Christmas do's...or simply more reasons to #%£$...have fun :)

Xmas is just around the corner...I can't believe it! Did time fly so quickly??? SU staff, students' end of year gatherings kicked off and your President worked behind the bar!!!

How important it is for a Student Union to keep the team ethos, hmm?? To make sure that the fun element of working at OBSU is always kept to the highest level we had a...

Christmas Lunch
The SU staff had their Xmas lunch on the 10th Dec, the officers and staff members were involved in OBSCAS the Union yearly nominations. The lunch was an important part

Staff Party
On 16th the SU staff celebrated Xmas. Helen West, Jason Manning and myself worked behind the bar. This was the 1st time I have ever worked behind the bar. This time those who normally serve the drinks for the whole year were finally enjoying a well deserved break, while us, who are normaly being served, have done the hard work! Apart from my lack of knowledge on all the drink options and the obvious struggle when dealing with the till, it was a great and certainly memorable experience!

Our students had final parties too :)
Similarly to the Xmas staff parties the union had a week of MASSIVE final parties for our students, co-ordinated by VP CDC Jason Manning and the commerc

ial services department. Peachy and Pleasuredome were both successful compared to last year performance and turnout. The SU Entz Crew enlightened me about the world of club night entz management and how hi-tech equipment operates, and I totally enjoyed playing with...ermm hm hm operating the Pleasuredome laser and the clubnight lights!

Sqeese the balls...and destress before Exams...and other SU stuff!

• Your SU exec managed to destress apprx 400 students...
• The SU's volunteers helped the local community on Cowley Road
• Let's do a MASSIVE Spring Clean in Oxford!!!
• Xmas parties for everyone
• I went piloting with NUS ;p
• Our SU Exec board is now under review and reconstruction

Stress Balls
VP Welfare and Equal Opps Lou Golden and myself went out giving stress balls and wishing Good luck at your Exams last week. We covered approximately 210 people on the 1st day...follow up initiatives added up to apprx 400 students. Students loved the stress balls! Hope that helped you guys!

Cowley Road Community Funday
Attended the event on Sat 9th. The Lord Mayor officially opened the event, organised by the Christian Union. 10 SU Stax volunteers, myself Naz and Gareth, both working in Stax helped out on the day. This even aimed at making a positive impact on the local community living in this area, and despite the heavy rain it certainly cheered up the children and parents, as well as the rest of the residents who attended.

* STAX is the volunteer organisation at OBSU and stands for Students Taking Action For Community Change

Spring Clean Project
Worked with Louise Golden VP Welfare and Equal Opps to outline a proposal for involvement in the Spring Clean Initiative undertaken by the local community and the County Council. The Spring Clean campaign is taking place on the 14, 15, 16th March and will cover Wheatley, Headington and Cowley Road and Harcourt Hill respectively for 2h each day. The proposal aims to make a positive impact on the local community and environment, and to improve the relationship between students and the rest of the local citizens. Following the proposal and approval of the Exec Board, I have spoken with Robin McSorley: Membership Services Manager and Jon Biggs STAX manager, for involvement of STAX and creating a marketing plan to support the promotion and support of the campaign. As a result a working group is created: Spring Clean Group, consists of President, VP Welfare and Equal Opportunities, Mature Students’ Officer: Takao Noguchi, Students with Disabilities Officer: Gwen James, Robin McSorley: Membership Services Manager and Jon Biggs STAX manager. The group is meeting in Jan to outline the action plans for the proposal and

Union Council
VP Welfare and Equal Opportunities seconded by myself have put a motion forward to loby the Council for better lighting on Pullens lane,


Refreshers Week
Met with Helen Burton to discuss the Freshers week arrangements. The SU promotion has been agreed: the SU will be present both in HKSC (Helena Kennedy Student Centre) and the Main Campus on 2 stalls. There will also be student talks and events. For further information contact me.

SU Communication Channels
Met with VP CDC: Jason Manning to discuss the communication channels of the SU following the Communications List produced by Robin McSorley. There were further comms channels identified. The proposal is to monitor the news that are being communicated to the membership and see whether the Union communicates with diverse groups of students, what types of messages are being sent, how frequently and whether there is a balance between the messages types: welfare, representation, commercial. For that purpose the proposal would require the production of a 3 months report to list and assess these, to be presented to Exec in March. The list and the proposal will be brought to Exec for further input and to clarify how communications will be co-ordinated

UNIVERSITY

Executive Board:
The University Exec board has agreed to exchange information between the SU Exec board on monthly basis. From now on we’ll have a much more regular communication with the University and will be aware of the decisions that are being made and that affect us – the students!


SU GOVERNANCE

The following:

1. NCVO Governance and Trustees Pilot
2. Open Exec Committee effectiveness review
3. Next Steps…

1. I went piloting...almost :)
I am continuing learning, research and work on SU Governance: attended an NUS pilot scheme: NCVO Governance and Trustees pilot program, that covered in detail the purpose of trustee boards, their role, responsibilities, tips on recruitment, safeguarding and viability, applying good governance in practice: governance documents, meeting roles: chair, secretary, treasurers, organisations structures, legal requirements ect.

This pilot scheme involves only 5 SUs from the whole country, each participant is required to create a portfolio to meet the assessment criteria, and at the end receives an Accreditation Level 2 (equals GCSE) on Organisational Governance and Trustees Management

Oxford Brookes SU has a unique chance to be part of the pilot scheme. I am in a process of creating the portfolio to meet the accreditation criteria.

More Governance:

Open Exec Committee Effectiveness review

The review resulted in changes within the following:a. Officers reportsb. holidays, TOIL, declarations of interestc. meeting frequency Since the new constitution was approved on the 22nd Nov, the 5th Dec Open Exec board has been reviewing its effectiveness. The review lasts until end of December. The members of the board proposed new ways of working more effectively: officers will report in writing on progress of objectives as well as outcomes of committee meetings they are chairing. Verbal reports will not be accepted unless written reports have been submitted prior to the meeting, or unless prior notice is given from an officer. These will all be sent to Exec board. The committee will no longer be discussing holidays, toil or declarations of interest, these will be reported in writing as well. The Exec board will be meeting on Fortnightly basis starting from the 16th Jan 2008.

NB! Closed Exec meetings remain as frequent as previously: on weekly basis.

Xmas Carols at our SU :)

Dating, talking to MPs, and sweet talks about governance...what more would you possibly want in a week!

• Your Exec Officers went on a date...
• We are actively sharing information with university now
• Oxford Brookes Campus redevelopment now considers students' input
• Your SU is to be governed a bit better

Speed dating with the University SMT The University Senior Managemnet Team and the SU Executive Committee had their first date! The Speed dating event was organise as a bonding exercise for both teams to meet and get to know one another better. This types of events are usually held at the beginning of the academic year, however having had the New VC Inauguration, Graduation ceremonies, and bi-elections, it meant that the event could only happen at a later stage. The event highlighted the need for more communication between the SU and the University – both on formal and informal basis. Both parties are now a lot more ken on collaborating and exchanging information and more specific action points will be recommended to inprove the work of the two. In summary, the top tip that each member recommended in order to improve our work and the student experience was the need to exchange information and update on progress.


Information Sharing Meetings:Our VC Janet Beer has initiated Information Sharing meetings happening every forthnight for subject heads, directors and the SU to meet and exchange information. This has proven very useful. Since the meetings much more information is available for the SU, numerous opportunities have occurred for collaboration: alumni, societies, postgrad, events, and other initiatives of which the SU is now much more aware.

Campus Redevelopment Update: Following the 22 Nov meeting, the governance structure for the campus redevelopment has been agreed. The University has now agreed to have student reps sitting on every level of the decision making structures! Student Consulation on the Masterplanning is currently being looked at.



Students’ Union Governance

I have spent a lot of last week going on conferences, discussing governance with leaders in the volunteering sector, listening to The vice-chancellor of the University of Exeter, Steve Smith, debating with NUS over governance - Wes Stering and Gemma Tumelty, talking to Phil Hope MP Corby and East Northamptonshire (for those internationals who have no clue - a British politician - member of parliament). It was interesting to hear so many progressive universities supporting their SUs widely.

Circle of Organisational Effectiveness
The team spent a day looking at the effectiveness of the organisation. The SU mission, vision and values were reviewed, the current difficulties each department is facing were taken into account. The day was particularly useful with regards to Masterplanning. The teams looked at how would the new campus look like when it is being redeveloped, and it was clear that it is in the best interest of the SU that it preserves and strengthens its identity and image, makes the brand coherent and visible across campuses. As a follow up there are more organisational effectiveness review sessions scheduled with myself and Helen West – General Manager, to build on the foundations. The exercise was also a good way of thinking about the new governance of the SU.



NUS Presidents residential event
The residential covered NUS Governance and the major changes of the governance structure proposed in the new constitution. There was ‘trouble shooting’ activity, many problematic areas were covered – from managing relationships with teams, staff and university, to dealing with campus redevelopments. The event offered an opportunity to look at the course fees – employability ratio, some detailed analysis were discussed regarding the current structure of tuition fees, and improvements were suggested.


Acevo National Annual Conference
The Annual Conference was attended by myself and Helen West – GM OBSU. The conference addressed the future of third sector governance: the volunteering sector. From across the UK I was the only SU President who attended the event, and felt that this sorts of events ought to be attended by more SUs - there was plenty to learn. The conference was very useful in terms of offering further insight into the professional governance practice within this sector. It included an afternoon keynote speech from Phil Hope MP Third Sector. Examined trends in 3rd sector governance from Boards Count, and discussed the role of Trustees. I have attended the workshop on recruitment of Trustees where many useful tips and advice on recruiting trustees were offered. As this is something that directly affects OBSU I have initiated a contact with consultants at the conference, and directly spoken to Phil Hope regarding the support provided for SUs across the coutry. He has confirmed that SUs will be taken into consideration, and has mentioned Bill Rammell. Organisations that have undertaken a governance review, have shared useful tips with the delegates, where all the do’s and don’t-s were listed .


Enhancing the Students’ Experience National Annual Conference
Wednesday 28th November 2007, Central London, Sponsored by: 1994 Group, In partnership with: National Union of Students.
Speakers include:
· Professor Steve Smith, Vice-Chancellor, University of Exeter and Chair, 1994 Group
· Miles Templeman, Director-General, Institute of Directors (IoD)
· Wes Streeting, Vice-President for Education, National Union of Students (NUS)
· Dr. Brian Lang, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, University of St Andrews
· Professor Brenda Smith, Assistant Director, The Higher Education Academy
· Professor Robert Burgess, Chair, HE Academy and Vice-Chancellor, University of Leicester
· Chaired by: Donald MacLeod, Editor, EducationGuardian.co.uk

Delegates considered how to define the student experience, how to exceed student expectations, and how to capitalise on the student experience to secure the future of the university. Students’ Union role in enhancing the student experience was widely highlighted and supported by every speaker. The message about SUs playing a key role in building an image of excellence was re-iterated by Prof Steven Smith – VC Exeter, as well as many other members of senior management team across the country. Miles Templeman also made a presentation on employers expectations from the education sector, highlighting the need for a closer liaison between the skills aquired at uni and those needed in practice at work. I have made a point to the delegates and the panel that the point regarding the lower importance UK Employers place on laguage skills is not in line with the universities’ strive for better internationalisation. Wes Steering has acknoledged the importance of the point and added how important learning foreign languages is.

The conference was very useful, on a national level it was recognised how invaluable well resourced SUs are for every modern university. Some SMTs have pointed out that they are increasing the support offered to their Sus - recepntly increased Block grants to SUs, and investment not only in membership services but also in commercial activities, as well as invested in Student experience research undertaken by SU presidents of the 1994 group.

The delegates were primarily Vice Chancellors, deputy and Pro VCs, Deans and Directors. Oxford Brookes University attendence compared to other universities was weak – Clive Robertson – Head of Student Learning Experience only attended. I felt there was a need for more University representatives on a senior level, especially since the National Conference discussed a theme so central to Oxford Brookes University mission.

New Constitution!!!!

OBSU now has a brand new Constitution, which was now officially approved by University Board of Governors on 22 Nov! Ok, before you go on saying 'hold on a sec, we have approved the Constitution in Oct at OBSU AGM' yes yes, you are right! But until we have an independent charitable status, by law, our final decision making body is the University. In a year or so it would be us - OBSU! Now we can start implementing it gradually on phases, and becoming much more up-to-date with contemporary governance as opposed to the old old old Constitution that we had! These implementation stages will be discuss at Executive Board (Wednesdays) and Union Council on 8th Dec! So come along!!!