Minutes of the JCR Committee
Sunday 6th November 2011, MacGregor Room, 10.30am
Present: Richard Luke – Chris Dunk – Chris Sanderson – Sammana Ladha – David Gleeson – Uma Divekar – Matt Lindsay – Helena Cantwell – Sam Wigley – John Pilgrim – Emma Reid – Jack Lambert – Anjuna Prasher – Nick Aveyard
Apologies: Rob Morris
Absent: Phil Low – Patrick Penzo – Michelle Graham – Rebecca Musgrave – Kimberley Sayers
Richard Luke (RL): Ok guys, let’s get going.
Few things to bring up – instead of feedback forms, we might have a ballot system, or a forum, as we do with the academic procedures at the moment.
[asked what a ballot system is ]
Ballot form? Ballot system – people coming to feed back at set times, like when we do the room ballot, but for feedback.
For domestic procedures – face to face is better than forms.
Uma Divekar (UD): Who are we feeding back to?
RL: Senior management for the relevant offices.
Helena – has that worked well for academics?
Helena Cantwell (HC): Yes, it seems to have – senior tutor seems to like it. Not sure about new procedure; lots more feedback, haven’t heard back yet.
Jack Lambert (JL): It’s a bit of a big change – instead of anonymous forms or something, come and tell us what you don’t like about us. Compulsory forms? Would there just be a box for them in the lodge?
Christy Ford (CF): How do you regulate that [it being compulsory]?
JL: Given it’s anonymous?
Chris Dunk (CD): Is it not important to have an intermediary [from the JCR committee] rather than ballot system?
JL: Anonymity is important…
CD: We could have you [RL] or me as intermediary with college? Or whoever comes after me, given I’m not around for much longer.
RL: We could do that – have a system similar to that for academic feedback at the moment.
CD: And I’ve got some experience on that so could happily help set it up.
RL: UCAS got in touch with governing body – they want to change when they accept people to post-getting qualifications – then people apply to universities. Get A level results and then apply.
David Gleeson (DG): Exams brought forward to earlier in the year as well.
RL: This is UCAS, not the government at present, just asking about the proposal.
Take a term out of the A-level year, almost certainly scrapping the ASs, as they stand, and then you apply as soon as you get your results.
CD: Is it a green paper or white paper?
RL: It’s not government, as I said – just UCAS.
Oriel wants our view – the student consultation now, in effect in me consulting the committee.
JL: Why would it change anything for Oxford?
Emma Reid (ER): Five terms means no ASs when you apply.
RL: So a few people how asked how it would impact here:
There’s a necessary twelve weeks in getting someone ready to come here – financial, academic setup. This would have to be only eight weeks under new scheme.
CF: It would impact college – if we have interviews in that time [summer], then we can’t have conferences then.
RL: It also affects the fact that most academic work done in the summer holidays – kills that because they have to do it alongside interviews, and finals.
HC: Will they [the students] be at a lower level before coming to uni?
Anjuna Prasher (AP): What about extra curricular requirements?
Matt Lindsay (ML): How does that relate to highers and advance highers?
CD: What’s their rationale?
RL: People who make better grades than expected can apply to the right uni, and vice versa. I’m not sure about the other details [highers, extra curricular].
DG: Apparently only ten percent get all three of their predicted grades.
They’re also talking about two university options rather than five.
Until we know more about it, can’t really say if we support it?
Chris Sanderson (CS): I think it’s an admin issue right now – college’s say as to whether it’s practical for them.
Anna Oestmann (AO): Unless the academic year changes, the years will clash – we’ll still be having exams in the summer term, when they’ll be wanting to interview.
RL: Our exams, people wanting to come here, all their [the fellows’] academia at the same time.
JL: Oxford might just go down the route they went down in the 90s – fine we’re Oxbridge, we’ll have a different system. Have it as an additional choice, with interviews in December. Come for interviews, if you do get your grades overrules other choices. I’m not saying that’s what I think they should do, just that it might happen.
CD: Going to cause a furore with elite nature of system…
JL: They only think they’re better, doesn’t mean that it will be implemented.
RL: Guest night moving to Saturday proposal mandated to CD was okayed at JLC. They saw the reasons behind it and thought it was very logical.
The MCR proposed recycling scheme change. Scouts empty recycle bin one day a week. Single bin now rather than sifting out – this was agreed as well.
CS: With respect to Izzy’s [Instone] motion – there’s a microwave in sc10 kitchen, not sure that it’s fair to have one in the JCR as well.
Sammana Ladha (SL): Helen Kay’s putting table and chairs in sc10, somewhere to eat as well as cook, which was Izzy’s complaint.
UD: Is there space to cook?
RL: It’s not a big table – folding.
Choir has increased from 25 provisional places in hall to 32. There was some question over what to do about this.
Emma Reid (ER): Not all of them come to hall – 23 booked in including bible clerks this hall.
RL: The options for excess – 1. Allow extra spaces, 2. Leave it at 25, first come first served. 3. Abolish choir reserve list.
ER: They could put it in up on the balcony? There’s an extra 25 spaces up there.
RL: Basically Kevin’s [Melbourne] coming back to you guys – the choir – with the two options 1 and 2.
John Pilgrim (JP): Kevin should talk to David Maw.
CS: Massively controversial point – cost of formal has gone up for everyone else by 20%, and yet choir gets two free ones a week.
RL: That has been looked at – forwarded on to Kevin. He was asked to find where this money was coming from.
ER: The Chaplain has his own fund – chooses to spend it on choir. He could spend it on other things, but he likes to spend it on formals for us.
RL: College looking at options at the moment, anyway.
Website – really want it to go live in the next couple of days. Need to fill in your sections, particularly access side of things.
CF: I did it during the holidays.
RL: There’s other stuff not filled in yet.
CF: Other than my profile? Can you give me a list please?
RL: Yes.
ER: I’m still waiting on Helen for a good picture for the banner
RL: JCR fundraising – more cash from anywhere would be a good thing. Our grant isn’t the most substantial. Money options – sponsorship of the JCR. Trinity get £1700 for having a notice board in the JCR, access to president, events.
CD: Who sponsors them?
RL: PWC.
CD: What do we need it [the money] for?
RL: We’re not struggling, but say if entz wanted to spend £2000 on a giant garden party…
CS: Refurbishment of new JCR?
CD: We have to pay for that? It’s college that’s moving us…
CS: If we want better furniture, then we split costs with college.
RL: If we want to make it a lot better.
JL: We could ask the boathouse if we can split their sponsorship…
JP: What if more charities ask us for money? [following on from OxFID at the last JCR meeting]
AP: We could have a deadline: application for funds, and then JCR votes on the charities?
CD: They could apply to BM for that?
DG: Do it at the end of the year for surplus funds – then we know we can spare it.
AP: Yeah, they shouldn’t be able to come to us as and when.
CD: Shall I talk to BM about that?
RL: Yeah.
Welfare
UD: Chlamydia testing training done, so we can do the testing soon.
Sixth week? Good time to do it?
JL: Do it repeatedly.
Tie it into JP’s bar specials – test, free drink, go out…
ER: Catch chlamydia…
ML: We’ve got to do it in one big lot ideally – they have to come and collect it.
Have to make it a big event.
JP: Don’t do it this weds – ball launch!
ML: Obviously it’s a good thing - £5 to JCR per person.
The free drink last time – where did that come from?
CD: Out of the £5.
ML: Wasn’t there a problem with last year’s money disappearing into an account we couldn’t use?
CS: We’ve got it now.
RL: Moving on…
Admissions
CF: The student ambassador scheme deadline been extended.
CD: Are they struggling for numbers?
CF: I don’t think so.
Environment & Ethics
JL: looking into recycling bins at JMH and LAR – not uniform between rooms. Is there an email list so I can email people and ask rather than going around every room?
CD: Ben Watson or Sash will have one.
JL: Do we want to move them from the room? There’s lots in rooms at JMH that we could move to kitchens, or have kitchens and rooms across JMH and LAR.
RL: Just get more bins? College should provide them.
NA: Can we get bigger ones in kitchen?
JL: I don’t know how much they cost…
RL: College wanted to go 100% green, so we have quite a strong position on that one – we could ask them to pay.
Sports
Nick Aveyard (NA): Sponsorship’s a nightmare. Development office trying to get the boat club to meet with Ernst and Young, get the development office in charge of the Ernst and Young sponsorship. Don’t want another sponsor for other teams – potential conflict of interest, use of facilities such as the bar.
RL: At meeting of sports fund – proposed that Ben [Mansfield] go through E&Y, give them first refusal, and then other teams can find other sponsors.
CD: Not to be difficult, but what’s the benefit of other sports teams to E&Y? What’s their incentive to sponsor them?
AO: Numbers- how many people wearing their kit around Oxford.
RL: Exclusivity argument – they would have the rights to every team at Oriel, and thus could ensure that no other (competitor) firms attach themselves to the teams.
NA: It’s difficult – Ben could go and talk to them himself, but development office not happy with that.
RL: Sean, Wilf, and Juliane keeping an eye on the boat club deal this year.
NA: Also [at CD] could you put something about the bulletin about weights? People aren’t tidying up after themselves.
RL: Juliane’s also looking into £10 sign up for the gym, which college willmatch, that will allow us to refurbish it.
CS: Next term rather than this?
RL: Yes.
Disabilities and Equal Opportunities
AP: Equality survey coming out sixth week. Who wants to see?
[RL and CD]
Entz
DG: Entz –running events for fifth week, starting tomorrow. Sending out a bulletin about it today.
RL: Cleared with the dean?
DG: PP ran it past him; he seemed pretty chilled.
Monday is g&d’s, balloon popping and Singstar on Tuesday, Wednesday launch party for the ball and going to see Tin Tin as a non-alcoholic option, pizza pajama party Thursday. Sign up sheet in JCR. Friday is open mic night. Sat pub quiz in the bar.
JL:Given that fifth week is now so fun, can we stop mentioning fifth week blues?
Every time I think I should be upset I become more upset…
Academic
HC: There were no real objections to the law soc thing [Law Soc want to advertise in Oriel in freshers week; see last committee minutes] – shall I get back to them?
RL: Yes.
Facilities
SL: New shop order coming tomorrow. Totals for last shops - missing £40 for the first order, £70 for this one.
CS: I don’t want to shut it down…
CD: I would.
CS: We could put less stuff out?
CD: How would that work? People are surely still going to just take things.
CS: There’s less stuff so it’s more obvious if they’re taking something?
AP: You could stock check every day for a week?
[thought not to be particularly feasible]
CS: I can send out an email – discourage people from just taking stuff.
AO: Put up a notice about how much lost - £70, numbers. Make the threat clear.
ML: You could put it in a less open place?
CD: But surely that means fewer people watching you while you take?
UD: Could it be that these things have been taken by mistake?
CS: Too much to be by accident.
I think we should put the order out, then if it happens again, stop it.
CF: How many freshers are on the list [the list of who’s taken what]?
SL: Not as many as second and third years.
CD: That’s an interesting point…
CS: That doesn’t mean it’s them taking it though. I’ll send the email out and we can see what happens.
IT
ER: Keep updating the website, I’ll make it look pretty. I’ve put up a prototype squash booking thing from David [Hart].
RO
Sam Wigley (SW): I’m openingnominations for elections today; moving IT rep elections from Michaelmas to Hilary as that’s when the election ran last time.
CF: You should also send out something about fresher’s rep on committee – encourage freshers to turn up.
CD: Elected if there are no freshers on committee – but we can’t elect one if no-one turns up to meetings at all…
SW: Also, there’s no OUSU voter in the constitution, so I’ll update that.
Treasurer
CS: College now three months behind on accounts.
RL: Still behind despite me talking to Wilf [Stephenson] about it? I’ll mention it again.
CS: Motions this coming week: suggest we should get a new tv. Nothing wrong with the old one – not enough scart plugins, but other than that fine. We have enough money. When we movewe’re not keeping the tv room, might be good to have a new tv. Lagging slightly behind other colleges – they have much nicer TVs. Looking to spend about £450 on a 42” hd tv.
Week after this one, has to be a motion about sky again. Have to do it because it was agreed when we got rid of it.
JP: It would be a disaster if that came back.
DG: By the way, how can we find out our budget balance?
CS: Guess you’ve spent around £400 – freshers week budget was supplemented.
DG: I think we’re going to go through it given cocktails and pizza.
RL: You don’t have to spend all your budget.
CS: I’m going to buy some newspaper racks –JCR messy at the moment.
RL: I know, I have to keep tidying it up.
CS: Committee approves? Don’t have to pass through an open meeting if it’s less than £200.
[approved]
A.O.B.
CD: I know it’s nothing to do with my remit, but I wanted to ask about fire alarms. Some of the approaches that college seem to be taking are pretty unreasonable – firstly, the idea that people should stand outside in the cold for half and hour during a drill, to be told that there would be blankets in the event of a real fire, seems pretty stupid. Also, it seemed to be being said the other day that we need to sign ourselves in and out of college every time we go anywhere – the shops, a lecture, for a walk. Which is just ridiculous.
I appreciate that these rules are all somewhere in the memorandum – which is fine when the rules aren’t enforced, but if someone enforces them it’s really unfortunate.
JL: I think that the best way to tackle this is for everyone in the college to sign in and out for two days. Then they’ll see it isn’t workable.
HC: if we’re coming out of JMH do we have to sign out in Oriel lodge? Do we then have to sign out of the lodge to say we’re leaving JMH to go sign out at Oriel lodge? Confusing.
RL: Juliane’s looking at the memorandum at the moment.
JL: On another note, I don’t think constitutional motions should be allowed to be emergency motions.
CD: The emergency constitutional motion as in reaction to your emergency (constitutional) motion that you brought – which I only found out about an hour before the meeting. An emergency motion is brought when circumstances have changed in between the agenda going out and the meeting.
JL: Still, you could have printed them on the agenda you handed out – you presumably knew when you printed those.
CD: I didn’t – I did those earlier in the afternoon and then found out about your motion an hour before the meeting. The second reading of the motion can then allow people to question it if those that didn’t attend the meeting have a problem with it.
RL: I think these were extenuating circumstances.
Are we going to move JCR meetings to Saturdays?
CS: As far as I can tell, it doesn’t need to be constitutional – move it for the final meeting of term?
JP: Surely it does need to be a constitutional amendment?
CS: It’s not specified in the constitution.
JL: We could build it into fun week [this week]?
CS: This Saturday would clash with pub quiz, so maybe not – also elections mean it’s going to be a longer meeting than normal.
RL: Keep it as Sunday this week.
CD: We’ll also want to flag it up long way in advance.
DG: Can be flexible with pub quiz? Pub quiz is at 8.30, could have meeting at 6.
AO: There’s also Wyndham’s this weekend as well.
CS: Semi-elected positions elected this coming week, so keep it on Sunday.
RL: We’ll change it for final meeting then.
Thanks for coming.