Committee and Officer Reports - Guild Council February 2, 2012

8/3/2019 Committee and Officer Reports - Guild Council February 2, 2012

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Election Committee Report to Guild Council

GC.2.12.5a

Elections Committee

Elections Committee has not meet since its last report due to their being no on-goingelections for it to adjudicate on. Nominations did however open on Monday in the GuildOfficer Elections 2012 on Monday January 16 th . We hope that all Guild Councillors will takethe opportunity to get involved in the largest elections in the Guild of Students year, either bystanding to become candidates or encouraging your constituents to do so. Nominationsclose at 12pm on Monday February 6 th . You can find out more information, includingdownloading a nominations pack at www.guildofstudents.com/elections or the Guild Officer Elections Newsfeed on Facebook.

Author / contact: Hugo Sumner VPDR

Executive Summary: This report summaries forthcoming activity forthe current Guild Officer Elections 2012
http://www.guildofstudents.com/electionshttp://www.guildofstudents.com/electionshttp://www.guildofstudents.com/electionshttp://www.guildofstudents.com/elections


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ResExec Committee Report to Guild Council

GC.2.12.5c

Summary of meetings held between 22 nd November 2011 and 24 th January 2012

22 nd November 2011Reminder to promote RA ElectionsInformation on Housing Campaign given outInformation on RA Results Night Given outRAs reported on what events they were organisingReminder about procedure for Winter Ball tickets was givenVarious meetings reported back RAs were invited to an Employability training session

9 th December 2011Info on Officer Elections was givenFeedback from Winter balls was given (where they had taken place)Feedback from a Freshers Fest survey was givenHousing Fairs were promotedRAs were reminded to handover to new committeesRAs reported on their highlight of the year and gave a top tip to the newly electedRAsVarious issues to do with sorting emails, pigeons holes and query folders was given.Reports from meetings was givenVPHC gave a leaving speech

24 th January 2011Feedback from the training weekend was givenInformation on officer elections was givenRAs were reminded to book a handover with a staff member so they could be signedinRAs were updated about freshers hoodiesDates were given for upcoming activities including Get Involved Fairs andVolunteering week RAs spoke about getting involved in International Womens Week RAs feedback on one activity that they were thinking of runningVarious processes from training were reiterated such as needing a budget form for every piece of expenditureInformation on what meetings RAs can take part in was given (AMG, SpresExec, etc).RAs were given some information on Guild Council and how it worksRAs with vacant positions asked to be included in all meetings so they could makesure someone attended in the meantimeRAs spoke about ideas for volunteering/community based activitiesVPEA spoke to the RAs about involvement in a possible Hall fees campaign

Author / contact: Zuki Majuqwana VPHC

Executive Summary: This report summarises the Res Exec

meeting held on 22 nd November 2011 & 24 th January 2012


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Steering Committee Report to Guild Council

GC.2.12.5d

Steering Report for meeting held 19 th January 2012

Present: Vice President (Democracy & Resources) (Chair), President, Vice President(Education), Vice President (Housing & Community), Vice President (Sport), Chair of Council,Deputy Chair of Council.

Apologies: Vice President (Activities and Development)

In attendance: Director of Membership, Representation and Democracy Manager

Item Paper Comments Decision of Steering

1 Amend Bye-Law11 & Add newBye-law

To amend Bye-law 11 and add anew Bye-law so as to empower students (through Guild Council) inholding Officers and Trustees toaccount

Accept

2 AppointmentPanel

To amend appointments panelmake up and quoracy.

Accept

3 BiologicalRecording

Guild Support for studentscampaigning against the closure ofthe Biological Recordingprogrammes to lobby for a fulltransfer of the administrative andacademic aspects of the course toanother HE institution in the contextof the ongoing consultation.

Accept

4 Change toElection Running

All major changes in the way runelections to have to pass throughGuild Council.

Accept

5 Diverse Food To look at the possibility of providingand increasing the availability ofKosher, Halal andvegetarian/vegan options in theGuild to cater for minority groupsand their dietary requirements.

Accept

6 Give em the oleheave-ho soldier!

Mandate VPAD and VPHC tocreate a mechanism wherebySociety and RA committee

members can be removed by their members in the case of their substandard behaviour.

Accept


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7 Guild Council andthe Trustee Board

Edit Section of the By-Laws thatoutlines the powers of guild council:1.2.6 From time to time be able tomake a request to or provide asteer to the trustee board on an

issue. The trustee board is under noobligation to fulfill or respond to anyrequest or abide by any steer. Ifdeemed necessary the trusteeboard may respond to a steer or request via the trustee boardreport.

Accept

8 Injunction OurResponse

On the 25 th of November theUniversity of Birmingham took outan injunction. This injunction ispoorly worded and needs to bewithdrawn. It has been widelycriticised including by human rightsgroups namely AmnestyInternational and Liberty. The Guildhas requested it is withdrawn theuniversity has declined. The Guildshould now organise ademonstration to defend the rightto protest.

Accept

9 Non-Sabbs andOther Roles

Policy was altered last year to allownon-sabbs to sit on student groupcommittees. This amendmentremoves the right for Non-Sabbs tobe members of committees.

Accept

10 Parking Schemes This motion holds that the Guild ofStudents opposes all parkingschemes that operate to detrimentof students in areas where there is a

high volume of student residences.This motion mandates the Vice-President (Housing & Community) toactively oppose all parkingschemes of this type

Accept

11 Tweaking thePresidents Role

A motion to improve and addclarity to the Preside nts role, asdescribed in the Bye-Laws.

Accept

12 Questions andComments onmotions

To refine the Guild Councilguidance document.Suggested changes:Added into the guidancedocuments that people are

Accept


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actually allowed to ask questionson motions (it is not currentlyallowed).To avoid frustration and to increasedebate, people are allowed to

make comment on whats beensaid, that is not necessarily aquestion. Various parties can thenrespond to this.

13 RAG Conference To make the Vice President(Activities and Development)attend RAG conference each year to gain valuable knowledge, skillsand contacts that will help studentgroups and the Guild as a whole

Accept

14 Save the Library This is an amendment to the Guildbeliefs and commitments inrecognition that the beauty andarchitectural quality of our campusis one of the main attractions toprospective and current studentsand as such, should be maintainedat all costs

Accept

15 Solid Solidarity Whatever our politics or difference

we should united to defend SimonFurse. Simon is being disciplined for his participation in a lawful andpeaceful protest. This protest further caused no disruption to any other student. All across the countrymany thousands of students took part in 21 occupations. Simon is theonly one to be facing a disciplinary

Accept

16 SpresExec This motion is intended to add a

new sub-committee to theResidences Executive (Bye Law 6,Section 8) which will outline theTerms of Reference for theResidences Executive (Sport), or SpresExec.

Accept

17 Steering Reform To refine the Guild Councilguidance document with regardsthe Steering Committee. Thesuggested changes would meanthat the guidelines for steeringwould be tightened up andclarified, allowing for less confusionof the powers of steering. Thechanges would allow steering to be

Accept


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more independent, moreaccountable and transparent.While still recognising the importantrole steering plays in the GuildCouncil Process.

18 SupportCampaign for aGeneral Meeting

This motion mandates officers tohelp the campaign for a studentdemocracy in certain concreteways. The Guild Officer Groupshould support the Reclaim theGuild campaign for studentdemocracy. Guild councilmandates that all officers activelywork towards achieving the goal of10% of the membership signing thePetition for a General Meeting.

Accept

19 The Term Ahead,White Paper, UCU& NUS

This motion is designed to set clear policy for the likely events in thecoming months in terms of higher education campaigning.

Accept

20 Virgin Media This motion calls for the Guild ofStudents to actively boycott VirginMedia until such time that theyprovide the service that theypromise in densely populatedstudent areas in Birmingham. Thismotion mandates the Vice-President (Housing & Community) toraise awareness of the problemsVirgin Media has caused studentsto further inform their decisionsabout which broadband provider they should use.

Accept

21 VolExec This motion is intended at add anew sub-committee to theResidences Executive (Bye Law 6,Section 8) which will outline theTerms of Reference for theResidences Executive(Volunteering), or VolExec.

Accept

22 Provision of WIFI inAccommodation

To mandate the President (Mark Harrop) and VPHC (ZukiMajuqwana) to work with and

support RAs or any other students incampaigning for the provision ofWIFI in all student accommodation

Accept


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23 Gender NeutralToilets

The Guild believes that all studentshave the right to live without fear ofdiscrimination or judgment, and assuch shall ensure the Guild is aninclusive, safe space by ensuring

gender-neutral toilets are availablein the Guild building, on every floor.

Accept

24 Liberation Officersas Trustees

Adding the four Liberation Officersto the Board of Trustees

Accept

25 Return of liberationRooms

Providing all Liberation Associationswith respective rooms, a Women'sroom until they express permission

to remove them and belief in awider existence of 'safe space' inthe Guild and on campus moregenerally.

Accept


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SOG Report to Guild Council

GC.2.12.5e

Author/contact: President

Purpose: For Information

Executive Summary: Please find below a summary of decisions and actionsfrom the Sabbatical Officer Group meetings since the lastGuild Council. Any student can attend these meetings.They are held at midday each Monday in the MandelaRoom.

Recommendation: Have a read and let us know if there is anything you wishto know more about.

Since the last Guild Council the Sabbatical Officer Group (SOG) have met 9 times.

Please be aware that this report was done two weeks before Guild Council and therefore willnot be fully up to date due to time lags. However all summary minutes are placed onlinefollowing approval.

In these meetings the Sabbatical Officers touch base about what they have coming up thatweek, any matters arising from the last meeting and can submit motions for approval. TheChief Executive Officer is in attendance to this meeting but does not have voting rights. TheExecutive Assistant is also present for minute taking only.

Standing items include:

Matters arising

Minutes from last meeting

Diaries

Facebook/blog/Vlogs/Twitter

Door Knocking

Non Sabb Buddies

Officer Training and Development

AOB

Information of what takes place in these standing items can be found on SOG SummaryMinutes on the website, under the Have your say Tab and under Meeting Minutes.

Motions and decisions made at the last set of SOG meetings are as follows:

360 Officers discussed the logistics of the 360 appraisals coming up and who to ask to helpthem develop in their roles better

Injunction The Officers stated that they were not willing to post the University link oninformation to the injunction on the Guild Website.


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SOG Report to Guild Council

CQUAC Changes Officers noted changes to the roles of these college level educationmeetings, but agreed that the changes were not to the detriment to students.

Bye-Laws A student who attended SOG suggested a refresher course for officers on theBye-Laws of the Guild. It was agreed that the President would look into this and is ongoing.

Redbrick/VC Pay VPAD mentioned a report from Redbrick on the VC pay It was agreedthat the Guild would need to know that anything in this report would need to be factual sothat the team could offer an appropriate response.

Injunction It was agreed by SOG that the injunction should be dropped and the Presidentto communicate this in his 1-2-1.

Course Closure Was agreed that the University needed to reacquaint themselves with theconsulting students on major changes policy as it failed to be discussed at University

Education Committee, but the policy was in place.

V(I)PAD The VPAD requested that the previous VPAD be invited to Guild Awards every year Approved.

No more No comment Was noted by SOG that following the recent disciplinary of the VPE,the Guild should make public information regarding the process and why it took so long inthe interests of openness and transparency. Approved.

Campaign Proposal Diversity Supplement

The Campaign proposal was to raise awareness of diversity on campus, to advertise theGuilds zero tolerance policy and to increase the profile of liberation and appropriaterepresentation associations with a 4 page pull out in Redbrick. The options were for a monoor colour pull out.

Protocol Following the Physics Occupation in the pre vious teams year, a draft protocol wasstarted and not finished The President and CEO would lobby the University to get thisfinished, and then taken to Guild Council at the earliest availability Ongoing.

Campaign proposals :

- Vote Match Approved- Sleep out & My Generation Deferred to GOG


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GOG Report to Guild Council

GC.2.12.5f

Guild Officer Group

The Guild Officer Group met on Wednesday 18 th January, with fourteen officers present. Thehighlights of the meeting were as follows:

International Womens Week Campaign Proposal

The Guild Officer Group in principle backed the proposal made by the Womens Officer for there to be a Guild of Students International Womens Week on the week commencing 20 th February with activities organised by the student groups as well as the Womens Officer herself.

Committee Membership

The Postgraduate and Mature Students Officer was added onto the Students UnionEvaluation Initiative Working Group while the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer Students Officer was elected onto Elections Committee. There was also a discussion about

how Guild Officer Group representatives on ad hoc formal meeting such as AppointmentsPanel should be chosen. The Guild Officer Group endorsed the Presidents proposal thatsuch appointments should be made by random selection, with the proviso that for Appointments Panel one of the Officers should (if possible) be a Liberation Officer.

Officer Elections

The Vice President (Democracy & Resources) encouraged all Guild Officers to publicise theforthcoming elections to their constituents and to consider standing themselves.

Promoters

The Vice President (Democracy & Resources) and Home Students Officer reported back thefindings of their investigation into the issue of whether non-sabbatical officers should also bepromoters. Guild Officer Group agreed with them that non-sabb atical officers shouldnt bepromoters but that this would not be able to be implemented until 2013/2014 due tonominations already having opened. The VPDR and HSO will be bringing a paper to theMarch Guild Council for approval.

Joint Statement on Vice President (Education) Disciplinary

Guild Officer Group discussed the form that a joint statement on the issues surrounding therecent disciplinary case involving the Vice President (Education) should take. It was agreedthat a statement should be issued as soon as possible on behalf of the Sabbatical Officer Group.

Author / contact: Hugo Sumner VPDR

Executive Summary: This report summarises the GOG Meeting held on18 th January 2012


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GC.2.12.g Presidents Report to Guild Council

GC.2.12.g Officers Reports to Guild Council

Name: Mark Harrop

Position: President

Date of writing report: 23/01/12

What duties have you been carrying out which tie into your manifesto pledges?

We have started the review of the Joes Plus Card after an amazing term 1, selling nearly 7000cards and saving students over 17,000. We are looking into turning the card digital next year so we can react quicker to what students wants and trends are. We are also exploringmaking the card workable in other areas of the organisation such as Zest, Print Shop etc.

Following the installation of the Plug sockets in the library, I am now pursuing this in other areassuch as the Law and OLRC libraries. Myself the VPDR have also been working with the libraryto advertise Guild Comms better in the Library. Similarly I am now trying to secure funding tomake the library 24hr during peak times such as essay and exam time, reacting to whatstudents told us would be helpful.

Guild Comms is ongoing, however we are trying to get a better presence on campus andhave plans to roll out some digital signage in the library and University Centre.

We are also looking to review our hotdesking trial from term 1, learning from how we can dothis better and therefore can be more accountable to students and not up in our offices too

much.

What other duties have you been carrying out within your role?

RA Training Weekend This was very successful with a really enthusiastic cohort of RAs who Iam sure will do a good job.

ERASMUS Inducting incoming ERASMUS Students into the Guild and how they can benefitfrom getting involved with the Guild.

Meeting on Employability over at the University, reviewing term 1 findings and how to besttake these forward in future.

Trustee Board See Trustee Board report.

SPRC Strategic Planning and Resource Committee a sub-committee of University Councilof which I represent the Guild on.

Chancellor Appointment Committee Following opening consultation, helping to draw ashort list.

Email servers University looking to change email servers and O was consulted on thesechanges. These were brought to the better Guild and Welfare Forums.


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VPAD Report to Guild Council

Name: Fliss Cross

Position: Vice President (Activities and Development)



1) To create an online platform for groups to interact and get online resources

On the 27 th January I will be going to Manchester to look at the next phase of NUS digital. Thisincludes looking at a demo of the clubs and societies aspect of the new website as well asthe ticketing process. I will then be able to feedback to them as to requirements. In this

feedback I will include the comments made about the functionality of the current websiteand its layout from student groups at the forums and any feedback given to me in person.Hopefully you will have noticed the tweak made to the current we bsite where now wehave societies and volunteering explicitly mentioned on the homepage as opposed to GetInvolved, hopefully making it easier to find things on the website. My next phase of updateon our current website is to try and get an easily accessible form bank under the societiesand volunteering tab as well as more photos and videos of student groups. If you have anyyou would like to use please make sure they effectively demonstrate your activity and are ofhigh quality. Alternatively, if you have any more suggestions for societies and volunteering onthe website then please contact me via [email protected]

2) To enhance development between student activities and the job market

I have a meeting on the 26 th January to look at changing the points system for theundergraduate pathway of the Personal Skills Award. This is because many students areputting in hundreds and hundreds of hours as part of committees and then getting the sameamount of points as someone who completes the minimum 50 hours. Therefore I want to tryand persuade the PSA to use a sliding scale depending on commitment to student groupsand other activities. Work on the PG PSA is also going well and I will hopefully be seeing atemplate for the trial very shortly to be implemented next year. A big thank you to EmilyHalford, PMSO, and the PGMSA for their work on this matter. For my next phase of workingwith the Careers Centre I would like to be able to lobby them on targeting work experienceat different types of student groups, rather than just through departments. To do this I want tocollect case studies of alumni who have gone into careers directly related to or aided by

involvement in the Guild. If you can think of anyone who may be a good example that mightbe willing to provide a case study to go on the website then please contact me at the usualaddress.

3) To improve marketing of student groups on campus, in halls and around the Guild.

This term I will be working with the marketing department to get poster boards in themembership area and by subway. This will allow societies to display their artwork on theground floor of the Guild and has been much needed in the Guild since the redevelopmentof the membership area. I hope to get this change made in time for the next phase of thewayfinding which will be happening at Easter and will include more signage on the 2 nd floor of the Guild. I will also be working with Zuki, Tim and hopefully the med school to look at how

Guild activities and events can be better marketed in halls and out on the wider campus.Finally, I am hoping to get in touch with Artsoc and Photosoc about displaying more studentgroup artwork around the Guild and in some of the new meeting rooms.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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VPAD Report to Guild Council

4) To reform Student Group Training

We are now entering the first stage of synchronisation of AGMs so we can provide better training for student groups and the exemption forms are currently being considered by

Student Groups Committee. The add on sessions f or Student Groups is something that I willbe writing training templates for over the summer and we will hopefully be organising somepeer led miniforum sessions after exams in Term 3 which will hopefully make our committeesmore sustainable.


Room Review

This review has been conducted following consultation with affected groups, largely throughthe Association Review, but also through a steer that was passed by the Student GroupsCommittee, who are elected to act in the best interest of all student groups.

The review is as follows:This has meant that the following groups have kept their room: TV, Radio, Newspaper,Photosoc Dark Room and the Artsoc Room

The following have been removed: Debating Society Office, LGBTQ room and WomensAssociation Room.

The criteria was looked at on a functional level if it was only possible to carry out activities in

one room in the Guild then societies kept their room. If not, then they would have to book rooms like all our other societies.

The main concern has followed from the Liberation Rooms because of Safe Space. To aidwith this, we are currently working to further promote our Zero Tolerance policy and disciplinestudents who break this policy anywhere in the Guild. This is following on from our AssociationReview which passed through Council last year. We have also moved any literature from theLGBTQ and Womens room into our main membership area to make this more accessible for all students because it was locked in their rooms, of which one was not disabled access. Thisalso makes it fair for our other two Liberation Associations who dont possess rooms: the Black and Ethnic Minority Society and Disabled Students and Mental Health Association. To ensurethat these groups are guaranteed a room which best suits their needs and provides their safe

space within the Guild they are given first priority on all our termly room bookings. Currentlyboth the associations with their own rooms have had to book other spaces because their room is either too small or doesnt possess disabled access.

Dance Studio

Work on the Dance Studio has temporarily been halted until we can remove asbestos fromthe ceiling. However, many of the dance groups have been consulted about the placementof mirrors in the room and shown into the Venues storeroom to see how it is all going to fittogether.


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If you have any questions please @Guild_Hugo

feel free to email me at: BhamGuildVpDemocracy AndResources

[email protected]

VPDR Report to Guild Council


Name: Hugo Sumner Position: Vice President

(Democracy & Resources)

Date: 22 nd January 2012


Better Value in Joes Bar

Those of you who have read my blog will know that in term one the Joes+ loyalty card hassaved students over 17,000 over the course of term one, a really great success. In line with

feedback received from students, prices on spotlight offers on club nights have beenreduced further for the first couple of weeks back, as a reward and thank you for those whohave purchased the card.

Plans are being made to expand the loyalty card further and develop it into more of a smartcard for the next academic year. This will have the benefit of being able to capture datathat will help the Guild tailor more offers to specific times of the year, in line with studentdemand.

Brand New Website

The Guild website has now been tweaked in order to improve navigation and embed videoand social media streams on the home page, something which previously has not beenpossible on the old format. This will be a temporary half-way house until the Guild moves over to a brand new web platform hosted by NUS Digital, in time for September 2012.

On Friday 27 th January, along with the VPAD I will be attending a workshop in Manchester aimed at reviewing the progress of the project, in particularly the modules to do with societiesand events in order to feedback to the NUS what our thoughts are and suggest a wayforward. As Guild Council is after this date, feel free to ask me what my thoughts were aboutthe day and where the project is generally.


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If you have any questions please @Guild_Hugo

feel free to email me at: BhamGuildVpDemocracy AndResources

[email protected]




Officer Elections 2012This years final and biggest election cycle is now underway, with nominations for Officer Elections opening on 16 th January, and closing on 6 th February. This year campaigning willopen on 27 th February and close on the 9 th March, with results being announced the dayafter. A couple of notable changes to this years elections will include voting opening on thefirst Friday, with students being able to vote over the weekend and not having to wait untilMonday. Additionally the Guild will be working with VoteMatch to give students the option ofcomparing their views to those of candidates in order to gain a clearer picture of wherecandidates stand on the issues facing the student body.

This will hopefully be the first step on the road to strengthening the debate about policy

during Officer Elections and follows a very successful spell at Leeds University Union last year.

Green Impact Award Work is underway with the Ethical & Environmental Officer to complete the requirements for this years Green Impact Awa rd, run by the NUS. Last year the Guild won a Gold Award,hence I will be looking to carry on the good work done last year. A lot of the focus is aroundenergy efficiency, which is always challenging in old buildings but I can assure you I will bedoing my all in order to maintain our Gold standard.

Wayfinding

The final stages of the ground floor wayfinding project are now complete, with a host of newsignage up around the building. Since the building redevelopment in 2010, this is the first effortto signpost students around the Guild and hopefully youll agree that they all look great. Thisincludes the Officer team making a number of appearances around the building, which willhopefully help increase awareness of who the Officer team are, as part of the Officer Engagement Plan started this year.


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VPE Report to Guild Council

Name:

Edd Bauer

Position:

VPE

Date: 2/2/12


Hey guild council glad to have me back? Having been the first sabbatical officer to ever besuspended from their elected position without a vote for a full term I am now picking upwhere I left off and Im trying to complete my manifesto in record time. In addition I am

joining the reclaim the guild campaign, I think It is time we organised serious democraticreform of the guild. The best way to do this is a general meeting under company law whichcan pass constitutional reform.

Particularly on my agenda these last few weeks have been laying the ground work for thecooperative projects I promised to help build as a sabb.

The main principle behind all community run co-ops is that by pooling our buying power andordering food in bulk direct from suppliers, a group of people can buy at a more affordableprice. This is especially important as the price of living as a student becomes increasingunaffordable. In particular Im working on food and housing cooperative and I hope to havethese schemes being launched soon.

Two particular academic issues that has been brought to my attention and that was raisedduring my absence is joint honor students clashes and the biological recording closure. Theguild is producing a report on the issues facing JH students please come to the consultationthis Friday 6pm in the guild council chambers. Additionally if Guild councilors could search for and sign the petition Biological Recording at BHAM needs you.

In terms of national student politics with the strike on march 1 st and the white paper potentially going to parliament I am pushing for co-ordinated action by the NUS.


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VPHC Report to Guild Council

Name: Zuki Majuqwana

Position: Vice-President (Housing & Community)

Date of writing report: 23 January 2012

Significant achievements since the last Guild Council:

Zuki Says RELAX!

Following on from the success of the Zuki Says Relax Housing Roadshows, where over 700students were enlightened about the ferocity of the world of private sector housing, the ZukiSays Relax campaign has achieved even more this year.

The Zuki Says RELAX Top 10 Tips for Happy House Hunting video on YouTube has receivedto date 977 views and should hopefully breach the 1,000 barrier by the time Guild Councilcomes around and the housing season slows down. As it stands it is by far the most viewedvideo on the Guild of Students YouTube channel and has made getting bitesize housingadvice very convenient for students at Birmingham.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr32ARYdgTo/

The Housing Fair that took place on Wednesday

11 January and saw in the region of 1,800students through its doors. The fair was a place for various housing support schemes including theCommunity Wardens and LIVING, as well as MLAS(Midland Landlord Accreditation Scheme)Accredited landlords and letting agents to be allin one room so students can go about their house-hunting in a safe environment.

The 2 nd Phase of the Zuki Says Relax campaign will begin in the Summer Term.

Fab n Feel Good Litter Pick

Last term a litter pick was organised by myself and the Community Wardens in order to getSelly Oak looking pretty Fab and really Fresh for the end of term, with the incentive being aticket to Fab n Friday which had sold out within just a few hours of tickets going online.

27 people initially signed up for the litter pick and although a few people did drop out at thelast minute, and we successfully cleared several bin-bags of litter off the streets. After thesuccess of this event and the positive feedback it received from a number of angles, I amdetermined to turn it into a termly event and am currently exploring more ways ofincentivising it to make it appeal to students who dont want a Fab ticket.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr32ARYdgTo/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr32ARYdgTo/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr32ARYdgTo/


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VPHC Report to Guild Council

Crime:

Last term, as many of you may know, saw the number of recorded crimes in Selly Oak increase significantly with burglary reaching as high as 300% of what it was the year before.20010-11 saw the lowest rate of crime in several years after an immense amount of police,council, University, and Guild resources were injected into the largest anti-crime campaign for a long time. This year these resources dried up, and yet despite this it has been revealed thatthere were only actually 2 more properties broken into than last year which really quitepositive in the context of things. The reason that crime was statistically portrayed as higher isbecause the properties broken into were larger (7,8,9 bedrooms) so there were morerecorded victims per break in.

So despite what the figures may suggest, the assertive action being taken by myself and theGuild of Students is having a clear impact!


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VPS Report to Guild Council

Name: Tim Smith

Position: Vice President (Sport)

Date of writing report: 23 rd January 2012


2nd Sports Fair

Since the last Guild Council, much of my attention has been focused on what I consideredthe most important manifesto pledge of mine, to bring to the University of Birmingham a

second Sports Fair.

I am pleased to say that after lots of hard work which started back in September, theinaugural Get Involved Sports and Recreation Fair happened and was a success on Friday13 th January. We had approximately 650 attendees to the Fair, surpassing expectations, andfeedback on the day was that people enjoyed the more relaxed, less competitive nature ofthe day. The aim of the event was to draw people in to playing social and non-competitivesport lots of people can be phased by the bold and boasty nature of UBSport marketingand we wanted to make people realise that the Munrow is not just about international levelhockey players; there are many ways that anyone can get involved.

Through the autumn I challenged club captains and committee members (through the newmini-forum system see Novembers Guild Council report) to think about how they couldadapt and change their club to open up participation pathways within them so thatpeople from the fair could easily join their club. Some clubs already had these in placethrough national schemes, for example badmin ton with No Strings Badminton and lacrossewith Get Into Lacrosse. Other clubs did things off their own back like mountaineering withtheir free indoor climbing taster sessions. Thank you to all committee members who put hardwork into the day, and before it, to make it a success.

Charity Tournaments & Big Events

With the 2 nd Sports Fair, these other two manifesto points have slipped off the radar a little,but there are plans brewing.

As reported at the last Guild Council, I now have all the evidence required to try andchange the way the Big Events system works at UBSport. In regards to charity tournaments(following on from Dodgeball success) there are a few ideas on the table by the time GuildCouncil comes along hopefully these have been narrowed down and we will be set on atournament for this semester.


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VPS Report to Guild Council

Thanks for reading.

Yours,Tim


BUCS West MidlandsSince the beginning of January there have been multiple BUCS documents released for consultation with its member institutions. These documents not only potentially change howthe league structure work and the BUCS points that would go with them (BUCS points are theranking system used to determine which university places where in the sport league table),but also set out criteria for adding/removing new and existing sports from the programme. Inmy role as West Midlands student chair, I have been liaising with the 10 institutions which formthe West Midlands group to collate a response to go back to the National Advisory Board onThursday 26 th January in Loughborough.

Sports ForumBack home, I chaired the second all- sports club captains Sports Forum in the first week ofsemester two. For Guild Council, note that these are separate to the Better Forums and areexclusive to sports club committee members (explained in my blog). Attendance wasexemplary with only two sports not represented. The forum itself cleared up issues from themini-forums, communicated vital information to the clubs and also presented attendees withsome exciting opportunities.

Sports BallPreparation for the 2012 Sports Ball is well and truly underway, with Edgbaston Cricket Clubbooked up and ready to go for the 4 th June. At the moment, the focus is on securing thebudget and deciding what awards will be at the event, but soon the focus shifts onto theinfamous video and how we are going to make 2012s ball truly something spectacular.Tickets will be going on sale in approximately a months time dont miss out!

Welfare WednesdayThe VPW and I collaborated for the Healthy Living Welfare Wednesday on 11 th January.Thanks to the support of UBSport, we provided free zumba classes and 1-2-1 fitness advice allafternoon in the Hub.

Sporting Events on CampusThere are a number of sporting events on the cards for this term, including a world recordattempt, pre-Olympics event, Sport Relief and potentially an event celebrating theParalympics as well. Keep your ears close to the ground for details.

What do you aim to get done before the Guild Council?

BUCS National Advisory Group meeting 26 th Jan (Loughborough)West Mids Regional BUCS meeting 3 rd Feb (Aston)Progress on charity sports tournaments and other sporting events this term.Progress on Sports Ball.Continue with usual weekly commitments.


24/35

VPW Report to Guild Council

Name: Luke Reynolds

Position: Vice President (Welfare)



1) Welfare WednesdaysOn the first Wednesday back of term the VPS and I collaborated on a healthy living Welfare

Wednesday where we had free zumba class on at the vale which 20 people attended andalso free advice being given out but the UBS Thrive team.

2) Mental Health Working with the Universities Senior Tutor and Director of Student Services we have beendoing a review of the Mental Health Advisory Service which is in its final draft stages, amongthe recommendations are the need for administrative support and an extra case worker.

Planning for Mind Awareness Days (MAD) has been going on with laughter yoga confirmedand plans in line for a lecture, film showing and other things on during the week .

Attended a NUS training day around Mental Health Campaigns in Manchester with the DSO .


Have attended many meetings including; Campus security and crime prevention, Steering,Trustee Board, Gradball meetings, R & HR, with campus security, with Director of studentservices, plagiarism meetings with students, E & D meeting and Degree congregations.

I Have been working on putting together a diversity supplement to celebrate diversity oncampus and raise awareness of issues certain groups face.

Have been working on getting the Zero Tolerance accreditation from the NUS and will shortly

be writing a report to get the accreditation which we will then be advertising to student toimprove the safe feeling of the Guild and Campus.

I am on the Gradball working with the VPDR and hoping to make the dinner part of theGradball more successful than in previous years.

I have also been involved in the recruitment process for a new ARC advisor as a positionbecame vacant.


25/35

VPW Report to Guild Council


Better Guild and Welfare forumArts and Law College Board MeetingInterviews for ARC roleUniversity Fitness to practise panelCatch up on emailsCollect articles for diversity supplementContinue planning for MADHelp with one world week planning


26/35

ARAF Officer Report to Guild Council

Name:

Ben Eliad

Position:

AntiRacism AntiFascism Officer

Date: 2/2/12


- I have brought in a Holocaust Memorial Day Speaker along with Abby Levy lookinginto other genocides as well as the Holocaust

- I have brought in OneVoice who brought in 1 Palestinian and 1 Israeli to speak aboutwhat next in the conflict fostering further debate

- I am working with Campusalaam to have a big tent on campus in March showing off

different faiths on campus


- The IPF idea is still a work in progress, and I will be looking to have a table set up duringfreshers fair 2012 I have a number of people interested in taking part and furtheringthis concept

- I will be furthering contact with Coexistence Trust and getting a more formal link

between the guildofstudents and their campus ambassadors as well as campus faithhub- I have also been in touch with Hope Not Hate Campaign and am currently finding out

how our students can get involved in the up and coming local elections where HopeNot Hate really believe they can push BNP out of politics watch this space!


- Will have an AntiRacism AntiFascism workshop for everyone interested to get involved-

Will continue work with Campusalaam to form this big tent idea- Will further Holocaust education with the potential of bringing in Helen Bamber Foundation

- Will continue to foster debate on Israel-Palestine- Formalise the relationship between the guild and coexistence trust


27/35

CA Officer Report to Guild Council

Name: Leander Jones

Position: CAO



I am organising two events which are happening very soon.

The first is going to be a lecture given by Simon Hackett and Lee Harris of the homeless charity

SIFA Fireside, Bethan Wright, a social work student at Birmingham University who is on

placement at SIFA Fireside and Tony Kelly an ex-service user who was homeless.They are going to be talking about their experiences with regard to homelessness. They will be

highlighting what they feel are its underlying causes and also giving their first hand accounts

about the daily realities of homelessness.

This will be followed by a Sleep -out near the end of February (probably 23rd) somewhere

on campus (exact location TBC). This will involve a bunch of interested students getting

themselves sponsored, each for a small amount of money, to sleep rough (in sleeping bags

and cardboard boxes) somewhere on university premises. This is designed to teach thesestudents about the daily lives of the homeless, and to raise money for the SIFA homeless

shelter in Birmingham so that they can continue to provide sufficient food in these difficult

financial times. There will be a bin-fire all night at the sleep- out so people wont get cold, and

hot drinks, meat and veggie sandwiches, juice etc will be served for free. There will also be

members of the charity to speak to all night about the issue.

The details and updates for both events can be found on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/events/166756900093328/

Additionally, going to GOG meetings and Guild Council


N/A


Have gotten permission from the University to hold the sleep-out on campus, and permissionfrom SOG for the funding required from the Campaigns Pot.
http://www.facebook.com/events/166756900093328/http://www.facebook.com/events/166756900093328/http://www.facebook.com/events/166756900093328/


28/35

DS Officer Report to Guild Council

Name:

Jennifer Kirk

Position:

Disabled Students Officer

Date:

23 rd January 2012


Working with the marketing department to ensure new signs are accessible around the

building.

Writing a Disability policy for the guild with support from staff. (focus on accessibility)


Attending a Mental Health training day run by the NUS

Planning a Mind Awareness Campaign for March

Liaising between students and the University on various issues

General Guild Officer Group duties


Hold the first meeting for the Accessibility working group; to start on an action plan for increasing accessibility within the guild and fine-tune the new disability policy.

Continued planning for the Mind Awareness Campaign in March

Promote my role to potential candidates and ensure that the elections are accessible

Give ResExec a briefing on role, campaigns and how to be more inclusive to disabledstudents.

Work with DAMSA committee on increasing profile this term (particularly the Get Involved Fair)


29/35

HS Officer Report to Guild Council

Name: Mikayla Jones

Position: HSO

Date of writing report: 21.1.12


Hello Guild Council welcome back and I hope you all have a happy New Year!

Since last GC I have been working on my small campaign project Home Students SOS tyinginto my manifesto point of community. Hopefully you will be seeing a lot more about thatcampaign and it should benefit home students all across the Uni.

In regards to commuting whenever possible I have made home students aware of some ofthe delays with trains, buses and metros joint with the HSA we are trying to get a network ofcommuters letting each other know too. I would ask those Guild Council to think abouthomies commuting from all corners of Birmingham and the wider West Midlands to Universityto then search for a parking space because most have been taken by someone muchcloser who could walk in instead.


Other duties have included GOG, Sabb buddy meetings; ResExec shout outs and a veryinteresting International Cultural Awareness Workshop that gave me and everyone who took part another perspective to approach things at which is always great. There are a lot ofexciting things to come out of the Non Sabb Office like MAD, OWW and WW. If you want inon the acronyms youve got to pay attention to us non Sabbs to learn more!


A chapter of my dissertation would be lovely and make more progress with SOS. And maybesome Guild Award nominations ;)


30/35

PMS Officer Report to Guild Council

Name: Emily Halford Position: Postgraduate and MatureStudents Officer (PMSO)

Date: 19/01/12

What duties have you been carrying out which tie into your manifestopledges?

I am continuing to work closely with the Postgraduate and Mature Students Association whichmeets every Wednesday to discuss issues which concern postgraduate and mature students.We are having a banner made and will have a stall at the upcoming postgraduate open daywhich I think will be really good for building the foundations for the next academic year so

that lots of postgraduate and mature students get involved. I will also be speaking at theopen day and have given a little speech at each of the Caf PhD events to increase myvisibility. I am still hoping to set up the multi- association drop in session but Ill have to wait acouple of weeks until my lab schedule settles down! The majority of the duties which I havebeen carrying out have evolved from my manifesto pledges and can be read about below.


The evening before the next University Council meeting the president and I will be giving apresentation to all the members. This is a really good opportunity to make these influentialfigures aware of the problems facing postgraduate and mature students and also talk tothem about future challenges, for example the impact of raising tuition fees for postgraduatestudents.

Recently I have been involved with the campaign to save the MSc in Biological Recording.The students have run a very well organised campaign and the university has agreed to try totransfer the course to another institution rather than close it altogether. I will continue tosupport these students this term by attending meetings on campus with them and bycontinuing to stay in email contact with them.

Many PhD students are concerned about a potential rise in fees for students who are in thewriting up phase of their PhD. In addition the council tax exemption period for students whohave writing up status has been reduced from one year to three months which has causeda lot of worry for PhD students who are likely to struggle financially during this time. These areissues that Ben Aylott (the senate rep) and I raised at the second to last graduate schoolmanagement board meeting. As a result a working group which was set up to consider writing up fees has been extended to also encompass the council tax issue. Ben Aylott and Iwill sit on this group and the date for the first meeting should be set shortly.

At the last graduate school management board meeting I was able to discuss the problemthat many PhD students do not know where to go if they have a problem with their supervisor as they are worried that if they tell someone in the department it may be detrimental to themand their future academic career or that it will not be taken seriously due to friendshipsbetween academics. Not all PGRs seem aware of the mentor system. It was agreed that this


31/35

PMS Officer Report to Guild Council

was an important point and that the University should take action to remind PGRs about thementor system and that anything told to them is in confidence. I think that this is a positiveoutcome and will take action to ensure that this is followed up.

We have also had the second meeting of the PGR rep working group, which is continuing toput measures into place to improve the system. Students can now find out who their representatives are via the my learning t ab on my.bham.ac.uk, which is a usefuldevelopment. I also helped to run the PGR rep training session/forum event. Again the issueof working space was raised.

In addition, thanks to our VPAD, Fliss Cross, I am now on the working group for thedevelopment of a postgraduate version of the Personal Skill Award (PSA) and have attendedmy first meeting. I hope that as a postgraduate I will be able to contribute to thedevelopment of the award, ensuring that it takes into account the differences betweenundergraduate and postgraduate study and commitments.


I would like to make valuable contributions to the upcoming PGR student rep working groupand the PSA working group. I also aim to gather information and to put together some goodslides for the presentation to University Council, getting input from the PGMSA to do so. Whilstwriting this report I have noticed that a lot of what I am doing has a postgraduate researchbias and I would like to think about how I can do more for taught postgraduates as well asmature students and take action accordingly.


32/35


33/35

Satellite Sites Officer Report to Guild Council

Vici Royle

Satellite Sites Officer

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @GuildSSO

Blog: http://officerblogs.com/sso


Blogging! See: http://officerblogs.com/sso for more details.

GOG training, part one.

Intercultural Awareness Training, arranged by the ISO.

GOG meeting.

Answering a query regarding students on a year abroad.

Keeping up with all angles of student life by paying attention to the online forums.

Speaking to students who dont understand or use the Guild and researching the reasons for this, as well assessing how this can be addressed if at all it needs to be.


My time is limited currently due to a particularly busy term within my degree (non-sabbscontinue study alongside their officer commitments). However, I will endeavour to keep

promoting the Guild Officer elections by any means I can and encouraging satellite sitesstudents to consider taking part either by running, supporting a candidate or simply voting (indue course, obviously) and encouraging their friends to do the same.


34/35

Womens Officer Report to Guild Council

Name:

Kelly Rogers

Position:

Women's Officer

Date:

20/01/2012


1. I have been looking into the welfare services on campus, and am hoping to collect allrelevant information and provide a bite-size guide to welfare, which is easily available andhand it out throughout International Women's Week (20 th -24 th February).

2. I am organising an International Women's Week which will raise awareness about the manyissues facing women here and globally and provide information about routes andorganisations one can join to continue campaigning about gender inequality and women'sissues this meets the promise I made to be a campaigning women's officer, and to bringFeminism back onto campus.


I have set up a cross-liberation group, which had its first meeting early this term and decidedon a number of motions to go to Guild Council. This group, which hopefully will continueexpanding, had agreed to meet fairly regularly so that the Liberation groups can work together to bring Liberation back onto the campus agenda.


Organise as much as possible for my International Women's Week ensure that I have lots ofspeakers coming for some awesome debates and lectures, have a list of female studentswho wish to perform at the Carnival on Wednesday 22 nd , have a list of female students whowish to perform at our Opening Night Talent Show or show off their work in our art/creativework exhibition, have a list of societies / groups that wish to hold themed events aroundwomen's issues here and globally. Finally, I need to have sorted all the marketing side of it out,having designed posters, programmes, flyers and so on.


35/35

ISO Report to Guild Council

Name: B S Noorie Karimbocus

Position: International Students Officer


What duties have you been carrying out which tie into your manifestopledges?

I am planning a One World Week to promote inclusion around campus.

The week will comprise activities and events to showcase the diversity on campus andlet students shine, and will be from 11-17 Feb; and will include workshops from theCareers & Employability Centre.


I have attended a Res Exec meeting on Tuesday 24/01/12, where I met with differentRAs to introduce myself and start collaborating with them.

I have attended a trip to Bicester organised by the International Students Advisory

Service on 10 th Dec 2011. I was accompanied by the Disabled Students Officer. Thiswas part of the Officer engagement initiative.


Plan out OWW in detail to make it work.

Documents

Committee and Officer Reports - Guild Council February 2, 2012