UHISA Executive Meeting Minutes 08/11/2013
#uhisasc
Via VC
Present / Role / Academic PartnerGeorge Maclaren
Bernadette Maclaren
Isobel Oakley
Kevin Sinclair
Claire Ireland
PeterCrich
Joseph Crofts
Kat Bateson
Jenny Connolly
Ewan Boach
Judith Crow
Elsa Panciroli
AislingGoodey
Rachel LightBird
Rebecca Witts
Petecolin
Michelle
Michael Maken
Sgotaidh Mac Con Ulaidh
Andrew
Ail de Toumus
Kirsty
Ross
Elliot
Alan MacDonald
Grant
Eddie
Lydia Crow
John
Melissa Schouten
Dain Roberts
Rachel Parker
Iain Morrison / IT Officer
LLC Rep
SNSO
HTC Rep
Vice President
Ordinary Member
Science Soc Pres
PC Rep/SNSO Comuting and IT
Ordinary Member
Science Soc Sec
SMO Rep
Post Grad Officer
Student Development officer
Depute Pres
President
Dean of Students / LLC
LLC
LLC
HTC
HTC
Argyll
Distance
IC
Postgrad
postgrad
NHC
IC
PC
WHC
Distance
PC
HTC
SMO
IC
SMO
SMO
NAFC
NAFC
NHC
LCC
LCC
postgrad
OC
Video From Gordon Maloney
A video recorded by Gordon Maloney from NUS was played to open council.
[Video is too quiet to minute what he is saying]
His details available through the hashtag.
NUS effective in Scotland with positive links to UHI.
Iain Morrison Presentation on Positivity
[Key points from his presentation]
What keeps you positive?
Student age profile
Mode of Study
Student Partnership Agreement
Dean of Students
The Red Button
What is the NSS (national student survey)
What keeps me positive?
Minutes from last meeting
Any comments or amendments
An update on the student news letter is that it is in the process of happening.
SM – in previous minutes p.13 5.14 it is stated that female to male ratio is 50%-50% whereas is it is 60%-40% as a point of accuracy.
RP – that one can be amended.
SM – was an SM where there should not be
Any further comments.
Minutes approved with those amendments.
UHISA REPORTS
President Report-
EP- Comment – you mentioned here that social media accounts were going to be discussed to see how they could be utilised to enhance communications with students; it was just a note that I’m a little anxious hearing this that any kind of rules that are made are not exclusive to people who for example for people who have set up facebook accounts and tried to get students engaged that way and what i’m worried about is if in the future someone like myself wants to do that would be stopped from doing that because of rules and regulations about whether or not we are representing UHISA. We have to be as inclusive as possible.
RP – my comment wasn’t about putting limits on what people were to do its more on how UHISA can be using the social media that we have accounts on to be more effective and to reach more students.
SM – p.44 perhaps UHISA should have a ceremonial dress for occasions and would other SA’s be involved
RP – I would be supportive of other SA’s following the same procedures; i’m not entirely sure it would be appropriate to use the same dress as it would be good to have the distinction.
EP- Comment on the same subject – why is it not appropriate to wear a suit?
RP – the occasion made us look out of place without dress.
DR – it wasn’t easily identifiable that we were there as UHISA. And these occasions are good for profile raising.
RP – it was a comment made by UHI academics that were with as couldn’t be on the platform not in academic dress.
SM- it is confusing that college and compass is used interchangeably
Depute president Report –
DR – a quick summary for those who haven’t read my report; mostly it covers what I’m doing and quite a lot of that is my commitment to various quality committees which takes up quite a lot of my time although I do have other duties including finance for UHISA. Any questions?
SM – in the list of quality committees there’s subject network quality committee is that making the list look longer?
DR – no, that would be me not editing properly, i pulled the list from several other places and stuck it all together
SM – on quality enhancement scheme you also noted that we changed the resit time to the end of semester two.
DR – yes, you are reading that right. We wanted that elsewhere but the exam board are not cooperating.
LC – the webpage looks imminent now, I was just wondering when it would be done by?
DR – paperwork will go through next week and it will be a fairly quick process.
JC- will the website have a complete overhaul or is it just dropping information over
DR – it will be a complete overhaul as parts of the website is outdated.
Vice President Report – Verbal
I’ve worked with clubs and societies and student groups and extra projects from here and there. We’ve had a good response from clubs this year. At the end of the year we hit 0 clubs and have to build it back up again as clubs have to re-affiliate at the start of each year, where there is not as much support for re-affiliation.
Been to a training and is hoping to bring some of that to UHISA for supporting clubs and societies
States that she is leaving the post as Vice President.
Any Questions?
When will we be getting a new VP?
Rachel and Dain will be taking over as it is too late to run another by-election.
It’s not possible to co-opt for paid positions.
HTC Rep Report – Verbal
We had a hello and goodbye ceilidh and we’ve been working with the college to have more ceilidh’s more often.
It is also the 20th Anniversary of the college this year and so we are working with the staff with that.
LLC Rep Report – Verbal
Since I was elected, I did the end of term BBQ which over 100 students attended. We also have gone round the island getting business’s to over discounts to students. We now have over 20 businesses offering discount. Had their first fresher’s eventwhich was very successful
Comment – that’s very impressive work.
SMO Rep Report
Couple of errors, I did actually attend an external event and also a slight change the UHI LGBT group has now disbanded. At SMO we also held a ceilidh recently which we advertised a discount to UHI students as opposed to SMO students to be inclusive.
Any Questions?
SAMS Rep Report - The SAMS college rep is not able to be with us today but she has written a report so if you have any questions then we can get them to her.
WHC Rep Report- The WHC rep is also not here and did not submit a report unfortunately.
Mature Student Officer
Paper report available although not in attendance.
IT Officer Report – Verbal
Going back to December we found out we had to change our UHISA website, which has been the main thing on the IT front.
JC- questioned wither there is the option for each club and society to have their own section to be updates.
GM- stated that this was possible.
Applied life studies Report – no comments raised
Business and leisure Report – EP- questioned the facebook page
Computing and IT Report – AG commented that although some parts seam harsh they are not to be
Humanities and Gaelic Report – no comments or questioned raised
Science Environment and Rural Resources ManagementReport – IO added a few points to the report.
DR – noted that is there are any more questions or comments please get in touch with any of the officers.
ANNUAL AUDIT – done internally and externally.
No other questions - amendment requiredto add HTC rep.
AUDIT APPROVED
All Student council costs still have to be deducted, from the Finance report
JC questioned the potential registration as a charity to claim back VAT
END OF VC 1
Post grad conversation – take into account the difficulties of communicating with post-grad students. Raise awareness of what UHISA does across all UHI academic partners taking into account the problems talking to post grads as they don’t feel UHISA can help them.
MOTIONS TO STUDENT COUNCIL
Lydia Crow put herself forward for Chair of student council. Majority voted for.
RP – explained the process of Student council.
MOTIONSAll students present can vote in student council – Motion Passed
DR for – lets students and academic partners have more say at student council, whereas as the constitution currently stands only certain people can vote and it rather exclusive, in previous years we have not been true to the constitution.
SM against – not against the change but if a bus came from a college, you could over-run the council.
No Amendments
23 for, 1 against, 3 abstaining. Motion Passed
Reducing timeline on by elections – Motion Passed
RP – came about due to resignation of VP currently it takes 6weeks to run a by-election same as full elections. Would like to shorten to 3weeks. It means we can fill positions quicker. It would increase productivity. The Election process is the same, just been shortened in time.
No amendments
32 for, 0 against. Motion passed
Deputy Returning Officer – Motion Passed
Technicality more than a political issue. Due to having a re structure in the student service’s team.
32 for, 0 against. Motion Passed
Creating better housing for students – Motion Passed
KB – not a lot of halls around UHI and not all housing is up to scratch for study and life. NUS doing research on this.
This motion is making it sure thatUHISA is actively working to have better housing for the students.
Amendment – RP – issue was that in creating a housing officer so not sure how beneficial this would be as not all current positions in the executive are filled. Giving them the same right as an SNSO would not work as they are doing a complete different role. Looking at the accommodation that each academic partner offers would be better as it wouldn’t be reliant on one officer.
There is already work doing by NUS and we should be tapping into this.
EP- wanting clarification that there would not be an officer but would like UHISA to show more interest.
JC – questioned having a named person in the constitution
RP- this would not go into constitution just the policy on how to move forward
BM- questioned with their would be a paid position which is the same as the SNSO.
KB- not a paid role just someone that knew about housing and would be able to work on getting better housing
KB – speech against amendment. Amendment is not bad, this cannot be done in a year and so having a named person is wrong. Having a housing officer with expertise then know the best way to move it forward. Collages are promoting B&B’s are not suitable for study and university
RP- is happy to remove the named person, but refer to her role
DR- we have to have key criteria but not get paid and so it might be really hard to find this person but having a more general view then we will be able to achieve the goal.
KB- we are not looking for someone that is qualified in housing just someone with enough knowledge, they would be like LGBT officer and woman’s officer and know the issues that they need. The general approach is not enough we need to go radical and stick up for it.
Vote on amendment – 14 for, 15 against, 2 abstaining. Amendment not passed.
JC- The housing officer are they going to be doing background checks on the accommodation lists?
KB – working with UHISA and working with NUS, they would do as much as they can and giving them clear guidelines on what to expect
It was questioned what are the rights of an SNSO?
KB- they sit on the executive but they don’t have voting rights
LC – parts to change UHISA Resolves 1: To create a Housing officer. They will have the same voting rights matching of Subject Network Students Officer.
JC- any member of UHISA have the right to attend the executive meetings so if we take away the payment that SNSO’s get they would just be an ordinary member of UHISA.
KB – it would just be the recognition that is the same as the SNSO’s.
The part is UHISA Resolves 1: To create a Housing officer. They will have the same recognition matching of Subject Network Students Officer.
Vote on parts – 26 for, 0 against, 4 abstaining
JC- really good idea, we need to make sure the students get the best housing to make sure we are a legitimate university
-Not the right thing that we should do, we could have a survey and give it to NUS but not necessary have an officer.
Vote on Motion – 20 for, 10 against, 2 abstaining. Motion Passed.
UHISA Depute President Role and Remit (A Constitutional Update) - Motion Passed
When it was approved to appoint a Depute president the constitution was never updates, so this motion is to update the appropriate parts.
All areas that need to have Depute president next to president and Vice president are now included and also the role of finance has been changed to the depute president.
NOT AT QUORM. – The debate can happen but the overriding vote goes to the executive.
No amendments
28 for, 0 against, 0 abstaining . Motion Passed
Rural Transport – Motion Passed
Many rural students are missing connections by minutes and waiting for long periods of time as travel companies are not communicating with each other. At SAMS, there is one bus to college and one bus home so you are left there whether you have a class or not. This motion makes sure that 75% of the Bursary is not spent on transport and it makes sure that UHISA can get better transport links.
SM – 18 months ago UHISA spoke with stagecoach and achieved nothing and that should be noted.
KB – that was 18 months ago and I think that it needs to be done again
It was questioned with it should be Highland council that we talk to rather than Stagecoach, as Highland council has more say over
Amendment – NUS is currently investigating rural transport on which we have already answered questions on.
UHISA believes to UHISA further believes as they are option and inserting UHISA believes is means that we recognitionthe work that NUS is doing and that UHISA has already been doing a little bit of work to ensure better transport. UHISA resolves, removed – does not seem that this is a good use of sabbaticals time and NUS has a bigger voice.
KB- she the point of the amendment, negotiation means to have a chat, KB feels that she needs to have more action. If this is not the best use of Sabbaticals time, I don’t see how this is possible.
It was commented that Stagecoach was a national wide company and so is NUS, so something they will be able to do it better.
KB- the issues are specific to UHISA and it should be UHISA that deals with it.
SM- reassured council that UHISA will be represented in the NUS transport investigation.
AM- comment that it might be something that NUS and UHISA should work together with
Amendment Vote – 15 for, 11 against, 4 abstaining. Amendment passed
Second Amendment – 28 for, 0 against. Second Amendment Passed
Motion Vote – 26 for, 0 against, 2 abstaining. Motion Passed.
Colleges not Campus – Motion Not Passed
7 out of 10 students see themselves as college students not uni students at UHI.
Some see them as Collages, we should call all colleges ‘colleges’ not campus as it means that we need to not a wider university.
We are also made up of research centres as well as colleges
Postgrad people are not connected to any collage as they are a EO student so their college is EO
AG- there are times that college is correct that also campus is correct. Should not stop what people say as it where they study.
EP- SM used college and campus interchangeable, the wording that the motion used means that you are not allowed.
AM – not fair to call a college a campus but calling a research centre a collage. If I college wants to market itself as college it is a college.
2 for, 28 against, 1 abstaining. Motion Not passed.
Promoting international exchange – Motion Passed
DR- Not many people experience studying abroad and so this motion is to promote international study which provides an amazing opportunity from the study to the culture.
No amendments, no parts
30 for, 0 against. Motion Passed
Scottish Independence Referendum - Motion Passed
KB- This motion is so we can give information to students on the referendum from a neutral and non-biased stance. The clubs could look at the issues that would affect them. Students need to have all the information that they can make sure they vote the right way.
AG- questioned if it would be non-biased
AM- asked if UHISA had a stand on the referendum
LC – told council they had no stand.
Amendment – AM – UHISA needs to remain un-biased on the referendum and the ademendemt makes sure of this.
29 for, 0 against, 1 abstaining . Amendment passed
No parts.
It was commented that it is not the place of UHISA or clubs and societies to get involved.
KB- thinks it is the role of UHISA as the students will be voting and they need the advice that is needed to ensure the vote.
Parts – removed UHISA resolves 2
JC- as a society they have some key interests in the referendum and it might change our field of interest, would be nice to see that recognised at UHISA level.
DR- reassure that societies could still look into it even if the motion does not include it
14 for, 11 against, 6 abstaining. Parts Passed.
It was commented that there is information out there that says it is not biased but it is so it needs to be 100% sure that it is not biased.
25 for, 1 against, 5 abstaining. Motion Passed.
Elected Student Representatives and appointed specialist student consultants. – Motion Not Passed
There is a clouded line between elected members and officers in UHISA and this needs to be clearer. Representation needs to be from an elective. Needs to be clear that they are different
EP- asked if this goes down to the class reps
SM- no UHISA does not go down to class rep level
It was questioned if their job would still to be represent students if they are not elect
SM- answered with that you can only represent students if they are elect.
No formal amendments
AG- is a SNSO and so she represents students and UHI view SNSO to be a student rep.
EP- agrees with the idea but it is not clear from the motion who this all applies to, this could be something that we are working towards
Just because someone is not elected and chosen by a panel does not mean they cannot to their job
3 For, 26 against, 2 abstaining. Motion not passed
Promoting democracy in the wider community – Motion Passed
The main thing is that yes we are involved in student politics but people need to see what are being resolved in the wider community.
It would be good if people understood the ways they can influence their communities.
The resolves are running a campaign and presenting information and how they would the wide community
KB- this ties in with the referendum.
26 For, 0 against, 5 abstaining. Motion Passed.
Executive Officers Expenses – Motion Passed
It would help the Executive officers if they go to visit other collages and also go to many conferences.
Executive officers should be part of the process of their own expenses.
Amendment 1 –the facts are wrong. The motion says there is an underspend whereas it was an overspend.
Amendment Vote – 28 for, 0 against, 1 abstaining. Amendment Passed
Amendment 2- JC – has had experience on the expenses, and it does need an overhaul but we should not let the depute president loses some of their remit but a working group will allow to look into the process and come back to it in March
2nd Amendment - 31 for. Amendment passed.
Amendment 3- KB - the Clubs and societies budget was cut, some should go to the exec but some should go to clubs and societies.
SM- there should not be too many categories and as it will confuse people.
3rd Amendment – 2 for, 29 against. Amendment not passed.
The Part is no longer relevant
Motion Vote- 14 For, 11 against, 5 abstaining. Motion Passed.
Left over Motions passed on to the executive meeting.