Newcastle University. Report from University / Students Union Partnership Committee to Council. 13 th December 2011

Transcription

1 1. Minutes Newcastle University Report from University / Students Union Partnership Committee to Council 13 th December 2011 The Committee received the minutes of the 19 th October 2011 meeting. Jeannette Strachan (JS) and Simon Gerry (SG) formed a working group to review the Terms of Reference and Good Governance Principles, brought to this meeting as Document B. Arrangements have been made for SG and Katy Hargreaves (NUSU Welfare Officer) to take part in the safe student drinking working group (reporting to UTLSEC) when this group meets in early Margaret Hunter (MH) and Laura Perry (LP) have liaised about the proposed Accommodation Strategy. Clare Rogers (CR) and LP have liaised about the proposed Estates Student Committee, and are drafting terms of reference for it. SG and John Hogan (JH) met before the SUEI audit. SUEI audit results are due in February The NUSU 2010/11 Impact Report has been printed and was received by Executive Board in December Copies are available from SG. Agreed: The minutes were agreed as a true and accurate record. 2. Good Governance Principles: update from working group The Committee received an update from the SG and JS on the Good Governance Principles. Document B, a draft update to the Relationship Agreement, was tabled. SG and JS invited comments on Document B in advance of a full discussion at the next Partnership Committee meeting. (ii) In response to JH s query, SG clarified that this draft update to the Relationship Agreement is intended to support and to prompt periodic review of the existing Code of Practice, not as a replacement for it. Agreed: All members are invited to send comments on Document B to SG and JS in advance of a full discussion at the next Partnership Committee meeting. 3. NUSU Accounts The Committee received Document C, the NUSU income and expenditure account to 30 th October 2011, and Document D, the NUSU cash flow forecast and balance sheet, from SG. SG presented Document D. The balance brought forward at August 2011, and the forecast balance to be carried forward at July 2012, show that the NUSU s cash flow is improving year on year. Document D includes cash flow related to the capital development project, which makes these figures less clear. Richard Dale (RD) thanked 1 of 5

2 SG and asked that future presentations to Trustees and to Partnership Committee include a brief explanatory text. (ii) SG presented Document C: At the end of October 2011 NUSU was ahead of overall budget, including areas that were either ahead of or behind budget Retail was behind budget as the NUSU had been closed for 4 additional days before the recant, and was not yet achieving its overall 10% budget increase. Ongoing issues with screen displays and the new EPOS (electronic point of sale) system are being monitored. Issues around salaries are due to staff health issues and sickness. In response to JH s query, SG said that students are employed in the NUSU shop in addition to core staff members Bars were operating at a 23% increase on previous levels, just behind the budgeted 25% increase. Gross Profit is currently lower than forecast and line cleaning costs are currently being investigated. Higher price points planned for events have not been used, so Gross Profit may be affected by using only the base price points Marketing is slightly ahead of budget, and that digital screens have been a particularly strong source of income General Activity is behind budget, having lost a month of income. Costs from the official opening of the SU Building will be included in the November 2011 accounts Representation & Democracy figures were ahead of budget as they depend on the scheduling of training events. Participation & Personal Development figures were also ahead of budget: society membership figures are high, and the NUSU Activities Officer is ensuring that grant forms are correctly completed. Sports figures are ahead of budget due to issues around the annualisation of salaries but are expected to level out It is too soon to adjust forecast figures based on the first full month following recant, and that he will reforecast at the start of (iii) RD said he was keen to learn from NUSU s experience of moving to a new EPOS system as the University will be buying an EPOS system. SG said that day-to-day EPOS data was reliant on robust inputs on stock levels and price points. EPOS base data was clearly presented, and work to link this to the NUSU finance system and minimize manual processes was ongoing. (iv) The Chair thanked SG. Agreed: SG will include a brief explanatory text in future financial presentations to Trustees and to Partnership Committee. 4. Progress against NUSU Operational Plan for 2011/12 The Committee received the updated NUSU Operational Plan for 2011/12 (Doc E) and an oral update from SG. SG noted that at this early point in the academic year the majority of KPIs were progressing at or ahead of target (green flag). Specific points were: the timescale for the implementation of the Equality and Diversity plan had slipped but work was progressing (p.3) Sabbatical Officers attendance at meetings was ahead of target at 90% (p.4) increase in attendance had not yet been achieved but all meetings had been quorate (p.4) issues had been identified in the Hall Reps system (p.5). A review of the training and role of Hall Reps is planned to support future recruitment and election of Hall Reps. LP suggested that the timings in the existing system were a problem as Hall Reps role continued after they had moved out of their Hall, making engagement with incoming students challenging 2 of 5

3 the provision of Livechat was being reviewed following LP s visit to Singapore and Malaysia, in light of student demands and licensing costs the new student volunteering scheme in SAC was well ahead of target, with many students giving more than their promised 3 hours a week student society membership was well ahead of target, with 9410 memberships on 13 th December 2011 (p.8). This represents approximately 8000 individual students. The Chair noted a risk that societies might struggle to accommodate high numbers of students. SG said that value for money of society membership was a KPI and would be addressed in student surveys early in 2012 the planned Be a Champion activities in line with a NUS and 2012 Olympics project have been promoted but no student volunteers have come forward. These activities will go ahead as planned but the Be a Champion branding of them will not. The Chair agreed that this was a reasonable decision and that future reports should not imply this was a failure in addition to the commercial and retail targets (pp.12-15) already discussed, mystery customer scores had been well ahead of target training on the PSF crystal report viewer had been delayed but was now complete. Clubs and societies now had online access to their statements. Management accounts had been delayed by problems with the EPOS system that are being addressed. (ii) The Chair thanked SG and congratulated NUSU on their progress against the Operational Plan. 5. NUSU President s Report The Committee received the NUSU President s report and an oral update from LP. LP presented Doc F, including updates: the SOS Stressed Out Students campaign was running to offer students support during exam period the University Challenge team members are mostly Postgraduate students, making this competition a good way to engage with Postgraduate students. The team members will meet this week the November elections were held. Freshers Week organizers for 2012/13 were elected, and will begin organizing the events after undertaking their training by March SU Council Chair and a Campaigns Officer were elected. Unusually, the Student Parents and Carers position was contested, and the elected officer will sit until March and then stand again in a by-election LP and LD s job descriptions were updated in the Constitution of the SU Council. Diversity Executive Committee has been disestablished as its role is fulfilled by Welfare and Citizenship Committee. The Elections Committee was updated by removing steering group for its meetings. LP tabled the updated NUSU constitution, inviting comments to be discussed at the next Partnership Committee meeting Alice Holloway (AH) said sports memberships were at 3000 at the start of November, across 59 sports clubs. AH has had catch-up meetings with 29 sports club presidents so far. The sports sponsorship contracts were renegotiated with Aldi. The Stan Calvert Cup is on 4 th March and the Athletics Union ball is on 29 th April there has been a huge membership increase for student societies. 1 person may be member of more societies, with around 8000 individual students involved in societies. Anja Kurek (NUSU Activities Officer) has attended society events for contact and support. Give it a Go events have been very popular LD said over 966 Course Reps have been recruited. He is waiting for data from the Dental School and the total number of Course Reps may reach The target of training 50% of Course Reps is feasible, based on numbers of Course Reps booked 3 of 5

4 on training this year and those trained in previous years. Online training is planned for 2012/13. The Hall Reps system will be reviewed following limited success this year, to include more comprehensive training and a clearer role description LP tabled an update on Student Community Action Newcastle (SCAN) activities. SCAN projects attract a 50/50 mix of Home and International students, making SCAN projects excellent opportunities for social integration. SCAN projects mainly attracted female students, so there is work to be done on attracting male students. LP said students in Malaysia had said they expected involvement in a project, not necessarily to run their own clubs or societies, and SCAN projects could meet this need the NHS are looking to run focus groups with students as assessment of student health needs in Newcastle, including GP registration and Accident and Emergency usage. NUSU are working closely with the NHS to secure a good turnout 10 editions of The Courier have been produced this academic year, each with 4000 printed copies. The website receives an average of 4000 hits each week. The Courier TV has resolved its equipment issues and is now doing fly-on the-wall filming of students in town Newcastle Student Radio broadcast in the SU Building for the first time this week, having addressed technical and content issues around broadcasting in the building SUEI audit results are expected in February NUSU are planning to send a survey to all NUSU members in early 2012 to inform another strategic planning session with the Trustees. The NUSU Impact Report went to Council to present the tangible benefits it offers students and the wider community. (ii) The Chair thanked LP for her report, and congratulated her on a strong presentation on the role of NUSU to Council yesterday (iii) JH and JS commended SCAN s work, and asked whether further publicity of students positive contributions to the community might help counter negative feedback from some city residents. Guerilla gardening or a Singapore edition of The Courier might be opportunities for projects to engage with Singapore-based students during their 2 weeks in Newcastle. Agreed: The Secretary to circulate electronic versions of the updates to the NUSU Council s Constitution, for discussion at the next meeting of Partnership Committee. 6. Operational Group update The Committee received the minutes of the Operational Group (Doc G) and an oral update from JS. Updates to Document G were: SU Board of Trustees, Sports equipment storage issues have now been rectified, JS and Katy Hargreaves are keen to highlight positive campaigns by NUSU to the Jesmond Residents Association and other Residents Associations the 2012 Freshers Crew training manual will be updated to include written guidance on Freshers Crew drinking when off-duty JS and SG met to discuss amounts of money NUSU receives from bars in Newcastle, and the NUSU non-student Trustees will be made aware of these amounts the SU Building PC cluster is open as a soft launch. Use of the PC cluster is growing following students word-of-mouth promotion. The cluster is also included on the ISS mobile application and on University lists of PC clusters CR has agreed the new location and installation of new signage for the night bus pick up stop the University has not been approached by Oxford Hub/Student Hubs, a private company offering services already provided by NUSU 4 of 5

5 , the refurbished SU Building was officially opened by the Vice-Chancellor on Friday 18 th November RD resolved issues around settling the costs of Liam Dale s (LD) visit to Singapore and Malaysia, the Robinson Library will be open 24hours a day during term time from early January 2012 students are now employed to staff the King s Gate reception desk. (ii) The Chair thanked JS for her update, and said that employing students on the King s Gate reception desk is an excellent move. 7. Prevent update The Committee received an oral update from JS on Prevent issues. The Good Campus Relations Group was launched at a faith leaders lunch on 23 rd November th (ii) JS attended a Prevent meeting on 12 December. Newcastle University, Northumbria University, and Newcastle College are members of a work stream aiming to link their work on Prevent. (iii) Peter Thompson is the University s police Prevent contact. Katy Hargreaves will make contact with him. Lydia Wysocki 25 January of 5