Director of Ujima Housing Association, the largest Black-led housing association, followed by Director of the Alcohol Recovery Project. He was Chief Executive of the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint for five years, before taking up his current post at Turning Point which has more than 200 services nationwide.
To name but a few, Victor is Patron of Rich Mix Centre Celebrating Cultural Diversity, of Tomorrow's Project and of the National College for School Leadership. He was a member of the Social Exclusion Unit's Policy Action Team on Young People and Chair of the Review of Social Housing Co-ordination undertaken by the Institute of Public Policy Research. In 2000, Victor was awarded the CBE in the New Year's honour list for services to the New Deal, unemployment and homeless young people.
He was voted 'Britain's Most Admired Charity Chief Executive Officer 2004' in the Third Sector Awards, for his work at Turning Point, achieving more votes than heads of renowned international charities and national government organisations, which had also been short listed for the awards.
Victor has a great affection for London and the city has continued to inspire his work. He cites Sir Christopher's Wren's St Paul's Cathedral in his list of 'inspirational art and architecture'. He remembers seeing a picture of St Paul's rising up out of the smoke during the blitz. For him that photograph and the building itself are inspirational, reminding him of just how robust people and society are and that something important survives whatever the circumstances.
Victor's achievements in challenging the social exclusion faced by the homeless, unemployed and those with learning disabilities is an inspirational, and in particular to many of LSBU's students. Consequently, Victor, Lord Adebowale was awarded the honorary fellowship of London South Bank University.
The Advisory Committees consisted of practical tradesmen and women who provided practical and specialist knowledge to teachers and assisted in finding employment for students at the end of their courses.
Business School, South Bank University
Member of Staff, Battersea College of Education.
Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, also known as Sheikh Sultan III, is the sovereign ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah and is a member of the Federal Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates
His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi was made an Honorary Doctor of Laws of the University in April 2003.
Principal Lecturer in the Department of Civil & Structural Engineering at the Polytechnic of the South Bank.
Chief Emeka Anyaoku, GCVO, CFR, CON is a Nigerian diplomat of Igbo descent. He was the third Commonwealth Secretary-General. Aside from his international career, Chief Anyaoku continues to fulfill the duties of his office as Ichie Adazie of Obosi, a traditional Ndichie chieftainship.
In October 1994 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University.
The Appointments Committee was established in December 1990 and exists to consider and ratify recommendations from the Nominations Committee to appoint people to sit on the Board of Governors. It is a committee of the Board of Governors.