Arts & Creative Industries; Bower Ashton
SU Forum Unconfirmed Minutes
Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 30th October 2014 in 2B11 at 16:00
Present:Matthew Abbott, Sophie Holder.
In Attendance: Edward Burrell (UWESU Acting Chair, Secretary) Duncan Stokes(UWESUCo-Secretary)
Apologies*: Matt Vicker, Alison Moody, Kalei Sutherland, Magda Skubij, Kyle MacBean, Melissa Wilson, Abi Little, Harriet Stanley, Luna Dewey, Kloe cooper, Danielle Vincent, Elly Novick, Daisy Morecroft, Shaiane Gallardo, George Green, Rachel Eames, James Reid, Denise Harris. *- across both Frenchay and Bower forums.
001/1415Welcome and introductions
001.01Edward Burrell (Representation Co-ordinator Secretary and acting Chair) and Duncan Stokes (Representation & Support Manager) welcomed Student Reps present to the first SU Forum of the year and explained their role in the representation system.
002/1415Election of Department Chair
002.01No members present wished to stand for election.
002.02In light of this the members present agreed by a unanimous vote that it would be appropriate to elect a department chair via email.
003/1415Deputy Department Chair
003.01No members present wished to stand for election.
003.02In light of this the members present agreed by a unanimous vote that it would be appropriate to elect a deputy department chair via email.
004/1415Department Committee members (Three delegates)
004.01No members present wished to stand for election.
004.02In light of this the members present agreed by a unanimous vote that it would be appropriate to elect a department committee members via email.
005/1415Co-option of Postgraduate positions
005.01The acting chair proposed a co-opt agreement, allowing VP Education to co-opt the postgraduate studentsto provide specific input into university committees if invited. This was carried by all in the room.
006/1415Minutes of the previous meeting
006.01This item was not applicable as this is the first meeting of Arts and Cultural Industries at Bower Ashton.
007/1415Study Spaces
007.01Chair introduced the agenda item and provided an update into the background of the Study Spaces Project and why the SU is seeking student feedback.
007.02Regarding Drama & Acting: Level 2 - a lot of second years are at Tobacco factory, but a lot of people don’t have lessons at Bower Ashton at all and so a lot of them don’t know where things are at all. The Reps asked whether a tour could be set up to show students like this around BA site and told what is available. Level 2 students confirmed that many of them haven’t even seen the new drama facilities at Bower Ashton.
007.03aLevel 2Drama students reported that they are pretty happy with the library. They noted that it could be slightly bigger (but accept that nothing can be done).
007.03bDrama students advise that there is a need for more seating in the library, especially more comfortable seating.
007.04Drama focused not that many spaces available for rehearsals. Not too much of an issue currently but soon will be a real issue for a lot of people.
Actions:Vice President Education to collate all feedback on Study Spaces (007.xx) for consideration of the Study Spaces Group where appropriate. The outcomes of this will be disseminated to all students.
008/1415AGM
008.01Duncan Stokes provided an update on the forthcoming UWESU AGM, to which all student members are invited.
008.02The forum was informed that the motion deadline for this year’s AGM is November 6th.
009/1415Student Matters
009.01Students reported dissatisfaction with the bus service to Bower Ashton. They advise that the buses are not running on schedule.They have been getting better in this Reps option but it is touch and go if you can make it to 9am starts, even the first available bus arrives.
Action:Feedback to be passed to SU President
009.02Students reported that the Bower Ashton Campus Officer has advised students that they could get a portion of their degree refunded if they had cancelled lectures. Secretary advised that this is highly unlikely as a policy and will investigate.
Action:Secretary to investigate this and report back.
009.03The Transition from St Matthias to Bower Ashton – Reps present report that students didn't like it to start with; however they added that they think this is because students loved St Matthias and so didn’t want change. Students who are now in L3 were told originally when they joined the university that they would be there for all 3 years but now are at Bower Ashton. A rep from Level 3 drama reports that students love the new facilities at Bower Ashton and so are happy, (although they still wished they were at St. Matts).
ActionSecretary to take this feedback to Peter Rawlings (Associate Dean, ACE).
009.04Level 2 Reps based at the Tobacco factory feel they are being pushed out of Bower Ashton as well by being based externally. They add that a lot of changes to the course have been made at the same time as well. The rep added that it could lead to a slightly bigger issue as level 2 aren’t on site and so there is much more of a separation between the years resulting in less cohesion between students. They ask if this could this be addressed with some kind of event to put them all in the same space?
ActionSecretary to take this feedback to James Lee (Head of Department)
009.05It was reported that the costume cupboard from St Matts hasn’t been moved over to Bower. One of the drama technicians has told students that if ever students need anything they will have to go with one of them, however they are always based at Bower.
ActionReps from Drama to take this concern to their Student Rep Staff Forum meeting.
009.06Drama Students feel that there are less drama specific books at the Bower Library compared with St Matt’s. Reps are concerned that these have been moved to Frenchay and would like this to be clarified.
ActionReps from Drama to take this concern to their Student Rep Staff Forum meeting.
010/1415Time and date of next meeting
SU Forum:To be confirmed
Arts and Cultural Industries BA – SU Forum Unconfirmed Minutes 30th October 2014 Page 1