Frontier Committee: Terms of Reference
1. Purpose and Objectives
1.1. The Frontier Committee is established to provide focused attention on what we need to think about in terms of the future for Spaghetti Bridge.
1.2. The primary objectives of the Frontier Committee are:
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To discuss, review and analyse socio-political, scientific/technological and philosophical developments, risks, threats and opportunities;
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To discuss new developments, research and/or ideas to improve our pedagogy in order to meet an emerging or changing society.
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Review current business needs and the risks associated with this.
2. Authority and Accountability
2.1. The Frontier Committee is authorised to investigate, review, and make recommendations on matters related to the future of Spaghetti Bridge.
2.2. The Frontier Committee is accountable to the Chief Executive Officer.
3. Membership
3.1. The Frontier Committee shall consist of the following core members but can have others join dependent on the topics and/or proposals being put forward:
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Head of Learning and Research
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Chief Executive Officer
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Group Head of Admissions & LA Partnerships
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Finance Director
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Head of HR
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Operations Director
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Group Education Outcomes & Quality Lead
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Group Head of Systems & IT
Membership may be adjusted as needed with the approval of the committee.
3.2. The committee may engage external experts or advisors as necessary, subject to approval of any costs in line with the company’s delegated authorities/financial approval limits.
4. Meetings
4.1. The Frontier Committee will meet monthly or as deemed necessary.
4.2. Meetings may be conducted in person, virtually, or through a combination of both.
4.3. Agendas and supporting documents will be circulated before each meeting.
4.4. The committee may establish sub-committees or task forces for specific projects or focus areas.
4.5 The committee meetings will be chaired by the Head of Learning and Research.
5. Responsibilities
The Frontier Committee is responsible for:
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Looking at developments, research and/or ideas to improve our pedagogy in order to meet an emerging or changing society.
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Suggested developments from the Frontier’s Committee to develop the pedagogical approach at Spaghetti Bridge will be presented to the EMT and the ELT for approval.
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Any approved suggestions will follow the Spaghetti Bridge project process and be implemented solely by the Ops Team.
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Review current business needs and the risks associated with this.
6. Reporting
6.1. The committee will maintain formal minutes of its meetings.
6.2. Full minutes will be distributed to all committee members and made available on request.
6.3. Regular reports summarising activities, findings, and recommendations will be submitted to the Board
7. New Development Process
7.1 Frontier bases its work on external developments and internal needs derived from the quality assurance process and requested by ops
7.2 Any substantive new developments and/or changes to Enterprise Learning must be proposed to both the Frontier committee and the Ops Team for approval; for the avoidance of doubt, ‘substantive’ developments and/or changes are any changes which deviate from established policies that govern the delivery of all aspects of the curriculum. Ambiguities in interpreting ‘substantive’ developments are arbitrated by the CEO.
7.3 Any substantive new development that has been agreed by ops and the Frontier Committee has to be communicated to EMT first before it is rolled out.
7. 4 The project development cycle follows the Group Process Development Plan format, including deployment by the ops team; however new developments and/or changes to Enterprise Learning only require Frontier approval and not EMT
7.5 Requests for Frontier is a standing item on the Ops team meeting agenda
7.6 Operations implements and reports on the implementation and impact of new developments as part of the quality cycle
7.7 Members of the operations team and the sites can participate in the project development process as part of project teams - at the approval of the Director of Operations
7.7 Any changes not deemed “substantive”, such as the formatting of agreed-upon documents, must be shared with the Frontier Committee for their information, but not for their approval, to ensure clarity and consistency
7.8 The ops team decides deployment priorities and capacity for the implementation of new developments from the Frontier Committee
7.9 Frontiers projects are developed by a Steering Committee, which are chaired by a Group Head- Steering Committee membership can include anyone from Spaghetti Bridge. Steering Committees projects are recorded using a Steering Committee plan, which is reviewed in the Frontier Committee
8. Review and Amendments
8.1. The Terms of Reference will be reviewed annually or as required.
8.2. Amendments to the Terms of Reference require the approval of the CEO and Executive Leadership team.