Governance and Management Structure

Since its inception, London School of Management Education has been maintaining a sound reputation of academic excellence, quality, professional standards and good management practices. This effort is sustained through a robust system of governance of its academic and management operations through the Board of Directors, Senior Management Committee and Academic Board supported by various other committees.

The following diagram shows the divisions of functions amongst various boards and committees:

The Board of Directors is the governing body of LSME and has the overall responsibility for the strategic planning and direction of all operations and management of the institute. It delegates management responsibilities to the Senior Management Committee and the Academic Board which are supported by various committees. The Board is made up of Executive Directors, Non-executive Directors as External Advisors, Senior Members of Staff and Lead Student Representative. The Board members fulfil their roles in accordance with the constitutional document of LSME, its Student Charter and are subject to regulations for the operation of higher educational institutions as determined by the government and other regulators.

The Senior Management Committee takes a collective overview of and responsibility for College-wide issues on a day to day basis. The Committee takes the overall responsibility for decisions and for making things happen in and around the College.

The Internal Quality Review/Audits Committee within the institution is involved with the organisation’s governance, risk management and management controls over efficiency/effectiveness of operations (including the safeguarding of assets), the reliability of financial and management reporting, and compliance with laws and regulations. It also reviews the extent to which academic and non-academic action plans are implemented and monitored. The committee is composed of the Head of Quality (Chair), an External Auditor, Internal Senior Member of Staff. The committee submits an annual report to the Senior Management Committee giving an opinion on the adequacy of the arrangements for internal control, risk management, governance, value for money and the management and quality assurance of data and academic provision.

This committee undertakes decisions pertaining to general issues in the College and provides a communication link between the Board of Directors and all staff on non-academic matters. It is made up of the Principal, Senior Management Team, Programme Teams, Administrative Team and Student Welfare Officer.

Key responsibilities for academic quality and standards will be distributed across the College’s teaching management structure (Academic Board and its sub-committees, such as the Programme Boards and Board of Examiners). Policies for academic excellence will be determined primarily through these committees with operational management responsibilities assigned to key staff roles. Board of Examiners and Programme Boards are responsible for the quality and standards of individual programmes.

The Academic Board is the College’s overarching academic body responsible for strategic oversight of all academic provision. Thus, the Academic Board considers a broad range of issues that relate directly to the academic direction and focus and works closely with the Board of Directors. To assist in meeting its obligations and responsibilities, the Academic Board works closely with the Programme Boards, Board of Examiners and the Student Experience Committee. The responsibilities of the board are divided into three broad categories, as follows:

• Academic development and standards
• Planning and resources
• Quality enhancement

The Access and Participation Committee is chaired by the Head of Access and Participation and comprises of the Executive Director, Academic Board Representative, the Access and Progression Officer, Admissions Officer, Student Ambassador and an External Advisor. The Committee reports to the Academic Board and works closely with the Senior Management Committee. It is responsible for the implementation of LSME’s Access and Participation Plan through its outreach projects for local schools and the community, provide employability support, perform access and participation quality and standards review and impact reporting to the regulatory bodies.

The Programme Board is responsible to the Academic Board for the operational aspects relating to delivery of the curriculum, implementation of policies and quality assurance mechanisms, review of learning and teaching strategies, receiving and monitoring of student feedback to enhance the curriculum, ensuring that resources available to the course are deployed appropriately and monitoring the health and safety aspects of the curriculum. The overall activities of the committee are categorised into:

• Implementation of academic plans and appropriate deployment of resources.
• Academic development
• Quality enhancement

The constitution of this board comprises the Programme Leader/s, Internal Moderators / Internal Quality Assurer/s, Course Lecturers and Student Representatives.

The Boards of Examiners are sub-committees of the Academic Board and consider the outcomes of assessment and confirm progression and award decisions after approval of grades by the External Verifier / External Examiners nominated by the awarding institution or validating partners. The constitution of this Board is made up of The Principal, Internal Quality Assurers / Internal Moderators, Programme Leader/s and Lecturers. A member of another Board of Examiners (BoE) may be invited to attend and comment on the operation of another Board to enhance cross-college consistency.

This committee is responsible to the Academic Board and its role is delegated to three sub-committees which are the Attendance and Disciplinary Sub-Committee, Complaint Handling Sub-Committee and the Welfare and Pastoral Care Sub-Committee. The committee approves the format for any internal College surveys of the student experience; approves methods for communicating the outcomes in respect of issues raised to students and regularly review the success of these feedback methods and assists in the periodic review of student engagement strategies. The committee also reviews the management of risks relating to the student experience and monitor actions taken to minimise those risks.

LSME has developed an open, fair and accessible Student Complaints Policy and Procedure and Academic Appeals Policy in order to encourage the prompt resolution of problems at the earliest possible stage. This committee is to consider complaints and academic appeals that have reached stage two of LSME’s complaints procedure and composed of The Principal, Programme Leader/s Student Representatives, Student Welfare Officer and an Admin Staff. To keep of log of all complaints and Academic Appeals that were formally or informally handled in the College for each academic year and monitors and reviews all complaints, making recommendations for improvement in the handling of complaints.

This committee considers allegations of offences committed by students in terms of misconduct and assessment malpractices and reviews and reports attendance issues to the Academic Board and the appropriate regulatory bodies. It comprises of the Executive Director, Academic Programme Leader/s, Lecturer/s, an Admin staff and the Principal.