UHISA Student Council

Minutes (27/04/2014)

Student CouncilMinutes (27/04/2013)

Minute and Actions of the Meeting of the UHISA Student Council held during the day of the 27thApril2014 in EO1, Executive Office and by VC links. Note, a summary of decisions made is presented first, followed by a detailed account of all activity in Student Council.

Present / Role / Academic Partner / Attending from
Lydia Crow / Postgraduate Students’ Officer (chair for motions debate) / OC / EO
Judith Crow / Ordinary member (previous sabbatical officer, chair for motions debate) / NHC / EO
Dain Roberts / Depute President / OC / EO
George Maclaren / IT Officer / LCC / LCC
Bernadette Maclaren / Lews Castle College Representative / LCC / LCC
Sgotaidh Mac Con Ulaidh / SabhalMorOstaig Representative / SMO / EO
Aisling Goodey / Perth College Representative / SNSO Computing & IT / PC / EO
Michael Macmillan / Mature Students’ Officer / EO
Elsa Panciroli / Science Society President / IC / EO
Michael Ferguson / Archaeology Society Representative / LCC / EO
Jann Skelly / Archaeology Society Representative / LCC / EO
Heidi Hercus / Vice President Elect / HTC / EO
Rebecca Witts / Science Society Secretary / PC / EO
Ronald Henderson / West Highland College Students’ Association President / WHC / EO
Ailsa Fyfe / Disabilities Officer / HTC / EO
Luke Humberstone / Depute President Elect / IC / EO
Kerry Todhunter / Ordinary member / PC / EO
Innes Bushell / Ordinary member / IC / EO
Alan McDonald / Vice President / NHC / EO
Joe Crofts / SRD Society President / Distance / Jabber
Suzanne Purdon / Ordinary member / SAMS / SAMS
Ruth Paterson / Ordinary member / SAMS / SAMS
Scott Smith / Ordinary member / SAMS / SAMS
John Buchan / WHC Rep Elect / WHC / WHC
Brian Curren / WHC Rep Outgoing / WHC / WHC
Apologies
Rachel Parker / President / SAMS
Rachel Lightbird / Ordinary member / Distance / (attended day 1 and early morning day 2)
In attendance
Melissa Schouten / Student Development Officer / EO / EO
Ian Morrison / Dean of Students / EO / EO
Kevin Sinclair / HTC / EO

DECISIONS FROM THE UHISA Student Council 27/04/2014

Ref / Agenda Item / Decision Taken / Papers / Relevant actions
1 / 3.1 / LC would make the text of the president’s statement available to those who requested it by email. / Lydia Crow
2 / 3.1 / RP to write accountability report at the earliest convenience / Rachel Parker
3 / 3.2/3.3 / DR is happy to respond to any questions about his reports by email. / SC13/14-02-01
SC13/14-02-12
4 / 3.4 / LC suggested a clubs and societies ‘shout out day’ on social media to highlight clubs and societies available. / SC13/14-02-02
5 / 3.6 / All comments on the operational plan should be received by DR by the 20th May. / SC13/14-02-13 / All
6 / 3.6 / A response to operational plan comments would be made by the start of June. / SC13/14-02-13 / Dain Roberts
7 / 3.6 / The Executive will approve the operational plan once comments are received and responded to. / SC13/14-02-13 / UHISA Executive
8 / 6.1 / The motion “Let’s Prioritise”, submitted by JCrow was passed by 15 in favour, 0 against and 3 abstaining. One amendment (in the papers) by AM fell, at 3 in favour, 11 against and 4 abstaining (this was with a unanimous vote to correct the term ‘membership of council’ in place of ‘students’). / SC13/14-02-29
9 / 6.2 / The motion “We Trust Trustees”, submitted by AG was passed by 20 in favour, 0 against and 0 abstaining. One amendment (in the papers) by SM was passed, at 15 for the amendment, 3 against and 2 abstaining. This amendment was passed with parts to retain ‘UHISA Believes’ 7, 8 and 9 and ‘UHISA Resolves’ 3. These parts were passed by 16 in favour, 3 against and 1 abstaining. / SC13/14-02-48
10 / 6.2 / MM withdrew all his amendments as Council was not quorate and the actions would follow his amendments any way. / SC13/14-02-48
11 / 6.3 / The motion “Club Support”, submitted by RH was passed unanimously. One amendment by AM was passed by 14 in favour, 0 against and 2 abstaining. / SC13/14-02-19
12 / 6.4 / The motion “Reducing the Impact of Planned IT Maintenance”, submitted by JCrofts was passed by 17 in favour, 0 against and 3 abstaining. Parts submitted by AG were taken to remove resolves 3 and passed by 17 in favour, 2 against and 1 abstaining. / SC13/14-02-35
13 / 6.5 / The motion “Single Transferrable Voting”, submitted by AG was passed by 18 in favour, 0 against and 1 abstaining. One amendment submitted by SM (in the papers) fell, with 6 in favour, 14 against and 0 for. LH submitted parts to remove Believes 2, which were not removed, with 4 in favour, 13 against and 3 abstaining. / SC13/14-02-38
14 / 6.6 / The motion “New Vice President”, submitted by AM was passed by 15 in favour, 3 against and 1 abstaining. One amendment submitted by SM (in the papers) fell with 2 in favour, 15 against and 3 abstaining. / SC13/14-02-32
15 / 6.7 / The motion “Campaigning in UHISA Elections”, submitted by RP was passed by 16 in favour, 0 against and 4 abstaining. One amendment submitted by SM fell by 6 in favour, 10 against and 4 abstaining. This was even with the removal of parts on “UHISA Believes” 5 and “UHISA Further Believes 6” which were removed by 16 in favour, 0 against and 3 abstaining. / SC13/14-02-17
16 / 6.8 / The motion “Full Time UHISA Staff”, submitted by DR was passed by 20 in favour, 0 against and 1 abstaining. A part/amendment by LC to clarify the line management was passed by 19 in favour, 0 against and 0 abstaining. / SC13/14-02-49
17 / 6.9 / The motion “Awesome Admin and Perfect Procedure”, submitted by JC was passed by 16 in favour, 0 against and 2 abstaining. One amendment by AM was passed by 19 in favour, 0 against and 0 abstaining. This was with parts to the amendment to remove “UHISA Resolves” 3. These parts were removed by 13 in favour, 5 against and 1 abstaining. One amendment by SM was passed by 17 in favour, 0 against and 2 abstaining. This was with parts to remove “UHISA Resolves” 6 passing by 17 in favour, 1 against and 1 abstaining, parts to remove “UHISA Resolves” 5 falling by 7 in favour, 8 against and 4 abstaining, parts to change ‘will’ to ‘can’ in “UHISA Resolves” 5 passing by 18 in favour, 0 against and 0 abstaining, parts to remove the end of resolves 7 to remove the timescale passing by 19 in favour, 0 against and 0 abstaining.
Parts to the motion were taken to remove “UHISA Resolves” 2a and 2d and passed by 15 in favour, 2 against and 1 abstaining. / SC13/14-02-15
18 / 6.10 / The motion “Unrepresented Liberation is still important”, submitted by RP passed by 7 in favour, 6 against and 5 abstaining. One amendment by EP to change “through an interview…” to “a decision made by the Executive” was passed by 17 in favour, 0 against and 1 abstaining. / SC13/14-02-46
19 / 6.11 / The motion “Creation of a UHISA Distance Learning Rep”, submitted by JCrofts was passed by 18 in favour, 1 against and 0 abstaining. One amendment by SM (with the removal/withdrawal of “UHISA Believes” 4 from the amendment) fell by 2 in favour, 17 against and 0 abstaining. / SC13/14-02-21
20 / 6.12 / The motion “Stop Driving them Half-way Round the Bend”, submitted by AG was passed by 14 in favour, 4 against and 1 abstaining. A part by RW was taken to change ‘possible’ to ‘practical’ in “UHISA Resolves” 4 and passed by 18 in favour, 0 against and 1 abstaining. / SC13/14-02-41
21 / 6.13 / The motion “Liberation Voting”, submitted by RP fell by 4 in favour, 13 against and 2 abstaining. One amendment by SM fell by 4 in favour, 12 against and 3 abstaining. / SC13/14-02-30
22 / 6.14 / The motion “Delegate Elections”, submitted by DR was passed by 11 in favour, 3 against and 3 abstaining. One amendment by SM fell by 2 in favour, 15 against and 0 abstaining. / SC13/14-02-21
Item / Paper
1 / ARRIVAL, REGISTRATION AND REFRESHMENTS (SCHEDULED 9:00 - 9:30)
2 / WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS (SCHEDULED 9:30 - 9:45)
DR introduced the purpose of the student council to be the main democratic forum for students to express their voice on the work of UHISA.
DR noted that most of the day would take in motions for policy and work of UHISA for the year ahead.
Introductions around the room were made in EO, and on VC, as noted as those present on the lists above, and introduced MS and IM as being in attendance.
DR noted that the minutes of the previous student council were not included, but that student council was recorded as there was no minute taker, and that these recordings were available on UHI and on the UHISA YouTube channel.
DR noted that minutes should be made available, but that this was currently not possible.
3 / UHISA REPRESENTATIVE REPORTS PRESENTATIONS (SCHEDULED 9:45 - 10:30)
3.1 / UHISA President Report
No written report was submitted by the president, but due to ill health was unable to submit a report or attend student council.
LC read a statement on behalf of RP, the president.
LC offered to take questions and comments back to RP afterwards.
The verbal report welcomed all to the student council, and explained the medical grounds that prevented her from attending.
The report mentioned the difficulties of coordinating so much work as is placed on elected officers, and that the skill set they have does not always match those needed as they are elected on policy.
The report also noted that there needed further continuity of skills that officers do not always have, and that measures were being taken forward if approved at student council.
The report included the prevalent mental health issues for sabbatical officers around the course and that resources were needed to address this.
RP also noted that she was likely to have to move home to fulfil her job, and that this was not accessible for those considering office from more remote areas of UHI.
RP thanked those who organised the events and those who attended.
LC reiterated that she would collate comments on this report to pass on when RP was feeling better.
JCrow wished RP all the best on behalf of the room.
JCrow noted that sabbatical roles are extremely stressful and that she had experienced this.
JC however also noted that she did not feel this was an accountability report in terms of student council and that she would like a public report to be posted on the UHISA website for all students.
IM echoed JCs best wishes for RP’s recovery.
IM noted that UHI were well aware of the situations related and that there was a lot of work being done to support RP. He noted that the team was committed to supporting UHISA.
IM noted that it was an incredibly tough job to be a sabbatical officer, and that he had worked hard to achieve a 42% increase for UHISA because of the hard work of previous sabbatical officers.
IM noted that MS had implemented a number of support elements, and that he did not recognise the stance of the report given by RP.
IM noted that an important role for student council was to hold officers to account, and that he did not feel underperformance was due to lack of funding or support from UHI.
MM noted that he wished RP well in her recovery.
MM noted that he had been involved for a couple of years and that he felt that the way UHISA conducted its business was far from the current constitution and that this should be reviewed closely soon.
MM noted that there were regulations in the constitutions regarding voluntary officers to support sabbatical officers and having monthly meetings to delegate work.
MM requested the statement given by LC be made available in text.
LC noted that they were looking at the constitution that it needed more and that the executive should be a more cohesive team.
LC summarised the comments given above as:

This was not an accountability report
The text would be made available to all interested by LC
LC would not publish it publicly but would forward it by email
Comments were made about what could be done to support sabbaticals and what was already being done.
There was overwhelming support for RP

LH hoped RP was feeling better and that he looked forward to working with her soon. LH was uncomfortable with the language of being forced to do things.
DR noted that he could perhaps respond as the other full-time officer and that because of deadlines there was an element of force and that they were working well beyond office hours because there were necessary duties.
DR noted that it was not just funding that stood in the way, but that there was not enough time to do the things that need done as UHISA grows.
DR noted that officer time has grown, but that he thought this was not in line with workload.
EP wished RP well. EP felt that if so many sabbatical officers are in this position that there should be more selectivity of the activities sabbaticals take on and that we have to pick and choose.
EP noted that the network of the whole executive should be used more effectively.
JCrow noted that an accountability report would still be required.
SM noted that it had been a difficult year, and that it was not just UHISA facing these issues including those with less training or timing, but that there was ‘light at the end of the tunnel’.
LC noted that a lot of this was a management issue. She noted that it there was too large of a workload but that there was a lack of prioritising and that perhaps training in time management etc would help.
LC noted that the whole executive needed to pull together to address this as this was a national issue but that we needed to think about how we could best support the sabbaticals.
LC promised to bring these to RP as soon as possible.
3.2 / UHISA Depute President Report / SC13/14-02-01
This report covered the activities of the UHISA depute president between the 8th November and the 6th April, including elections, website, assessment feedback, national union of students, budget, development day, college visits, student council, quality monitoring, regular meetings, admin and union development. The full report can be read in the papers.
DR noted that there was a lot that could be included but that these were the key issues and that he spent a lot of time doing admin for the association as well as attending committees, in addition to what was covered in the report.
DR opened for questions and comments.
LC noted that often the depute president work was behind the scenes and asked in the light of the negatives what DR thought was the most helpful or rewarding in during the year.
DR noted his attendance at the international students conference in Milton Keynes and that it was inspirational.
DR noted that they had seen a video on the treatment on asylum seekers and refugees and their treatment in the UK and that this had impacted heavily on him.
DR felt privileged to be discussing papers at this council while others were living in prison like conditions in war torn areas of the world.
EP showed her appreciation for this element and asked for further clarification on the website.
DR noted that the website is in existence but that it is not fully functional. DR noted that things had to be kept dynamic and content had to keep changing and that this was difficult with the workload already on the desks of sabbatical officers and that expansion was therefore difficult.
DR hoped that this expansion could be carried out over the summer while there was less work.
DR noted that he would be happy to address any further comments by email.
3.3 / UHISA Finance Report / SC13/14-02-12
The finance report, written by Dain Roberts, UHISA Depute President, detailed the accounts, including the budget, expenditure and closing balance of all budget codes. The report also included further details about the current financial position and the break down by budget code. Full details can be found in the paper.
DR noted that there were a number of anomalies.
DR first noted that there was a massive increase last year, and that this was used to hire a support assistant, but that unfortunately this did not work out, leaving a large chunk of money that was not expected.
DR further noted that the Vice President had resigned, leaving some pay and that a lot of clubs and societies work and costs had been postponed.
DR wanted to highlight that money was only good if you had time to use it for something and that while there were lots of ideas, there was only so much we could do with the capacity we had and that we did not have the time to utilise the funding in the way that we would have liked.
DR noted that as this was public money it had to be justified and have impact, rather than throwing money at things.
LC asked if we could come back to the budget later in the pursuit of time management.
DR noted that he would be available at lunch in person for questions.
3.4 / UHISA Vice President Report / SC13/14-02-02
This report covered the actions of the UHISA vice president, and included clubs and societies, the clubs and societies sub-committee, UHISA constitution schedule 9, UHISA executive meeting, UHISA election tour, NUS Scotland Conference, UHISA independence debate and UHISA student council. The full report can be read in the papers.
AM noted that he worked part-time (and was not half a person).
AM mentioned that his report was quite short because he had been in office for a short amount of time.
SM asked what UHICAC was.
AM noted that this was the UHI Creative Arts & Crafts club.
IM noted his appreciation for the work AM did particularly in sports.
LC was happy that the clubs and societies area was being revitalised, and noted that she would be in touch on Postgraduate Society.
AM noted that the three clubs awaiting affiliation in his report were approved, and highlighted that the Global Percussion Group had been invited to Glastonbury, and that there were new societies including a Mature Students Society and Computing Society on the way.
LC wondered if there could be a clubs and societies ‘shout out day’ on social media to highlight the clubs and societies available.