When I first became PVC in 2004 we generally held Senate in the Richard Roberts lecture theatre with a configuration that had the whole of the executive team (the Senior Management Group as it was then called) sitting facing the rest of Senate, with everyone else in the lecture theatre seats facing the 'top table'.  There was an attitude amongst one or two of my colleagues on the top table that a successful Senate was one where there were no questions asked, no points of discussions, and all the talking was done by those presenting various reports for information or approval.  If anyone asked a question they did so without the benefit of a microphone, so no one sitting behind them could hear what they were saying.

One of my achievements since then has been the creation of a new format for Senate.  I suggested some time ago that we should move to a different seating arrangement - others took that forward and added the use of microphones. That is partly inevitable since we now generally use Firth Hall, where the size of the venue necessitates amplification.    The 'top table' of those actually presenting business is still identifiable, but that is partly prgamatic to enable the main speakers to have access to the microphone and lectern.  But plenty of business is also presented from other locations.  We sit at round tables, encouraging interaction between senators. And we have roving microphones so that questions can be heard by everyone.

But it is a little disappointing that we haven't actually engendered a great deal of extra discussion. At today's Senate the Registrar and I took senators through the whole of 'Project 2012' and the process by which we have consulted on how to respond to the new fee regime.  Perhaps we talked too long; perhaps we provided too many details. Perhaps (and it would be nice to think that this was the case) we answered all the possible questions people had in their minds so that they didn't need to pose them.  The 10-15 minutes discussion afterwards was a little less than I, for one, had been expecting.

But I still think that adopting a format for Senate that should enable more discussion is a good thing.