Bangor University Students Union. Trustee Board Meeting. Minutes. Friday, 17 th March Students Union. 1:00pm

Transcription

1 Bangor University Students Union Trustee Board Meeting Minutes Friday, 17 th March 2017 Students Union 1:00pm Present: Conor Savage (Chair), Helen Marchant, Rebecca Kent, Matthew Day, Fawaz Atta, Paul Ashley, Dominic Passfield, Luke Bidder, Lucy Hawthorne. In attendance: Dylan Williams, Ifan James, Sharon Brown, Llinos Gashe (minutes). a) Apologies: Courtney Jamie-Leigh McHugh, Jo Candlish b) Minutes of previous meeting 2 nd December 2016 Accepted as a true record. c) Matters Arising TB Undeb Bangor Health and Safety Liability DW reported that further to the agreement with the University with regards to Health and Safety Liability, and to ensure that all Undeb Bangor activity is well managed and maintains the required level of monitoring and evaluation, the BUSU Bangor Health and Safety committee needs to meet once a term. The committee will be chaired by an external Trustee and report to the Board. The Board approved Dominic Passfield to act as Chair for the BUSU Health and Safety Committee. DW to draft a terms of reference and circulate via . TB UMCB Review IJ reported that the UMCB review has been passed at UBC, UMCB General Meeting and is tabled on the UNDEB General Meeting agenda for approval. Once approved it will take affect as of Academic Year 18/19. TB SU Lease DW reported that a draft lease has been sent to Property and Campus Services for approval. Once received from the University it will be presented at the next Board of Trustees meeting for approval.

2 d) Standing Items TB Sabbatical Reports Reports circulated prior to the meeting, no further questions asked. TB Director s Report Further to the circulated report it was noted that: The following frame works have been developed Welfare Partnership Framework to set out our work on Welfare and how we work with Student Services to deliver on projects and initiatives Housing Partnership Framework to set out our work on Housing and how we work with the Student Housing Office and the Halls Office to deliver year round support and information on housing Commercial Services Service Level Agreement to clarify the areas of joint work that we deliver and specify the contribution that both Undeb Bangor and Commercial Services / Academi make to delivery of events and commercial based activity Campus Life and Undeb Bangor Partnership Framework to clarify the areas of joint working and partnership around key activity and student engagement Employability Partnership Framework to set out our work on student employability and how we work with the Careers and Employability Team to deliver year round opportunities to improve employability. The agreements and discussions so far have been very well received and have allowed both us and the University departments to consider areas of work and how they are delivered. These documents will be finalised over the next few weeks and shared in full at the next board meeting. UNDEB have once again been shortlisted for an award on our work on Student Opportunities through the What Uni Awards and NUS Wales Awards and a 5000 grant has been received from the Big Lottery Fund to fund mental health training and work around suicide prevention. TB Operational Plan The Operational Plan was circulated prior to the meeting, no further questions asked. TB Management Accounts i. Period 7 year end accounts SB reported that the P&L balance currently stands at a year to date deficit of 52,437 against a predicted deficit budget forecast of 115,695 resulting in a favourable variance

3 of 63,258. The financial audit was undertaken week commencing 9 January The audit went extremely well and a copy of the matters arising management letter has been attached for reference. It was noted that the successful audit was a detriment to the good work carried out by the Finance team and gives assurance that the finances are regulated in a professional manner. ii. Audited Accounts The Board of Trustees formally approved the Audited Accounts. DW and CS signed all relevant paper work. The signed accounts will be submitted to the auditors. TB Risk Register DW reported that the Register has been amended to reflect the request made in the last meeting Additional risks have also been added to include data sharing, abusive students and data protection. TB Business Continuity Plan DW reported that a Business Continuity Plan has been drafted to highlight prevention and the recovery to deal with potential loss of resources. The next step will be develop a major incident plan. The Board queried as to why there is no formal deputy to the Director. DW reported that the four managers would take on the role of deputy as a team. The Board requested that the staff structure be distributed to all members of the board and that Succession Plan be placed on the agenda for the next meeting for discussion. TB Finance Procedure Policy SB reported that minor amendments have been made to the Finance Procedures, with the main change being the addition of Co-ordinators approving expenses/claims. The Board approved the amended changes to the Finance Procedures Policy. TB Democratic Policy Update circulated prior to the meeting, no further questions asked. TB Charity Incorporation DW reported that at present Undeb is an unincorporated charity with full liability for any failures or financial issues falling solely on the trustees of the organisation. This set up was common when most students unions became charities in the 2000s. It is proposed that UNDEB Bangor move forward to opt to become an incorporate charity. This would remove unlimited liability from their trustees and allow for contractual agreements to be signed in the name of the organisation as opposed to a trustee.

4 The key reasons for incorporation are as follows: Limit the personal liability of trustees Simplify the process for entering into contracts Allow the charity to hold property and assets in its own name Enable the charity to have its own legal identity In terms of costs and timeframe for incorporation it is expected that the work will cost around 3000 and take between 3-6 months to complete. The Board asked for clarification as to the University s approval and changes in the submission of accounts. DW reported that the proposal would have to be passed by University Council and at UNDEB s General Meeting, with regards to the submission of accounts further enquires will need to be made with the Charity Commission on our accountant. The Board approved for UNDEB Bangor to start the process of becoming and incorporated charity, pending feedback from University Council and confirmation with regards to the submission of accounts and any additional accountancy fees. TB Investing in Volunteering DW reported that the current IIV is due for renewal. The award is currently held by Student Volunteering if renewed the award would be held by Undeb Bangor, this will give the award wider scope to cover other areas such as Course Reps. The total cost for renewing would be 3,000, 2,500 for the award and 500 for the Health Check. Following discussions, the Board requested that the Opportunities Team carry out an internal audit and draft a paper for the next meeting on other accreditations UNDEB could work towards. TB UBC Bye Law Update CS reported that in order to make UBC more productive the following four changes have been made to the bye law: 1. The merging of opportunities and UBC. 2. Addition of new positions to UBC. 3. Change the procedures relating to submitting ideas 4. Replacing accountability with Sabbatical Question Time TB Elections Bye Law DW reported that the main changes to the bye law is the inclusion of the governance of UMCB and who can vote in the UMCB elections. The Board approved the amendments to the Election Bye Law. TB Elections 2017 Committee Report

5 DW reported that 2145 students voted across the different elections, a turn-out of around 16%, (based upon total number of students registered and in their write up period) which is the highest ever turn-out for Bangor Students' Union. We were also very pleased to see 18 students nominate themselves for a position in the elections, and all positions (aside from the UMCB President) were contested. Unfortunately 3 candidates withdrew prior to our voting days, leaving 15 students in the election. The Returning Officer for the elections was Dan Meehan from NUS and 3 complaints were referred to him throughout the elections period. No complaint was upheld but 2 candidates were issued formal warning. The following people were elected on to the Sabbatical Team: President: VP Education & Welfare: VP Sport & Healthy Living: VP Societies & Community: UMCB President: Ruth Plant Helen Marchant Tatenda Shonhiwa James Williams Mirain Roberts A full induction programme will be developed for the incoming team and they will take office from the 1st of July TB Committee Meeting Committee Meeting minutes circulated prior to the meeting, no further questions asked. i. NUS Affiliation DW reported that in the next AGM there will be discussions on a referendum as to whether UNDEB Bangor should disaffiliate from NUS. If the referendum results in disaffiliation from NUS then this will be discussed at the next Board meeting. The Board requested that DW draft a NUS Affiliation Referendum plan of action and share with members of the Board.