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2009

SCHOOL OF ORIENTALAND AFRICAN STUDIES

ANNUAL REPORTAND FINANCIAL

STATEMENTS 2009/2010

THORNHAUGH STREETRUSSELL SQUARE

LONDON WC1H 0XG

T: +44 (0)20 7637 2388F: +44 (0)20 7436 3844

I: www.soas.ac.uk

The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) was founded in 1916 and is the only higher education institution in the world specialising exclusively in the study and research of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Our academic focus on the languages, cultures and societies of these regions makes SOAS a guardian of specialist knowledge and an indispensable interpreter in a complex world.

Statement of purpoSe

SOAS provides resources and knowledge about Asia, Africa and the Middle

East to equip people for a global economy and a multicultural Britain.

The School’s purpose is:

• To advance through teaching and research the knowledge

and understanding of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

• To contribute to the development of the School’s academic disciplines.

• To provide a high quality education so that our students

achieve excellence in their chosen subject or subjects and

develop their intellectual and other core skills.

• To promote and lead global public education in our areas of

specialist expertise concerning Asia, Africa and the Middle East,

both in the United Kingdom and around the world.

IMAGES AND PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF:

Treasures of SOAS collection:

Front cover, inside front cover and back cover - Front binding, Divan of Hãfiz. Turkey 1715

Page 30 - Wall painting no.6 of the Main Hall of the Horyuji temple. Kyoto, 1935. George Eumorfopoulos

Page 49 - Front binding, Muhammad Zuhuri, Divan. Kashmir, 19th century

Pages 2, 10, 15, 17, 18, 20 - Glenn Ratcliffe

Page 3 - The Royal Anniversary Trust

Pages 4, 7 and 8 - David Levenson

Page 10 - Trevor Marchand (Djenné)

Page 12 - Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies

Page 18 - David Barbour

Page 18 - Adriana de Miranda

Page 19 - Jessica Kendall

Page 19 - Asia-Europe Museums Network

0 - Painting from The Light - Portraits of the ‘Hibakusha’

Page 21 - Armenian Institute

Page 38 - Painting from ‘The Light - Portraits of the “Hibakusha’”

Inside Back Cover - Painting from ‘The Light - Portraits of the “Hibakusha”’

SOAS ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2009/2010 1

CONTENTS

2 DIRECTOR’S REVIEW5 RESEARCH6 TEACHING10 REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES 10 FACULTIES AND DEPARTMENTS 13 REGIONAL AND INTERDISCIPLINARy CENTRES 14 OTHER DEVELOPMENTS 18 ExHIbITIONS22 PUbLICATIONS28 FACTS AND FIGURES30 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW 39 CORPORATE GOVERNANCE STATEMENT 41 STATEMENT OF GOVERNORS’ RESPONSIbILITIES 44 INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE GOVERNING bODy

OF THE SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES 46 STATEMENT OF PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES 50 INCOME AND ExPENDITURE ACCOUNT 51 STATEMENT OF HISTORICAL COST SURPLUSES AND DEFICITS 52 STATEMENT OF TOTAL RECOGNISED GAINS AND LOSSES 53 bALANCE SHEET 54 CASH FLOW STATEMENT 55 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS72 USEFUL CONTACTS

2009

2 SOAS ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2009/2010

DIRECTOR’S REVIEW

The highlight of the year was receiving the Queen’s Anniversary Prize,

which was awarded to the Faculty of Languages and Cultures for the

excellence of its teaching of the languages of Asia, Africa and the Middle

East. This is the first time in the history of the Queen’s Anniversary Prize

that it has been given to a university for language teaching. When we

first discussed the application, I thought we should focus on a narrow

range of languages, but the Dean, Professor Michael Hutt, was insistent

that all of the language teaching in the Faculty was excellent, and that

the whole of the Faculty should be included. Professor Hutt, as so often,

was proved correct, and it was very fitting that his sixth and last year

as Dean should be marked by the award of this prize. In this context,

it is also pleasing to note the successful introduction of the language

entitlement (another Hutt initiative) at the beginning of the academic

session. This enables all undergraduates to take a course in a language

on a not-for-credit basis free of charge. This means that students

who are unsure of their language skills can try out a new language

without having to worry about the impact of poor performance on

their degree classification. Many students have taken advantage of the

language entitlement and whilst some languages (Arabic, Chinese and

Japanese) were predictably more popular than others, the wide range of

languages that students chose to study was impressive.

Another major achievement, and one that highlights the importance of

partnerships for universities today, was the successful bid by the London

International Development Centre to the Leverhulme’s new discipline’s

initiative. Only two of the very large number of applications were

funded, and one of them was the Leverhulme Centre for Integrative

Research in Agriculture and Health. This exciting interdisciplinary

venture funds new positions in SOAS, the London School of Hygiene

and Tropical Medicine, the Royal Veterinary College and the School of

Pharmacy and hopefully will lead to real innovations in this area. As a

result of this initiative, SOAS now has a new Professor (in International

Food, Agriculture and Health) and a new research fellow in the

Anthropology of Food.

The academic year (2009/10) was a very good one for SOAS: we have

had some real successes, most notably the award of the Queen’s

Anniversary Prize, continued to carry out research of the highest

quality and deliver inspiring teaching and also made real progress in

improving the infrastructure of the School. Despite the in-year cuts in

funding imposed by the funding council, we have also had a good year

financially, achieving a surplus of over £2 million, the fourth year in a

row that we have made a surplus. This level of surplus (roughly 3% of

turnover) is important as it provides money for us to invest (for example

in refurbishing our buildings and improving the infrastructure) and gives

us some financial security, which is essential given the volatility of some

of the markets we operate in.

The highlight of the year was receiving

the Queen’s Anniversary Prize, which was

awarded to the Faculty of Languages and

Cultures for the excellence of its teaching

of the languages of Asia, Africa and the

Middle East


We now (finally) have a fully staffed development office, and during

the year it has worked with academic and other colleagues to obtain

a wide range of grants and donations. I was particularly pleased with

the successful launch of the Alumni and Friends Fund, which raised

over £45,000 this year. The money was used to provide funding for

scholarships, the student hardship fund, student projects and the

Library Acquisition Fund. I am sure that this is something that will

grow and grow.

As always, the Brunei Gallery mounted a number of excellent

exhibitions. My favourite this year was ‘My Dear Brother: Armenians

in Turkey 100 years ago’, which provided fascinating insights into the

life of the Armenians living in the borders of modern Turkey through

a collection of postcards of daily life and scenery. Old postcards are

always immensely appealing but what was particularly notable was the

invitation to visitors to the exhibition to offer their own heritage objects

for display. For regular visitors to the exhibition this meant that each visit

was new. By the end of the exhibition there was a great display of rugs,

metal-work, pottery, clothing and other textiles.

Following the report of the Browne Review, and the announcement of

the outcomes of the Comprehensive Spending Review, it is clear that

the higher education landscape will change drastically over the next few

years. We know that the environment will be even more competitive

and volatile, not only in Britain but also in the rest of the world. But

we have reasons to be optimistic about the future. SOAS has a superb

reputation around the world, wonderful staff and committed students,

and our work over the last four years has put us in good shape to face

the future with confidence. So, to end on a personal note, I am pleased

that I will be continuing as Director of SOAS for the next few years, as the

institution will continue to make a huge contribution to understanding

and changing the world.

Professor Paul Webley

Director

Our academic staff continue to publish innovative articles and books, as

well as contribute to national and international debates via newspaper

articles, television, on-line media and exhibitions. It is slightly invidious

to mention particular colleagues, but two books by SOAS authors

were chosen by the Association for College and Research Libraries

as outstanding academic titles – Michael Charney’s History of Modern

Burma and Lindiwe Dovey’s African Film and Literature. Trevor Marchand’s

exhibition ‘Djenné: African City of Mud’ at the Royal Institute of British

Architects (RIBA) was exceptional, and I am pleased that the School

has acquired some of the photographs which are now gracing our

own walls. There was further external recognition of the excellence of

academic work through the election of Laurence Harris and Laixiang

Sun as members of the Academy of Social Sciences.

The students at SOAS are superb – committed, passionate, fully engaged

with the world, which they want both to understand and to change.

This is evident in all sorts of ways, but one of the best examples this year

was the Football Beyond Borders tour in September 2009. Organised

by Jasper Kain (then captain of the SOAS Football team, now one of

the Students’ Union Co-Presidents), this involved a three week tour to

Turkey, Syria and Lebanon. There they played football matches but also

engaged with local communities, including paying a visit to a refugee

camp in Lebanon that evidently made a big impression on the team.

The whole tour was recorded in film which was both entertaining and

moving. The students raised the funds and organised the trip – and such

was the success of this that there has been a similar tour this autumn to

West Africa, and other ‘beyond borders’ tours are planned for the future.

Professor Michael Hutt (left) and Professor Paul Webley being presented the Queen’s Anniversary Prize by Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace


SOAS students are passionate about studying and researching Asia, Africa and the Middle East


RESEARCH

The total amount of new external research grants announced during the year was approximately £2.7 million. Projects included:

Economic and Social RESEaRch council (ESRc)

Dr Kostas Retsikas was awarded £241,474 by the ESRC for a project entitled ‘Cultivating generosity: Islam, the ‘gift market’ and the middle-class in Indonesia’. The ESRC Rural Economy and Landuse programme awarded Dr Laurence Smith £87,288 for ‘Innovative market-based mechanisms and networks for long term protection of water resources’.

Dr Nicola Frost received £95,727 from the ESRC for a project entitled ‘Migrant organisations in Australia and London: food, festival and the politics of multiculture’ and Dr Marina Marouda was awarded £79,986 for research into ‘A spiritual economy of affect: death, kinship and the state in post-socialist Vietnam’.

aRtS and humanitiES RESEaRch council (ahRc)

The AHRC’s bilateral scheme with the German funding agency Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) awarded Dr Nelida Fuccaro £230,460 for her project on ‘Urban violence in the Middle East: between Empire and Nation State’.

AHRC Fellowships were awarded to Dr Peter Flugel (£74,541) for a study of Jaina rituals of death and Dr Stephen Dodd (£32,307) for the study of `The Youth of Things: Life and Death in the Age of Kaji Motojiro’.

natuRal EnviRonmEnt RESEaRch council (nERc)

Dr Ben Groom received an Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation grant of £18,778 from the NERC for a project entitled ‘The REDD Game: a didactic tool for designing effective, efficient and equitable policies to deliver REDD in Bolivia’.

Professor Andrew Dorward received grants totalling £15,104 from the ESPA programme on ‘Human adaptation to biodiversity change: building and testing concepts, methods and tools for understanding and supporting autonomous adaptation’.

thE lEvERhulmE tRuSt

A Leverhulme research project grant of £201,719 was awarded to Dr Magnus Marsden for ‘Islam, trade and citizenship on the frontiers of South and Central Asia’ and Dr Dina Matar received £129,311 for a Leverhulme research grant on ‘Hizbullah’s communication strategies and political evolution’.

Dr Crispin Branfoot received a Leverhulme study abroad fellowship of £9,275 for a project on ‘Construction, renovation, conservation: the Hindu temple in Tamil south India 1870-1920’.

nEwton FEllowShipS

SOAS has been successful in every round of the very competitive and prestigious Newton Fellowship awards, which are jointly funded by the Royal Society, the British Academy and the Royal Academy of Engineering. In 2009/10 Dr Claudio Chiarolla received a Newton Fellowship of £99,000 to carry out postdoctoral research for two years on Intellectual property strategies for low carbon technology research, development and diffusion. Dr Chiarolla is sponsored by Professor Philippe Cullet from the SOAS School of Law.

thE BRitiSh council

Dr Tom Selwyn received a British Council Developing Partnerships in Higher Education (DelPHE) grant of £88,500 for a project on ‘Sustainable Ethiopian tourism development’. Professor Nadje Al-Ali received £55,067 in grants from the British Council DelPHE Iraq programme for a project on introducing women and gender studies as an important academic lens for teaching, research and social change and a study into capacity building of women and gender studies at Salahaddin University.

thE BRitiSh acadEmy

British Academy postdoctoral fellowships were received by Dr Christopher Lucas (£283,837) for ‘The diachrony of nominal determination’ and Dr Martin Worthington (£226,515) for ‘Style in Babylonian narrative poems of the first millennium BC’.

Professor Michael Hutt received a British Academy International Partnerships grant of £29,505 for a study of communication and media studies in Nepal and Dr Mark Weedon received a British Academy small research grant of £4,950 for ‘The palaeography of cuneiform transmission - old Hittite and Alalakh VII’.

Grants were also received from other funders including £227,094 from Volkswagen Stiftung to Dr Friederike Luepke for ‘Pots, plants and people: an interdisciplinary documentation of Bainouk knowledge systems’. Dr Ceri Oeppen received £106,760 from the Norwegian Research Council for ‘Possibilities and realities of return migration: perspectives on integration, exclusion and withdrawal’ and Dr Chandra Sriram was awarded £53,025 by the United States Institute of Peace for a project entitled ‘Transitional justice as peace building?’. Dr Christopher Gerteis received £35,585 from the Nippon Foundation for the SOAS/Japan Forum European translation initiative.

Conference grants were awarded from the British Academy to Dr Rachel Harrison for ‘Re-Orienting Victorian Studies to present Bangkok Gothic: Re-inventing Rider Haggard for the audiences of “Victorian” Siam’ and Dr Magnus Marsden for ‘Swat revisited: Bath, Pukhtuns and political anthropology’.


TEACHING

Student numbers continued to grow in 2009/10 at both undergraduate

and masters level. There was a 4.7% increase in undergraduates, and a

14.5% increase in on campus taught masters students. Distance learning

student numbers increased by 11.9%. Postgraduate research student

numbers fell by 4.2%. Undergraduate finalists again achieved high

standards, with 75% being awarded First or Upper Second Class Honours

degrees, slightly up on last year.

The School’s Learning and Teaching Strategy commits it to ‘maintaining

a vital balance between undergraduate and postgraduate teaching,

while offering a range of modes of learning. SOAS students will develop

knowledge and skills that will remain relevant throughout their

career and equip them with skills to continue learning in later life’. To

support the delivery of this strategy, the new Academic Development

Directorate (ADD) was created as part of the restructuring of

professional services. In its first full year of operation it has provided an

integrated support service for quality assurance and enhancement and

learning and teaching support and development across the School.

Within the ADD, the Learning and Teaching Unit (LTU) continued to

support all students through the provision of study support workshops

and one-to-one tutorials, subject specific sessions in core courses,

multimedia training, and specialist support for students with specific

learning difficulties. Approximately 1,400 students, representing

a significant proportion of the SOAS student body, took advantage

of some aspect of the academic support offered by the LTU. Provision

for research students also grew with the launch of the Early Career

Researcher Skills Development Programme, delivered in partnership

with the Careers Service and Staff Development Office. The Research

Student Portal was further developed and now provides a full range

of online resources and information for both current and potential

PhD researchers.

Alongside the LTU, the Widening Participation team expanded its

activities, supporting the Learning and Teaching Strategy’s objective

of continuing to ‘promote an inclusive culture and expand outreach

activities to ensure that a diverse range of students have access to

SOAS and are able to participate fully in the student experience’. Over

2,000 school and college students participated in a wide range of

events, including bridging and pre-sessional courses involving 51

SOAS academics across all three faculties. Further details of Widening

Participation activities are included in the Operating and Financial

Review at the back of this report.

The School collects feedback from students on all its courses annually.

The student evaluation of courses results for 2009/10 showed a high

overall level of satisfaction with 80% of students satisfied with the

quality of their course, which in general reflects well on the School’s

teaching and student support. 89% said that sessions were regular

and punctual, 88% said that teachers in their lectures were good at

explaining things, and 86% felt that teachers were enthusiastic about

what they were teaching. The biggest improvements were for the

following: criteria to be used in marking were clear in advance (up 10%

at 80%); it was clear what the student was required to attend, prepare

and do throughout the course (up 5% at 81%), written work was always

marked helpfully and returned promptly (up 7% at 76%) and the course

was well designed and ran smoothly (up 6% at 80%).

The findings are also reflected in the results of the 2010 National

Student Survey (NSS). The NSS gathers feedback on the quality of

students’ courses across the UK, to help inform the choices of future

applicants to higher education. SOAS is above the national average for

student satisfaction, at 85%, with participation also above the national

average, at 69%. Students rated staff highly overall for the teaching on

their course (88% satisfaction) and were particularly happy with the fact

that staff made the subject interesting (92%) and that the course was

intellectually stimulating (90%), which were all improvements on last

year’s results.

At subject level, the School has done particularly well in Anthropology

with a 96% satisfaction rate, Law at 92% and Asian Studies at 87%.

However, there are some areas for improvement which will be addressed

in the 2010/11 session.

This year the School also took part in the Student Barometer survey.

The survey was run by i-Graduate, an independent marketing and

research service, which surveys 270 institutions worldwide, and over

150,000 students took part. The School came first in the survey for

multiculturalism, second for course content and third for expert lecturers.

SOAS is above the national average

for student satisfaction, at 85%


The use of the Bloomsbury Learning Environment (BLE) to support

students’ learning continued to grow and develop across the School.

The BLE is the first example of a cross-institutional implementation of

the Blackboard virtual learning environment in the UK. BLE statistics

indicate that it is now used in almost all departments at all levels across

the School supporting over 3,000 courses. The BLE has also supported

the development of other e-learning tools across the colleges,

including Elluminate (virtual classroom software), Echo360 (lecture

capture software) and Turnitin (anti-plagiarism and online coursework

submission software). A number of joint events were held across

the Bloomsbury Colleges including an Echo360 Showcase,

an Accessibility Forum and a Learning Technology and

Librarians event to support the sharing of good

practice across the colleges.

In January the Bloomsbury Colleges, together

with the London International Development

Centre (LIDC), were awarded a grant from

the Joint Information Systems Committee

(JISC) to fund the Bloomsbury Media Cloud

project. The project aims to develop a shared

digital media platform, showcasing newly

produced audio and video content themed

around international development. The project

is making use of the ‘cloud’, where content of

differing formats and stored in different locations

is pulled together into one place online.

The BLE is an example of how the Bloomsbury colleges have worked

together to enhance the student’s learning experience at each college.

This collaboration was recognised when the BLE Technical Team was

awarded highly commended at the Association for Learning

Technologists (ALT) Learning Technologist of the Year Awards 2010. ALT

is a professional and scholarly association in the UK which seeks to bring

together all those with an interest in the use of learning technology

and its annual awards recognise excellence in this area among UK

universities.

Lucy Tollman, International Foundation Courses and English Language Studies teacher


During the year a number of workshops took place as part of the

Teaching Development Programme. The programme gave staff practical

ideas and advice and shared good practice on topics such as e-learning,

giving feedback, managing seminars and tutorials and exploring student

motivation. Ten training courses were provided during the session

for the School’s Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs), with 144 GTA’s

completing the training. The GTA Training Programme was successfully

submitted for accreditation to the Higher Education Academy.

The Director’s Teaching Prize recognises excellence in teaching, the

promotion of learning within the School and the enrichment of its

curriculum. Its purpose is to stimulate teaching and teaching-related

scholarly and/or creative activities, particularly at undergraduate level.

The prize is open to any member of staff involved in supporting the

student learning experience. Both individuals and teaching teams can

be nominated.

The 2010 Director’s Teaching Prize was exceptional, both in terms of

the number of nominations and in terms of the quality of nominees.

The prize went to Dr Michael Jennings, Senior Lecturer in Development

Studies, who was commended for the high standard of his teaching

and student support. In particular, the panel was impressed with his

use of new media to personalise issues related to the course (MSc

option in HIV/AIDS, Culture and Development). The course makes use

of an innovative mix of new and old media, embedding videos into

PowerPoint, using film and documentaries (as well as pop videos),

cartoons and art to explore the impact of HIV and AIDS on individuals

and society and the interactions between HIV and AIDS, culture,

economics and politics.

September 2009 saw the launch of the School’s ‘language entitlement’

for all BA, BSc and LLB students. All undergraduate students are

encouraged to possess at least a working knowledge of one of the

languages of Africa, Asia or the Middle East by the time they graduate.

The ‘language entitlement’ means that every SOAS undergraduate will

be entitled to register for at least one language course during their time

at the School. Undergraduate students who are unsure whether they

have the aptitude for language learning are entitled to take a one-term

non-credit-bearing SOAS Language Centre course free of charge in any

non-final year. Students who perform well in this non-credit-bearing

course will be encouraged to take a credit-bearing language course in a

subsequent year.

TEACHINGContinued

SOAS students rated staff highly for teaching


The School celebrates the fact that many of its undergraduates are

already familiar with an African, Asian or Middle Eastern language before

they join because of their family or personal background. Students are

encouraged to participate in language learning by sharing these skills

with fellow students through the School’s new Language Exchange

(lww-cetl.ac.uk/exchange).

The Capital L, Routes into Languages project established itself as a

major centre for bringing together schools, universities, business and

communities in London interested in the promotion of language

learning. Led by SOAS and the University of Westminster, the project

builds on and celebrates the diversity of London’s population. With over

300 languages spoken by its residents, London represents the global

community, and this project offers a unique opportunity to promote

a range of community and modern foreign languages as a route to

employment, social and economic prosperity and civic regeneration.

The project has delivered over 30 activities to 4,169 pupils and 173

teachers. As part of the Capital L project SOAS has delivered 21 activities

this year, varying from the Urdu Immersion Week to the Language

Leader partnerships established with a number of schools.

The Faculty of Languages and Cultures substantially expanded its range

of postgraduate programmes. Several new programmes emphasise

the Faculty’s expertise in language pedagogy (PG Certificate/Diploma

in Teaching Arabic, PG Certificate/Diploma in Teaching Chinese, PG

Certificate in Teaching a South Asian Language, MA Arabic Language

Teaching). Thanks to the generous sponsorship provided by the Calouste

Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, the School now offers a Certificate in

Armenian Studies comprising courses on Armenian history, culture and

literature, as well as an introduction to the West Armenian language.

During the year the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy

(CISD) MA programme in Globalisation and Corporate Development was

approved in the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, including three new

courses: Multinational Enterprises in a Globalising World, International

Project and Policy Management Practice and Global Energy and Climate

Policy. A new programme was launched by the Department for Financial

and Management Studies (DeFIMS) in BSc International Management

(MENA), with new proposals following for three and four year BSc

International Management programmes (Japan and Korea).

An innovative development launched at the end of the year was the

Diploma programme in Community Leadership, which the School was

contracted to provide for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in

partnership with the Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Organisations.

It is hoped that this specific initiative and also the mode of outreach to

the wider community can be replicated in similar initiatives.

Last year saw further development of postgraduate distance learning at

SOAS. Current Distance Learning programmes are concentrated within

the Centre for Financial and Management Studies (CeFiMS), and the

Centre for Development, Environment and Policy (CeDEP), both based

within DeFiMS. CeDEP has continued to launch new modules within the

Poverty Reduction: Policy and Practice programme including Climate

Change and Development, and Food Security and Social Protection.

A cross-faculty panel was established in September to encourage the

development of new initiatives to meet the School’s objectives of

expanding distance and flexible learning provision. Both CeFiMS and

CeDEP have recorded record enrolments during 2009/10.

As part of the Capital L project SOAS has

delivered 21 activities this year, varying

from the Urdu Immersion Week to the

Language Leader partnerships established

with a number of schools


The School has three faculties which between them include 17

departments. Some of the highlights from the last academic year

are featured below. Further details and reports on all School activities

can be found on the SOAS website www.soas.ac.uk

Faculties and departments

Faculty oF arts and Humanities

Professor Trevor Marchand from the Department of Anthropology

and Sociology was winner of the Elliott P Skinner Book Award of the

Association for Africanist Anthropology for his book The Masons of

Djenné. The prize is awarded annually to the book that best furthers

both the global community of Africanist scholars and the wider

interests of the African continent. Professor Marchand also organised

an exhibition and public lecture series at the Royal Institute of

British Architects (RIBA) on ‘The Art of Mud Building: Heritage and

Sustainability’. The SOAS Food Studies Distinguished Lecture was given

by Susanne Freidberg (Associate Professor of Geography, Dartmouth

College) on ‘Ambiguous Appetites: A Modern History’. The department

also hosted a conference entitled ‘Rethinking the Swat Pathan’. The

conference was supported by the British Council and speakers included

anthropologists and historians from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Dr Charlotte Horlyck from the Department of the History of Art and

Archaeology organised a conference on ‘Korean Court Painting’ with

the SOAS Centre of Korean Studies. The department’s Dr Lukas Nickel

ran an AHRC-funded research training on the ‘History of Chinese Art

and Archaeology’. Ten distinguished tutors taught fifteen selected

postgraduate students on issues and new developments in the field.

REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES

A keynote lecture was delivered by Professor Stan Abe, from Duke

University, entitled ‘The order of things, Art History and Chinese

Sculpture’. Finally, Dr Timon Screech had two of his books re-published

in Japan in pocketbook (bunko-bon) format. Dr Screech in the only

Western author to have two books on Japanese history published in

this way.

The Department of History organised an international workshop on

‘Money and Wealth in South Asian History: Meaning and Practices’ with

speakers from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and SOAS. Dr Lars

Laamann from the Department convened a conference on ‘Religion and

Manchu Society, 1600-2009’.

The SOAS concert series, organised by the Department of Music,

continued to grow in popularity and profile, bringing high-profile artists

to SOAS. The Music Summer School also continued to grow, with 229

students this year on courses ranging from South Indian singing to

Korean percussion, Mongolian overtone singing and Cuban big band.

Professor Stan Abe, Duke University, with Dr Lukas Nickel from the Department of the History of Art and Archaeology

Professor Trevor Marchand’s exhibition ‘Djenné: African City of Mud’ was held at the RIBA

Covers for Dr Timon Screech’s books on Japanese history


Faculty oF languages and cultures

Professor Philip J Jaggar, Dr Dmitry Bondarev and Dr Abba Isa Tijani

from the Department of the Languages and Cultures of Africa

continued to work on a comprehensive research project on ‘A Study

of Old Kanembu in Early West African Qur’anic Manuscripts and

Islamic Recitations’. The project is jointly funded by the AHRC and the

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, and is run in collaboration with the

Asien-Afrika Institut at Hamburg University. The project resulted from

a field trip to the Kanuri-speaking area of northeastern Nigeria. Dmitry

Bondarev and Abba Tijani discovered a previously undocumented

sacred language – Tarjumo (Arabic tarjama translates as ‘interpret’)

– used by Borno Muslim scholars to deliver religious recitations and

commentaries. Tarjumo, together with the manuscripts, represents ‘Old

Kanembu’, and the fact that it is unintelligible to speakers of modern

Kanuri attests to its antiquity – it is at least 600 years old. Dr Kai Easton

was co-convenor of ‘The Cape and the Cosmopolitan: Reading Zoë

Wicomb’, an international interdisciplinary conference held at the

University of Stellenbosch.

A new BA Chinese Studies degree within the Department of the

Languages and Cultures of China and Inner Asia was approved

this year. The programme is for students who have intermediate to

advanced language skills and are looking to acquire China-related

knowledge across disciplines while working with the language. Five new

degree combinations for the ‘BA Tibetan and...’ programme were created.

Tibetan may now be studied with Chinese, Economics, Geography,

History or Linguistics. With the already available combinations

(Development Studies, History of Art/Archaeology, Social Anthropology,

and Study of Religion) there are now a total of nine different disciplines

with which Tibetan may be combined.

The 2010 AC Graham Memorial Lectures were delivered by Robert H

Gassmann (Professor Emeritus, University of Zurich). The yearly lectures

are jointly organised by the Early China Seminar in the Department, the

SOAS Centre of Chinese Studies and the London Confucius Institute.

The department’s Dr Nathan Hill organised two conferences at SOAS

– ‘Fifth Medieval Tibeto-Burman Languages Symposium’ and ‘16th

Himalayan Languages Symposium’. Stewart Johnson (third year Chinese

and Law student) won first prize at the final of the ninth Chinese Bridge

competition. This is a prestigious contest in Chinese language and

culture proficiency for non-native speakers.

The Department of the Languages and Cultures of Japan and

Korea introduced a new BA in Japanese Studies, a three-year degree

for students who either have extensive Japanese language or who

do not want to study Japanese language intensively, but do want

The department led the SOAS presence at the WOMAD world music

festival. Nick Gray and Music Department students gave workshops

in various world music traditions. This year a new MA in Music and

Development was approved. The programme will critically examine

the applications of music as a tool for development and is designed

to prepare students for entry into work in fields such as international

development, music therapies and consultancy. Performance courses

were popular this year, with students specialising in over 20 world music

traditions. The first practice-based PhD was awarded to Kiku Day for her

study of contemporary composition for Japanese shakuhachi. World

music stars Amadou and Mariam from Mali recorded a special interview

with the School’s radio station, OpenAir, to commemorate World Aids Day.

The Department of the Study of Religions’ Centre of Buddhist Studies

celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Agon Shu’s endowment of £1

million. To mark the occasion, the founding director of the centre, Dr

Tadeusz Skorupski, arranged a display of Bharat Natyam, Kathak and

eastern Tibetan dance performances. The Director for International

Affairs of the Agon Shu, Mrs Kazuko Maki, and the representative of the

London branch of Agon Shu, Mrs Yumiko Mitchell, were entertained by

the dance groups Kalasagara UK, Treveni Dance Company and Nam-Sa

Tashi Theatre Group. The endowed lectureship, whose first incumbent

is Dr Kate Crosby, was named the Seiyu Kiriyama Lecturer in Buddhist

Studies.

Dr Lucia Dolce organised an international workshop on ‘Healing and

Divination’ at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, where SOAS PhD students

and former MA students delivered papers. This was the final segment of

a cooperative project with Ritsumeikan supported by an award from the

British Council.

Poster for ‘Healing and Divination’ workshop


REVIEW OF ACTIVITIESContinued

to concentrate on Japanese studies. As part of the Leverhulme Trust

funded three-year international project on ‘Erotic Japanese Art’. Also,

Professor Andrew Gerstle organised two conferences at Ritsumeikan

University in Kyoto and at SOAS on ‘Shunga Japanese Erotic Art’. The

conferences were organised with the British Museum and two Japanese

universities.

This year the Department of the Languages and Cultures of the Near

and Middle East’s Centre of Islamic Studies launched The Qur’an: English

Translation, published by Oxford University Press. The Bishop of London,

Richard Chartres and HE Mr Khalid Duwaisan, Dean of Ambassadors,

gave the keynote speeches at the launch. A series of seminars entitled

‘Turkish - Armenian Encounters’ were organised in collaboration with the

Turkish Studies Programme.

Professor Rachel Dwyer of the Department of the Languages and

Cultures of South Asia co-organised a symposium with the Department

of Film Studies, Kings College London, and India Media Centre,

University of Westminster, on ‘Indian Cinema Studies: Bollywood and

Beyond’. Dr Whitney Cox organised a talk by Professor Sheldon Pollock

from Columbia University on ‘Crisis in the Classics’. The talk was hosted

by the SOAS Centre of South Asian Studies.

Dr Rachel Harrison of the Department of the Languages and Cultures

of South East Asia is the editor of the Journal of South East Asia Research.

The journal, which is published by IP Publishing on behalf of SOAS, is

now published quarterly and this year was covered by Thomson Reuters

in the Arts and Humanities Citation Index. The index publishes data from

the world’s leading arts and humanities journals.

The Department of Linguistics collaborated with Oxford University

Phonetics Laboratory to organise ‘Firth Day’. As the UK’s first Professor of

General Linguistics, JR Firth influenced generations of linguistics scholars

down to the present day. Guests of honour were Rupert Firth and Jane

Roe (grandson and grand-daughter of Professor Firth) and Professor

Frank Palmer, University of Reading. Dr Lutz Marten and Linguistics

PhD student Shanti Ulfsbjorninn gave talks at the event. Professor Firth

served the latter part of his career at SOAS. The Arcadia Trust extended

funding for the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme

(ELDP) and the Endangered Languages Archive to 2016. The ELDP is

administered by the department and provides competitive research

grants to encourage fieldwork in endangered languages and to support

the documentation of threatened languages.

The SOAS Language Centre organised the first professional

development programme for teachers of Chinese with the Special

School and Academic Trust. The centre also launched two new

postgraduate courses in teaching Arabic and Chinese as a foreign

language and piloted a number of taster sessions in Arabic, Chinese,

Japanese, Korean and Sanskrit. The centre also won funding to prepare

an online Sanskrit course and a distance learning teacher training

course (Mandarin Chinese). The centre also won European Union

funding to lead a project to benchmark Chinese with the Common

European Framework of Reference. Finally, the centre organised the fifth

Experiencing China event at SOAS with the London Confucius Institute

and the Department of China and Inner Asia. The event included a

public lecture on ‘Linking China: Global Value for a Chinese Future’,

workshops on Chinese tea, health and paper cut and a book fair on

Chinese language and Chinese culture.

The Centre for Gender Studies organised a talk entitled ‘I was Dismissed

from the University and had to Flee for my Life’. Participants included

the Rt Hon David Lammy, SOAS alumnus and former Minister for Higher

Education and Intellectual Property, who was in conversation with

persecuted academics from Iraq, Sudan and Zimbabwe. The centre

hosted two research fellows from Iraq, funded by the Council for the

Assistance of Academic Refugees.

The Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies (CCLPS) was

formally launched in October to promote the disciplines of comparative

literature, cultural studies and postcolonial studies in relation to Africa,

Asia and the Near and Middle East. In March, Professor Michael Hutt

(Languages and Cultures Dean), Professor Bernhard Fuehrer (Associate

Dean for Research) and Dr Ayman El-Desouky (Chair, CCLPS) were

invited to the Research Institute of Korean Studies at Korea University,

to finalise an agreement on a joint four-year interdisciplinary and cross-

cultural research project on canonicity and canon-formation.

Professor Michael Hutt (front row, fourth from left), Professor Bernhard Fuehrer (back row, left), Dr Grace Koh (front row, second from right) and Dr Ayman El-Desouky (back row, second from left) with members of the Research Institute of Korean Studies and the President of Korea University


regional and interdisciplinary centres

In addition to 17 academic departments, the School has regional and

interdisciplinary centres. The centres contribute to the research, learning

and teaching activities of the School in a variety of ways and have

collaborative links with government bodies, the media, business

and the community.

The Centre of African Studies joined the Research and Enterprise

Office (REO) with the Centre and REO teams focusing on boosting

income generating activities. The Centre provided consultancy to the

NGO, Leadership for Environment and Development International

and successfully managed the second year of the Governance

for Development in Africa programme funded by the Mo Ibrahim

Foundation. The programme included a residential school in Entebbe,

Uganda, which attracted 26 participants from 14 African countries.

Speakers from Makerere University and SOAS were among the

participants. One fellowship was awarded to a prominent journalist from

Nigeria. The centre remains active within the Africa-Europe Group of

Interdisciplinary studies (AEGIS), attending the AEGIS plenary and the

AEGIS bi-annual conference.

The Centre of Chinese Studies’ (CCS) annual lecture was delivered by

Professor Peter Nolan of Cambridge University, on ‘China’s Globalisation

Challenge’. In January CCS, in collaboration with the Department of

China and Inner Asia, held a symposium and film showing celebrating

the literature and fine arts of Nobel Laureate Gao Xingjian, who

attended the event. The centre also received a delegation of eight

scholars from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) to discuss

developments in academic exchange between the UK and China. CASS

donated 40 books to the SOAS Library.

The Afghanistan portfolio of the Centre of Contemporary Central

Asia and the Caucasus continued to grow this year, beginning with a

post-Afghan election panel featuring high profile media commentators

and academics. The mix of events, ranging from up-to-the minute

commentary on burning issues such as the elections to a British

Academy-funded academic conference, meant that the centre was a

lively focus for policy and academic debate on Afghanistan. A round-

table on the seventh of April uprising in Kyrgyzstan and its aftermath

was a collaborative venture between UK universities and academics in

Kyrgyzstan, with the centre at acting as catalyst and facilitator.

The Japan Research Centre organised two annual lectures. The Meiji

Jingu Autumn Lecture was given by Professor Sepp Linhart of Vienna

University on the mutual reception of popular music in Japan and the

West. The Tsuda Annual Lecture was given by Professor James McClain

Faculty oF law and social sciences

The second intake of PhD students on the Governance for Development

in Africa programme were based in the Department of Development

Studies. The Programme is funded by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and

managed by the School’s Centre for African Studies. The department’s

weekly seminar series included a talk by Nicola Pontara from the World

Bank on ‘Aid to Fragile States: the Provision of Budget Support in Difficult

Circumstances’. Dr Michael Jennings won the 2010 Director’s Teaching

Prize for the high standard of his teaching, student support and use of

new media to personalise issues related to the MSc option in HIV/AIDS

Culture and Development course.

Professor Ben Fine from the Department of Economics has been

reappointed to the Social Sciences Research Committee of the UK

Food Standards Agency for a further three years. Professor Fine has also

been appointed chair of the Meat Controls Working Group which will

undertake and overview research to examine and recommend new

legislation for reform of meat safety and hygiene as the Food Standards

Agency’s contribution to a European Union initiative.

The first year of the BSc International Management (China) programme

of the Department of Financial and Management Studies (DeFiMS)

was very successful. Two new BSc programmes, MSc International

Management (MENA) and MSc International Management (Japan and

Korea), have been approved. The distance learning programmes of

the Centre for Financial and Management Studies (CeFiMS) within the

department achieved record student enrolments in 2009 and the size of

CeFiMS distance learning student body now exceeds 2,200. The research

strength of the department was reflected by 14 research staff publishing

30 journal articles at internationally excellent and world leading levels.

The School of Law launched its Social Science Research Network (SSRN)

Research Paper Series in June with two of its papers in the top ten of the

network’s downloads. The SSRN disseminates social science research

through specialist research networks. Each SSRN network publishes

abstracts of research papers from around the world. The School of Law’s

SSRN can be found at www.ssrn.com/link/soas-leg.html

Professor Stephen Chan from the Department of Politics and

International Studies was awarded an OBE for services to Africa and

higher education in the 2010 Queen’s Birthday Honours list. In June

Professor Charles Tripp convened a week-long programme devoted to

the Middle East as part of a module ‘Anticipating and Managing regional

Crises’ for the 11th New Issues in Security course organised by the

Geneva Centre for Security Policy. The course took in issues such as Iran

and Gulf security, regime challenges in the Middle East and Palestine

and Israel.



of Brown University, on modern Tokyo and the formation of the middle-

class. The centre’s seminar series this year included SOAS staff and

speakers from Columbia, Keio, Oxford and Sydney universities and the

Japanese Ambassador to the UK. The centre also hosted a colloquium,

‘Face in Asia and Europe’, in conjunction with an international travelling

exhibition at the Brunei Gallery, ‘Posing Questions: Being and Image

in Asia and Europe’. The exhibition was sponsored by the Asia-Europe

Museums Network, and the colloquium included participants from the

UK, Japan and the Philippines.

This was the fourth year of the five-year SOAS-Academy of Korean

Studies (AKS) Korean Studies Institution Grant project. Support from

the AKS has enabled the Centre of Korean Studies to significantly

expand its staff and infrastructure, its research programme and its events

calendar. The centre lectures covered a range of topics including North

Korea, Korean history and contemporary Korean culture.

The Centre of South Asian Studies sponsored seminars, workshops,

film screenings and conferences, including a book reading by famed

author William Dalrymple on his book Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred

in Modern India. An international conference, co-sponsored with the

National Portrait Gallery, was held on portraiture in South Asia.

The Centre of South East Asian Studies organised the ASEASUK/

British Academy annual lecture, which was given by Dr Jomo Kwame

Sundaram (Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations) on ‘Did

South East Asia Learn the Right Lessons from the 1997-98 Financial

Crisis?’ BBC journalist Bill Hayton spoke on his experiences of ‘Reporting

Vietnam: Journalism in a One Party State’; and visiting Research

Associate Lawrence Shapiro spoke on ‘Disabled women in Vietnam’.

In 2009/10 the London Middle East Institute (LMEI) created a more

integrated relationship with the School, revitalised its advisory council

and developed its programme in partnership with outside institutions.

The seventh Soudavar Memorial Foundation symposium was held

in February, on ‘The Idea of Iran: Last of the Persian Dynasties’. The

symposium was organised in partnership with Professor Edmund

Herzig, Soudavar Professor of Persian Studies and Fellow of Wadham

College. The LMEI continued to provide briefing sessions and tailored

training sessions to public and private sector clients. The fifth volume

in the The Idea of Iran series was published this year by IB Tauris. The

volume is based on the seminar programme sponsored by the Soudavar

Foundation. LMEI also continued to host the Routledge series on the

Political Economy of the Middle East and North Africa, edited by Hassan

Hakimian.

otHer developments

proFessional services directorates

2009/10 was the first full year of operation of the School’s nine

directorates: Research and Enterprise, Academic Development, Student

and Registry Services, Finance and Planning, Human Resources, Estates

and Facilities, Library and Information Services, Deputy Secretary

and External Relations and Development. Restructuring professional

services in to directorates has ensured that professional service

teams are focused on service delivery with proper responsibility and

accountability.

The Research and Enterprise Directorate was launched in March 2010.

The directorate works across the School to secure additional funding

and income, to support the production of excellent research, and to

maximise the School’s capacity to engage in socially and financially

beneficial research and knowledge transfer activity.

The directorate has four key areas of activity:

Research: identifying opportunities and providing support to academic

staff applying for research grants and managing award. Details of

research income and activity can be found at the start of this report;

Enterprise: fostering relations with business, the public and voluntary

sector and the wider community to enable them to access the School’s

knowledge and expertise, for example, through briefings, short courses,

consultancy and special programmes;

Regional Centres: coordinating seminars, conferences, exhibitions and

workshops with a regional focus through the activities of the School’s

eight Regional Centres;

SOAS Journals: producing the China Quarterly; the Bulletin of SOAS and

the Journal of African law.

Over the past year the Enterprise team, working closely with academic

colleaugues, has attracted in excess of £500,500 of funding for

knowledge exchange. The Enterprise Office has organised more than

30 briefings for businesses, ambassadors and NGOs and has secured

and managed consultancy projects and short courses, with a view to

increasing knowledge exchange activity and income for the School.

Several large consultancy projects were overseen by the Enterprise

Office, many of them in collaboration with other parts of the School

including the Centre for Development and Policy Research (CDPR) and

the Centre for Excellence in Teaching Languages (CETL). One example

was Professor Chris Cramer who led a team of conflict specialists to

deliver a consultancy project for DFID called ‘What Price Peace?’ The

study has made a significant contribution to DFID’s conflict policy and

helped with decisions relating to the allocation of limited resources.


Seven graduate recruits from John Swire & Sons attended a tailored

programme in preparation for their new posts in Asia. Civil peace

workers from the German NGO Association for Development

Cooperation were briefed on Liberia and Sierra Leone. Fifteen Chinese

lawyers attended the one-year Lord Chancellor’s Training Scheme for

Young Lawyers.

The Political Islam course (run in conjunction with the London Middle

East Institute) and the Leadership and Governance in Africa course

attracted participants from a wide range of countries and government

departments. A bespoke postgraduate diploma in community

leadership was developed for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

Working closely with Careers, the Enterprise team set up a student

enterprise programme that aims to develop students’ entrepreneurial

skills and ideas and secure funding. Two SOAS projects won external

‘catalyst’ funding to develop social enterprises, including a project to

build an online community website for students with attention-deficit

hyperactivity disorder.

The Enterprise Office also launched a new initiative called the

Knowledge Transfer Development Fund, awarding more than £120,000

from the Higher Education Innovation Fund to eleven projects.

2009/10 marked the 50th anniversary of The China Quarterly. Former

editors attended a roundtable to share their reflections on 50 years of

China studies in the journal. Subscription income from the School’s

three main journals (China Quarterly, Bulletin of SOAS and the Journal of

African Law) increased to £221,200.

The Centres and Programmes Office and the Centre of African Studies

continued to organise a stimulating annual programme of events and

seminars for SOAS’ multidisciplinary regional centres.

The Academic Development Directorate (ADD) supports the Pro-

Director (Learning and Teaching) in the delivery of the School’s Learning

and Teaching Strategy. ADD provides an integrated support service for

quality assurance and enhancement; curriculum development, design

and delivery; learner support and widening participation in order to

ensure that students reach their full potential. Details of developments

within ADD are in the Teaching section at the front of this report.

The Student and Registry Services Directorate is responsible for

Admissions and Recruitment, Student Services, the Careers Service

and Distance Learning Administration. The directorate provides

administrative and support services to students from their first contact

with SOAS through to graduation.

The Careers Service supported SOAS students and graduates in all

aspects of their career development. The number of students and

graduates using the service this year increased by 5.2% since last

year. The Service continued to expand its departmental, careers

adviser-led sessions and this year delivered talks to students in the

Study of Religions, Linguistics, CISD, DeFiMS, and Gender Studies.

Student attendance at SOAS-wide careers workshops increased by

36.9% on the previous year. A range of employer-led skills seminars

including ‘Eversheds: The Interview Process’, Medicins du Monde: CVs

for Development Work’ and ‘Civil Service: The Fast Stream’ were well

received. The highest-ever number of students attended an ‘NGO alumni

evening’ at which John Hilary, the Executive Director of War on Want,

was the keynote speaker.

Student Services contributed to a HEFCE project investigating the value

and impact of student services in higher education. A breakdown of

student numbers can be found in the Facts and Figures section of this

report.

The Finance and Planning Directorate enables the School to meet

its academic objectives by providing modern financial management

information system, management accounting advice and support and

preparation of statutory accounts and returns. The directorate also

oversees the School’s planning processes. The Operating and Financial

Review at the back of this report contains further information on the

School’s Financial Strategy.

The Human Resources Directorate provides information, guidance

and advice to managers and staff on payroll and pensions, pay and

reward, employee relations and the management of change. Details of

developments within the directorate are included in the Operating and

Financial Review at the back of this report.

China Quarterly Editor Dr Julia Strauss (centre) with former editors at the journal’s 50th anniversary celebrations


relationships with external audiences. It also works to build mutually

valuable relationships with potential, current and past students,

supporters, funding bodies, the wider community and relevant

organisations.

The primary responsibilities of the Development and Alumni Relations

Office (DARO) are to maximise the value of fundraising and alumni

relations to the School. The academic year 2009/10 has seen some

significant successes.

One of DARO’s most important priorities has been to work closely

with finance and academic colleagues to ensure that SOAS is on

target to maximise the opportunity presented by the Government’s

Matched Funding Scheme. Under this scheme, HEFCE will contribute

an additional £1 for every £3 in eligible philanthropic income received

by SOAS since 1 August 2008. The scheme ends on 31 July 2011. This

year DARO submitted a claim of more than £3.7m worth of eligible

income, which should bring more than £1.2m in additional income to

the School. The matched funds will fund scholarships and other projects

that enhance the student experience.

There has also been a significant improvement in the School’s

engagement with its 40,000 alumni in more than 180 countries around

the world. DARO has begun to implement the key suggestions gathered

from alumni through a survey and focus groups. In response to the

feedback SOAS World a new-look magazine for alumni and friends was

launched.

The SOAS Alumni and Friends Fund was also launched in 2010 with

a fundraising campaign that raised more than £45,000 for strategic

projects across the School, including support for the SOAS Hardship


The Estates and Facilities Directorate ensures that the quality,

functionality and operation of the estate and that its associated

infrastructure meets the needs of its users and supports the activities

of the School. The directorate is responsible for major construction

and refurbishment projects, facilities operation and space and

energy management. Further information on developments within

the directorate are in the Operating and Financial Review at the

back of this report.

The Library and Information Services Directorate is responsible for the

SOAS Library, the provision of Information Systems and the Learning

Resources, IT and Media Services.

In 2009/10 the School embarked on an ambitious plan to transform

the Library. The major refurbishment will result in a bright, welcoming

and more accessible space with new language laboratories, music

studios, discussion and research rooms and other facilities. A state-

of-the-art storage and retrieval system will allow the collections to

continue to expand rapidly. A sweeping digitisation effort across the

collections has begun and will make valuable works more widely

available to users around the globe.

The Deputy Secretary Directorate provides central management,

guidance and co-ordination for the School’s activities, in conjunction

with SOAS’s Governing Body and committee structure. The directorate

provides professional services to the School in a number of professional

areas including equality and diversity, information compliance,

governance and committee management. The Corporate Governance

Statement and Statement of Governor’s Responsibilities are in the

Financial Statements section at the back of this report.

The External Relations and Development Directorate brings together

three core teams - Communications and Events, Development and

Alumni Relations and Marketing. The directorate aims to increase

the impact and influence of SOAS and its work by strengthening its

Artist’s impression of the new entrance to the Library


Fund, scholarships, the Library as well as several innovative student

projects. More than 35% of the alumni contacted made or pledged

a gift, which is a higher success rate than almost any other higher

education institution in the UK. In addition, the campaign resulted in

significant numbers of new alumni volunteers helping with projects or

offering work placements.

Several new scholarships were established in 2009/10, including a

number of postgraduate awards in subjects that include South East

Asian studies, art and archaeology and anthropology. The year also

saw the continuation of the DGE Hall Scholarship and Tallow Chandlers

Scholarship. All of these awards offer significant financial support

towards tuition fees and maintenance expenses for MA students.

Guidance, support and oversight of development activities at the

School were strengthened during the year through the work of the

Development Advisory Board (DAB). Chaired by Anthony Fry, the DAB

comprises a small and committed membership of SOAS Governing

Body and International Advisory Board members.

Alumni Relations, Marketing, Communications and Events teams worked

closely with Estates and Services and Student and Registry Services

on the organisation of the 2010 graduation ceremonies, the largest

graduation in the School’s history. During graduation week The Director

and the Chairman of Governing Body hosted the third annual dinner to

honour the School’s honorary graduates and fellows.

Reviews of internal communications and the School’s reputation and

identity commenced this year. Improving internal communications and

better communicating the School’s purpose in order to differentiate it

in a competitive global market are key strategic objectives for SOAS. The

School improved its profile in the UK and international media thanks to

more than 50 experts working with the Communications team to carry

out interviews with TV, radio and the press.

Honorary degrees

Honorary Doctorates were awarded to novelist and poet Ben Okri and

Yash Chopra, one of the most important producers and directors in

Indian cinema.

SOAS alumnus HRH Princess Wijdan bint Fawaz Al-Hashemi, the

Jordanian ambassador to Italy, was awarded an Honorary Fellowship as

was Jonathan Taylor CBE, a member of the School’s Governing Body for

17 years and its chairman for the last six of those years. Shiv Shankar

Mukherjee, former High Commissioner to the UK, also received an

Honorary Fellowship at the 2010 graduation ceremonies.

inaugural lectures

‘The Road to Utopia: The Origins of Anti-Zionism on the British Left’

Colin Shindler, Professor of Israeli and Modern Jewish Studies

‘Projections of Empire: India and the Imagined Metropolis’

Nirmala Rao, Professor of Politics

‘A Very Peculiar Practice’

Mark Hobart, Professor of Critical Media and Cultural Studies with

reference to South East Asia

iFcels (international Foundation courses and englisH

language studies)

IFCELS provides preparatory academic and English language

programmes for international students. 2009/10 was the department’s

most successful year ever with 300 students on its three main

programmes. Over 60 IFCELS students started undergraduate or

postgraduate studies at the School, the highest progression total ever

achieved. The Department attracted a number of students from East

Asia, particularly from China and Korea, although some 30 nationalities

were represented this year. An agreement was signed with the Turkish

Embassy to deliver English and academic training to government

sponsored students.

students’ union

The Students’ Union building was refurbished in 2009/10, making it one

of the greenest in the country. This year saw the first Football Beyond

Borders tour, a 28-day football tour of Turkey, Syria and Lebanon.

Professor Rachel Dwyer from the Department of the Languages and Cultures of South Asia with producer and director Yash Chopra who was awarded an Honorary Doctorate this year



The aim of the project was to build stronger relations with fellow

students in the region. With support from the Students’ Union and the

British Council in Damascus, the men’s football team played against

students from seven universities as well as a group of Iraqi refugees

in Damascus, organised by United Nations High Commissioner for

Refugees. Each match was followed by a meal, presentation ceremony

and a session for sharing dialogue about their respective countries and

cultures. A return match in London was organised with the Bogazici

University football team from Istanbul.

The Students’ Union undertook its first survey on facilities, operation and

commercial outlets with the results feeding in to strategic planning for

the School’s centenary.

ExhiBitionS

The SOAS Brunei Gallery hosts a variety of exhibitions relating to the

arts and cultures of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Over 30,000 visitors

viewed the exhibitions this year which included:

‘Halala Women of Fancy Stitch Halala’: Contemporary Indigenous

Tapestries by the Fancy Stitch Group

This exhibition was the Fancy Stitch Groups first in the UK showcasing

African embroidered art works. The Group is a non profit job creation

organisation in Ingwavuma, Southern Africa. Their works tell stories of

survival in the face of adversity, of strength, perseverance and hope

from a community plagued by the scourge of HIV/AIDS and high

unemployment.

Al-Muhammadiyya water-wheel, Hama, Syria from the ‘Design and Nature’ exhibition

Professor Nirmala Rao (centre), SOAS Pro-Director (Learning and Teaching) with Maryna Heese and Vusi Masango from Fancy Stitch at the exhibition’s opening ceremony

The refurbished bar area in the Students’ Union

Example of embroidery, part of ‘Halala Women of Fancy Stitch Halala’ exhibition


Design and Nature

Author Dr Adriana de Miranda conducted several fieldwork projects in

the Near and Far East to study water-wheels as an ancient type of water

architecture, with the fundamental role of supplying water for irrigation.

A selection of the most significant photographs of water-wheels studied

by the author in Syrian and Chinese landscapes were featured in this

exhibition.

Posing Questions: Being and Image in Asia and Europe

This exhibition traced a history of intracontinental and intercontinental

influence on the human image in paintings, sculptures and installations.

Supported by SOAS and the British Museum, the exhibition looked

sceptically at certain forms of portraiture. The exhibition was organised

through the Asia-Europe Museums Network, and sponsored by the Asia-

Europe Foundation.

African Fever; Performing ‘Africa’ in Europe

In 2008 a number of African-themed circuses toured Europe. This

exhibition was a collection of photographs from one of those tours,

taken by photographer Jessica Kendall who spent three months

travelling through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy as an

employee of the circus. The artists came from six different African

countries and the photographs portray the differences between the

‘Africanised’ aesthetics of the show, and the life of the performers off-

stage. The exhibition was funded by The Fürer Haimendorf Fund for

Anthropological Field Research and Camden Council.

‘My Dear Brother: Armenians in Turkey 100 years ago’

Presented by SOAS in partnership with the Armenian Institute, this

exhibition provided an insight into the life of the Armenians living in the

borders of modern Turkey at the beginning of the 20th century, through

Photographs from the ‘African Fever’ exhibition

Copy of a death mask, probably between 1658 and 1753, from the ‘Posing Questions’ exhibition


‘The Light’: Portraits of the ‘Hibakusha’

Hibakusha are survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and

Nagasaki and the Japanese word translates literally to ‘bomb affected

people’. This exhibition of the 65 Hibakusha portrait paintings lasted

for 65 days, one for each year since the bombs were dropped. Each

painting was accompanied by a detailed description of the subject’s

haunting recollection of how they came to survive and be found after

the bombing. There are no names on any of the Hibakusha portraits as is

the tradition in Japan all are ‘subjects’ and always remain unnamed. The

exhibition was sponsored by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science,

The Asahi Shimbun Foundation, The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

and the The Japan Foundation. The exhibition was presented by SOAS

in partnership with Hiroshima City University and Kingston University,

London.

some 500 enlarged and original postcards of daily life and scenery from

across the region. It showed how Armenians, Turks and other peoples

of the Ottoman Empire lived and worked together. Conceived and

put together by Osman Köker from the collections of Orlando Carlo

Calumeno, the exhibition also included personal artifacts and objects

from the Armenian community in the UK. The community project was

supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Rastafari in Lusoland: King Haile Selassie’s visit to Portugal in 1959

This documental exhibition commemorated King Haile Selassie’s visit

to Portugal in 1959. This was a key period for understanding of the

events that led to the independence of many African countries, to the

delay of the independence of many others and to the foundation of

the Organisation of African Unity in 1962. HIH Prince Baeda Maryam

Makonnen (grandson of HIM Haile Selassie I) and HIH Prince Christian

Sahle Selassie Ermias (great-grandson) both visited the exhibition which

was presented by SOAS in partnership with The African Studies Centre

at Lisbon University.


The first ever public performance of the Armenian Institute Choir at the opening of the ‘My Dear Brother’ exhibition

The coffee ceremony at the opening of the ‘Rastafari’ exhibition

Yoshie Imai’s subject from the ‘The Light: Portraits of the Hibakusha’ exhibition


Postcard from the ‘My Dear Brother: Armenians in Turkey 100 years ago’ exhibition


PUbLICATIONS

Faculty oF arts and Humanities

department oF antHropology and sociology

The idea of Gujarat: History, ethnography and text

Ed Simpson and Aparna Kapadia (eds)

Orient Blackswan

Society and history of Gujarat since 1800: A select bibliography of the

English and European language sources

Ed Simpson

Orient Blackswan

Understanding Human Insecurity in Eastern D R Congo: The

Relevance of Ethnography for Post-Conflict Reconstruction

Johan Pottier

GLOCOL Booklet 4

Thinking Through Tourism

Tom Selwyn and J Scott (eds)

Berg

department oF tHe History oF art and arcHaeology

Chinese Romance from a Japanese Brush: Kano Sansetsu’s Chogonka

Scrolls in the Chester Beatty Library

Shane McCausland and Matthew P McKelway

Scala

Telling Images of China: Narrative and Figure Paintings, 15th-20th

Century, from the Shanghai Museum

Shane McCausland and Lizhong Ling

Scala

department oF History

Mao’s Great Famine: The History of China’s most Devastating

Catastrophe, 1958-62

Frank Dikötter

Bloomsbury

A History of Modern Africa, 1800- to the present

Richard Reid

Wiley-Blackwell

Gender Struggles: Wage-Earning Women and Male-Dominated

Unions in Postwar Japan

Christopher Gerteis

Harvard University Press

Scottish Orientalists and India: The Muir Brothers, Religion, Education

and Empire

Avril Powell

Boydell Press


Learning to Read in the late Ottoman Empire and the early Turkish

Republic

Benjamin Fortna

Palgrave Macmillan

Eritrea’s External Relations: Understanding its Regional Role and

Foreign Policy

Richard Reid (editor)

Chatham House

department oF music

Ancient Text Messages of the Yoruba Bata Drum

Amanda Villepastour

Ashgate

Music and the Play of Power in the Middle East, North Africa and

Central Asia

Laudan Nooshin (ed)

Ashgate

department oF tHe study oF religions

Girei no chikara –chûsei shûkyô no jissen sekai 儀礼の力—中世宗教

の実 (The Power of Ritual: The World of Religious Practice in Medieval

Japan)

Lucia Dolce and Matsumoto Ikuyo (eds)

Hôzôkan

Routledge Advances in Jaina Studies Volume 3

Peter Flügel (series editor)

Routledge

Grammars and Morphologies of Ritual Practices in Asia. Section II:

Ritual Discourse, Ritual Performance in China and Japan

Lucia Dolce, G Raz and K Triplett (eds)

Harrasowitz Verlag

The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Daily Life in Roman Palestine

Catherine Hezser (ed)

Oxford University Press

Faculty oF languages and cultures

department oF tHe languages and cultures oF aFrica

African Film and Literature

Lindiwe Dovey

Columbia University Press

department oF tHe languages and cultures oF cHina

and inner asia

Old Tibetan Inscriptions: Old Tibetan Documents Online Monograph

Series, 2

Nathan Hill, Kazushi Iwao and Takeuchi Tsuguhito

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies


PUbLICATIONSContinued

Text, Performance, and Gender in Chinese Literature and Music:

Essays in Honor of Wilt Idema

Maghiel van Crevel, Tian Yuan Tan and Michel Hockx (eds)

Brill

Songs of Contentment and Transgression: Discharged Officials and

Literati Communities in Sixteenth-Century North China

Tian Yuan Tan

Harvard University Asia Center

department oF tHe languages and cultures

oF Japan and Korea

A New History of Shinto

John Breen (co-author)

Wiley-Blackwell

Bidô nichiya johôki (Nichibunken series, Kinsei enpon shiryô shûsei,

no. V)

Andrew Gerstle (co-author)

International Research Center for Japanese Studies


oF tHe near and middle east

The Qur’an: English Translation

M Abdel Haleem


The Hadith: Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies

Mustafa Shah (ed)

Routledge


oF soutH asia

Bengali: a comprehensive grammar

Hanna Thompson

Routledge

Das Mädchen meines Herzens

Hanna Thompson (tr)

Ullstein

Interventions, International Journal of Postcolonial Studies: Muslims

in the Frame, Volume 12, Issue 2

Amina Yaqin and Peter Morey (eds)

Routledge


‘Muslims in the Frame’ Interventions

Amina Yaqin and Peter Morey (eds)

Routledge

Print and Pleasure: Popular literature and entertaining fictions in

colonial north India

Francesca Orsini

Permanent Black

Before the Divide: Hindi and Urdu literary culture

Francesca Orsini (ed)

Orient Blackswan


oF soutH east asia

Complete Thai

David Smyth

Hodder Education

Speak Thai with Confidence

David Smyth

Hodder Education

department oF linguistics

Language Documentation and Linguistic Theory 2

Peter Austin, Oliver Bond and David Nathan

SOAS

soas language centre

Korean Listening Skills (for beginners)

Jaehee Cho

Darakwon

Chinese Language Teaching and Learning: Theories and Practice -

Applied Chinese Language Studies II

George X Zhang (ed)

Cypress Books

centre For gender studies

Mujeres iraquíes. Historias nunca contadas desde 1948 hasta la

actualidad

Nadje Al-Ali

Sirpus


PUbLICATIONSContinued

centre For cultural, literacy and postcolonial studies

Kahlil Gibran: An Illustrated Anthology

Ayman El-Desouky

Spruce

Faculty oF law and social sciences

department oF development studies

The Early Morning Phonecall: Somali Refugee’s Remittances

Anna Lindley

Berghahn Books

Marx’s ‘Capital’

Ben Fine and Alfredo Saad-Filho

Pluto Press

department oF economics

Theories of Social Capital: Researchers Behaving Badly

Ben Fine

Pluto Press

The Poor under Globalisation in Asia, Latin America and Africa

Machiko Nissanke and Eric Thorbecke (eds)


Financial Markets and Financial Fragility

Jan Toporowski

Edward Elgar

Minsky, Crisis and Development

Jan Toporowski and Daniela Tavasci (eds)

Palgrave

department oF Financial and management studies

Antitrust Law amidst Financial Crises

Ioannis Kokkoris and Rodrigo Olivares-Caminal

Cambridge University Press

Legal Aspects of Sovereign Debt Restructuring

Rodrigo Olivares-Caminal

Sweet and Maxwell


scHool oF law

Islam and Human Rights: Selected Essays of Abdullahi An-Na’im

Mashood Baderin (ed)

Ashgate

Water Governance in Motion: Towards Socially and Environmentally

Sustainable Water Laws

Philippe Cullet et al. (eds),


International Commercial Arbitration and the Arbitrator’s Contract

Emilia Onyema

Routledge and Cavendish

politics and international studies

Third World Protest: Between Home and the World

Rahul Rao


The Gacaca Courts, Post-Genocide Justice and Reconciliation in

Rwanda: Justice without Lawyers

Phil Clark


Debating Difference: Group Rights and Liberal Democracy in India

Rochana Bajpai


Policing and Prisons in the Middle East: Formations of Coercion

Laleh Khalili and Julian Schwedler (eds)

Hurst and Company

In the Shadow of Shari’ah: Islamic Law and Democracy in Pakistan

Matthew Nelson

Hurst and Company

Citizen of Zimbabwe

Stephen Chan

Weaver Press

A Metahistory of the Clash of Civilizations

Arshin Adib-Moghaddam

Hurst and Company


FACTS AND FIGURESSTUDENTS

numBer oF students at soas

CeFiMS 2,123

CeDEP 1,141

total 3,264

Taught Masters 1,597

Research 389

total 1,986

Please note: The 07/08, 08/09 and 09/10 figures include Distance Learning and Language Centre students (full-time equivalents)

Please note: The 07/08, 08/09 and 09/10 figures include CeDEP students

Languages andrelated disciplines 29%

undergraduates and postgraduatesBy suBJect group

Humanities 27%

Social Sciences 44%

1,300

1,400

1,500

1,600

1,700

1,800

1,900

2,000

05/0

6

06/0

7

07/0

8

08/0

9

09/1

0

postgraduate studentsat soas

0

Num

ber o

f Stu

dent

s (fu

ll-tim

e equ

ivale

nts)

1,98

6

1,500

1,750

2,000

2,250

2,500

2,750

3,000

3,250

05/0

6

06/0

7

07/0

8

08/0

9

09/1

0

postgraduate studentsin eXternal programmes

0

Num

ber o

f Stu

dent

s

3,26

4

undergraduates and postgraduatesBy originOther European 2%

Africa 3%

Near and Middle East 4%

Americas 6%

Asia Pacific 13%

UK/EU 73%

students graduatingduring tHe year

Masters 1,171

Research 68

bachelors 640

PG Certificates/Diplomas 94

Undergraduates 2,514

Taught Masters 1,597

Research 389

Diplomas & Certificates 404

Exchange & Occasionals 124

Language Centre (Evening and Short Courses) 181

Distance Learning (DeFiMS and CeDEP) 377

total 5,586

3,750

4,000

4,250

4,500

4,750

5,000

5,25005

/06

06/0

7

07/0

8

08/0

9

09/1

00

5,58

6

Num

ber o

f Stu

dent

s (fu

ll-tim

e equ

ivale

nts)

5,500


FACTS AND FIGURESFINANCES

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

05/0

6

06/0

7

07/0

8

08/0

9

09/1

0

tuition Fee income

0

38.3

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

05/0

6

06/0

7

07/0

8

08/0

9

09/1

0

HeFce grants

0

16.7

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

05/0

6

06/0

7

07/0

8

08/0

9

09/1

0

income

0

65.3

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

05/0

6

06/0

7

07/0

8

08/0

9

09/1

0

eXpenditure

0

63.1

eXpenditure 2009/2010

Depreciation andInterest (£3.6m)

Staff Costs (£39.1m)

Other (£20.4m)

income 2009/2010

HEFCE Grants(£16.7m)

Tuition Fees (£38.3m)

Other (£10.3m)


FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2009/2010


OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW 2009/2010

1 lEgal and chaRitaBlE StatuS

1.1 legal Status: charter, articles, Standing orders

and their annexes

1.1.1 The School of Oriental and African Studies (‘SOAS’ or ‘the School’) is

a chartered higher education institution. Its Royal Charter, granted

in 1916, established the School as a self-governing institution. The

School assumed its current title in 1938. The Charter and Articles

set out the School’s responsibilities and powers. The Standing

Orders and their Annexes are derived from the Charter and Articles.

These detail the terms of reference of Committees and other

matters governing the School.

1.1.2 The School is a legally independent corporate body as well as a

Charity. It is a college of the University of London and complies

with the University’s Statutes, Ordinances and Regulations (see

http://www.london.ac.uk/972.html). The University of London is

the awarding body for the School, though the School operates

effectively as a small and specialist university in its own right.

SOAS is currently applying to the Privy Council, through a process

managed by the Quality Assurance Agency for higher education

(the QAA www.qaa.ac.uk ), for the power to award its own degrees.

1.1.3 The full version of the Charter, Articles, Standing Orders and their

Annexes is on the School’s website (http://www.soas.ac.uk/admin/

governance/standingorders/).

1.2 Statement of public Benefit

1.2.1 The Charities Act 2006 places an obligation on charities to illustrate

how they benefit the public.

overview

SOAS is the only higher education institution in the UK specialising

in the study of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The School is

a remarkable institution which uniquely combines language

scholarship, disciplinary expertise and regional focus. Within

Europe SOAS has the largest concentration of academic staff

concerned with Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It delivers its

charitable objective, the advancement of education, through its

teaching and research.

Specialist knowledge of the above areas has enabled SOAS

academics to provide advice and support decisions on, for

example:

· the new Afghan constitution

· foreign aid to Africa (for the Swedish government)

· Chinese minority education (for the World Bank)

· South Asian rural development (for the UK Department for

International Development)

SOAS is committed to promoting global understanding and

making a positive impact on the world through research, teaching,

and the translation of research into policy.

SOAS has more than 5,000 students on campus from over 130

countries, and 45% of them are from outside the UK. More than

a quarter of the School’s degree programmes offer students the

opportunity to spend a year studying in another country, learning

from another culture. The School is structured academically into

three faculties, each contributing to the charitable aims of the

institution.

centres

In addition to its faculties, the School has more than 40 regional

and disciplinary centres, many of which are directly engaged in

activities that benefit the public:

· The Centre for Migration and Diaspora offers courses which

ground students in theoretical and practical understandings of

issues in migration and diaspora, equipping them to work with

NGOs, government bodies or private institutions.

· The Language Centre maintains a huge portfolio of courses in

about 40 African and Asian languages.

· The Centre for Gender Studies promotes the study of gender in

relation to Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

· The Centre for Development, Environment and Policy offers

professional courses in sustainable development, poverty

reduction and environmental management.

· The Law, Environment and Development Centre conducts

research on key issues in environmental law and development,

including, water, land use, forests, climate change, intellectual

property and indigenous people’s rights.

· The Centre for Ethnic Minority Studies is a leading academic

centre of excellence in immigration and refugee studies, and

ethnic minority legal studies.

· The Centre for Law and Conflict supports key areas of the work

of the SOAS School of Law, such as human rights, transitional

justice, the law of armed conflict/humanitarian law, conflict

resolution and peace building, law and development, feminist

critiques of international law, alternative dispute resolution and

arbitration.

Opposite page: Wall painting no.6 of the Main Hall of the Horyuji temple, Treasures of SOAS collection


widening participation

SOAS has several outreach activities designed to ensure that

students from all backgrounds are encouraged into higher

education and represented within the student body. Outreach

activities include a Student Ambassador scheme in which SOAS

students meet with secondary school students about subjects

ranging from the benefits of language study to writing a good

personal statement and the procedures for applying to university.

The School also has a number of partnerships with organisations

promoting widening participation. Principal among these are the

Linking London Lifelong Learning Network, Aimhigher and Capital

L, a consortium of 12 London based universities working together

to increase the uptake of languages in secondary schools and

beyond.

SOAS also runs a number of bridging courses over the summer to

prepare students coming from non-traditional backgrounds for

study in the HE environment. These include courses for mature

students, first generation students and students with specific

learning difficulties;

The School works closely with Access students at six partner

colleges. Taster days and current affairs debates have also been

organised for local schoolchildren.

SOAS also supports London’s diverse multilingual and multicultural

communities in a number of ways. These include hosting public

lectures by academics, providing staff and student volunteers,

organising events such as the World Music Summer School and

Endangered Languages Week and offering language-learning

and professional development opportunities for local ethnic

communities.

Financial support

SOAS offers scholarships, bursaries and awards to support students.

Some of this financial support helps students from specific

countries or a group of countries, while other aid focuses on

particular courses of study or research.

volunteering unit

The SOAS Careers Service runs a Volunteering Unit which helps

students find opportunities in London and around the world.

In 2009/10 approximately 120 organisations and 300 students

registered with the unit. Every year the Careers Service runs a

London Volunteering Fair and an International Volunteering Fair.

Many SOAS students also participate in volunteering opportunities

through the Students’ Union. Volunteering activities in 2009/10

included:

· The SOAS Common Ground Community Garden. which worked

with refugee groups in Islington to get them involved in

gardening and working with students

· The SOAS Detainee Support Group, which enlisted the help of

over 50 volunteers to visit and conduct casework for refugees in

detention

· SOAS First Aid, which volunteered at a number of events around

London as stewards and emergency contact staff

SoaS library

The SOAS Library is one of only five national research libraries in

the country. With more than 1.5 million volumes, it houses the

world’s largest concentration of scholarly works on Asia, Africa and

the Middle East. Over 36% of the Library’s members are external

and it receives visits from researchers and students from all over

the world.

2 viSion and StRatEgy

2.1 2016: vision and Strategy for the centennial

2016: A Vision and Strategy for the Centennial is the School’s

key institutional strategy to which all School sub-strategies and

plans refer. Agreed in December 2006 as the result of a wide staff

consultation process, it has been updated twice to take account

of internal and external changes to the HE sector. Approval of the

Vision and Strategy rests with Governing Body.

The Vision and Strategy sets out five strategic goals for 2016:.

· The School aims to increase the number of postgraduate taught

students and the range of programmes it offers.

· The School will continue to increase and extend its distance and

flexible/blended learning activities.

· The School will aim to increase the number of postgraduate

research students.

· The School will aim to increase the numbers of part-time

postgraduate taught students and individuals taking short

courses and language training.

· The School will strengthen the scope and effectiveness of our

commitment to serve local and international communities.

OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW 2009/2010Continued


3 acadEmic REviEw

The School’s Learning and Teaching Strategy commits it to

‘maintaining a vital balance between undergraduate and

postgraduate teaching, while offering a range of modes of

learning. SOAS students will develop knowledge and skills that will

remain relevant throughout their career and equip them with skills

to continue learning in later life’ . Academic support for students

grew this year through study support workshops, the further

development of the Research Student Portal and the launch of

the Early Career Researcher Skills Development Programme. In the

2010 National Student Survey, SOAS is above the national average

for student satisfaction with the quality of its courses. The School’s

‘language entitlement’ initiative was successfully launched this

year. Undergraduate students are entitled to register for at least

one language course. Last year also saw the further development

of postgraduate distance learning programmes. The Teaching

section of the Annual Report contains further information on these

and other academic initiatives.

4 coRpoRatE RESponSiBility

4.1 Staff

SOAS continues to place considerable value on the contribution

and quality of its staff. The strategy for this area of the School’s

activity is considered by the Human Resources Committee. Regular

meetings are held between the School’s management and the

recognised trade unions to discuss emerging staff issues.

Staff are kept informed through team meetings, weekly newsletters

and ad hoc all-staff e-mails. Staff wellbeing is central to the School’s

core values. As well as providing a range of rewards and benefits,

the School subscribes to an Employee Support Programme that

offers confidential independent help, information and guidance

on a wide variety of personal matters. SOAS is a London Living

Wage employer and was one of the early adopters of the scheme

amongst the University of London colleges.

New pay arrangements have been applied across the School. The

HR-Payroll information system has been reconfigured to enhance

and simplify the payment and administration of fractional teachers.

In addition, new employment protocols, contractual templates and

procedures have been developed to regularise and improve the

administration of fractional teaching employment.

The Equal Pay Audit has been undertaken and the results analysed

and published, together with recommended actions which were

discussed and agreed at the Equality and Diversity Committee.

The School’s revised Staff Development and Review Scheme

(SDR) has been launched, with training provided for staff and

managers. The recently conducted Staff Survey has indicated that

over 70% of staff have had a recent SDR review meeting, which is

a considerable improvement on the 31% who reported this in the

2007 Staff Survey.

The Professional Services Directorate structures are now well

embedded, but there remains much lower level re-structuring

work to be completed. In the last year, notable achievements have

included supporting the proposals for an integrated Library and IT

Directorate, including successfully running a Voluntary Severance/

Early Retirement scheme to reduce costs and create room for the

restructure.

A staff survey was carried out between April and July and the results

will be used in the planning process for 2010/11 and beyond. The

survey was designed by Capita, an independent consultancy, in

partnership with the School. A wide range of topics were covered

including work-life balance, job satisfaction, communications and

learning and development. The results show that the School has

improved in many areas since the last survey in 2007.

Colleagues in Human Resources and Payroll and Pensions

have been working together to engage staff in the Universities

Superannuation Scheme (USS) pensions consultation which was

launched in October 2010. The consultation is taking place at

universities across the UK, with staff being asked to give their

thoughts on proposed changes to the USS scheme, one of the

two pension schemes available at SOAS. Earlier this year, a review

was carried out by the USS Joint Review Group which looked

at the future sustainability and affordability of the USS scheme

against the backdrop of a tough economic climate, people living

longer, bad investment returns and pay increases being higher

than anticipated by USS actuaries. A set of changes were then

put forward which have been approved by the USS Trustee

Board, subject to a consultation with affected members and their

representatives..


4.2 Equality and diversity

Equality and Diversity are promoted widely across the School and

are embedded in all aspects of School life. Equality and diversity

issues are managed by the Equality and Diversity Committee.

The Committee considers strategic planning and policy

development matters relating to equality and diversity and makes

recommendations to other committees as appropriate.

In conjunction with the other Bloomsbury colleges, SOAS works

with the University of London chaplaincy and others who advise

students and staff in a range of faiths. Their inter-faith based

activities do a great deal to promote awareness and understanding

between faiths and bring communities together.

Disabled students and staff receive support from staff in central

Student Services. Disabled staff are supported by the HR

Department, Disability Advisor and Health and Safety Officer for

workplace assessments and needs.

The School’s gender and ethnicity profiles for staff are shown

below:

staff number by Fte for 2009 and 2010

2009 2010

Male 360 (52%) 350 (51%)

Female 335 (48%) 332 (49%)

Full-time 563 (81%) 552 (81%)

Part-time 132 (19%) 130 (19%)

Disabled 20 (3%) 20 (3%)

Ethnic Minority 217 (31%) 209 (30%)

4.3 Sustainability

SOAS is taking climate change and sustainability seriously and is

committed to reducing its impact on the environment. In 2010, the

School signed up to the Carbon Trust’s Higher Education Carbon

Management Programme to strengthen the School’s existing

carbon management plan, which was previously approved by

Executive Board. Targets have been set to reduce CO2 emissions

from operations by 48% of 2005/06 levels by 2020. The School will

look at all carbon producing areas of our operations from energy

consumption of buildings through to travel, waste and recycling.

A number of projects are underway which should enable the

School to reach this challenging target ahead of 2020.

SOAS hosts a large combined heat and power plant and district

heating system, Bloomsbury Heat and Power, which has provided

low carbon heat and electricity to a number of colleges of the

University of London including SOAS since August 2000. In March,

a Head of Energy Management was appointed, based within SOAS,

to work with the PFI provider and consortium members to improve

the operation of this system in order to reduce costs and drive up

efficiency further. The Head of Energy Management also assists in

implementing energy and carbon reducing measures across the

estate of both SOAS and the other consortium members.

An Energy Management Group was set up in 2009 with members

from faculties, professional services and the student community.

They meet regularly to discuss all aspects of the environment

within SOAS in order to drive projects forward and champion

environmental good practice across the organisation.

In 2009/10 the School undertook a travel survey of all staff and

will feed data from this into the carbon management plan. A new

recycling initiative was introduced and has proved to be very

successful. This will be further enhanced with the implementation

of the new waste contract. As reported elsewhere in the Annual

Report, the Library Transformation Project phase 1 is currently

underway in line with the best practice in sustainable design.

5 Financial

Financial Strategy

The School’s financial strategy was reviewed and updated in

December 2009, the primary purpose being to ensure that

the School remains financially viable and is able to generate

appropriate levels of cash for future investment in its estate

and academic activities. The strategy contains a number of key

objectives to be achieved in order to achieve a surplus target of 3%

within the planning period to 2012/13. These include:

· To achieve a growth of 8% in total on campus student

numbers, primarily achieved by increasing post graduate

recruitment

· To develop our suite of distance learning programmes and

flexible/ blended learning programmes

· To increase levels of income generated from research and

enterprise activities

· To improve efficiency and reduce costs through the

rationalisation of internal resources



Progress during the year has been most marked against the latter

key objective of rationalising internal resources. Progress included

the in-year completion of the restructuring of the department that

provides international foundation courses in English language

(IFCELS) and the post-year completion of the restructuring of

the Language Centre and the Library & Information Services

Directorate.

In view of the forthcoming changes to the funding and fees

environment, the School’s financial strategy is currently under

review and a revised strategy will be presented to Governing Body

for approval in April 2011.

Results for the year

For the year ended 31st July 2010 the School achieved a surplus

(before exceptional items and adjusted for the transfer to

accumulated within restricted endowments) of £2,171,000 which

is equivalent to 3.3% of gross income and compares to a surplus

of £907,000 for 2008/09 (1.5%). This surpasses the target surplus,

3% of income, and has largely been achieved through increasing

recruitment in a period of relatively low pay inflation.

income

year-on- year change: all income sources

income growth

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10

Funding Council grants 3.6% (0.4%) (0.3%)

Tuition fees 23.9% 11.8% 18.6%

Research grants 3.9% 24.2% 0.0% and contracts

Other income 32.4% 4.9% (1.6%)

Endowment and 66.9% (6.7%) (44.8%) investment income

total income 17.4% 7.6% 8.6%

The rise in income over last year of 8.6% has been achieved

primarily through growth in tuition fees.

year-on-year changes: tuition fees

The growth in tuition fees of 8.6% during 2009/10 has been driven

by:

· the 13% growth in Home/EU postgraduate taught numbers (4%

in 2008/09)

· the 14% growth in overseas postgraduate taught numbers (-3%

in 2008/09)

· the 20% growth in overseas postgraduate research numbers (6%

in 2008/09)

· the 39% growth in full fee on campus postgraduate taught

numbers (4% in 2008/09)

· the growth in new registrations onto (full fee) distance learning

courses, particularly within the Centre for Environmental

Development and Policy. New registrations during the calendar

year 2010 have increased by 97 from 308 in the previous year,

contributing to total distance learning income growth of 9.2% in

the financial year.

14,000

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

0Full-time

students -UK and

EuropeanUnion

Full-timestudents chargedoverseas

fees

Part-timestudents

Full feestudents

2007/08 £’000

2008/09 £’000

2009/10 £’000

45,000

40,000

35,000

30,000

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0Endowment

andinvestment

income

FundingCouncilgrants

Tuitionfees

Researchgrants

andcontracts

Otherincome

2007/08 £’000

2008/09 £’000

2009/10 £’000


The large increase in income from research grants and contracts

seen in the previous year (24.2%) was not sustained with income

maintained at 2008/09 levels.

Expenditure

year-on-year changes: expenditure

Expenditure growth

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10

Staff costs 11.3% 9.3% 5.4%

Other operating costs 18.6% 12.2% 8.6%

Loan interest 28.3% (20.8%) (33.3%)

Depreciation 19.8% 7.0% 21.8%

total expenditure 14.0% 9.8% 6.9%

While contracted staff costs have grown by 5.4%, total staff costs,

including non contracted staff have grown by 6.7%. Other than

pay inflation and incremental drift, factors contributing towards

this increase include the impact of the 2% increase in employer

contributions to the School’s largest pension scheme, USS, applied

from 1 October 2009 and an increase of £618,000 in restructuring

costs.

Factors contributing to the increase in other operating expenditure

of 8.6% include:

· An increase in expenditure on published materials which are to

an extent correlated to student numbers (contributing 0.9%)

· An increase in the use of non contracted staff to fill vacancies in

established posts (contributing 3.0%)

· An increase in rent, rates and insurance partly as a consequence

of hiring external teaching space (contributing 0.9%)

· An increase in expenditure classified as “other” (contributing

2.4%). The increase has largely been in relation to student

recruitment agency fees and resources allocated to seed fund

research activity.

capital investment

The last 12 months have seen important progress in the School’s

capital programme, with investment of £4.9m in the estate.

Projects have included:

· The completion of the first phase of the SURE project to

refurbish the Students’ Union facilities, the Research Block and

Performance/Lecture rooms.

· The commencement of phase 1 of the Library Transformation

Project. Total project costs are expected to be approximately

£6.2m with funding of £2.6m from HEFCE capital monies. Work

is expected to be completed by December 2010 with full

occupation by March 2011.

· Investment of £1.6m in long term maintenance projects.

During the next 12 months the School will progress the capital

programme with:

· The completion of the second phase of the SURE project to

refurbish the Students’ Union facilities, the Research Block and

Performance/Lecture rooms

· The refurbishment of academic offices within the fifth floor of

the Phillips Building

· Key elements of the long term maintenance programme,

including the replacement of electrical infrastructure

throughout the College Buildings, Brunei Gallery and Phillips

Building

· The refurbishment of 53 Gordon Square – subject to the

successful completion of negotiations with the University of

London to renew the lease

cash, investments and debt

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10

£’000 £’000 £’000

Cash and short- 15,122 16,582 15,379term deposits

Cash generated from 2,356 1,915 3,648operating activities

Unrestricted investments 22,564 20,939 23,453plus investmentsrelating to endowments

Loans 9,869 10,578 10,102

45,000

40,000

35,000

30,000

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0Staffcosts

Otheroperating

costs

Loaninterest

Depreciation

2007/08 £’000

2008/09 £’000

2009/10 £’000



The School’s cash and short term deposits is still buoyed by the net

receipt of £9.7m from the Vernon Square Residences lease disposal

received in 2007/08.

In view of the recent turbulence in the banking sector, the

School’s investment criteria and limits for cash deposits has been

temporarily amended to:

· Limit the maximum amount to be invested in one institution

to £3m for UK high street banks and £2m for all other deposit

takers

· Raise the minimum criteria for deposit takers from AA- to AA for

non-UK high street banks

· Exclude all Irish banks

· Lower the maximum period of deposit from twelve months to

six months

Total unrestricted investments plus endowment investments

(relating to permanent endowments) rose in value by 12.0%

during the year largely as a consequence of the recovery in equity

markets following the losses incurred in the previous year. Income

generated by the portfolio in the year was £741,000 (£790,000 in

2008/09).

The Schools variable rate loan of £9.7m is hedged by two interest

rate swaps, covering 48% of the current loan balance, providing

some protection against any adverse movements in LIBOR interest

rates.

Future outlook

The School recognises that the next few years will be challenging

and uncertain times for all universities in England in light of

changes to the funding and undergraduate fee regimes.

The recent comprehensive spending review, which announced a

higher education funding reduction of 40% over the next 4 years,

is likely to have a disproportional impact on funding for teaching

of arts and humanities subjects. While the School receives a lower

proportion of its total income in the form of total grant funding

relative to most other universities (26% in 2009/10) the proposal

mentioned by the Minister for Universities and Science to remove

all teaching funding for arts and humanities would reduce income

by £6.7m.

While it is expected that an increase or removal of the

undergraduate fee cap (as recommended in the Browne review

of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance) will increase

fee income, the extent to which this will offset funding reductions

is dependent on the level of fee the School is allowed or able to

charge.

The School is planning on the basis that the fee income increase

will not match the level of funding reduction, hence is currently

engaged in identifying efficiency savings and income generating

opportunities to cover the anticipated shortfall.

The School’s Senior Management Team will appraise all of the

School’s academic activities and professional services functions

with a view to reducing the cost base, without compromising on

the quality of academic or service delivery. Efficiency savings will

be implemented in line with the period of funding reduction.

In terms of income generation the School is heavily reliant on

overseas recruitment. While such recruitment remains healthy, it

is recognised that the movement of students across international

borders is unstable and may be adversely affected by the

global economy, exchange rates, international competition and

perceived underinvestment in student facilities. Specific actions

to be taken to address this risk include continued investment in

the School’s estate and establishing effective partnerships with

overseas universities. The School’s ability to pursue international

collaborative opportunities should be enhanced on successful

completion of the move to gain degree awarding powers.

More general actions to address the overseas recruitment risk and

the reduced future levels of government funding include

· a review of the School’s fee structure to ensure that, where

possible, fees are aligned to the full cost of provision

· diversifying sources of income by expanding consultancy,

enterprise and fundraising activities. The School has made new

appointments within the Research and Enterprise Office in order

to better support academic staff in identifying and securing

research grants, contracts and consultancy

· a review of the School’s course and programme portfolios

to ensure that the curriculum is delivered in an efficient and

effective manner

In view of the challenging environment faced by all higher

education institutions, the School’s primary strategy shall be one

of improving efficiency in the delivery of academic activities and

professional services functions alongside continued diversification

and expansion of income generating activities. The School is

confident of meeting those targets set out in its financial strategy.


Opposite page: Painting from ‘The Light - Portraits of the “Hibakusha”’ Brunei Gallery exhibition

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE STATEMENT

The School is committed to exhibiting best practice in all aspects of

corporate governance. This summary describes the manner in which the

School has applied the principles set out in Section 1 of the Combined

Code on Corporate Governance issued by the London Stock Exchange

in June 1998 and the Financial Memorandum with the Higher Education

Funding Council for England (HEFCE). Its purpose is to help the reader

of the financial statements understand how the principles have been

applied.

The School’s Governing Body is responsible for the School’s system of

internal control and for reviewing its effectiveness. Such a system is

designed to manage rather than eliminate the risk of failure to achieve

business objectives and can only provide reasonable and not absolute

assurance against material misstatement or loss.

The School’s primary regulator is the Higher Education Funding Council

for England (HEFCE). The School aims to exhibit best practice in all its

activities to ensure that public funds awarded to the School by HEFCE

are used properly and the School offers value for money.

The Governing Body is of the view that there is an ongoing process

for identifying, evaluating and managing the School’s significant risks

that has been in place for the period covered by the annual report

and financial statements. This process is regularly reviewed by the

Audit Committee on behalf of the Governing Body and accords with

the internal control guidance for directors on the Combined Code

as deemed appropriate for higher education. The identification and

management of risk, as detailed in the School’s risk register, is linked to

the achievement of institutional objectives. The approach to internal

control is risk-based and prioritises actions to be taken against an

evaluation of the likelihood and impact of risks becoming a reality.

Review procedures cover business, operational and compliance as well

as financial risk. On behalf of the Governing Body, the Audit Committee

receives regular reports during the year on internal control and risk.

The principal results of risk identification, evaluation and management

review are reported to the Governing Body in the form of an updated

risk register. Further details of this process can be found in the Statement

of Governors’ Responsibilities.

The School’s Governing Body comprises lay members and academics

appointed under the Charter of the School. There were 21 members of

Governing Body as at 3 December 2010.

The Governors who served during the year, up to and including the

signing off of accounts on 3 December 2010, are listed as follows:

· Dr Fiona Adamson 1

· Mr Abdul Bhanji 2

· Sir David Brewer 3

· Professor Stephen Chan 3

· Professor Sir Ivor Crewe

· Dr Ben Fortna 3

· Mr Michael French (Honorary Treasurer)

· Sir Graham Fry

· Professor Graham Furniss

· Mr John Griffith-Jones

· Professor Barbara Harriss-White

· Mr James Hughes-Hallett 3

· Mr Charles Ilako 1

· Professor Philip Jaggar 3

· Lady Barbara Judge 4

· Mr Jasper Kain 1

· Professor Michael Knibb 3

· Mr Kasim Kutay

· Mr Neil Lerner

· Ms Rosna Mortuza 1

· Dr John Parker 1

· Mr John Robinson 1

· Mr Sebilio Uribe

· Dr Tim Miller (Chair) 5

· Professor Nirmala Rao

· Mr Ben Sellers 3

· Professor Surya Subedi

· Ms Zoe Weaver

· Professor Paul Webley (Ex-officio)

· Professor Harry West 3

· Ms Elizabeth Wright (Vice-Chair)

Following a review into the effectiveness of the Governing Body, the

Privy Council approved a new Governing Body made up of 21 members.

As of 1 August 2010 the Governing Body will be divided into the

following categories:

· The Chair (lay member to be appointed by Governing Body);

· 12 further lay members (11 appointed by GB, 1 appointed by the

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs);

· the Director of the School (ex officio);

· 5 members of the Academic Board (2 Pro-Directors, 2 academic and

1 professional services staff ); and

· 2 student members.1 Term began 1 September 20102 Term ended 30 April 20103 Term ended 31 August 20104 Term ended 31 December 20095 Term began 1 January 2010


Governing Body has set out a ‘Statement of Primary Responsibilities’,

listing ten core areas of responsibility covered by it and its sub-

committees. These are based on standard national guidelines 6 and are

as follows:

· The Proper Conduct of Business

· Strategic Planning, Policies and Strategies

· Monitoring Performance

· Financial Stewardship and Estate Management

· Audit and Risk Management

· Student Issues

· Health and Safety

· Employment

· Legal Matters

· Reputation

Members of the academic staff and student representatives are

members of the Governing Body and the Resources and Planning

Committee. Under the terms of the School’s Charter, the Governing

Body is required to seek the advice of the Academic Board on certain

matters. The matters specifically reserved for the Governing Body for

decision are set out in the Charter of the School, by custom and under

the Financial Memorandum with the HEFCE. The Governing Body

holds to itself the responsibilities for the ongoing strategic direction

of the School, approval of major developments and the receipt of

regular reports from executive officers on the day-to-day operations of

the School. The day-to-day management of the School’s affairs is the

responsibility of the Director and his executive team, known collectively

as the Executive Board.

The Governing Body meets four times a year. The Governing Body is

supported by several sub-committees, full details of which can be

found on the SOAS website (http://www.soas.ac.uk/committees/).

The Governing Body delegates a number of its responsibilities to

either the Academic Board or the Resources and Planning Committee,

which advise the Governing Body on academic and resource matters

respectively. A range of other committees have primary responsibility for

ownership of the School’s sub-strategies. These committees report into

either the Academic Board or the Resources and Planning Committee.

All of these committees are formally constituted with terms of reference.

The Resources and Planning Committee meets three times a year. It

acts on behalf of the Governing Body to monitor the finances of the

School and its Faculties and to advise on the financial implications of

new proposals. It also approves the School’s budget, co-ordinates the

development of the School’s strategic and related plans, recommends

to the Governing Body the School’s annual return to the Higher

Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and recommends to the

Governing Body capital expenditure.

The Audit Committee met three times in the period ended 31 July

2010 but following an effectiveness review, it now meets four times

per year. The Audit Committee reports directly to the Governing Body.

It receives the annual accounts from the School’s management with

a report from the external auditors. It has responsibility, delegated

by the Governing Body, to implement and monitor the School’s risk

management strategy and register, the aim of which is to ensure that

the Governing Body is aware of significant risks and receives assurance

that these risks are being properly managed. The Audit Committee

has put in place a strategy that complies with the Turnbull Committee

guidance on internal control. In addition, it agrees the annual internal

audit programme and receives regular internal audit reports.

The Nominations Committee advises the Governing Body on the

appointment and re-appointment of individuals as lay members of

Governing Body and other committees. In doing so it seeks to maintain

an appropriate balance of skills on the Governing Body and that the

needs of committees for lay members with specific skills are met. It also

approves minor amendments to the School’s procedures for recruiting

the Governing Body members and recommends any major changes to

these procedures.

The Executive Board receives reports setting out key performance and

risk indicators and considers possible control issues brought to their

attention by early warning mechanisms which are embedded within

the operational units and reinforced by risk awareness training. The

Executive Board and the Audit Committee also receive regular reports

from internal audit and from the Health and Safety Committee which

include recommendations for improvement. The Audit Committee’s

role in this area is confined to a high level review of the arrangements

for internal financial control. The Governing Body’s agenda includes a

regular item for consideration of risk and control and receives reports

thereon from the Executive Board and the Audit Committee. The

emphasis is on obtaining the relevant degree of assurance and not

merely reporting by exception. The risk register was last updated in

October 2010.

The Registrar and Secretary has overall responsibility to the Governing

Body in ensuring that the School meets its regulatory obligations. This

includes oversight of the risk and financial profiles of the School, regular

reviews into the effectiveness of the School’s Governing Body and other

Committees and supervision of the School’s Directors of Professional

Services.6 Guide for Members of Higher Education Governing Bodies in the UK, March 2009, Committee of University Chairs

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE STATEMENTContinued


STATEMENT OF GOVERNORS’ RESPONSIbILITIES

In accordance with the School’s Royal Charter of Incorporation the

Governing Body is responsible for the administration and management

of the School’s affairs, including ensuring an effective system of internal

control, and is required to present audited financial statements for each

financial year.

The School’s Governing Body is responsible for keeping proper

accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any

time the financial position of the School and enable it to ensure that

the financial statements are prepared in accordance with the Royal

Charter, the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting in

Further and Higher Education and other applicable United Kingdom

law and accounting standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted

Accounting Practice). In addition, within the terms and conditions of a

Financial Memorandum agreed between the Higher Education Funding

Council for England (HEFCE) and the Governing Body of the School,

the Governing Body, through its designated office holder, is required to

prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true

and fair view of the state of affairs of the School and of the surplus or

deficit and cash flows for that year.

In preparing the financial statements, the Governing Body has to ensure

that:

a) suitable accounting policies are selected and applied consistently;

b) judgments and estimates are made that are reasonable and prudent;

c) applicable accounting standards have been followed; and

d) the School has adequate resources to continue in operation for

the foreseeable future and for this reason the going concern basis

continues to be adopted in the preparation of financial statements.

The Governing Body has taken reasonable steps to:

a) ensure that funds from the Higher Education Funding Council for

England are used only for the purposes for which they have been

given and in accordance with the Financial Memorandum with

the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Education

Reform Act 1988 and any other conditions which the Funding

Council may from time to time prescribe;

b) ensure that there are appropriate financial and management

controls in place to safeguard public funds and funds from other

sources;

c) safeguard the assets of the School and to prevent and detect fraud;

and

d) secure the economical, efficient and effective management of the

School’s resources and expenditure.

Risk and internal controls

The Governing Body has responsibility for overseeing risk management

overall and plays a fundamental role in the management of risk.

Governing Body sets the tone and influences the culture of risk

management within the School. The following principles outline the

School’s approach to risk and internal controls:

· A proactive and engaged approach to risk and internal control of

those risks has been adopted by the Governing Body;

· The Director and members of Executive Board support, advise and

implement policies approved by the Governing Body;

· The School makes conservative and prudent recognition and

disclosure of the financial and non-financial implications of risks;

· Deans of faculty are responsible for encouraging good risk

management practice within their faculty; and

· Key risk indicators will be identified and closely monitored on a

regular basis.

risk management

The Governing Body contributes to the School’s risk management

programme by:

· Determining the appropriate risk appetite or level of exposure for the

School;

· Approving major decisions affecting the School’s risk profile or

exposure;

· Setting the standards and expectations of staff with respect to

conduct and probity;

· Monitoring the management of significant risks to reduce the

likelihood of unwelcome surprises;

· Satisfying itself that the less significant risks are being actively

managed, with the appropriate controls in place and working

effectively;

· Annually reviewing the School’s approach to risk management

and approving changes or improvements to key elements of its

processes and procedures; and

· The Audit Committee reviewing the strategic risks at each of its

meetings and conducting a full review of the School’s strategic risks

on an annual baisis.

Executive Board contributes to the School’s risk management

programme by:

· Identifying and evaluating the significant risks faced by the School

for consideration by the Audit Committee;

· Providing adequate information in a timely manner to the Audit

Committee on the status of risks and controls;


1 Economy – minimising the cost of resources for an activity2 Efficiency – performing tasks with reasonable effort3 Effectiveness – the extent to which objectives are met

· Formally reviewing the strategic risks four times a year, prior to each

Audit Committee meeting, taking appropriate action where the

status of an individual risk has changed; and

· Undertaking an annual review of effectiveness of the system of

internal control and provide a report to the Audit Committee and

from that committee to Governing Body.

Within the institution as a whole there is an established system of risk

monitoring. The School has a Risk Register whereby its key risks are

outlined, assessed, assigned a RAY status (Red, Amber, Yellow) and

regularly monitored.

internal controls

Internal audit is an important element of the internal control process.

Apart from its normal programme of work, internal audit is responsible

for aspects of the annual review of the effectiveness of the internal

control system within the School. External audit provides feedback to

the Audit Committee on the operation of the internal financial controls

reviewed as part of the annual audit.

The key elements of the School’s system of internal controls include the

following:

· clear definitions of the responsibilities of, and the authority

delegated to, heads of academic and administrative departments;

· a comprehensive medium and short-term planning process,

supplemented by detailed annual income, expenditure, capital and

cash flow budgets;

· regular reviews of academic performance and monthly reviews of

financial results involving variance reporting and updates of forecast

outturns;

· clearly defined and formalised requirements for approval and control

of expenditure, with investment decisions involving capital or

revenue expenditure being subject to formal detailed appraisal and

review according to approval levels set by the Governing Body;

· comprehensive Financial Regulations, detailing financial controls and

procedures, approved by the Audit Committee and the Governing

Body; and

· a professional Internal Auditor, whose annual programme is

approved by the Audit Committee and endorsed by the Governing

Body, provides the Governing Body with a report on internal audit

activity within the School and an opinion on the adequacy and

effectiveness of the School’s system of internal control.

Any system of internal financial control can, however, only provide

reasonable, but not absolute, assurance against material misstatement

or loss.

The Audit Committee is required to report to the Governing Body

on internal controls and alert governors to any emerging issues. The

Committee approves an annual programme of internal audit reviews.

Core systems are audited annually while other activities of the School

are audited to a programme planned by the Committee following

consultation with the Director. In addition, the committee oversees

internal audit, external audit and management as required in its review

of internal controls. The committee is therefore well-placed to provide

advice to the Governing Body on the effectiveness of the internal

control system, including the School’s system for the management of

risk.

value for money

The Governing Body is tasked to ensure the School adheres to the

Financial Memorandum with HEFCE for the use it makes of the public

funds provided by ensuring the School’s resources and expenditure are

economical, efficient and effectively managed. The School’s Governing

Body has an explicit duty imposed by the Financial memorandum

with HEFCE ‘to take reasonable steps to ensure that there are sound

arrangements for economy, efficiency and effectiveness (value for

money)’ within the School.

As such, SOAS recognises its responsibility to achieve value for money

(VfM) from all of its activities and is committed to the pursuit of

economy 1, efficiency 2 and effectiveness 3.

As such, the School’s Executive Board have adopted a bottom up

approach to VfM whereby managers are encouraged to critically

appraise operations under their supervision to identify areas where

VfM can be achieved. To embed this approach a VfM Steering Group

has been convened. This group will have operational responsibility for

developing the School’s VfM plans, identifying resource requirements,

coordinating work and monitoring progress towards delivering these

plans. The group will develop a plan of VfM activities over a rolling

two year period, to be agreed by Executive Board. The School’s Audit

Committee, as part of its obligations under HEFCE’s audit code of

practice has responsibility for monitoring progress against specific VfM

plans arising out of the VfM strategy.

STATEMENT OF GOVERNORS’ RESPONSIbILITIESContinued


disclosure of information to the auditors

Financial statements are published on the School’s website in

accordance with legislation in the United Kingdom governing the

preparation and dissemination of financial statements, which vary

from legislation in other jurisdictions. The maintenance and integrity

of the School’s website is the responsibility of the Governing Body. The

Governing Body’s responsibility also extends to the ongoing integrity of

the financial statements contained therein.

At the date of making this Report, the Governing Body confirm:

· So far as each member of the Governing Body is aware all relevant

information required by the School’s auditors to prepare their

statement contained within this Annual Report was given to the

auditors and no information was withheld; and

· So far as each member of the Governing Body was able, all

reasonable steps were taken to understand what relevant

information was required by the auditors to aid their preparation of

their statement contained within this Annual Report and to ensure

the auditors were made aware of that relevant information.


We have audited the financial statements of the School of Oriental

and African Studies for the year ended 31 July 2010 which comprise

the Income and Expenditure Account, the Statement of Historical Cost

Surpluses and Deficits, the Statement of Total Recognised Gains and

Losses, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement and the related

notes. These financial statements have been prepared under the

accounting policies set out therein.

Respective responsibilities of the governing Body and auditors

As described in the Statement of Governors’ responsibilities, the

Governing Body is responsible for preparing the annual report and

the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United

Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted

Accounting Practice) and the Statement of Recommended Practice on

Accounting in Further and Higher Education Institutions.

Our responsibility is to audit the financial statements in accordance with

relevant legal and regulatory requirements and International Standards

on Auditing (UK and Ireland) and the Audit Code of Practice issued by

the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

We report to you our opinion as to whether the financial statements

give a true and fair view and are properly prepared in accordance with

the Statement of Recommended Practice on Accounting in Further

and Higher Education Institutions. We also report to you if, in our

opinion, the information given in the Report of the Governing Body is

not consistent with the financial statements, the Governing Body has

not kept proper accounting records, if we have not received all the

information and explanations we require for our audit, or if information

specified by law regarding the remuneration of the Governing Body or

other transactions is not disclosed.

We also report to you whether income from funding bodies, grants

and income for specific purposes and from other restricted funds

administered by the School have been properly applied only for the

purposes for which they were received and whether income has been

applied in accordance with the Statutes and, where appropriate, with

the Financial Memorandum with the Higher Education Funding Council

for England.

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE GOVERNING bODy OF THE SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES

We read the other information contained in the Report of the Governing

Body and consider whether it is consistent with the audited financial

statements. The other information comprises only that information

on pages 31 to 43, which incorporates the Operating and Financial

Review, the Corporate Governance statement and the Statement

of Governors’ Responsibilities. We consider the implications for our

report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material

inconsistencies with the financial statements. Our responsibilities do not

extend to any other information.

Our report has been prepared pursuant to the requirements of the

School’s statutes and for no other purpose. No person is entitled to rely

on his report unless such a person is a person entitled to rely upon this

report by virtue of and for the purpose of the School’s statutes or has

been expressly authorised to do so by our prior written consent. Save

as above, we do not accept responsibility for this report to any other

person or for any other purpose and we hereby expressly disclaim any

and all such liability.

Basis of audit opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on

Auditing (UK and Ireland) issued by the Auditing Practices Board and the

Audit Code of Practice issued by the Higher Education Funding Council

for England. An audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence

relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. It

also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements

made by the School in the preparation of the financial statements and

of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the circumstances

of the School, consistently applied and adequately disclosed.

We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information

and explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide us

with sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the financial

statements are free from material misstatement, whether caused by

fraud or other irregularity or error. In forming our opinion, we also

evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the

financial statements.


opinion

In our opinion:

· the financial statements give a true and fair view, in accordance with

United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, of the

state of affairs of the College as at 31 July 2010 and of its surplus of

income over expenditure for the year then ended;

· the financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance

with the Statement of Recommended Practice: “Accounting for

Further and Higher Education Institutions”;

· income from the Higher Education Funding Council for England,

grants and income for specific purposes and from other restricted

funds administered by the School have been applied for the

purposes for which they were received; and

· income has been applied in accordance with the School’s statutes

and where appropriate with the applicable Financial Memorandums

with the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Bdo llp

Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors

Epsom, Surrey, United Kingdom

BDO LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales

(with registered number OC305127).


The principal accounting policies are summarised below. They have

been applied consistently throughout the year and the preceding year.

1. Basis of preparation

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with

the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP): Accounting for

Further and Higher Education 2007 and in accordance with applicable

accounting standards. The financial statements are prepared in

accordance with the historical cost convention modified by the

revaluation of certain fixed assets.

Consolidated accounts have not been prepared as the subsidiary

undertaking, SOAS International Limited, has been dormant since

incorporation. The activities of the Students’ Union have not been

consolidated because the School does not exercise control over those

activities. The School exercises control over the London Middle East

Institute (charity registration number 1103017, company number

4758915) but consolidated accounts have not been prepared as LMEI’s

activities are immaterial in comparison to the School.

2. income Recognition

Funding Council grants are accounted for in the period to which they

relate.

Tuition fee income is credited to the income and expenditure account

over the period in which students are studying. Where the amount of

the tuition fee is reduced by a discount for prompt payment, income

receivable is shown net of the discount. Bursaries and scholarships are

accounted for as expenditure and not deducted from income.

Recurrent income from grants, contracts and other services rendered

are accounted for on an accruals basis and included to the extent of

the completion of the contract or service concerned; any payments

received in advance of such performance are recognised on the balance

sheet as liabilities.

Donations with restrictions are recognised when relevant conditions

have been met; in many cases recognition is directly related to

expenditure incurred for specific purposes. Charitable donations which

are to be retained for the benefit of the institution are recognised in

the statement of total recognised gains and losses and in endowments;

other donations are recognised by inclusion as other income in the

income and expenditure account.

Grants received in respect of the acquisition or construction of fixed

assets are treated as deferred capital grants. Such grants are credited to

deferred capital grants and an annual transfer made to the income and

expenditure account over the useful economic life of the asset, at the

same rate as the depreciation charge on the asset for which the grant

was awarded.

Income from the sale of goods or services is credited to the income and

expenditure account when the goods or services are supplied to the

external customers or the terms of the contract have been satisfied.

Endowment and investment income is credited to the income and

expenditure account on a receivable basis. Income from restricted

endowments not expended in accordance with the restrictions of the

endowment, is transferred from the income and expenditure account to

restricted endowments.

Any increase in value arising on the revaluation of fixed asset

investments is carried as a credit to the revaluation reserve, via the

statement of total recognised gains and losses.

Increases or decreases in value arising on the revaluation or disposal of

endowment assets (i.e. the appreciation or depreciation of endowment

assets), is added to or subtracted from the funds concerned and

accounted for through the balance sheet by debiting or crediting the

endowment asset, crediting or debiting the endowment fund and is

reported in the statement of total recognised gains and losses.

3. agency arrangements

Funds the institution receives and disburses as paying agent on behalf

of a funding body are excluded from the income and expenditure of

the institution where the institution is exposed to minimal risk or enjoys

minimal economic benefit related to the transaction.

4. leases and hire purchase contracts

Costs in respect of operating leases are charged on a straight-line basis

over the lease term.

5. taxation

The School is an exempt charity within the meaning of schedule 2 of

the Charities Act 1993 and as such is a charity within the meaning of

Para 1 of Schedule 6 to the Finance Act 2010. Accordingly, the School

STATEMENT OF PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES


is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital

gains received within categories covered by sections 478-488 of the

Corporation Tax Act 2010 (CTA 2010) (formerly enacted in Section 505 of

the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 (ICTA)) or Section 256 of the

Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income

or gains are applied to exclusively charitable purposes.

The School receives no similar exemption in respect of Value Added Tax

(VAT). Irrecoverable VAT on expenditure is included in the costs of such

expenditure as shown within the financial statements. Any irrecoverable

VAT allocated to tangible fixed assets is included in their cost.

6. land and buildings

Land and buildings are stated at valuation or cost. Valuations are carried

out by independent Chartered Surveyors.

On adoption of FRS 15, the Institution followed the transitional provision

to retain the book value of land and buildings, which were revalued

on 31 July 1995 by Jones Lang Wootton, Chartered Surveyors but

not to adopt a policy of revaluations of these properties in the future.

The valuation is retained subject to the requirement to test assets for

impairment in accordance with FRS 11.

Costs incurred in relation to a tangible fixed asset, after its initial

purchase or production, are capitalised to the extent that they increase

the expected future benefits to the institution from the existing tangible

fixed asset beyond its previously assessed standard of performance; the

cost of any such enhancements are added to the gross carrying amount

of the tangible fixed asset concerned.

depreciation

Freehold land is not depreciated. Freehold Buildings are depreciated at

2 percent per annum in accordance with the School’s estimate of their

useful economic life. Leasehold buildings are depreciated at 1 percent

per annum. Building refurbishments are depreciated at 5 or 10 percent

per annum depending upon estimates of their useful economic life.

Where material, a depreciable asset’s anticipated useful economic life

is reviewed annually and the accumulated and future depreciation

adjusted in accordance with FRS 15. No depreciation is charged on

assets in the course of construction.

Repairs and maintenance

Expenditure to ensure that a tangible fixed asset maintains its previously

recognised standard of performance is recognised in the income and

expenditure account in the period it is incurred. The Institution has a

planned maintenance programme, which is reviewed on an annual

basis.

7. heritage assets

Valuable publications and works of art (heritage assets) are excluded

from fixed assets as due to their unique nature it is not practical or

economical to accurately value them.

8. Equipment

Equipment costing less than £20,000 per individual item is written off

to the income and expenditure account in the period of acquisition. All

other equipment is capitalised at cost.

All assets are depreciated over their useful economic life as follows:

Computer equipment - four years;

Furniture - four years;

Capital projects - five to ten years.

9. investments

Listed investments held as fixed assets or endowment assets are shown

at market value.

10. cash flows and liquid resources

Cash flows comprise increases or decreases in cash. Cash includes cash

in hand, cash at bank and deposits repayable on demand. Deposits

are repayable on demand if they are available within 24 hours without

penalty. No other investments, however liquid, are included as cash.

Liquid resources comprise assets held as readily disposable store of

value. They include term deposits, government securities and loan stock

held as part of the Institution’s treasury management activities. They

exclude any such assets held as endowment asset investments.


11. Financial instruments

The School uses derivative financial instruments called interest rate

swaps to reduce exposure to interest rate movements. Such derivative

financial instruments are not held for speculative purposes and relate

to actual assets or liabilities or to probable commitments, changing the

nature of the interest rate by converting a fixed rate to a variable rate

or vice versa. Interest differentials under these swaps are recognised by

adjusting net interest payable over the periods of the contracts.

12. website development costs

Design and content costs relating to the development of websites to

support specific teaching or training courses, or for specific research

projects, are capitalised. These are amortised over the useful economic

life of projects. Where there is uncertainty over the life of the course

or its viability such costs are written off as incurred, as are design and

content costs for websites that are for the general use of the institution

and its staff.

13. charitable donations

Endowment funds

Where charitable donations are to be retained for the benefit of the

institution as specified by the donors, these are accounted for as

endowments. There are two main types:

a) Restricted expendable endowments - the donor has specified a

particular objective other than the purchase or construction of

tangible fixed assets, and the institution can convert the donated

sum into income.

b) Restricted permanent endowments - the donor has specified that

the fund is to be permanently invested to generate an income

stream to be applied to a particular objective.

donations for fixed assets

Donations received to be applied to the cost of a tangible fixed asset

are shown on the balance sheet as a deferred capital grant. The deferred

capital grant is released to the income and expenditure account over

the same estimated useful life that is used to determine the depreciation

charge associated with the tangible fixed asset.

14. Retirement benefits

The institution contributes to the Universities Superannuation Scheme

(USS) and the Superannuation Arrangements of the University of

London (SAUL) . Both schemes are defined benefit schemes and

multi-employer schemes and it is not possible to identify the assets and

liabilities of the schemes, which are attributable to the institution. In

accordance with FRS17 these schemes are accounted for on a defined

contribution basis and contributions to these schemes are included as

expenditure in the period in which they are payable.

STATEMENT OF PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING POLICIESContinued

Opposite page: Front binding, Muhammad Zuhuri, Divan. Kashmir, 19th century. Treasures of SOAS collection


INCOME AND ExPENDITURE ACCOUNTFOR THE yEAR ENDED 31 JULy 2010

note 2010 2009 £’000 £’000 income

Funding Council grants 1 16,669 16,725

Tuition fees 2 38,321 32,309

Research grants and contracts 3 3,881 3,880

Other income 4 5,545 5,634

Endowment and investment income 5 872 1,581

total income 65,288 60,129

eXpenditure

Staff costs 6 39,129 37,114

Other operating expenses 7 20,434 18,811

Interest payable 8 290 435

Depreciation 11 3,273 2,688

total expenditure 63,126 59,048

surplus on continuing operations after depreciation oftangible fixed assets at valuation - before and after tax 2,162 1,081

exceptional items

Disposals of fixed assets 10 (109) (32)

surplus on continuing operations after depreciation ofassets at valuation and disposals of assets and tax 2,053 1,049

Transfer to accumulated income withinrestricted endowments 19 9 (174)

surplus for the year retained within general reserves 2,062 875

The income and expenditure account is in respect of continuing activities.


note 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

Surplus after depreciation of assets at valuation anddisposal of assets before and after tax 2,053 1,049

Difference between historical cost depreciationand the actual charge for the period calculatedon the revalued amount 20 204 206

Historical cost surplus for the period before and after tax 2,257 1,255

STATEMENT OF HISTORICAL COST SURPLUSES AND DEFICITSFOR THE yEAR ENDED 31 JULy 2010


STATEMENT OF TOTAL RECOGNISED GAINS AND LOSSESFOR THE yEAR ENDED 31 JULy 2010

note 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

Surplus on continuing operations afterdepreciation of assets at valuation and tax 2,053 1,049

Unrealised gain/(loss) on fixed asset investments 12 965 (961)

Unrealised gain/(loss) on endowment asset investments 13 1,234 (1,229)

New endowments less capital withdrawals 19 372 407

total recognised gains/(losses) relating to the year 4,624 (734)

reconciliation

Opening reserves and endowments 62,393 63,127

Total recognised gains and losses for the year 4,624 (734)

closing reserves and endowments 67,017 62,393


bALANCE SHEETAS AT 31 JULy 2010

note 2010 2009 £’000 £’000Fixed assets

Tangible assets 11 64,770 61,765

Investments 12 9,319 8,402

74,089 70,167

endowment assets 13 14,134 12,537

current assets

Debtors 14 4,429 4,303

Cash and short-term deposits 15,379 16,582

19,808 20,885

creditors: amounts falling due within one year 15 (15,975) (15,795)

net current assets 3,833 5,090

total assets less current liabilities 92,056 87,794

creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year 16 (9,640) (10,116)

total net assets 82,416 77,678

deferred capital grants 18 15,399 15,285

endowments

Expendable 19 2,175 1,825

Permanent 19 11,959 10,712

14,134 12,537

reserves

Revaluation reserve 20 16,669 16,873

General reserve 21 36,214 32,983

total reserves 52,883 49,856

total funds 82,416 77,678

The financial statements on pages 46 to 71 were approved by the Governing body on 3 December 2010 and signed on its behalf by:

mr m French mr g appleby professor p webleyHonorary Treasurer Director of Finance Director


note 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

net cash inflow from operating activities 23 3,648 1,915

Returns on investments and servicing of finance 24 582 1,146

Capital expenditure and financial investment 24 (4,267) (1,544)

Management of liquid resources 24 (794) (3,309)

Financing 24 (476) 709

decrease in cash in the period (1,307) (1,083)

reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net funds

Decrease in cash (1,307) (1,083)

Cash outflow to/(inflow from) long-term debt 24 476 (709)

Cash outflow to short-term deposits 24 794 3,309

change in net funds (37) 1,517

Net funds at 1 August 7,795 6,278

net funds at 31 July 25 7,758 7,795

CASH FLOW STATEMENTFOR THE yEAR ENDED 31 JULy 2010


NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

1 Funding council grants 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

Recurrent grants Teaching 7,370 7,237

Research 7,180 7,736

Libraries, museums and galleries — 17

Specific grants Other specific grants 999 693

Release of deferred capital grants 1,120 1,042

16,669 16,725

2 tuition Fees 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

Full-time students - UK and European Union 11,298 9,682

Full-time students charged overseas fees 12,771 10,753

Part-time students 1,099 1,023

Full fee students 13,153 10,851

38,321 32,309

3 researcH grants and contracts 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

Research councils 1,550 1,756

UK-based charities 987 1,013

European Commission 73 4

Other grants and contracts 1,271 1,107

3,881 3,880


NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTSContinued

4 otHer income 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

Rent receivable 166 101

Room lettings 493 574

Library fees 131 130

Accommodation, catering and conferences 1,010 1,119

Resales and reimbursements 435 379

Scholarships, donations and other funded activities 1,874 1,939

briefings and consultancy 384 409

Deferred capital gifts released to income 139 139

Other income 913 844

5,545 5,634

5 endowment and investment income note 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

Income from fixed asset investments 326 337

Income on expendable endowments 19 3 6

Income on permanent endowments 19 412 447

Interest on short-term deposits 131 791

872 1,581


6 staFF note 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

staff costs

Salaries 30,228 30,603

Social Security costs 2,568 2,684

Other pension costs 26 5,600 3,712

Early retirement and voluntary severance scheme costs 733 115

39,129 37,114

average full-time equivalent staff numbers by major category: 2010 2009 Number Number

Academic 370 378

Support (Professional Services) 312 317

682 695

2010 2009 £ £

Remuneration of the Director for the year 190,363 190,363

The remuneration of the Director excludes the employer’s pension contribution which is paid at the same rate as for other academic and related staff, and amounted to £29,805 (2009: £26,651).

The number of other higher paid staff who received emoluments (excluding employer’snational insurance and pension contributions) in the following range was:

2010 2009 Number Number

£100,000-£109,999 — 1



7 otHer operating eXpenses 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

Research grants and contracts 1,510 1,340

Non-contract staff 2,534 1,918

Course development 114 147

Examinations 86 82

year abroad and study tours 317 276

Intercollegiate teaching 630 403

Fellowships, scholarships and other fees 2,100 1,960

Published materials 1,717 1,543

Information technology 785 842

Marketing and student recruitment costs 493 526

Student-related costs 473 407

Grant to SOAS Students’ Union 57 57

Grant to University of London Students’ Union 41 54

Accommodation, catering and conferences 784 861

Consumables 264 264

Furniture and equipment 104 133

Hire of plant and equipment - operating leases 550 643

Repairs and maintenance 728 716

Rent, rates and insurance 700 522

Heat, water and power 723 721

Security, caretaking and cleaning 1,635 1,677

Telecommunications and postage 413 460

Staff recruitment and development 495 662

Professional fees 439 399

Auditor’s remuneration - audit fee 38 35

Auditor’s remuneration - other 4 4

Legal fees 120 66

Other expenses 2,580 2,093

20,434 18,811


8 interest payaBle 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

Interest payable on bank loans and other loans 290 435

290 435

9 analysis oF total eXpenditure By activity other staff operating interest costs expenses payable depreciation 2010 2009 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000

Academic departments 25,750 4,383 — — 30,133 28,289

Research projects 2,019 1,627 — — 3,646 3,423

Administrative departments 5,350 6,203 — — 11,553 10,555

Library and information technology 3,853 2,375 — — 6,228 6,309

Catering and conferences — 1,126 — — 1,126 1,258

Premises 341 3,755 290 3,273 7,659 6,835

Other expenditure 1,816 965 — — 2,781 2,379

total per income and expenditure account 39,129 20,434 290 3,273 63,126 59,048

Staff costs include £733,000 restructuring costs (2009: £115,000).

the depreciation charge has been funded by: note 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

Revaluation reserve released 20 204 206

Deferred capital grants and gifts released 1, 4 1,259 1,181

General reserves 1,810 1,301

3,273 2,688

10 eXceptional items 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

deficit on disposal of tangible fixed assets (109) (32)



11 tangiBle FiXed assets land and Buildings leasehold in course of long construction Freehold leasehold equipment total £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000valuation/cost

At 1 August 2009Valuation — — 24,250 — 24,250Cost 317 11,624 32,158 9,436 53,535

total 317 11,624 56,408 9,436 77,785

Additions 1,418 — 3,456 1,514 6,388

Transfer (334) — 334 — —

Disposals (88) — (74) (944) (1,106)

At 31 July 2010Valuation — — 24,250 — 24,250Cost 1,313 11,624 35,874 10,006 58,817

total 1,313 11,624 60,124 10,006 83,067

depreciation

At 1 August 2009 — 845 9,503 5,672 16,020Charge for year — 109 1,600 1,564 3,273Eliminated in respect of disposals — — (53) (943) (996)

at 31 July 2010 — 954 11,050 6,293 18,297

net BooK value

at 31 July 2010 1,313 10,670 49,074 3,713 64,770

at 31 July 2009 317 10,779 46,905 3,764 61,765


11 tangiBlE FixEd aSSEtS - continued

long lEaSEhold

The transitional rules set out in FRS 15 ‘Tangible Fixed Assets’ have

been applied on implementing FRS 15. Accordingly, the book values

at implementation have been retained.

The valuation of the main college buildings is based on a revaluation

report as at 31 July 1995 prepared by Jones Lang Wootton, Chartered

Surveyors. The depreciated historic cost of the main college buildings

at 31 July 2010 was £3,267,000.

hERitagE aSSEtS

The School holds various valuable publications and works of art

(heritage assets) originating from or relating to Africa and Asia.

The collection includes a copy of the Anvar-i Suhayli, a 16th century

Mughal text, the Library Special Collection and a map used by David

Livingstone during his exploration of the African interior. These assets

are excluded from fixed assets due to their unique nature which

precludes the School from accurately valuing them. No significant

additions to heritage assets have been made in the last ten years.

dEFERREd capital giFtS

The School has benefited from a number of generous donations to

purchase fixed assets.

donor gift (£) towards the purchase of:

Sultan of brunei 8,800,000 brunei Gallery

Khalili Family Trust 200,000 Khalili Lecture Theatre

Foyle Foundation 73,000 Display cases for Treasures of SOAS exhibition

Wolfson Foundation 130,000 New library archive

These gifts are being released to the income and expenditure account

over the life of the associated asset to fund the depreciation charge.



12 investments 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

balance at 1 August 2009 8,402 9,451

Net deductions from investments (165) (150)

Increase/(decrease) in market value of investments 965 (961)

Movement in cash balances held at SOAS 117 62

Balance at 31 July 2010 9,319 8,402

Fixed interest stocks - fund manager 1,389 1,553

Equities - fund manager 7,500 5,239

Property - fund manager 129 71

Hedge funds - fund manager — 45

bank balances - fund manager 184 1,494

bank balances - SOAS 117 —

total investment assets 9,319 8,402

The School owns 100% of the issued share capital of 1,000 £1 ordinary shares of SOAS International Limited, a company registered in England and Wales. This company is dormant.

The School acts as guarantor for the London Middle East Institute (LMEI) a charitable company limited by guarantee. The School had a majority

interest on the LMEI’s board of Trustees from 1 August 2008. As a result the School exercises control over the LMEI but consolidated accounts have

not been prepared as LMEI’s activities are immaterial in comparison to the School. LMEI recorded a loss of £35,000 for the year ended 31 July 2010

(2009: loss of £25,000). At the 31 July 2010, LMEI had reserves of £97,000 (2009: £132,000).

The School provides the LMEI with office space, IT and administrative support and certain staff, free of charge. The fair value of this donation is

approximately £250,000 per annum, of which £80,000 is funded by income from endowments.


13 endowment assets 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

balance at 1 August 2009 12,537 13,185

Net deductions from investments (210) (114)

Increase/(decrease) in market value of investments 1,234 (1,229)

Movement in cash balances held at SOAS 573 695

Balance at 31 July 2010 14,134 12,537

Fixed interest stocks - fund manager 1,777 1,985

Equities - fund manager 9,592 6,700

Property - fund manager 166 92

Hedge funds - fund manager — 58

bank balances - fund manager 235 1,911

bank balances - SOAS 2,364 1,791

total endowment assets 14,134 12,537

14 deBtors 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

amounts falling due within one year:

General debtors less provision for bad debts 2,876 2,811

Research grants and contracts in arrears 495 708

Prepayments and accrued income 913 710

Staff loans 145 74

4,429 4,303

15 creditors: amounts Falling due witHin one year note 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

bank loans repayable within one year 462 462

Trade creditors and accruals 4,968 5,191

Other creditors 1,197 648

Taxation and social security 926 819

Research grants and contracts in advance 1,650 1,895

Deferred income 6,769 6,777

Access funds 27 3 3

15,975 15,795



16 creditors: amounts Falling due aFter more tHan one year 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

Barclays Bank loans:

Unsecured loan at LIbOR plus 0.28% (variable interest rate)repayable by July 2031 9,693 10,155

University of London grant for development of MSc Financeand Financial Law 409 423

10,102 10,578

Less due within one year (462) (462)

9,640 10,116

A swap contract was signed with barclays bank on 19 October 2001 in order to reduce the School’s exposure to interest rate fluctuations on the variable rate loan. The effective start date of the contract was 28 June 2002. At year end the swap covered £2,720,000 (2009: £2,880,000) of borrowing, amortising in line with the loan repayments. The swap rate is 5.38%. This is compared to the three month LIbOR rate and the difference is payable to/by barclays bank. £121,000 (2009: £46,000) of interest expense in the accounts relates to interest paid on the swap contract.

A second swap contract was signed with Lloyds bank on 2 November 2006. This swap contract further reduces the School’s exposure to interest rate fluctuations on the unsecured loan. The effective start date of the swap contract is 2 November 2006, the termination date is 30 September 2026. The value of the swap contract is £2,000,000 for the life of the swap. The swap rate is 4.65%. This is compared to the three month LIbOR rate and the difference is payable to/by Lloyds bank. £79,000 (2009: £17,000) of interest expense in the accounts relates to interest paid on the swap contract.

2010 2009 £’000 £’000

The principal on loans is repayable as follows:

In one year or less 462 462

between one and two years 462 462

between two and five years 1,386 1,386

In more than five years 7,792 8,268

10,102 10,578

Less due within one year (462) (462)

9,640 10,116

17 related party transactions

One Governor of the School of Oriental and African Studies was also a trustee of the University of London. All transactions between SOAS and the University of London have been conducted at arm’s length.

Travel expenses reimbursed to four Governors during the year amounted to £1,000 (2009: £1,000 reimbursed to two members). No payments were made to Governors for serving as a trustee during the year (2009: £nil). No payments to Governors were made for services, other than under a contract of employment, during the year (2009: £nil).


18 deFerred capital grants 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

deferred capital gifts:

At 1 August 7,648 7,787

Released to income and expenditure account (139) (139)

at 31 July 7,509 7,648

Funding council capital grants:

At 1 August 7,637 8,074

Received during the year 1,373 605

Released to income and expenditure account (1,120) (1,042)

at 31 July 7,890 7,637

15,399 15,285

19 endowments restricted restricted permanent expendable total £’000 £’000 £’000

At 1 August 2009Capital 9,940 1,593 11,533Accumulated income 772 232 1,004

10,712 1,825 12,537

New endowments/donations 74 877 951Capital withdrawals (49) (530) (579)Investment income 412 3 415Expenditure (424) — (424)Increase in market value of investments 1,234 — 1,234

at 31 July 2010 11,959 2,175 14,134

represented by:

Capital 11,199 1,940 13,139Accumulated income 760 235 995

11,959 2,175 14,134



19 endowments - continued

Endowment funds include the following individual funds of a value greater than £1,000,000, all of which represent restricted permanent

endowment funds. Sufficient resources are held to apply these funds in accordance with the relevant restrictions. The capital of these

endowment funds are invested in a diversified portfolio of equities and short-term deposits. Details of other endowment funds held can

be obtained on request from the School’s Senior Financial Accountant.

Fund name value at net income unrealised value at 1 august 2009 reinvested gain 31 July 2010 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000

Al Jaber Chair in Middle East Studies 2,094 24 245 2,363King Fahd Chair 1,627 8 180 1,815Academic Development Fund 1,185 38 119 1,342Council for World Mission 1,096 (17) 128 1,207Numata Fund 837 78 134 1,049

6,839 131 806 7,776

al Jaber chair in middle east studies

The fund was created by an agreement on 29 May 2002 between Sheikh Mohammed bin Issa al Jaber and the School. A sum of £1,700,000 was

given to establish a Chair in Middle East Studies at the School.

King Fahd chair

The fund was created on 1 May 1995 by an agreement with the government of Saudi Arabia. A sum of £1,000,000 was given to establish a Chair of

Islamic Studies.

academic development Fund

The current fund was established within the Scheme of Association that was signed on 11 October 1993 between Lady David, the University of

London and John Franks (Protection Nominee). The fund was to be a charitable fund to be administered in accordance with the objects of the

Percival David Foundation which were to promote the study and teaching of the art and culture of China and of the surrounding regions and the

provision of all necessary facilities and material to that end.

council for world mission

The fund was created by an agreement on 17 July 1998 between the School and The Council for World Mission (CWM). A sum of £995,000 was given

with the purpose of implementing measures for the management, preservation and promotion of the CWM archive and library collections.

numata Fund

The Society for the Advancement of buddhist Understanding established a fund to be known as the ‘Numata Fund’ at the School to fund

the appointment of a scholar in buddhist Studies. The scholar, known as the Numata Fellow, provides lectures and instructions on buddhism

at the School.


20 revaluation reserve 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

at 1 august and 31 July 20,407 20,407

contributions to depreciation

At 1 August 3,534 3,328

Released in year 204 206

at 31 July 3,738 3,534

net revaluation amount

at 31 July 16,669 16,873

21 general reserve note 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

Balance at 1 august 32,983 32,863

Surplus for the year retained within general reserves 2,062 875

Release from revaluation reserve to fund depreciation charge 20 204 206

Increase/(decrease) in market value of investments 965 (961)

Balance at 31 July 36,214 32,983

22 Financial and capital commitments

At 31 July 2010 the School was committed to making the following payments during the next year in respect of operating leases: 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

Plant and machinery:

Expiring within one year 7 44

Expiring within two to five years inclusive 441 491

448 535

At 31 July 2010 the School had the following capital commitments in relationto the purchase of fixed asset property additions: 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

Approved and contracted 6,687 1,719

Approved but not contracted 6,011 6,148

12,698 7,867



23 reconciliation oF deFicit aFter depreciation oF assets at valuation BeFore and aFter taX to net casH inFlow From operating activities 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

Surplus after depreciation of assets at valuation before and after tax 2,162 1,081

Depreciation charges 3,273 2,688

Deferred capital grants released to income (1,120) (1,042)

Deferred capital gifts released to income (139) (139)

Investment income (872) (1,581)

Interest payable 290 435

Decrease in debtors (126) (310)

Increase in creditors 180 783

net cash inflow from operating activities 3,648 1,915

24 gross casH Flows 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

returns on investments and servicing of finance

Income from investments 741 790

Income from short-term deposits 131 791

Interest paid (290) (435)

582 1,146

capital expenditure and financial investment

Proceeds from sales of fixed assets 1 99

Payments to acquire tangible assets (6,388) (2,856)

Receipts from sales of investments and endowment assets 747 608

Deferred capital gifts and grants received 1,373 605

(4,267) (1,544)

management of liquid resources

Transfers to short-term deposits (794) (3,309)

Financing

Loan drawdown — 1,047

Loan repayments (476) (338)

(476) 709


25 analysis oF cHanges in Funds at other at 1 august cash non-cash 31 July note 2009 Flows changes 2010 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000

Cash in hand and at bank 2,122 (1,997) — 125

Investment cash held at SOAS 12 — 117 — 117

Endowment asset cash 13 1,791 573 — 2,364

3,913 (1,307) — 2,606

cash and short-term deposits 14,460 794 — 15,254

Debt due within one year 15 (462) 462 (462) (462)

Debt due after one year 16 (10,116) 14 462 (9,640)

7,795 (37) — 7,758



26 pension scHemes

The School is a member institution in two pension schemes for university employees which are managed by trustees: the Universities

Superannuation Scheme (USS) for academic and academic related staff and the Superannuation Arrangements of the University of London

(SAUL) for all other staff.

Employer contributions are determined by the trustees on the advice of the scheme actuary. The triennial actuarial valuation for SAUL was last

calculated as at 31st March 2008 and the contribution rate is currently 13 percent. The triennial actuarial valuation of USS was carried out as at 31st

March 2008 and the contribution rate was increased from 14 to 16 percent on 1 October 2009. The next formal triennial actuarial valuation is due as

at 31 March 2011 for both schemes. The contribution rate will be reviewed as part of each valuation and may be reviewed more frequently.

because of the mutual nature of both schemes, the schemes’ assets are not linked to individual institutions and scheme-wide contribution rates

are set. The institution is therefore exposed to actuarial risks associated with other institutions’ employees and is unable to identify its share of the

underlying assets and liabilities of the schemes on a consistent and reasonable basis and therefore, as required by FRS 17 “Retirement benefits”,

accounts for the schemes as if they were defined contribution schemes. As a result, the amount charged to the income and expenditure account

represents the contributions payable to the schemes in respect of the accounting period.

both the SAUL and USS pension schemes are “last man standing” schemes so that in the event of the insolvency of any of the participating

employers in either scheme, the amount of any pension funding shortfall (which cannot otherwise be recovered) in respect of that employer

will be spread across the remaining participant employers and reflected in the next actuarial valuation of the relevant scheme. both the SAUL

and USS pension schemes are valued using the projected unit credit method.

Details of the two schemes are as follows : saul uss

latest actuarial valuation dated 31/03/08 31/03/08

Investment returns per annum - past service liabilities before retirement 6.9% 4.4% - past service liabilities after retirement 4.8% 4.4% - future service liabilities before retirement 7.0% 6.4% - future service liabilities after retirement 5.0% 6.4%

Salary scale increases per annum 4.9% 4.3%

Pension increases per annum 3.4% 3.3%

Market value of assets at date of last valuation £1,266M £28,843M

Liabilities at date of last valuation £1,266M £28,135M

Surplus at date of last valuation — £707M

Proportion of members’ accrued benefits covered by the actuarial value of the assets 100% 103%

the total pension cost for the school was: 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

Contributions to SAUL 789 581

Contributions to USS 4,811 3,131

total pension cost 5,600 3,712


In respect of the USS pension scheme, since 31 March 2008 global investment markets have continued to fluctuate and at 31 March 2010 the actuary has estimated that the funding level under the new scheme specific funding regime had fallen from 103% to 91% (a deficit of £3,065 million). Compared to the previous 12 months, the funding level has improved from 74% (as at 31 March 2009) to 91%. This estimate is based on the funding level at 31 March 2008 adjusted to reflect the fund’s actual investment performance over the two years and changes in market conditions.

27 access Funds note 2010 2009 £’000 £’000

balance unspent at 1 August 3 2

Funding Council grants 68 79

Disbursed to students (68) (78)

Balance retained at 31 July 15 3 3

Access Fund grants are available solely for students; the School acts only as paying agent.

The grants and related disbursements are therefore excluded from the income and expenditure account.


maRkEting

Tel: +44(0)20 7898 4061

Fax: +44(0)20 7898 4069

Email: [email protected]

communicationS and EvEntS

Tel: +44(0)20 7898 4956/4073

Fax: +44(0)20 7898 4019

Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

StudEnt REcRuitmEnt oFFicE

Tel: +44(0)20 7898 4034

Fax: +44(0)20 7898 4039


SoaS EntERpRiSE

Tel: +44(0)20 7898 4837

Fax: +44(0)20 7898 4839


dEvElopmEnt and alumni RElationS

Tel: +44(0)20 7898 4060/4041

Fax: +44(0)20 7898 4019


[email protected]

USEFUL CONTACTS

School oF oRiEntal and aFRican StudiES (SoaS)

Thornhaugh Street

Russell Square

London

WC1H 0XG

United Kingdom

Tel: +44(0)20 7637 2388

Fax: +44(0)20 7436 3844

Web: www.soas.ac.uk

thE BRunEi gallERy

Tel: +44(0)20 7898 4023

Fax: +44(0)20 7898 4259


thE languagE cEntRE

Tel: +44(0)20 7898 4888

Fax: +44(0)20 7898 4889


thE REgiStRy

Tel: +44(0)20 7074 5105

Fax: +44(0)20 7074 5089


SoaS liBRaRy

Tel: +44(0)20 7898 4163

Fax: +44(0)20 7898 4159


FinancE oFFicE

Tel: +44(0)20 7074 5030

Fax: +44(0)20 7074 5029


Opposite page: Painting from ‘The Light - Portraits of the “Hibakusha”’ Brunei Gallery exhibition

The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) was founded in 1916 and is the only higher education institution in the world specialising exclusively in the study and research of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Our academic focus on the languages, cultures and societies of these regions makes SOAS a guardian of specialist knowledge and an indispensable interpreter in a complex world.

Statement of purpoSe

SOAS provides resources and knowledge about Asia, Africa and the Middle

East to equip people for a global economy and a multicultural Britain.

The School’s purpose is:

• To advance through teaching and research the knowledge

and understanding of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

• To contribute to the development of the School’s academic disciplines.

• To provide a high quality education so that our students

achieve excellence in their chosen subject or subjects and

develop their intellectual and other core skills.

• To promote and lead global public education in our areas of

specialist expertise concerning Asia, Africa and the Middle East,

both in the United Kingdom and around the world.

IMAGES AND PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF:

Treasures of SOAS collection:

Front cover, inside front cover and back cover - Front binding, Divan of Hãfiz. Turkey 1715

Page 30 - Wall painting no.6 of the Main Hall of the Horyuji temple. Kyoto, 1935. George Eumorfopoulos

Page 49 - Front binding, Muhammad Zuhuri, Divan. Kashmir, 19th century

Pages 2, 10, 15, 17, 18, 20 - Glenn Ratcliffe

Page 3 - The Royal Anniversary Trust

Pages 4, 7 and 8 - David Levenson

Page 10 - Trevor Marchand (Djenné)

Page 12 - Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies

Page 18 - David Barbour

Page 18 - Adriana de Miranda

Page 19 - Jessica Kendall

Page 19 - Asia-Europe Museums Network

Page 20 - Painting from The Light - Portraits of the ‘Hibakusha’

Page 21 - Armenian Institute

Page 38 - Painting from ‘The Light - Portraits of the “Hibakusha’”

Inside Back Cover - Painting from ‘The Light - Portraits of the “Hibakusha”’

2009

SCHOOL OF ORIENTALAND AFRICAN STUDIES

ANNUAL REPORTAND FINANCIAL

STATEMENTS 2009/2010

THORNHAUGH STREETRUSSELL SQUARE

LONDON WC1H 0XG

T: +44 (0)20 7637 2388F: +44 (0)20 7436 3844

I: www.soas.ac.uk