SET Minutes – Tuesday 14th March2017, 17:00 – 19:30 – Alumni Room

Attending:

  • Lyndsey Spiers (Activities Development Coordinator)
  • Daniel Schofield (Activities Officer)
  • Damini Vaja (Social Media and Communications Coordinator)
  • Katie Sinfield (SET Representative – Campaigning and Charity – MHAS & Autistic Spectrum)
  • Emma Bramwell (SET Representative – Performance and Sport – Quidditch)
  • Shivam Parekh (SET Representative – National and Cultural – International Indian) – left mid-way
  • Max Hurst (SET Representative – Team Leicester - Cricket) – left mid-way
  • Gina Lewis (SET Representative – Academic – PCSB Geology)
  • Ellie Gore (SET Representative – Medicine - LUSUMA)

Joined mid-way

  • Josh Fleming (SET Representative – Media – Galaxy Press)

Apologies:

  • Ryan Woolston (SET Representative - Common Interest - Games )

Glossary:

  • CIP - Committee Induction Period
  • GF – Grant Funding
  • HEAR – Higher Education Achievement Report
  • MRA – Master Risk Assessment
  • NSS – National Student Survey
  • SAS – Student group Accreditation Scheme
  • SET – Student group Executive Team
  • SET Rep – Student group Executive Team Representative
  • SU – Students’ Union
  • UA – Union Activities

Meeting minutes:

  1. Recap of minutes from previous SET and actions carried out
  2. All agreed were fine
  3. Damini will put a link to the SET minutes on the Union Activities Newsletter that will be published this week as well as on the Union website.
  1. Union Council Updates
  2. Part Time Officer Voting Rights
  3. Dan has put forward a proposal whereby only votes for the officer that represents them i.e. post-graduates would vote for their post-graduate officer, BAME students would vote for their BAME officer etc. This may go to Council next month after further considerations with current part time officers.
  4. List of ingredients for food products
  5. Free From put forward a motion at Union Council– restaurants on campus need to display a full list of ingredients that show allergens, especially for gluten free products. This was passed and will be actioned.
  1. New Student Groups
  2. Confirmation all are going ahead. SneakGeeks approved
  1. SAS for 2017/2018
  2. Overview of draft reports for next year
  3. The new Ratified SAS report is online and has been tested by the new student groups. Katie mentioned that the Autistic Spectrum Society were happy with the new layout.
  4. Training is also being updated and that will be going live at the start of May.
  5. The Semester One SAS report has also been updated – it is on Microsoft Word and the layout has been changed to make it more clear and easy to fill out. There is a focus on having a wellbeing officer or a committee member who would be comfortable with being a wellbeing contact within a student group (there are some groups who already have a wellbeing officer). This would be a Gold level on the SAS scheme. The wellbeing contact would need attend safeguarding training as well as other relevant training for the role.
  6. Gina pointed out that Academic student groups have difficulty increasing their membership by 40% or more, which is a Gold level accreditation, compared to other student groups; they usually gain members at the start of the yearas they welcome new students and so it is hard for them to earn the Gold points. LS said there was a discretionary information on the new report for 17/18 where groups could detail any problems they have meeting certain points, and even without membership increase, groups could achieve Gold. The Gold target is also going to reduce slightly next year.
  7. Updated rewards section
  8. Lyndsey has secured more rewards from Megazone and Counting House – see the SAS Scheme 2017 document for more details on rewards for Bronze, Silver and Gold levels.
  1. Sub-societies vs Society – what are the differences
  2. See sub-committee guidelinesfor main details – the document outlines the benefits and responsibilities of being a group and a sub-group.
  1. There have been some issues on room bookings, so now only the core committee members, i.e. the secretary and treasurer can book the rooms.
  1. Committee training for 2017/2018
  2. Currently building training to include Wellbeing section and expanding the room bookings section. Training will be going live early May.
  3. There will be more focus on the Master Risk Assessment, since that has been updated.
  4. We want the training to be available as a resource so that committee members can revisit it throughout the year, rather than the one time in order to complete the questions.
  1. Grant funding decisions April and May Pot

Please see the spreadsheet for the overview of all decisions made for the April/May pot 2017.

  1. SET memberswent through the grantfunding spreadsheet making any additionalnotes if necessary:
  2. Forensic Science – School workshop – They want to continue with their outreach programmes however they might be disbanding next year. SET members have agreed to fund.
  3. Games Society – Gaming event in Nottingham – Good application, SET members have agreed to fund.
  4. Sexpression – DBS checks – SET members have agreed to fund, however there was a discussion as to how long the DBS checks would last and whether or not Sexpression will still be a society next year.
  5. Sexpression – Taxi costs to get to schools – SET members decided that they would need to clarify with Anisha to see if she can cover the costs otherwise they have agreed to fund.
  6. Amnesty International – Renewal of their blog – Good application, SET members have agreed to fund.
  7. ENACTUS – National Expo – SET members have agreed to fund, as they already organise big events throughout the year i.e. Farmer’s Market and the Christmas Market.
  8. Galaxy Press –License for an app they have developed –SET members have agreed to fund.
  9. LUST – Buy a camera –SET members are happy for them to buy a new camera, however there's the question about the guarantee and warranty as it is second-hand. We can approve the funding but encourage them to apply again next month for a brand new camera.
  10. MASS – Warehouse Wednesdays taxi cost –SET members agreed that they do need some assistance however encourage them to apply for the annual grant funding pot. Declined funding.
  1. Pro-Bono – Printing costs for their magazine –SET members discussed that Pro Bono should consider having a digital version of their magazine, similar to what Galaxy Press do. Having an online copy would be easier to promote, it’s sustainable and cheap to produce. Galaxy Press have 100 readers online for £5. Pro Bono already have a website, so money can potentially be spent on that. Galaxy Press can advise them on reducing their costs and going digital. The magazine is not a primary aim of the group therefore they will not be funded.
  2. Pool and Snooker – BUCS Competition – Late application but SET members are happy to fund on this occasion. Let them know about the deadlines and if they apply late again next month, we can’t approve their application.
  1. Updates: Chinese Society granted £192; Street Dance allocated £315; Cheer didn’t respond so allocated £0 for the March Grand Funding Pot.
  1. AOB
  2. Katie – Capability Association need to reform as a group for next year and so Lyndsey explained that they need to complete all relevant documents that a student group would normally complete, and submit them to Union Activities.
  3. Quiet Hour at Fresher’s Fair (Union Council)
  4. An alternative to having a ‘Quiet Hour’, there could be a stall run by representatives of the Capability Association, and/or UA, and they could help and guide students around the fair. If students want to visit a specific stall then the members can escort them to it, or if the student would prefer not to go into a busy room, the escort could ask a society representative to come and talk to the student about their society, either at the stall or in a quiet area.
  5. Students would feel more comfortable being escorted by someone with the same disability as them.
  6. This would also be a good way to raise awareness about the Capability Association.
  7. There is talk of having a support group/wellbeing fair on Wednesday at the Fresher’s Fair, where Thursday and Friday will be used for Activities – details are yet to be confirmed.
  8. SU Finance – Some students had emailed the finance office but had not received any replies. LS explained that Sam was on leave and is now back in the office so she will be getting back to everyone.
  9. Student group elections – Core election period has officially finished. Secondary period extended until 24th March unless the extension request has been submitted, as the first CIP deadline is on Monday 27th March.
  10. Katie asked about the Final SASreport that needed to be submittedon Monday 20th March, as there was some confusion about this.
  11. Answer – LS explained that the final SAS report is mainly a summary of what has been included in the Semester 1 SAS report, which was submitted in

December and that it is optional for groups who want to confirm their affiliation.

  1. If any student groups have any issues then they need to report it to the SET representatives.
  2. Union Activities Mid-Year Survey is now live. It can be accessed via the Union newsletter or the Committee Members Facebook page. There are three £20 Amazon vouchers to be won, however the survey must be fully completed. Can the SET representatives please encourage the committee members within their categories to fill out the survey.
  3. Student Awards
  4. Dan - The nominations are now open and will close on Monday 5th May. Staff and students can nominate student groups or individual students.
  5. Superstar Awards
  6. Dan - Nominations are open and will close on Friday 24th March.

Next meeting: Tuesday 16th May, 17:00, venue: Alumni Room