Manchester Students’ Union Senate: Thursday 6th February 2020 Agenda No. Item: Paper 1 Welcome (Presented by Senate chair) 1. Apologies of Absence 2. Notices 3. Quorum check 4. Conflicts of Interest 2 Explanation of Senate (Presented by Ruth O’Sullivan, Senate Chair) 3 Steering Committee Report for November Paper 1 (Presented by Chloe Salins) 4 Minutes of Previous Senate (Presented by Ruth O’Sullivan, Senate Chair) Paper 2
5 Women’s Committee Report (Presented by Ayla Huseyingolu) Paper 3 Education Committee Report Officer Scrutiny Report (Presented by the Scrutiny Committee) 6 Steering Committee Minutes (Presented by Ruth O’Sullivan, Senate Chair) Paper 4
7 State of the Union Report (Presented by Kwame Kwarteng, General Secretary) Paper 5
8 Reports from Executive Officers (Presented by Ruth O’Sullivan, Senate Chair) 1. Adam Haigh- Welfare and Community Officer 2. Ayla Huseyingolu- Women’s Officer 3. Chloe Salins- Education Officer 4. Jake Butler- International Students Officer 5. Kwame Kwarteng- General Secretary 6. Lizzy Haughton- Activities and Development Officer 7. Rana Phool- Postgraduate Officer 8. Sara Khan- Liberation and Access Officer 9 Elections of Part Time Officers and Open Place Committee Members Paper 6 (Presented by Ruth O’Sullivan, Senate Chair) 10 Policy Proposals: Paper 7 1. The Students’ Union must campaign for accessible accommodation for women of faith 2. The Students’ Union should lobby for access programs for EU and International Students 3. Motion for an effective strategy to combat sexual harassment on campus 4. The Students' Union Should Lobby For Bursaries for EU and International Students 11 Resolutions of Interest Paper 8 1. The Women’s' Committee should be representative 2. The Students' Union Should Have Representation for Joint Honours Students' at Senate 3. The Students’ Union should create a new Ethics & Environment Exec Officer role 12 Close Date of next Senate: 26th March 2020
Paper 1: Steering Committee Report To be presented at Senate on Thursday 6th February 2020 1. Overview 2. Approved Policy 3. Assigning Policy
Policy
4. Lapsing Policy
Policy
Under the Union’s policy bye-laws: 8. After a policy has lapsed, Steering Committee will notify the Senate and the relevant Senate Committee of this fact to allow them to propose that the policy (or a revised version) is readopted for a further three years. 9. Any policy that has lapsed which is not renewed within three months of the notice from Steering Committee shall cease to have effect and shall be deleted from the policy book. The Committee felt that this policy were still pertinent to the student movement and reflected the work of the Activities and Development Officer. The Chairs and Secretaries have been notified of lapsing policy and will be taken forward for discussion at the next committee meeting.
5. Vacant positions Action:
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Paper 2: Senate Minutes Thursday 5th Decmeber
Student Senate 6:00 p.m. , The Theatre, Students Union building Members in Attendance and sent apologies: Contact Emmet Cleaver for a full list of attendees and written apologies at: [email protected]
Minutes No. Item: 1 Welcome Students were welcomed to Senate by Ruth O’Sullivan (Senate Chair) 1. Apologies of Absence – Lizzy Haughton (Activities and Development Officer) 2. Notices (deferred to the end of the meeting) 3. Quorum check – it was noted that the meeting is quorate. 2 Explanation of Senate An explanation around the role of senate was presented by the Senate Chair. The Senate Chair explained the agenda, the rules of senate, the timings and voting. 3 Steering Committee Report for December Senate Chair presented the Steering Committee Report for December. They explained that two policies were submitted (regarding Ecosia and Tree Charter) and have been refered to the Climate Emergency Committee (under section 30 of the bye-laws).
The Committee also assigned the policies passed at the last meeting to the relevant Committees. Lapsed policy was passed back to the Committees that submitted them originally, apart from the policy around Office 365 as this had already been completed.
Question: Sara Khan (Liberation and Access Officer) asked why the policy around guaranteed representation was passed back to steering committee rather than Liberation and Access Committee?
Answer: Senate Chair answered that it was because Steering Committee makes decisions on matters relating to the constitution.
The minutes of the Steering Committee Meeting were accepted by Senate. 4 Minutes of Previous Senate (Presented by Ruth O’Sullivan, Senate Chair) The minutes were presented by the Senate Chair.
Ayla Huseyingolu (Women’s Officer) noted that the minutes stated 9th May – this will be changed.
The minutes from this meeting were accepted by Senate. 6 State of the Union Report This report was presented by Kwame Kwarteng (General Secretary).
The Students’ Union have been working on the General Election – encouraging students to register to vote in the SU and library. The SU commercial team is performing well with a new Xmas menu for staff and students in 532 bar.
Sports Manchester (UoM Sports) are now moving in Easter rather than January because of estates issues. Student Life Survey has been launched with more than 600 responses. We’ve had lots of recruitment for student staff for example new assistants in the Advice Centre. Elected PTO’s have received training in past month. The Union issued a statement declaring support to the UCU strike and have provided facilities to strikers. The Union has also looked to ensure that students effected by strike action are protected. Page 3
The SU has also been negotiating with the uni regarding the People & Planet occupation in John Owens Building and the uni have agreed to compromise on demands – we now need to make sure the Uni adhere to it.
Questions: Matt Franke (Student Panel) - What was nature of the protest in John Owen Building?
Answer: People and Planet students about the declared climate emergency and wanting full divestment from fossil fuels. 7 Reports from Senate Committees: 1. Education Committee (presented by Chloe Salins, Education Officer) There has been good attendance but still want more people to come. Talked about representation with joint honours students at University Senate (will come to this senate as policy). Looked at bursaries for international students. Also talked about Brexit and the impact on tuition fees & needing more guidance on it. If anyone wants more information speak to Chloe.
No questions were asked.
2. Women’s Committee (presented by Ayla Huseyingolu, Women’s Officer) The meeting was held on 27/11/19 with 4 members. They discussed lapsing senate policy and the motion re sexual harassment on campus – they are going to resubmit revised policy at next senate. Also discussed intersectionality of Women’s Committee & recruiting more women for these roles, so will be drafting new policy to include international, post-grad and trans women.
Question from Sara Khan (Liberation and Access Officer): Do the bye-laws have a definition of what we mean by women? NUS includes people who experience oppression as women and people who’s complex identities include women – we need clarity as to what we mean by women.
Answer: Regarding elections, the bye-laws say that eligibility for positions is those who self define as women.
3. Postgraduate Committee (presented by Rana Phool, Postgraduate Officer) First meeting yesterday but not large number – two vacant positions for post grad reps and struggling to get students on open places. Discussed ongoing policies that committee would be working on. PGR Learning Spaces Policy coming to senate and university committees for better spaces for PGR students and PGT students during summer time. Priorities of committee and how can help more students.
Question Nick Matthews (Student Panel): How can you make more students aware that this committee exist?
Answer: Through schools, faculties and students already involved..would be great if everyone could encourage more students to attend. 8 Reports from Executive Officers (Presented by Ruth O’Sullivan, Senate Chair) 1. Adam Haigh- Welfare and Community Officer Encouraging students to vote. Student safety and accommodation. Bus consultation – going out to students soon. Occupation of John Owens Building – uni committed to full review of socially responsible investment policy – decarbonising of its entire portfolio. Strikes – meetings with SLT of uni – commitment included in joint statement, looking at joint communications with UCU and support of lecturers. Res Life Advisors re 1to1 sessions and how it might effect mental health and wellbeing.
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No questions asked.
2. Ayla Huseyingolu- Women’s Officer
Met with Helen Pankhurst & other women re GM for Women 2028 – set up something to make MCR a better place for women – will be on education steering group. Good Lad workshops coming to university in March. Film screening around Period Poverty. Beginners run, meetings on period poverty issues at uni. Student safety panel with GMSA with MMU and Salford and Andy Burnham. Planning and consultations re Reclaim the Night
No questions asked.
3. Chloe Salins- Education Officer
Educaiton team launched Influencing Change – research project and support them to launch it in the university – applications coming in. Reps – looking at Discipline Reps Coordinator role (?) – so many course reps and faculty officers. Met with Vice Dean of Humanities re student engagement in a different way.
No questions asked.
4. Kwame Kwarteng- General Secretary
Contact with PLC regarding employability to support international post grad taught students with work experience and jobs. Afgan research groups for interested students – platform for skills and experience. Project Lab being branded. Accommodation office agreed to smooth transition for students who stay in accommodation more than a year – can transition more easily without moving out.
No questions asked.
5. Lizzy Haughton- Activities and Development Officer
Adam presented update on Lizzy’s behalf. Hosting Concious Xmas Fair for last few days. Teaming up with Manchester Museum – zero waste northern network. Occupation of John Owens, Investment sub committee re decarbonisation, Climate Emergency Committee meeting focusing on Climate Justice Fortnight in Feb – lecture takeovers – anyone wanting to get involved get in touch. Paper to get uni to officially declare climate, humanitarian and ecological emergency. End of year festival – met with estates – email to get involved.
No questions asked.
6. Rana Phool- Postgraduate Officer
Met SMT on occupation and UCU strikes. Widening participation on promoting PG transition to WP students – focus groups. Support for students – peer support for PGR and PGT students. Mcr Learning Essentials and Edu team – deliver events on Islamaphobia as part of awareness month. Floor plans and accessibility of MacB ???? Met with director of careers re employability. Commercial head looking to ensure have halal food from 2nd semester in SU.
What was be done specifically to support GTA. Met with SLT to ensure students not disadvantaged but debate needs to carry on and will be looked at in systematic way – need to go deeper into problem. Meeting with senior management in FBMH to look at implementation of policy.
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Question raised from the floor: UCU – are you joined with UCU GTA reps?
Answer: Yes, even before the strikes
7. Sara Khan- Liberation and Access Officer
Decolonise UoM – launch event – really good space for different groups & to forge strong links between anti-racist staff, students and community groups., talk to students about campaigns and common thread (decolonise, anti-racism etc) – demand for follow up meetings so doing one this week tomorrow 2pm – open to all staff and students or community organisers. Alternative Lecture Series with Kehinde Andrews – only Black Studies course of its kind in Europe – really critical learning experience for students. Lots of engagement and enthusiasm for liberated, free decolonised space. Strikes – active in supporting lectures, 2 teachouts in Students’ Union. Things with NUS on anti-racist LGBT+ spaces.
No questions asked. 9 Elections of Part Time Officers and Open Place Committee Members (Presented by Ruth O’Sullivan, Senate Chair)
Ruth explained that several positions are still open. Anyone is eligible provided they fit the definition of the role. If only have enough running to fill spaces, can be co-opted & automatically elected. If more than we have spaces for, will go to online election and voting members of senate can vote.
1. NUS National Conference Delegate (2 positions available)
3 members put themselves forward:
Adam Haigh (Welfare and Communities Officer) – 3 priorities as NUS delegate are climate crisis and climate justice and challenging hostile environment, challenging prevent agenda, campaigning against racism, islamophobia and homophobia, housing issues for students – accessible housing and ensuring enough within unis.
Usman Nasir– currently part-time officer, student on accounting and finance, greater insight into how system works here so better
Luqman Fadzil - 4th year engineering student, involved with student rights and wellbeing, because of course could help with transition to renewable energies, promoting to new students coming to uni with previous job as ambassador, policies that enhance overall student life
As there were 2 positions and 3 candidates, this has gone to an online election for senate members.
2. Student Parent Access Officer
No one put themselves forward for this role
3. Biology, Medicine and Health PGR Faculty Officer No one put themselves forward for this role
4. Biology, Medicine and Health PGT Faculty Officer
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No one put themselves forward for this role
5. City Centre Community Officer: 2 places available
- Majority of students in fallowfield – city centre students not represented as much.
No objections raised so Syed Ali was co-opted on.
6. Liberation and Access Committee: 4 places available
No one put themselves forward for this role
7. Postgraduate Committee: 4 places available
Kate Foy – has had 3 different post-grad degrees, tackelling issues around marginalised students, Disabled Students officer, been president of six different societies amongst other things.
Alienoure Bombard – don’t have as much experience but there’s a notable difference about level of support so would like to make difference and be a voice for people around them.
No objections raised so both were coopted in
8. Welfare Committee: 3 places available
Laura Mai – 1/4th of students in UK suffering from anxiety & depression. Been volunteering with women, homeless people, asylum seekers and refuguees – helped with skills. Studying politics and economics, misogany as hate campaigners.
Hatty Ruddick – also part-time Women’s Officer and post-grad student - post graduate welfare is not looked after a lot – want to give representation to the campaign. Disabled students too – big priority this year, especially women, climate change – submitted the tree charter motion.
No objections raised so both were coopted in
9. Women’s Committee: 6 places available
Sara Khan – already spoken but was chair of Fem Soc – very motivated to liberation politics and black feminist politics – incredible space to discuss healing and growing and forming communities, intersectional women passionate about not leaving anyone behind – would love to be a part of committee – loves feminism.
Alienor Bombarde – admire Ayla taking little things or pushing for sanitary items as duty of care, doing an MA in Creative Writing – see so much mysoginy – universities a place for change.
No objections raised so both were coopted in.
10. Steering Committee: 1 place available (reserved for self-defining women)
Ayla Huseyingolu – Women’s Officer – really important that we steer the senate, diplomatic and logical person, like rules. No objections raised so was coopted in Notices – Ayla Huseyingolu, Women’s Officer - Remember to vote on 12th December
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Adam Haigh, Welfare and Communities Officer - Consultation about buses in Manchester and Greater Mancehster Combined Authority consultation on hate crime – both can be found on GM Consult web page. 10 Close Date of next Senate: Thursday 6th February
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Paper 3: Committee Reports
Women’s Committee Report Summary
Present: Adriana Esteves, Alienor Bombarde, Ayla Huseyinoglu, Harriet Ruddick Apologies: Penelope Meek
Introductions, quorum, apologies
NUS and OfS Consultations on Sexual Harassment We are going to do a drive for people to submit responses to this Ayla to contact SU Marketing team and Research and Insight on this
Reclaim the Night Crowdfunding is not doing too well, it’s a fundraiser for a fundraiser. Feel free to share and get the word out. Volunteers: everyone to sign up to volunteer please! Adriana expressed interest in stewarding and organising stewards (maybe a head steward as she has stewarded before), Hatty would also like to steward. Blocks: women’s, youth and family, liberation, mixed- with the potential for anyone to organise their own sub-blocks within this Rally: Hatty and Ayla should submit their speeches to the BSL interpreter before 13th Feb and should liase with each other on the content of these After event: quiet social, club academy, performances and stalls. Ayla to send out performance signup sheet round so people can share. Rape crisis, St Mary’s SARC, Survivors, Melissa Reilly and the Proud Trust will also be there with stalls.
International Women’s Day Feminist Collective are doing an event on the 8th of March; Women’s Environmental Network is doing an event on the 11th of March. Get word out to people what events are on around that time due to work-load of Reclaim The Night Debating society wants more women involved in public speaking The committee think we should produce some video, arts, look at Angela Davis work or Beyonce to make people feel involved in the reality of feminism- ask Liberation and Everyone have a think about something art related to involve people on campus beofre the end of the week Flawless by Beyonce was mentioned, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is featured in this. Ayla to talk to Marketing about this
AoB We are very aware that we are all white women on this committee at the moment; Ayla to request if Sara could be unofficially on the committee as an advisor, until we have other positions filled Hatty has a meeting with the director of Residency to discuss safety of Muslim women in University accommodation.
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Education Committee Report Summary
Present: Chloe Salins (CS - Chair), Sandrina Mocartaite (SM), Jekaterina Macilevic (JM) In attendance: Adam Goldstone (AG - Secretary) Apologies: Rana Phool, Alexa Bernal, Klaudia Jedyka, Mohssin Hussain, Charles Okon, Usman Nasir, Jen Hewitt, Luis Sanchez, Xueying Zhao, Hongru Wang, Rebecca Throup, Klaudia Jedyka, Chang Liu
1. Apologies
The chair noted apologies.
2. Introductions
The chair invited each of the attendees to introduce themselves and explained that the meeting had not met quorum so is unable to set policy.
It was discussed that attendance has been poor for each meeting so far, so there was a question about whether something can be done to address this. This was left to be discussed until the later agenda item.
3. Faculty Issues
At the last FBMH faculty meeting, mitigating circumstances inconsistencies were discussed. The chair explained that there is an inconsistency in how long a delay there is before a student finds out their mitigating circumstances outcome, depending on which school you are in.
It was suggested that the University could work on triaging mitigating circumstances as there are a variety of different reasons why a student might submit a request.
CS outlined the issues that had arisen in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health regarding students who study a language alongside their degree, which primarily affects students in the School of Biological Sciences. The response at the last faculty meeting was that this has been an ongoing issue for a while, and not much could be done about it. The committee agreed that it was still worth asking the question again.
There was discussion about how industrial action had affected members of the committee. It was noted that there was a large impact was on students who had labs and on the attendance of Residents Life events. CS outlined what the University has agreed to ensure that the negative impact on students is minimised.
4. Senate Education Committee Composition Bye-Law Change
CS introduced a policy to be taken to Senate to introduce open place members to the Education committee to try to improve attendance.
There was discussion about what the best method of communication with committee members is. It was mentioned that, at the moment, members receive lots of emails. The committee discussed the possibility of having a Facebook group for Faculty Officers to speak to each other. It was mentioned that for the University's Student Ambassador scheme, ambassadors are split into families and in each family they use WhatsApp groups to communicate which works much better.
Some Faculty Officers identified that they were still not clear about their role and responsibilities, and they have been invited to more meetings than they expected to. They suggested that there could be more information provided to Faculty Officers before undertaking their role. It was also suggested that more detail could be added to the role descriptors, such as how many faculty meetings take place each year and approximately how much time they will take. Page 10
It was suggested that people don’t take the elections seriously, because of administrative issues, so once Part Time Officers are elected they don’t take their role seriously. An example of this is the issues with the website, which meant that people struggled to nominate themselves and to vote.
It was mentioned that, from the Part-Time Officers' point of view, it doesn’t seem like any work is being done because of all these practical and administrative issues.
ACTION: AG to check if role descriptor mentions that faculty officers are invited to senate committees and university faculty meetings and to pass on other feedback about elections promotional material. ACTION: AG to find out more about who is responsible for the communications of the role and who writes role descriptors.
5. Constitutional Addition
CS introduced a policy for the creation of a joint honours role in the current senate composition.
It was agreed that the policy should clearly define what joint honours means. It was identified that this does not cover courses which are jointly delivered by the University of Manchester and another university e.g. architecture, which is delivered by both UoM and Manchester Metropolitan University.
There was a discussion about the feasibility of engaging with yet another position in the Education Committee, and whether it would make more sense to try to properly engage students first before introducing a new role. It was agreed that, as this would not be introduced for this academic year, there is still time to work on engaging students with Education Committee first, so both could be worked on at the same time.
ACTION: CS to add in an explanation about what joint honours is, and explore the possibility of adding something about programmes that are jointly delivered by two universities.
There was a discussion, following on from the last meeting, about whether a policy would be written about fees and Brexit.
6. Senate Policy
CS introduced a senate policy that the Students' Union should lobby for bursaries and access programs for International Students. CS explained how bursaries and scholarships are currently awarded and what these proposed changes would mean.
It was discussed and agreed that the policy should apply to both European Union and International students and the wording should reflect this.
It was suggested and agreed that the policy could be split in two, with one policy for bursaries for EU and International Students and another for access programmes for EU and international students. ACTION: CS to do this.
7. Creation of new policies
CS explained that previously the committee discussed introducing a policy so that first aid training, which is currently offered to some students, is given to more students in the university. The committee discussed whether this should be opened up to any student who would like to take it and better advertised, or whether this should be mandatory for all students. It was agreed by the committee that this could be made optional at first with the long term aspiration of making it mandatory. ACTION: CS to draft this policy.
It was suggested that something should be done to address the fact that faculty officers don’t know about issues that arise in the schools that they are not in. It was suggested that this could be improved Page 11
by splitting the role up so there are representative for each school, or by giving more training to Faculty Officers about issues in other schools. CS explained that she is planning to introduce school/discipline level representation.
It was suggested that Faculty Officers could be told when the Student Staff Liaison Committees in their faculty are, so they can better understand the issues that there are in the other schools. ACTION: AG to investigate the feasibility of this.
8. Lapsing policies
There are two lapsing policies which are: The Students' Union Should Say Yes To Boycotting The NSS The Students' Union should lobby the University to provide a Printer Credit Allowance for Humanities students.
These were not discussed as the meeting was sub-quorate.
9. Any other business
There was a question about why there is so much discussion and frustration about the National Student Survey. CS explained some of the history of NSS, including why there have previously been campaigns to boycott the NSS and the extent to which students are repeatedly asked to fill in the survey by the University and an external body.
10. Dates of next meeting
ACTION: CS told the committee that she will be in touch after the Christmas break to agree a date for the meeting.
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Scrutiny Panel Report Summary
Members in Attendance: Matthew Suddart Scrutiny Panel Member MS Hamzah Sheikh Scrutiny Panel Member HS Staff in attendance: Emmet Cleaver Democratic Engagement Coordinator
Officers Interviewed: Kwame Kwarteng (General Secretary), Chloe Salins (Education Officer), Jake Butler (International Students’ Officer), Sara Khan (Liberation and Access Officer), Ayla Huseyinoglu (Women’s Officer), Rana Pool (Postgraduate Officer), Lizzy Haughton (Activities and Development Officer), Adam Haigh (Welfare and Community Officer) General Comments and Recommendations The meetings that took place on Friday 12th December and Monday 16th December was the first meeting of the new Scrutiny Panel. Matthew Suddart, Hamzah Sheikh and Tanya Mwamuka will make up the new Scrutiny Panel. Overall, the new Scrutiny Panel were delighted to establish constructive working relationships with all of the individual executive officers and we hope that with our support the officers can realise and carry out their manifesto promises. This Scrutiny Panel is keen to establish goals to work towards for each individual officer, therefore ensuring that their manifesto pledges can be achieved. At this point in time, the Sabbatical Officers have grown together as a team when coordinating on different projects and have brought their own unique approach when it comes to defining their work.
1. Kwame Kwarteng, General Secretary 1. Manifesto pledges/priorities and Policies UoM Olympics- Kwame has made significant progress towards fulfilling his manifesto promise of holding the 'UoM Olympics’. Working in collaboration with Jake Butler to ensure that the event is a success, Global Week- Global Week is scheduled to take place over the 1st and 2nd February. Kwame acknowledged that there have been difficulties running the two events so close together Market Students before they graduate Branding stage of the ProjectLab has been completed. Discussions with Hays PLC is underway on designing a recruitment solution for Postgraduate students. Miss World UoM- Kwame has dropped this pledge. He isn’t going to communicate with the student cohort of the University of Manchester that this pledge has been scrapped. Reduction in Student Living Costs- - Kwame conceded that he hadn’t made great strives towards this goal himself. However, Kwame is working with officers at the University of Manchester to reduce Student Living Costs.
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Policies the Officer is responsible for- - Make the Union Halal - A visible Policy about making Policy Visible - Excess and waste food from Biko Street should be formally donated to the homeless and food banks. - Referencing of all motions submitted to the senate
2. How has the Officers engaged with students? Used new ways in engaging with students because Kwame felt surveys and polls diminished the issues faced by the minority groups of students. First via radio show (Gensec On Radio Show). This show created the opportunity for Kwame to meet with students from diverse backgrounds to discuss students problems and also wider social and political issues. It also provided Kwame with an opportunity to gain rich insights into their deep-hearted concerns and even suggestions on solutions to pertinent students problems. It was at this engagement that one of Kwame’s guest, a visually impaired postgraduate international student highlighted some of the issues they face in relations to printing facilities. Kwame picked up this issue and thankfully, the Disability Advisory Support Service (DASS) agreed with Kwame in installing a braille embosser in the Library. Also, through the show, the student brought out the challenges of accessing and learning how to use the learning aids. This helped Kwame to engage and agree with DASS to allow international students to arrive weeks ahead of actual school reopening dates to access and gain the required training before class starts. Another engagement strategy was Kwame’s attendance to informal events organised by students. Kwame’s chat with students through these informal meet-ups helped him identify the challenges international students face with their 51-week contract, especially when they want to stay continue their stay in the hall for another year. The 52nd Week brings a lot of confusion which sometimes leads to students being forced to leave the halls of residence for just that week and to return to start the new rent agreement. Through this, Kwame was able to have an agreement with the accommodation manager for campus halls, which ensured that 51-week rent holders with interest in staying for the ensuing year could have their new rent agreement dovetailing with their existing contract. 3. Agreed actions or recommendations for next Scrutiny - Forecasts for spending on UoM Olympics and Global Week. - Update on Braille embosser installation at the Alan Gilbert Learning Commons - Success of UoM Olympics and Global Week?
Officer Feedback- MS: Kwame came to Scrutiny very adequately prepared and with clear evidence of his working. With significant progress made on the UoM Olympics and UoM global week, it is clear to see that Kwame has made good on some of his pledges. However, the decision to not communicate with the Student Body of the University of Manchester isn’t transparent. I understand that the optics may be controversial, but Kwame can demonstrate that he has listened to those who vehemently disagreed with the concept of the UoM Miss World. However, those that were supportive of the proposal may feel aggrieved that it is no longer going ahead. Kwame should communicate this.
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HS: Kwame has a clear vision for his projects and has showed a positive interest in working for International Students on campus. He has formed a good working relationship with Jake Butler (International Officer) for Global Week and the UoM Olympics. He has planned meetings with the UoM Sports Office and has taken responsibility for the promotion and marketing of the event as well as inclusion from different academic departments to encourage diversity. However, Kwame should improve how he communicates the development of these projects to the general student population and do this earlier to build more anticipation for what is to come. Planning too many big events within a short space of time from each other might prove stressful in the future.
2. Chloe Salins Education Officer 1. Manifesto pledges/priorities and Policies Liberate my degree- Good progress is underway for for LiberateMyDegree. Chloe’s meetings with the Vice-President for Teaching and Learning to discuss how the design of the curriculum is encouraging. Possibility of conducting research into diversification of assessment and how the current forms of assessment in Higher education disadvantaged students from marginalised groups. Student Mental Health- - Mental Health Hub launched. - Wellbeing space created in the library in anticipation of students sitting exams. 2. Policies the Officer is responsible for ● Exit Interviews for PhDs ● The Students' Union Should Say Yes To Boycotting The NSS ● The Students' Union should lobby the University to provide a Printer Credit Allowance for Humanities students. ● Contribute to bridging the information gap in university support and wellbeing services ● Save Our Staff- active policy mandating the Union to campaign against all course closures, staff redundancies and the privatisation of services, lapsing in 2019 ● Releasing Exam Dates Earlier ● Contribute to bridging the information gap in university support and wellbeing service ● The Students' Union should oppose the marketisation of the higher education sector and should lobby the university to treat students as partners and not as customers
3. How has the Officers engaged with students? - Humanities and Teaching and Learning Committee- Discussion on how to improve student engagement. - Institute for Teaching and Learning Committee- met to discuss a student partnership role, with a focus on including students from different backgrounds including distance learners. The group looked at how this could be possible and what the role would mean for students.
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4. Agreed actions or recommendations for next Scrutiny - Updates on LiberateMyDegree. What work has been done since December on LiberateMyDegree. - Statistics on how the Mental Health Hub is helping students, e.g. how many referrals have happened because of the Mental Health Hub. - How has the Wellbeing Space benefited students during the exam period?
Officer Feedback: MS: Chloe came to scrutiny prepared for her meeting with the panel. Chloe knew the fundamentals of the UCIL which I was particularly impressed with. Chloe has made good progress towards some of her manifesto promises such as ‘Liberate my degree’. Chloe’s success on the Mental Health Hub is really positive and one that will benefit many students. HS: Chloe has a strong grasp of educational issues on campus and has demonstrated a comprehensive knowledge and network of university management. She has prioritized mental heath and has a coherent understanding of what she wants to achieve in her role. I am looking forward to seeing Chloe work with the Greater Manchester Student Assembly and other community stakeholders to ensure students are safe on campus. She wants to ensure no student feels left behind and understands that humanities students can be hit the hardest when it comes to student engage with the university.
3. Jake Butler, International Students’ Officer 1. Manifesto pledges/priorities and Policies- - Continue to run language exchanges that allow international students and our language students to mutually benefit from practising to speak with native speakers of English and several other foreign languages; -This has not been carried out throughout the year. - Setting up of International FC- Teams in Wythenshawe ISSL. - Very successful with a team social and student led executive in place. - Offer more trips so that internationals coming from long haul destinations can make the most of their time in Europe- Morocco trip is taking place in January. - Assist international students in finding part-time work, accommodation and settling into the city by showing them how to get a NIN (and other necessary documentation) and which areas best suit their needs in terms of where to live according to their rental budgets- Work is being done on this in Semester 2. - Increase shared activity between international students and UK students to help integrate international students into life in Manchester- This has partly been done through the football team. However, more must be done on this to achieve the aim. However, it is very hard to quantify. - Collaborate with the International Society, Instituto Cervantes, l’Alliance Française and other public institutions to provide more international activity shared with the public so that the internationals have a social outlet outside of university to help them engage in life in the city- This hasn’t been worked on enough yet.
2. Policies the Officer is responsible for Page 16
- The Students' Union should Oppose PREVENT to Challenge Islamophobia - The Students' Union should lobby the university to include staff members' pronouns alongside their contact details. - Accessible prayer spaces across campus - The Union should promote and advertise the graduate entrepreneur schemes for international students - Lobbying UoM to make resit examinations flexible for international students - The Students’ Union should actively campaign against the introduction of NHS charges to international students - Students with British passports who have spent the last three years living abroad should pay home student tuition fees
3. How has the Officers engaged with students? Information still to be provided.
4. Agreed actions or recommendations for next Scrutiny- MS: Jake has already achieved one of his manifesto aims in creating an international society football team. I was impressed that Jake had already set up a Student led executive team. This means that when Jake leaves his role at the Students Union the team has every chance of carrying on competing in the ISSL. It would be encouraging if Jake could try and begin the language exchange lessons again. However, more work must be done in order to achieve international students having a social outlet outside of the university. HS: Jake has combined his role of International Students Officer with his passion in sports and pledges to work towards International Society trips in the UK and abroad. This is a very clear, straightforward attitude for the role which will benefit him in the planning of the events while he brings a unique style to his work. However, issues presented by the International Students Committee have not been given enough attention and the nature of these issues should be taken very seriously.
4. Sara Khan, Liberation & Access Officer 1. Manifesto pledges/priorities and Policies - Lobby for more gender neutral toilets- More work needs to be done on this. November Senate passed a resolution on this, but need to see practical evidence of it happening. - Lobby to make the Union more accessible for disabled students- Ramp particularly in the SU is challenging for disabled students. This is being taken up in Semester 2. - Lobby to make the University and Union’s social media more accessible to disabled people (e.g.making sure all images are accompanied by descriptions,making sure all videos are captioned,etc - Lobby to make the University and Union’s social media more accessible to disabled people(e.g.making sure all images are accompanied by descriptions,making sure all videos are close captioned.
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- Lobby for an end to investments in fossil fuels and the arms trade- spoke on a panel entitled “Disarm, Divest, Decolonise”. This conference took place October 5-6th.
2. Policies the Officer is responsible for - The Students' Union should lobby the University to amend course content to support the wellbeing of trans students - The Students’ Union should lobby the University to increase the number of gender neutral toilet facilities and to change the signage to accommodate non-binary students - Making senate more accessible - QTIPOC inclusion and advocacy - Support the fight for marriage equality in Northern Ireland - Making Freshers' fair more accessible - Trans inclusion in sport 3. How has the Officers engaged with students?
4. Agreed actions or recommendations for next Scrutiny ● How have you lobbied for an end to investments in the fossil fuel and the arms trade? ● What steps have been taken since the last Scrutiny Panel Meeting that has ensured that the University will install more gender neutral toilets? ● Is the Students Union more accessible for disabled students since our last meeting? ● Lobby the University and relevant forums to resolve the problems surrounding the disabled access ramp.
Officer Feedback: MS: Sara came to scrutiny prepared for the December meeting with the panel. It was welcome that Sara provided a report for the Scrutiny Panel. It was good to hear how in a range of ways that Sara is working towards their manifesto pledges on ‘Decolonising UoM’, and lobbying the University for an end to investments in fossil fuels and the arms trade. Sara must keep on working to deliver on manifesto promises such as making sure the University’s social media is inclusive for all. Sara is also studying at the University of Manchester as a Postgraduate student, it is imperative that Sara balances enough time for the very important role of Liberation and Access officer as Sara’s priority must be the full time paid role of the Liberation and Access officer. HS: Sara has an excellent understanding of their role and is building on their previous experience in the Student Union. She recognises the importance of their job and why the position was necessary, which is important in Sara’s dedication for those who are left behind by the University. Combined with part-time study, she has worked on a successful launch of ‘Decolonising UoM’ has voiced their concerns with the University’s current status of accessibility and how management can do better when supporting disabled students. She has an extensive knowledge as to how the University operates, its offices and its regulations to do this, along with working shoulder-to-shoulder with the DSO following PTO elections.
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5.Ayla Huseyinoglu, Women’s Officer 1. Manifesto pledges/priorities and Policies - Ayla has dropped one of her manifesto pledges about opening safe spaces in places other than the Students Union. This is due to prioritising other initiatives such as Reclaim The Night. - Ayla has however made significant progress regarding free sanitary products in the Students Union, funding has been made through April Macmahon, Vice President for Teaching, Learning and Students. - Installation of where people can donate sanitary products is now in place in the Students Union - Ayla has taken part in running her 5k runs organised for those who self identify as women. Good success with good numbers taking part. - Discussion on gender/LGBT- Not formal events as previously expected, work with good lad initiative who have been delivering this.
2. Policies the Officer is responsible for ● Motion for an Effective Strategy to Combat Sexual Harassment on campus ● The Students' Union should support the running of and signposting to Survivors Unite ● The Students' Union should support the H.O.P.E. Project ● Campaigning Against Misogyny ● Motion for annual Students' Union Exec elections hustings
3. How has the Officers engaged with students? - Running of General Election stalls encouraging students to register to vote. - Helping with running of self-defence classes - Ayla held meetings with the Support for Student Sex Workers Society, to see how they be can supported in the SU, as a new society and ensure they are safeguarded. - Ayla operated one of the 'register to vote' stalls ahead of the General Election in December - During Welcome Week, Ayla attended many events that the SU hosted: Deansgate Locks Night, Glow Up night, both Welcome Week Fairs and the student festival. This involved signposting and ensuring that students were safe after and during events, as well as being a friendly face to talk to. - Ayla met with the part-time women's officers several times, supported and advised them on their objectives and attended their events. - Ayla put out a period poverty survey with the help of the research and insight team (just under 200 responses), took the results of this to the University SLT and put on a film screening of a documentary about period poverty. - Ayla attended a school visit with the president and vice chancellor of the university, and the vice president of teaching, learning and students. This included a visit to the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures and students were given the opportunity to ask us questions
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- Ayla sat on the panel at a Student Safety Event with Andy Burnham, Sacha Lord and other Sabbatical Officers. Where she spoke to over 200 students and answered their questions on safety in the nighttime economy. - When in the initial planning phase for Reclaim the Night, Ayla met with the following student groups and came up with the campaign aims based on their responses and thoughts: Part-time liberation officers: trans, women's, disabled, LGBTQ+ BME,Support for Student Sex Workers,Feminist Collective, Sexpression Manchester, Citizens UK (specifically Misogyny is Hate leaders) Coppafeel, Once a Month
4. Agreed Actions or recommendations for next meeting- - Updates on free sanitary products in the SU - Updates on Reclaim The Night - What progress have you made towards your other manifesto commitments?
Officer Feedback: MS: Ayla has made significant progress on her manifesto promise of installing free sanitary products into the Students Union. However, Ayla dropping a key manifesto pledge should be communicated to those within the student community. Transparency is at the heart of this scrutiny panel. Therefore, Ayla should communicate to those who voted for her and those that did not, why she has not prioritised the addition of safe spaces to outside the Students Union. Also, Ayla could have been more prepared for her meeting with the Scrutiny Panel. Ayla should be completely aware of all her manifesto promises and how she is working towards them. However, Ayla has engaged with students in a range of different ways, possibly more than any other officer. This is very encouraging.
HS: I was unable to attend this meeting
6. Rana Phool 1. Manifesto pledges/priorities and Policies - Rana believes that his manifesto promise of making Halal food more accessible on campus will be realised in January 2020. This is a key manifesto promise, therefore, very welcome news. 2. Policies the Officer is responsible for ● The Students' Union should Advocate Open Discussion around Organ Donation ● The Students' Union should challenge the University's corporate affiliations that contradict the University's ethics and social responsibility policies. ● The Students Union' should Support the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) Campaign ● The Students' Union should campaign against all robberies and thefts against students (especially international students). ● Motion for posters to reach further across campus during Exec elections ● The SU should lobby for The University of Manchester/Residential Services to provide secure, locked bicycle storage facilities in halls of residence Page 20
● Migrant Solidarity- Close All Detention Centres ● Malcolm In the Middle Floor- To rename ‘Academy 2’ to ‘Academy X ● Lobby the University to create a new Staffing and Pay Review Body ● Promoting the Real Living Wage ● Better Crime Support for Students 3. How has the Officers engaged with students? Student engagement on Rana’s part has been done through PG events held by the Union. Further, Rana actively took part in meeting and encouraging students for elections and voting processes.
4. Agreed actions or recommendations for next Scrutiny - Findings on the Owens Park development, whether those students now living in Unsworth Park were required to pay Unsworth Park prices when they were not living there. - What have you achieved since our last meeting in aim of your manifesto objectives?
Officer Feedback: MS: Rana was very adequately prepared for his meeting with the Scrutiny Panel. He has clearly demonstrated that he is serious about fulfilling his manifesto pledges with already being successful in delivering Halal food for the whole University of Manchester Campus. I look forward to seeing Rana deliver more of his manifesto promises in the future. HS: Rana has been proactive in getting halal food on campus and understands the difficulties behind getting a halal food license but is still committed to the objective. He also has demonstrated strong understanding of the operational issues and has contacted vendors, hoping to have strong developments on this in February. He has focused on the personal and mental wellbeing of Postgraduate students and the current status of the GTA policy of the UCU during their strikes. Rana has been very active in working with other Sabbatical Officers and I welcome his collaboration with Adam for the interests of student welfare.
7. Lizzy Haughton, Activities and Development Officer 1. Manifesto pledges/priorities and Policies. - Provide Mental Health Support for all society committees - Improve Working Space of Union, including more sofas, power sockets and microwaves - Provide bigger and better society forums - Promote Student Talent through art competitions, busking areas and a student stage at Pangea - Promote Student Enterprise through want not waste - Increase Community Outreach by collaborating on events with organisations across the city - Students Union taking a plastic free pledge - Join up with Manchester community fridge network to fight food waste
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2. How has the Officers engaged with students? Information still to be provided.
3. Additional Duties and responsibilities. ● The Students Union should provide new society committees with information detailing key information and resources ● The Students’ Union should reallocate funds from dormant societies of more than 2 years to put back into the fund it pot for current societies ● The Students' Union should lobby for the introduction of a disposable cup tax of 20p per cup in all food and drink outlets on campus, when the new re-usable cup system starts in September ● The Students' Union should lobby for the building of more 'Green Walls' on University buildings ● Reviewing and restructuring Fund It ● Reducing the carbon footprint of the SU ● My Bottle:That single use bottles are too commonplace in lectures and seminars ● Resturcture of Mancunion: The Mancunion's current working structure is outdated and not fit for purpose. This is true for both our online output and our legal processes ● The Students’ Union should introduce a ‘2 for 1’ policy on tree planting ● To limit environmental impact of large SU events ● Take the Plastic Pledge! ● Join the Rebellion ● Continue to fund The Mancunion ● This Union should declare a climate and ecological emergency.
4. Agreed actions or recommendations for next Scrutiny - Continue to work towards ‘Plastic Free Pledge’, learn from other universities such as Leeds University as seen here https://sustainability.leeds.ac.uk/plasticfree/ - Work with societies to deliver and develop the arts community at the University of Manchester- Mitigating the impact of not having a Student Busking Area Officer Feedback: MS: Lizzy has had a very busy year with prioritising work on Extinction Rebellion and Sustainability. Whilst these may be considered very worthwhile causes, Lizzy should work to ensure that her manifesto promises on the Students Union taking a ‘plastic free pledge’ is delivered. If Lizzy manages to achieve this and significantly reduce the amount of plastic the Students Union uses, this will have a great impact on reducing plastic use. It seems that the pledge on busking areas is not going ahead, if this is definitely true, Lizzy should communicate with this the Students at the University of Manchester. HS: Lizzie has made a clear commitment to on sustainability and divestment called upon from the student voice as well as being able to build on her previous work as ADO. She has strong knowledge of the university’s investment strategy and societies who are committed to combatting the causes and
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symptoms of climate change. She has ensured there has been mental health training for all societies, where she researched into similar training at Loughborough University. Lizzie wants students to have a more enjoyable time on campus, with an interest in art and music, however I feel that she can work with more societies to achieve, especially in planning smaller events to replace Pangea (which was scrapped in June). Lizzie has the benefit of having been in this role last year, however this means more should be expected of her when it comes to achieving milestone successes this Spring towards her manifesto pledges.
8. Adam Haigh- Welfare and Community Officer- 1. Manifesto pledges/priorities and Policies. - Work with halls community officers and the GMP to make student areas safer for all students. - Lobby for free condoms and sanitary products across university - Increase the amount and variety of free sports available to students - Campaign for more accessible, frequent and greener public transport - Platform the voices of people who are marginalised by society to speak about their experiences. - Advocate for more student engagement with University policy makers - Work to make sure that campaigns and events across campus are inclusive - Work with the university to improve their harassment policy so that cases are heard properly - Hold regular mental health workshops focused on specific topics. - Work with students to develop techniques to avoid burnout. - Campaign so that students know their rights in terms of housing, employment and law enforcement. - Constantly work to develop interconnections between students, staff and the local community. 2. Policies that the officer is responsible for- ● The Students’ Union should lobby the University to remove the 50p hot water charge in the University cafes ● The Students’ Union should run a road safety campaign ● The Students’ Union should look into the pricing of Laundry circuit in halls and improve the maintenance of the machines. ● Sex Worker Solidarity ● Sexual Assault Advice Page ● Support for students returning from foreign placements ● Ensure the University of Manchester accredits with the NUS’ Alcohol Impact scheme 3. How has the Officers engaged with students?
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- Helping to get students to register to Vote through running stalls in the Library, SU and Barnes Wallis. - GMCA Bus consultation, going to be asking for students to send their thoughts both to the SU and in response to the consultation directly. This will be put into a Students Union Response. 4. Agreed actions or recommendations for next Scrutiny - When creating consultations on GMCA Bus consultation, ensure that the questions are not biased. Regardless of your viewpoints in order to be taken seriously, questions must be fair and balanced.
Officer Feedback: MS: Adam has made good progress on some of his manifesto commitments such as the work towards student areas safer by meeting with key stakeholders such as officials from Reslife and has campaigned for more greener and sustainable transport. Whilst Adam is being very responsible by holding a consultation on GMCA transport and the merits of franchisement. However, I would advise Adam to ensure his survey is fair and balanced, therefore meaning stagecoach must respect the views of Manchester Students and cannot complain about the survey being influenced by Adam’s views on the topic. HS: Adam has given the challenges in his campaigns strong consideration and demonstrates good knowledge on how he wants to work to overcome them. He has shown keen interest in public transport, mental health, sex worker solidarity and working with Greater Manchester Police, which shows he has a clear understanding for the capacity and responsibilities of his role. He has worked well with other Sabbatical Officers and is willing to build consensus among the team. I hope to hear more about the implications of issues of one-to-one check-ins not being feasible for those who work in ResLife as he has committed to reviewing this issue over Christmas break.
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Paper 4: Steering Committee Minutes
Members in Attendance: Kwame Kwarteng (Chair) General Secretary KK Chloe Salins Education Officer CS Muhammad Butt Open place member MB Ruth O’Sullivan (Secretary) Senate Chair RO’S
No. Item Action Lead
1. Introduction and Administration Apologies, Notice, Quorum: 1.1 all EC notifies the committee is quorate. Conflicts of Interests: 1.2 all Minutes of the meeting held at the Decmeber meeting: 1.3 AGREED all The minutes of the meeting were taken as a true record. 2. Items for Approval Policy Proposal: 1. The Student's Union Must Campaign for Accessible Accommodation for Women of Faith
RO’S proposed rewording ‘RESOLVES 2’ to give clearer
intentions to the policy.
CS also proposed reqord ‘RESOLVES 3’ for the same reason. The committeed agreed to: - change Resloves 2 from “to review this” to “to review the University’s progress” - change Resolves 3 from “to lobby for prayer spaces within accommodation and for food storage systems for students of faith” to “to lobby for prayer spaces and food storage systems for students of faith within accommodation”.
The committee approved the policy 2.1
CS Policy Proposal: Contact 2. Graduations Should Be Free proposer CS suggested that the average price referenced in the policy to rewrite may not be accurate the policy CS also noted that it the policy is not clear which costs the policy proposes to be cut CS suggested that the University could be lobbied to allow students to attend the graudation without the cap and gown. RO’S suggested the proposer work with CS to rewrite the
policy adding further clarity.
The committee rejected the policy noting its lack of clarity.
Constitutional Proposal: 3. The Women’s' Campaign should be representative
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RO’S suggested that this poropsal is confusing due to mentioning the ‘Women’s Campign’ instead of ‘Women’s Committee’ KK believed the policy needed tobe consistent in its wording.
The committee agreed to reword the policy from ‘Women’s Camapign’ RO’S to ‘Women’s Committee’. Contact Policy Proposal: Proposer 4. The Students' Union Should Lobby For Access Programs for EU regarding and International Students clarificatio n of CS reminded the Committee of her conflict of interest (as the RESOLVE proposer) and agreed to step back from discussion. S 2
The Committee approved the proposal.
Policy Proposal: 5. The Students' Union Should Lobby For Bursaries for EU and International Students
CS reminded the Committee of her conflict of interest (as the proposer) and agreed to step back from discussion. KK questioned whether the Student hardship fund could be accessed by international students. CC clarified the policy’s focused on EU and Interntional students entering Unviersity. RO’s reminded the committee that the current arrnagment may be subject to change after Brexit. The committee agreed to approve the proposal.
Constitutional Proposal: 6. The Students' Union Should Have Representation for Joint Honours Students' at Senate CS reminded the Committee of her conflict of interest (as the proposer) and agreed to step back from discussion. AB questioned whether the proposal was calling for a full time position. CS noted it would be similar to a Student Access Officer (Part-time) KK agreed that joint honour students face isolated issues compared to those studying single honours. Questions were raised regarding changes to the democracy governance and timing of elections. The Committee approved this policy.
Constitutional Proposal: 7. The Union should create a new Ethics & Environment Exec Officer role RO’S clarified that should the policy be passed at Senate, it may be subject to change subject to the outcomes of the Union’s democracy review.
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CS noted steering that the most recently introcued Officer roles had a great deal of consultation prior to being voted on at Senate.
Policy Proposal: 8. This Union should encourage Students to join ACORN RO’s expressed concern about ‘RESOLVES.3’ of the policy whether the Union (as a charity) is legally able to pay money to to other charities Steering agreed to seek legal advice on the matter The committee felt it would still be possible to achieve sections 1 and 2 of the policy’s resolutions.
The Committee rejected the policy on the grounds that it was sighting unclaimed, unbudgeted expenditure.
Policy Proposal: 9. Motion for an Effective Strategy to Combat Sexual Harassment on Campus RO’s noted that that submission was a lapsing policy which had been updated form the Women’s Commtitee.
The committee agreed to approve the policy. 3. Items to Note Officer Reports: The committee were notified of the Officer who had submitted their progress reports: - Chloe Salins, Education Officer - Adam Haigh, Welfare & Community Officer - Ayla Huseyingolu, Women’s Officer
The secretary was awaiting the outstanding Officer reports. 4. For Information None
5. Any Other Open Business
None
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Steering Committee Meeting Tuesday 05/09/2019 Members in Attendance:
Author / No. Item Action Lead 1. Introduction and Administration 1.1 Apologies, Notice, Quorum: 1.2 Conflicts of Interests: Minutes of the meeting held at the Decmeber 1.3 meeting: 2. Items for Approval 2.1 3. Items to Note
4. For Information None
5. Any Other Open Business
None
Paper 5: Reports from Executive Officers Adam Haigh, Welfare & Community Officer
● Wrote up a Students Union Response to the Greater Manchester Bus Consultation ● Working on Know Your Rights fortnight; this is going to be starting on the 9th of March with each day focusing on an article of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights; this is going to include Film nights; Housing Workshops, Stop and Search Workshops and Panel Discussions. Working with Amnesty, Northern Police Monitoring Project. ● In conversation with the University about their employment of G4S to patrol Fallowfield to deal with Anti-social Behaviour and Nouse complaints. This has included gathering information on their contract with G4S and their data sharing agreement with the council. ● Interviewing for the Campaigns Coordinator ● The Council are currently wanting to relax policy on building more Private Student Accommodation in Manchester and are going to be opening a consultation with the University and students on this. Also going to be having meetings with the council around this. ● On top of this the Council are rewriting their local plan for 2023-2038 and I’ll be working to get students to fill this in as this is likely to shape Manchester Dramatically. This opens some time in April. ● Wanting to look at how useful students find Manchester Student Homes; where it could be improved and if there’s space for the university to have a dedicated service for student housing
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rather than one that also does community based service and deals with perceived antisocial behaviour and noise complaints for the council.
Ayla Huseyingolu- Women’s Officer
Manifesto pledge progress:
I have had meetings with University estates, library staff, and have secured funding and a company to provide free period products in the library. These will be available in all accessible toilets in the main library, and about half the male and female toilets, hopefully sometime in February until at least summer, but I hope that the pilot will keep running for at least a full academic year. I am looking to set up another women’s run in February. This will be suitable for beginners so as many people as possible can join. This is now also listed through sporticipate after I communicated with the University sports team. We have secured funding for the Good Lad Initiative workshops to take place with specific sports teams in March. I am working with the AU sabbatical officer to ensure this happens. Reclaim the Night planning is well underway now, and has been taking up most of my time since the winter break:
- We had an initial photoshoot and are shooting a tshirt promotional video on 23rd January - We have decided on campaign aims - I set up a crowdfunding page to mitigate the cost to the Union - We have had tshirts designed to sell to raise money for charity - We put out a call for stallholders at the after event to showcase their art and craft talents, and have been recruiting volunteers
Meetings: Several internal meetings with my fellow officers, staff members and students. I attended the University’s General Assembly. I have attended several Student Safety Groups, and learned about crime levels in student areas, discussing how we might mitigate that. I attend the Purple Wave steering group for the Manchester 10k. Frequent communications with the Part-time Liberation Officers, and specifically the Women’s Officers. I am on a task and finish group on sexual misconduct between staff and students, and have frequent meetings with Melissa Reilly (Sexual Violence and Harassment Response Manager).
Time and money: 11 days annual leave, no money spent since last report
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Chloe Salins- Education Officer
Manifesto
Student Rep Engagement
-Rep Review: Myself and the Education team have started to brainstorm the training for student reps, from looking at online provision to ensure we reach all students especially distance learners to how we utilise previous reps and the creation of handovers
-Department Rep Co-ordinator role: Currently looking at how the role would fit across the University, including how we ensure the roles fit in line with the current department structures and academic boards
Welcome Week Review
-In a recent committee meeting, we reviewed the volume of teaching during welcome week from the meeting we discussed how we could look at alternative ways we can plan and create activities during Welcome Week for those in classes from that first week
Faith Spaces
-In an upcoming meeting with the Library team, I will be raising the feedback regarding Faith Spaces on campus, especially in Main Library and Alan Gilbert Learning Commons
Act on Education
-Previously Know Your Academic Rights Week, this campaign focuses on the student voice surrounding various issues in Higher Education including Attainment, Postgraduate representation, Student rights and more
Student Mental Health
-I was recently on the interview panel for the Monitoring and Evaluating co-ordinator for the Hub, ensuring there is a clear understanding of the different factors that may affect a students’ mental health here at the University
ARTL – Annual Review of Teaching and Learning
-I took part in leading a session surrounding widening participation and access, exploring the different options we could introduce from accommodation to first term first five UCIL
-Created training for UCIL reps, moving the focus on to the ambassador side of a UCIL rep and how we can use this to lobby for further provision of UCIL
ITL – Institute for Teaching and Learning
-I was on the interview panel for the Inaugural Fellowships applications, focusing on staff and student led projects surrounding the aims of the Institute
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Jake Butler- International Students Officer
Kwame Kwarteng- General Secretary
1. EDUCATION 1.1. Institute of Teaching and Learning (ITL) The Job description meant for recruiting student partners for ITL has been approved and will be used for advertisement very soon. Curriculum evolution and assessment diversification are key highlights that I have been able to negotiate to be part of the key items ITL would be looking at. SU Collaborating officer: Education Officer and Chief Executive (Ben Ward)
1.2. Capping of Modules School of Environment Education and Development has agreed to remove the cap and has even gone ahead to send emails to students to register for modules for the second semester. I will be attending the Faculty of Humanities teaching and learning and students' group meeting to convince them on a faculty- wide lift of the cap on module registration. University Collaborating Officer: Kelly Osgood (Head of SEED TLSE)
1.3. Inclusivity – Disability Support Had meetings with the manager of the Disability Advisory Support Services (DASS) and we agreed unreservedly to install a Braille Printer at the library or Alan Gilbert Learning Commons for our Blind Students who require printing services; To allow disabled students the opportunity to arrive some weeks ahead of the actual school reopening dates to receive custom-made training on how to use the relevant learning aids tailored to their disability to ensure that they start class on a close-to-even level grounds with abled students and also to be able to achieve their desired academic aspirations. University collaborating Officer: Katy Woolfenden (Faculty and Student Partnerships) and Louise Pepper-Kernot (Manager – DASS)
1.4. Internationalisation Masterclass The working group met to agree on the outline and structure of the masterclass. A template was developed to ensure group members feed in with content via dropbox link. We hope to deliver this Masterclass in April. I was able to push for “Assessment Diversification” to be a major topic for discussion. SU Collaborating Officer: Asad Muhammed (part-time International Students’ Officer) University Collaborating officer: Dianne Burns (FBMH Academic Lead staff Development Programme) 1.5. FSE Social Responsibility Awards I was also appointed the Lead Judge for the Student Volunteering award and the second Judge for the Social Enterprise Award towards the FSE Social Responsibility awards which will be held on the 6th of February 2020.
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2. DIVERSITY AND INTEGRATION 2.1. Global Week: The venue for all the events has been confirmed and societies have signed up for the events they are interested in participating in. In the area of Marketing, the marketing and Comms team has commenced promotions via all the social media platforms the SU, whereas our other external stakeholders are supporting us with promotions as well. We are at the face of marketing and promotion to encourage participation. SU Collaborating officer: International Students Officer University Collaborating officers: Esme Ward (Director of Manchester Museum)
2.2. UoM Olympics: We are done with venue identification and have re-focused the athlete categorization to the three faculties and the SU. The university has shown keen interest as it fits into their “Be Active” campaign towards wellbeing. The University Media Service has shown interest in supporting us through promotions. The Webpage for the UoM Olympics has been done and is ready for athletes and spectators to register. We are entering the next phase of marketing and promotions to encourage participation. SU Collaborating officer: International Students' Officer University Collaborating Office: UoM Sports Team, Estates Department
3. STUDENT WELFARE 3.1. Accommodation for the early arrival of disabled international students The accommodation service finally sent to returning students on the agreement that they can dovetail their existing contract with the ensuing year if they are interested in staying in their respective hall in the ensuing year. Concerning our support for disabled students as stated above, I am picking up a discussion around the accommodation service on providing accommodation services for early arrivals to be able to gain the training to enhance their students experience. University Collaborating Officer: Paul Burns (Accommodation Office Manager) and Louise Pepper- Kernot (Manager of DASS)
4. EMPLOYABILITY PROJECTS Towards creating valuable employment and skills training for our Postgraduate international students within their 6-month stay after dissertation, I had a meeting with the manager of DASS, who agreed to look at providing employment opportunities for them to become disabled support workers. The Jobshop and I will meet with DASS to even discuss how we can incorporate our Jobshop in the recruitment process. We are also working with the head of Humanities to see how employment opportunities can be generated with the faculty for students to enhance their employable skill. We will be meeting Hays PLC on 27th February 2020 to discuss the possible recruitment solutions they can develop for our international students. SU Collaborating Officer: Ben Ward (SU Chief Executive) and Hannah Brown (JobShop Development Executive)
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Lizzy Haughton- Activities and Development Officer
Rana Phool- Postgraduate Officer
Sara Khan- Liberation and Access Officer
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Paper 6: Policy Proposals
Proposed by: Chloe Salins, Education Officer The Students' Union Should Lobby For Access Programs for EU and International Students
The Union notes: 1. The University of Manchester has an established number of access programs for home students to help them enter Higher Education
The Union believes: 1. International students should have the same support as any other student to access Higher Education
2. No students should be disadvantaged and should have the support and the opportunity to access Higher Education
3. The University should recognise widening participation does not just count for home students and should look to support widening participating international students
The Union resolves: 1. The Students’ Union should lobby the Universities Widening Participation Team to create access programmes for EU and International students’
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Proposed by: Hatty Ruddick
The Student's Union Must Campaign for Accessible Accommodation for Women of Faith As part-time Womens' Officer I have conducted a survey of Muslim Women and their experiences in Student Accommodation. The findings were shocking and proved a clear need for better accommodation for Muslim and Jewish women (the survey was just for Muslim women, but evidence from the findings showed a need for better support for Jewish students also).
The Union notes: 1. that in a survey completed in December 2019-January 2020 surrounding Muslim Women's experiences in Manchester Student Accommodation:
2. 31.6% of respondents said that they don't feel safe.
3. 10.5% described experiencing fear of assault or having been assaulted.
4. 28.3% described worries surrounding the amount of alcohol and drugs in their accommodation, with 10.5% stating worries about men in their accommodation.
5. 31.6% said that they did not have the option of women-only accommodation, with 9.1% stating that their request was not adhered to.
6. 63.2% stated that they did not have adequate prayer space in their accommodation.
7. 10.5% expressed concern surrounding storage of halal food.
The Union Believes: 1. Some of the incidents described in these findings are particularly worrying. There is a clear concern surrounding safety for some of these women, with them being scared of being attacked and having experienced religious hate crime in their accommodation.
2. Another clear concern for the respondents is the access to alcohol and drugs in their flats, and the presence of men that they don’t know.
3. With 31.6% of respondents not being given the choice of having women only accommodation and 9.1% not having their request for this granted, there is a clear need to lobby the university for more women only accommodation.
4. There are additional concerns raised about the functionality of rooms- not having curtains and 63.2% of respondents feeling that they don’t have enough prayer space. 5. Concerns have also been raised regarding space for halal food- this will also affect Jewish students not having adequate space for Kosher food.
The Union Resolves: 1. For the Welfare Committee to lobby for a review into safety of Muslim women in accommodation to be done by the University regarding the safety concerns raised.
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2. For the Womens' Campaign to lobby for women only accommodation and quiet flats (which discourage access to alcohol and drugs in flats) and to review this every two years.
3. For the Welfare Committee to lobby for prayer spaces within accommodation and for food storage systems for students of faith.
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Proposed by: Chloe Salins, Education Officer The Students' Union Should Lobby For Bursaries for EU and International Students
The Union Notes: 1. The University currently does not provide bursaries to support EU or International students into Higher Education
2. EU or International Students do not receive financial support from Student Finance England, creating a real barrier to access Higher Education in the UK
3. The fees set for EU and International students are unattainable for a cohort of EU and International students limiting their access to Higher Education without any bursaries or scholarships from the University
The Union Believes: 1. International students should have the same support as any other student to access Higher Education
2. No students’ should be disadvantaged from accessing Higher Education
3. The University should recognise widening participation does not just count for home students and should look to support widening participating EU and International students
The Union Resolves: 1. The Students’ Union should lobby the University to provide bursaries to financially support EU and International Students’
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Proposed by: Women’s Committee
Motion for an Effective Strategy to Combat Sexual Harassment on Campus
The Union Notes:
1. According to the Guardian, more than half of UK students say that they have faced unwanted sexual behaviour, ranging from explicit unwanted messages to rape.
2. Since this Union last passed a policy to combat sexual harassment three years ago, the University of Manchester has progressed in its action against sexual harassment, including but not limited to the following ways:
a. The hiring of a Sexual Violence and Harassment and Response Manager, and case workers to deal with instances of sexual violence below her. b. There has been a rewriting of the University’s Sexual Misconduct Policy, which now defines consent and sexual assault, and only requires an offence to be proven to a balance of probabilities standard of proof c. Bringing in the ‘Report and Support’ reporting tool for students so that they can anonymously report incidents of sexual violence. d. The introduction of the ‘Consent and Sexual Violence’ pilot (essentially an interactive consent workshop) in Welcome Week 2019, which is going to be continued at the end of this month.
3. However, continuing reports of sexual misconduct on people of all genders prove that sexual violence is not yet a thing of the past.
The Union Believes:
1. Students at university will have varying levels of sex and relationship education, and therefore may enter university ignorant of issues concerning consent and sexual harassment.
2. The University of Manchester does not provide comprehensive education about consent and sexual harassment to all of its students, and education about consent and sexual harassment should be compulsory for all students, from first year undergraduates, to international students, to postgraduate students, to placement students and distance learners.
3. There needs to be more done to ensure the visibility of the University’s new sexual harassment policy and support services for survivors, so that students are confident in the institution.
The Union Resolves:
1. To encourage the University of Manchester to make services and policy to help survivors of sexual assault more visible, working with the Sexual Violence and Harassment Response Manager to do this.
2. To insist that the University of Manchester and the Students’ Union invites St Mary’s Sexual Assault Referral Clinic representatives to important events in the calendar, such as the Welcome Week Fairs, and Refresher’s Events.
3. To include in Welcome Week materials, physical leaflets and booklets that are sent out to students, information about where to get help in cases of sexual assault and information about consent.
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4. To ensure that society committees, and student leaders, at the annual student leaders’ conference, are given training on how to deal with disclosures of sexual harassment and preventative measures to take.
References
1. David Batty, ‘More than half of UK students say they have faced unwanted sexual behaviour’, The Guardian 26.2.19, accessed 7.1.20 from https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/feb/26/more- than-half-of-uk-students-say-they-have-faced-unwanted-sexual-behaviour.
2. Report and Support can be found here: https://www.reportandsupport.manchester.ac.uk/.
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Paper 8: Resolutions of Interest Proposals
Proposed by: Hatty Ruddick The Women’s Committee should be representative
The Union notes: 1. That the Womens’ Committee currently has reserved spaces for an LGBTQ+ Woman, a BAME woman and a Disabled Woman.
2. The Womens’ Committee should also be representing Trans Women, Postgraduate Women and International Students that are Women.
The Union believes: 1. The current Womens’ Committee has no formal representation for Trans Women, Postgraduate Women or International Students that are women.
2. Without formal representation, it is possible that campaigns will not meet the needs of these students and therefore the Womens’ Committee may be failing these students.
3. As Womens’ Officers elected and accountable to students we need to be working for all of these students.
The Union resolves: 1. There must be reserved places of the Womens’ Committee for a Trans Woman, a Postgraduate Woman and an International Student who is a Woman.
2. As this will take the committee to be over eight people, in addition to the three elected Womens’ Officers, one of the elected part-time Womens’ Officers must identify as LGBTQ+, BAME or Disabled to ensure that there is representation of other liberation groups within the committee and that the committee stays at eight members. This should be a reserved place in the election process.
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Proposed by: Chloe Salins, Education Officer
The Students' Union Should Have Representation for Joint Honours Students' at Senate
The Union Notes: 1. Joint Honours students refer to “an honours university degree in which a student studies two separate subjects, as opposed to a single subject this includes students studying separate subjects at multiple universities”
2. Joint Honours students are largely underrepresented at University
3. The issues joint honours students face are largely different to issues single honour students face including issues of communication, lack of academic orientation during welcome week and re- freshers, and issues of belonging
4. There is a lack of focus through research or Higher Education regarding joint honours students experiences
The Union Believes: 1. As the University of Manchester Students Union’s Senate is the highest decision-making body in the Students Union the composition of Senate should represent the student body
2. The current composition of Senate under-represents cohorts of students, including joint-honours students
The Union Resolves: 1. Amend Section 17 of the Officers of the Union bye-laws to include a Joint Honours Student Access Officer
2. Amend Section 41 of the Senate Committee bye-laws of the Education Committee Composition to include a place for a Joint Honours Student Access Officer.
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Proposed by: Lizzy Haughton, Activities and Development Officer The Union should create a new Ethics & Environment Exec Officer role This policy calls to change the current Activities & Development Exec Officer role to Ethics & Environment Officer to ensure ethics and the environment are a sustainable role within the union even as Exec change over year to year.
The Union notes: 1. That there is currently no lasting role in the Students’ Union that focuses on sustainability, which means it relies on the coming and going of various Exec members whose focus may or may not be on one of the most important issues of our time (sustainability and the environment).
2. That the current Activities & Development Officer already sits on several University committees related to Ethics and the Environment (such as the Social Responsibility Governance Group, the Social Responsibility Network, the Fairtrade Steering group, and the Ethical Grand Challenges group) where some knowledge about Ethics and the Environment is useful.
3. That the current Activities & Development Officer has managed to get a place on several other sustainability-related committees within the University (such as the Environmental Sustainability Committee, the Academic Engagement group for Environmental Sustainability, and the Single- Use Plastics working group), meaning continuity is not guaranteed if the next A&D Officer has no focus on sustainability.
4. That according to the last NUS Survey, over 91% of students say they are concerned about climate change, and 60% of 1st year students have said that they want it included in their education. The Ethics and Environment Officer would be able to focus solely on these issues and represent a huge number of students within the University on the issues that matter to them.
5. That the Ethics & Environment Part-Time Officer (PTO) has no-one in the Union to feed back to or to get support from, unlike many of the other PTOs, which means that a huge area of work is left to one PTO.
The Union believes: 1. That being a student representative for over 400 societies is treating all societies as a homogenous entity, which they are not. The specifics of the societies (e.g. finance issues or Societies Fair) is the remit of the society coordinators. Society representation should be the responsibility of the Activities Committee to truly represent the different areas of all societies (e.g. performance societies, cultural societies, sports societies, etc).
2. That societies could also be represented by their most relevant Exec member (e.g. cultural societies may have specific questions for the International Officer, or certain campaign societies with the Liberation and Access Officer).
3. That the Activities & Development Officer remit can also include areas of Halls life, however Halls have their own student leaders and representatives, and the Welfare & Community Officer, as well as the Halls coordinators, making them far more able to effectively and truly represent themselves on the issues that matter to them, as well as being properly supported by a permanent team.
4. That the Mancunion, Fuse FM, and Fuse TV can also be included in the remit of the Activities & Development Officer, however these are autonomous entities within the Students’ Union that Page 42
should be accountable to themselves, and any major issues that may arise should not fall to just one Exec member, but the whole team.
5. That adding on ‘sustainability’ or ‘ethics and environment’ to the remit of other Exec roles is confusing, and it adds a huge amount of work to already busy Officers. In contrast, adding the remit of ‘Activities’ to other Exec roles would enable them to have direct responsibility for different societies that relate to them more than others, while also enabling them to have more student contact than currently (and also promoting the roles of the Exec to even more students).
The Union Resolves 1. To change the Activities & Development Officer role to the Ethics & Environment Officer role.
2. That the new Ethics & Environment Officer would focus on areas of student life such as the societies, halls, and student journalism regarding ethical and environmental issues, and truly represent a huge number of students on campus.
3. That the new Ethics & Environment Officer would officially support the Ethics & Environment PTO(s).
4. That the new Ethics & Environment Officer would sit on all the University committees related to these issues and ensure continuity from Officer to Officer.
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L
LOST: If you are unclear about the debate that is being held or what you’re being asked to vote on, show the page to the Senate Chair who will provide an explanation to what is being discussed.
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P
PROCEDURAL MOTION: Procedural motions propose a change to how the meeting is being run or what is happening in the meeting. If you think the way in which the meeting is being run needs to change. Show the page to the Senate Chair. Withdraw an item, which if passed shall immediately end the debate on an item and the item shall have the status of never having been considered by the meeting; Postpone an item to a later meeting, which if passed shall push the debate on an item back to another specified meeting, provided that this cannot be used to move items into the next academic year; Refer the matter to a referendum, which if passed shall trigger a referendum on the item of business, and debate on the item shall end without a vote; Remit the matter to another body, which if passed shall delegate the matter to another specified Committee for discussion or decision (as specified); End further debate, which if passed shall move debate to the summing up stage and then straight to a vote on an item of business; Delete a specified part or parts, which if passed shall remove the specified part or parts from an item of business.
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