Minutes of Acubo Executive Committee Meeting Held at Royal Holloway, University Of

Minutes of aCUBO Executive Committee Meeting held at Royal Holloway, University of London(RHUL)on 2nd July 2014

Present:
Frances Stone (FS) / Chair
Catherine Anderson (CA) / Executive Secretary
Alison Smith (AS) / Executive Member
Richard Kington (RK) / Research Portfolio
Emma Furnival (EF) / (Executive Secretary designate)
Items 1 to 4 only
Melanie Loizou (ML) / Conference Organisation
Janet Heaney / Executive Officer, Campus Services, RHUL team
Kasia Kacprzak / Account Executive, Conferences & Catering, RHUL team
Apologies
Pat McGrath (PM) / Knowledge Sharing Portfolio
Action
Item 1. Apologies.

1. Pat McGrathhad sent her apologies.

Item 2. Pecuniary Interests.

1. There were no pecuniary interests declared.

Item 3. Summer Conference 2014

1. Programme. PV had received more information about UNITE’s session and had distributed and the programme wording had been reviewed and amended by Faye Sully to make it more appealing to the CUBO Membership. ML informed the Committee that the conference was on course to run as expected in accordance with the programme (appendix 1).
2. Delegates. PV had supplied the final summer conference spreadsheet to Peter Church and confirmed Peter’s agreement to £325 early bird and £375 full delegate rate to the RHUL team. The list of delegates (appendix 2)was noted.
3. Exhibition. The only issue that had arisen was with the planning of the exhibition where the company employed had incorrectly measured the area available for stands and there had been some last minute changes and, as of the time of the meeting, not all the exhibitors had arrived. It was hoped that the action taken by the RHUL team would prevent any complaints by the exhibitors but the position would be monitored and the company responsible for the mis-measurement would have a severe reduction in their payment. The final list of exhibitors (appendix 3) was noted.

1. Exhibitors’ panel sessions. ML had reduced the number of exhibitor sessions to 4 and renamed the panels where appropriate and PV had distributed the panel brief to exhibitors and reserved places as appropriate. The chairs of the panel had been previously agreed and the composition of the panels was noted and detailed at appendix 4. FS agreed to open the debrief session in the main auditorium following the individual panels’ discussions.

1. Speakers Introductions. The speakers’ introductions were decided and CA would close the conference on behalf of FS who had to leave early on the Friday morning.

1. FS thanked ML for her continued management of the conference despite having left RHUL and noted Kinetic Solutions positive contribution in allowing ML the time to remain involved with the planning.

1. Decisions. It was decided that:

1. RHUL Team would:

/ RHUL Team

1. Monitor the reaction of the exhibitors to the new exhibition arrangements and bring any adverse criticism to the attention of the Executive.

1. Drastically reduce the payment to the contractor responsible for mis-measuring the stand space.

1. CA would:

/ CA

1. Introduce Jeff Grout.

1. Thank Jeff Grout at the end of the second session and tell the conference about the meeting arrangements for the evening plus reminding the delegates of the 0900 start on Thursday.

1. Close the Conference on behalf of FS on Friday 4th July.

1. FS would open the debrief session in the main auditorium following the individual panels’ discussions and then introduce Mark Allan.

/ FS

1. AS would introduce Elena Antonacopoulou

/ AS

1. EF would introduce Daryll Scott.

/ EF

1. AS would introduce Lynne Kennedy for both of her sessions.

/ AS

1. RK would introduce Helen Krag for both of her sessions.

/ RK
Item 4. CUBO Awards 2014 - Event

1. There were no changes to the CUBO Awards event/Conference gala programme (enclosure 1) which had brought the pre-drinks forward to 1845 from the provisional schedule with dinner served at 1930. Professor Katie Normington (Vice principal (Staffing) and Executive Dean of Arts and Social Science at RHUL would be the RHUL speaker and Geoff Pringle was confirmed as the MC for the evening. The extra seats had been allocated and despite some late cancellations 211 out of the 218 places were filled and the Executive noted the list of diners (appendix 5).

1. FS thanked Janet and Kasia from the RHUL team for their work on both the conference and the awards.

Item 5.Minutes of CUBO Executive Meeting held at Royal Holloway on 27th March 2014

1. The minutes were agreed as a true record of the meeting.

Item 6. Matters arising (not elsewhere covered on the agenda)

1. Item 9. Guidelines for Holding Conferences. AS had circulated the AUDE guidelines for their conference and PV was continuing to develop guidelines for CUBO along with the Summer Conference. CA stated that she would circulate the BACHE guidelines. It was agreed that:

1. PV would continue to develop the guidelines

/ PV

1. CA would circulate the BACHE guidelines

/ CA

1. Item 12. ACUHO-I Award. RK had informed Rebecca Padley of her success in gaining the ACUHO-I award and had also let the unsuccessful candidates know. Although it had been thought that Rebecca might make a short presentation to the Winter Conference, there was a view that another form of presentation, such as a case study posted on the website might be more appropriate. It was thought that RK and PM (as the host for the winter conference) should discuss further outside the meeting. It was decided that RK and PM should liaise and decide upon the relevant feedback format for Rebecca.

/ PM/RK

1. Item 23. Any Other Business:
2. Roger Smith. FS had not needed to invite Roger Smith to attend the gala dinner as he was registered as a delegate; however, he would receive a special mention in FS’s speech at the dinner.

1. Conference and Awards Video Clip. It had been decided not to video any part of the conference; however, PV would liaise with RHUL and University Business to see what could be arranged.

/ PV
Item 7. Minutes and Action List from Strategy Meeting – 23 May 2014

1. The CUBO Strategy Meeting had taken place on 23 May 2014 at College Court, at the University of Leicester with all members of the Executive attending without the Executive Officer. The iLab Feedback from the 2013 Conference had been considered along with, amongst other items, the Financial Statement, Draft Budget for FY 14/15, benchmarking and partnerships, for which FS had produced the articles of association for TUCO.

Item 8. Matters arising from Strategy Meeting (not elsewhere covered on the agenda)

1. Matters arising were not discussed per se, however, subsequent to the meeting the action list was revisited and revised for clarification. [Sec’s note: This is being sent out to accompany the minutes]

Item 9. UUK Code of Practice

1. The UUK Code of practice was administered by Newcastle University on a 3-year contract on behalf of CUBO. There was concern that the link between the Executive and the UUK Code administration had been weakened through lack of contact. An invoice from the UUK Code that had been seen had also raised questions as to whether the fee for the code was realistic as ANUK’s was much higher. It was thought that ANUK had an aim to bring the 2 codes together and were in the stronger position and would be able to dictate the agenda. It was known that the contract for administration would be open for tender in late 2014 and the Executive needed to engage with the administration and the process for tender.

1. It was decided that:

1. EM would talk to PV and subsequently to Margaret Hunter (Newcastle University) about the running of the UUK Code including the fees charged.

/ EM/PV

1. PV would ascertain at what date the administration contract was due for renewal.[Sec’s note: Newcastle University took over on 1st April 2012 for a 3 year period]

/ PV
Item 10. Future Membership and Subscription Proposals

1. At the Strategy AwayDay it had been agreed that membership should be further opened up and an increase to charges, which had remained the same for the last 3 years, should be made from 1st August. Membership changes would also affect the Constitution so it was agreed to propose membership changes prior to reviewing and revising the constitution for approval at the Winter Conference.
2. Subscriptions for FY 13/14 were £475 pa for a primary and £100 pa for an associate member. The proposal was to move to a tiered system, with a base level of £500 for one primary and one associate member was proposed, with £150 increments for another 2 associates and again for another 3. When compared with the existing membership there would be a very small but negative impact on CUBO Finances but conversely there would probably be a higher income from increased attendance at events caused by increased membership numbers.

1. Decisions. It was agreed that:

1. CA and EM would propose the following new membership format and subscription rates at the business meeting for implementation for 1st August 2014 to 31st July 2015:

/ EM/CA

1. One primary and up to 1 associate member - £500 pa
2. One primary and up to 3 associate members - £650 pa
3. One primary and up to 6 associate members - £800 pa

1. Changes to the Constitution required as a result of changes to the membership criteria would be drafted by EM for the next meeting of the executive with the intention of proposing them for a vote at the Winter Conference.

/ EM
Item 11. Winter Conference 2014

1. It was understood that planning for the Winter Conference was well in hand by PM for which she was thanked in her absence. PV had a mild concern about whether the opportunity for sponsorship had been opened to the potentially interested exhibitors.

1. It was decided that PV would talk to PM about the sponsorship of the conference.

/ PV
Item 12. Summer Conference 2015

1. The summer conference 2015 had been agreed to be held at the University of Liverpool with CA as the resident CUBO member in charge of the Conference. However, CA was leaving with a contractual agreement with the University for only 6 months from 1st August. Her involvement with the Conference 2015 had not been agreed with the University norwhat the future CUBO membership would be at Liverpool. It was recognised that a much better conference would be had with a CUBO member at the helm and that had always been the aim. Contractually there was no commitment to Liverpool although it was noted that there was a strong moral obligation to continue with the arrangement. However, as a first step in confirming the future of the 2015 conference it was thought that assurance should be obtained from Liverpool.

1. Decision. AS agreed to request assurance from the University of Liverpool about having suitable arrangements for the 2015 conference.

/ AS
Item 13. Financial Statement

1. The CUBO Income and Expenditure Summary –for the FY 13/14 (appendix 6) was presented and duly noted. It was observed that CUBO had made a net surplus in the year but that £575 in subscriptions was irrecoverable as it was owed from members who had left; conversely£1,958 was still outstanding from 4 full and one new member[Sec’s note, the original statement incorrectly stated it was 3 full members and one new member]

/ PV

1. It was agreed that:

1. £575 would be written off from the expected subscriptions for FY 13/14.

/ CA/PV

1. PV would continue to chase the £1958 in outstanding subscriptions

/ PV
Item 14. Future Conferences

1. It was noted that the summer conference in 2015 was the last one listed and there was a need to agree future venues. There was much discussion about what would form a useful overview to send out to ask for expressions of interest and how ambitious CUBO should be in terms of numbers of delegates and the size of the Gala/Awards dinner. It was thought that it should be mentioned at the business meeting that CUBO were looking for future venues and follow this up with a document listing CUBO’s requirements for HEIs to be able to express their interest. AS kindly volunteered to lead.

1. It was agreed that AS would:

/ AS

1. Inform members at the Business Meeting on 3 July about forthcoming opportunities to host the summer and winter conferences beyond July 2015.

1. Circulate a draft document to be sent out to all CUBO members requesting expressions of interest to hold a CUBO conference.

Item 15. Unity Trust Bank – Changes to AuthorisationsSignatories

1. The CUBO bank, the Unity Trust Bank, required all changes to the bank signatories and internet users to be authorised in the minutes. There was a need to remove Geoff Pringle, who had internet viewing rights, as he had now stepped down from the Committee and for EM to be given full signatory authorisation with CA removed from the list once EM was approved. This would leave EM and PV with full signatory authorisation and FS with internet viewing rights.

1. It was agreed that PV would:

/ PV

1. Arrange for EM to take over from CA with full authorisation for the bank.

1. Arrange for Geoff Pringle to be removed from the bank listing.

Item 17. Draft Budget FY 14/15

1. EM had not been able to consider the draft budget for FY 14/15 and it was agreed that she would consider it in depth prior to the next executive meeting.

/ EM
Item 17. Portfolios – update from leads
Item 18. Research and International Affiliations.

1. ACUHO-I. RK had just returned from the ACUHO-I conference in Washington DC where he had noted an interest in an embryonic interregional benchmarking, with areas as far apart as Canada and South Africa keen to participate. He would keep an eye on progress and he also noted that CUBO membership of ACUHO-I had risen to 21 member HEIs. RK was congratulated on receiving the RoelfVisser Global Initiatives Award from ACUHO-I where he had also been invited to be part of the transition committee to find Sallie Traxler’sreplacement, Sallie had been the Executive Director of ACUHO-I since 2004.

1. Educational Benchmarking, Inc (EBI). RK reported that the issues with EBI and data access continued but he hoped that these could be resolved in the near future.

1. CUBO Study Tour of Germany. The proposed study tour of Germany was expected to be run, in association with Deutsches Studentenwerk in March or May 2015. RK outlined the rough draft of the programme.[Sec’s Note: Although not presented to the Committee the full draft programme and associated detail is at Appendix 6]

Item 19. Alison Smith

1. AS stated that she had received only one interest in mentoring in the recent past and she would be happy to focus on coaching instead in the future.

Item 20. Benchmarking

1. Whilst CUBO benchmarking would probably change in the future and EM would speak to PM about the Finance Group taking the lead for this, for 14/15 it was thought best to continue with the current benchmarking.

1. It was agreed that :

1. EM would discuss the Finance Group taking over the benchmarking function with PM.

/ EM/PM

1. PV would issue and manage the CUBO Benchmarks for 14/15 in accordance with the practice for previous years.

/ PV
Item 21. Partnering

1. ANUK. FS reported on the management meeting for ANUK for which she was the CUBO member. [Sec’s note: Minutes of that meeting are available here ].

1. BPF. FS had attended the Student Accommodation Committee meeting of the BPF and she thought CUBO was greatly benefitting from joining. BPF was a particularly influential groupwhich had already been successful in lobbying government on immigration issues. She further noted that Council Tax would probably become a bigger issue with local authorities trying to remove the ‘empty periods’ regulation in order to gain an improved financial return for their depleted coffers.
2. UCAS Media. There were a number of concerns voiced about UCAS media and their website on living at University. Notably there were significant inaccuracies even promoting a provider on a University blacklist. Urgent action was required.

1. Decision. It was decided that FS would raise the concerns about the website inaccuracies with UCAS media.

/ FS
Item 22. Communications

1. There would be no communications update until a new member was appointed.

Item 23. Knowledge Sharing

1. Although PM was unable to attend the meeting and the conference she had provided a report in the form of slides for the Business Meeting. These were included in the Business Meeting presentation at enclosure 2.

Item 24. CUBO Business Meeting

1. The running order and content of the Business meeting was discussed with the additional need to highlight opportunities for the membership to volunteer for the Executive. The vacancies were for the posts of Research, Quality Assurance, Sustainability with Marketing and Communications and Benchmarking to be respectively filled by the Chairs of the Marketing and Finance Steering Groups. It was noted that Ian Robertson would present on Knowledge Sharing.

1. Decision. It was decided that PV would put together the slides for the presentation [Sec’s Note: These are at enclosure 2]

/ PV
Item 25. Any Other Business

1. Wouter Onclin. Wouter Onclin, Research & Program Manager at The Class of 2020 in the Netherlands had requested to join the Conference. It had been agreed that he would attend as CUBO’s guest on Thursday 3rd July.

1. Catherine Anderson. The Committee joined FS in thanking CA for her exceptionally long and loyal service to CUBO.

/ PV
Item 26. Date, time and location of next meeting

1. Although in error it was not discussed, subsequently it has been agreed that the next meeting of the Executive would be held at the University of Sheffield on 11th September, times to be notified.

P N Vergnano

CUBO Executive Officer

1 September 2014

Distribution:

Frances Stone

Alison Smith

Richard Kington

Pat McGrath

Emma Furnival

Items 1 to 4 only

Melanie Loizou

Royal Holloway Team

Appendices:

1. CUBO Conference 2014 – Programme

2. Conference Delegate List