Timetable for the Staff Committee

MINUTES OF THE FIRST MEETING OF THE SELWYN STAFF COMMITTEE HELD ON TUESDAY 30 NOVEMBER 2010.

Present: Bursar (Chair) HR & Health & Safety Officer Finance Manager Bill Simmonett (HoDs’ representative)

Staff Representatives: Zsolt Hofstadter Darren Runham Michael Wilson Shona Winnard Diane Flack Ben Tinkler

Apologies: Darran Kerry

1. Welcome and Introductions. The Bursar welcomed everyone to the meeting and members introduced themselves.

2. Terms of Reference. All Committee members confirmed they had received a copy of the Committee’s Terms of Reference.

3. Staff Representative Contact Details. Contact details had been circulated for information, and e-mail accounts have been established for some staff representatives.

4. Private Healthcare Scheme. A request has been made that staff might be allowed to pay the premium in monthly installments.

The Finance Manager undertook to ask the healthcare provider if this would be possible. The Bursar reminded Committee members that the College already subsidised 50% of the cost, and confirmed that the College would not be able to offer monthly installments unless the provider offered a similar facility to the College that could be passed on. Otherwise this would be a benefit that discriminated against those members of staff not in the scheme. The next premium is due in February 2011. Action: Finance Manager.

5. College Accounts.

The Bursar distributed to Committee members extracts of a presentation made to Governing Body. He explained that the College needs to spend over £1 million per year maintaining its buildings, and £14m is needed to refurbish Cripps Court. Pension costs are high, the

Selwyn Staff Committee 1 College is losing money in all areas of its business (Education, Rent and Catering) and has a deficit of £660,000 per year, which is not sustainable. The Bursar explained that the College has one of the smallest endowments of the Cambridge colleges, and yet it has to use money from the endowment each year to offset the annual losses. (An endowment is the total of value of land, donations, gifts and bequests that have been pooled into a fund and invested over the years to create an additional source of income. Many older colleges have substantial land holdings, while Selwyn owns only the main College site, Cripps Court, a small number of nearby hostels, and two flats in Pinehurst).

The College has two options: - to raise £20m to improve the endowment or to cut its operations, by selling the 6 hostels in Grange Road and reducing student numbers.

A new Development Director (Mrs Sarah Harmer) has been appointed and she takes up her post in January, with the objective to raise money to increase the endowment. The College is working to increase rents and food prices.

The Bursar also explained that the decision not to pay a cost of living award or a bonus this year had saved the College £150,000.

6. Staff Bonus: a) A request for information on how the bonus is calculated has been received. Staff had also questioned why a bonus had not been paid this year when food sales in Catering continue to rise.

The Bursar explained that the staff bonus had been set up to pay 25% of all cash generated. He noted however that despite a deficit in the region of £600,000, in 2009 the College had paid out a bonus which amounted to a substantial portion of the cash generated. The Bursar said that this action was not sustainable. His role is to protect the College’s financial position, whilst balancing that with the need to support its staff. He confirmed that Governing Body had agreed that a bonus pool would be re-instated when the cash generation reached £750,000. The Conference & Catering Manager reported that the projected business from Summer School students for 2011 was optimistic.

The Bursar was asked whether a bonus could be paid instead of a cost of living award. He said this was something that might be considered in the future.

b) A complaint had been made about a lack of communication regarding the bonus.

This had been discussed at a Heads of Departments’ meeting, and the College had expected that HoDs would pass this information on to their staff. It was accepted that communication could be improved, and the Committee agreed that copies of these minutes would be circulated to all staff via their next pay packet. The Bursar offered to draft a statement on the College’s finances for the first six months of the year, which would be circulated in January. He would also provide a further statement at the end of the College’s financial year. Action: HR Officer / Bursar.

Selwyn Staff Committee 2 7. Staff Room: a) A request had been received to provide another PC in the staff room and updated software.

The HR Officer confirmed that the IT Manager would be able to provide another PC and would review the software on both computers. Action: IT Manager.

b) A request had been made to provide comfortable chairs in the Staff Room.

The HR Officer said she had asked the Head Housekeeper if she could replace one of the benches with some comfortable chairs. This might be possible provided that it did not reduce the number of seats. Priority must be given to providing seats to cater for the number of staff who use the staff room. Action: Head Housekeeper.

It was noted that the staff room (the former Computer Room on B staircase) is available for all members of staff.

8. Seating Arrangements for Staff Lunches. A request has been made that places might be reserved in Hall for staff.

The Catering Manager reported that a high number of people were using Hall at the moment (including cash-paying customers from the Sidgwick Site) and to reserve places would possibly reduce the number of diners that could accommodated if seats were reserved. Meals are served from 12 noon onwards, but there is normally a quieter period between 12.30 and 12.50, and it was suggested that staff might be able to stagger their lunch hours around these times. The Catering Manager reminded Committee members that those paying cash pay a higher price for food and reminded staff to use their meal cards for all purchases. The Bursar confirmed that the gap between meal card purchases and cash purchases was likely to grow as increases are passed through for cash transactions.

9. Staff Christmas Party. Catering staff had expressed concern about the Christmas Party being held in College, and the cost of providing a band instead of disco.

The Bursar confirmed this was query for the Social Events Committee and was not a College function. The Finance Manager, as Chair of the Committee, responded to say that there were a number of new Committee members and they had worked hard to provide staff with a number of different events, and acknowledged that it was not always possible to cater for everyone’s tastes. She reported that the band had cost only £50 more than a disco, and confirmed that next year’s Christmas Party would be held externally. Staff are asked to come forward with suggestions for a suitable venue. The Conference & Catering Manager said that while agency staff would be appointed on the evening, holding the event in College would involve some Catering staff (e.g. to set up the room). He noted however that some staff had volunteered to help on the evening.

10. College Events. Catering staff had expressed concern about being unable to participate in College events (e.g. Bursar’s Christmas Drinks) while being on duty.

Selwyn Staff Committee 3 The Bursar sympathised, but noted that was not possible to hold events at any other convenient times. The Conference & Catering Manager undertook to review rotas so that all staff could participate. Action: Conference & Catering Manager.

11. Performance Increments. Catering staff had questioned why other members of staff receive yearly increases and they do not.

The Bursar confirmed that performance increments were available to all staff in all Departments. The College’s appraisal system identified staff who had made a significant contribution to the College during the previous 12 months and who would receive an increment based upon their performance. The Bursar acts as a moderator to ensure that Heads of Departments’ assess staff performance on an equal basis.

12. Any Other Business. It was suggested that cost-saving suggestions might be considered at Staff Committee meetings, and the Committee agreed that this would be a standing item on every agenda. Staff are reminded that the College will pay £25 for each cost-saving suggestion implemented.

13. Dates of Future Meetings. The Lent term meeting has been arranged for 9 March 2011 and the Easter Term meeting will be held on 8 June 2011. Both meetings will commence at 10.30am.

Selwyn Staff Committee 4