SMSU Council Minutes

7 September 4:30pm Shannon Boardroom

1/ Welcome and Apologies:

In Attendance: Zander Lavall: SU President (Chair), Hester Benham: VP Sports and Societies, Ryan Dowsett: VP Community, Laura Timmins, James Turnbull, Jenny Carr, Conal Baxter, Lydia Birch, Elizabeth Bees, Matthew Lamb.

Note-taker: Donna Smith: SU CEO

Apologies: Khalid Al-Abaidy, Laura Condon, Mary Southgate, Mihajlo Pedic.

Declarations of interest

There were no declarations of interest.

2/ Minutes of the last meeting (8 May 2015)

The Chair asked the members for any changes to the minutes of the last meeting. Members agreed that the minutes were a true and accurate record.

3/ SU Budget 2015/16 update

The Chair asked the SU CEO to give an update of the SU Budget 2015/16. The CEO reported that the SU had asked the University for £300k and received £290k with an extra £40k budgeted via Sport St Mary’s for professional coaching of sports clubs. The CEO reported that the budget had allowed provision for a Sports and Societies Administrator who started with SMSU on 1 August and would fund the new Officer Trustee team.

The CEO also reported that due to savings made via cutting security csts and surplus made on SIMMStock, the SU are looking at a cash surplus of approx. £10k.

4/ Ratify/De-ratify Clubs and Societies (standing item)

The Chair invited the VP Sports and Societies to introduce Clubs and Societies to be ratified. The VP Sports and Societies asked the Council to ratify the following:

History Society - Unanimous

SMSU Council Minutes

7 September 4:30pm Shannon Boardroom

Women’s Cricket – Unanimous

Dance: from Society to Club due to competition entries – Unanimous

5/ Upcoming Events and updates:

The VP Community gave an update to the Council of the Welcome Fortnight and requested that all members help out on the doors and setting up for events. The VP Community also asked that the Council members use the new terminology of ‘Welcome Fortnight’ rather than ‘Freshers’ Week’.

6/ AOB

Grant Allocation Policy: The CEO introduced the Grant Allocation Policy and asked that members approve the policy for the year 2015/16. Members approved the policy unanimously.

Chair and Vice-Chair of SU Council: The Chair asked if members wanted to put themselves forward for Chair of SU Council. Members expressed that they were happy for the SUP to chair and VPC to act as Vice-Chair for 2015/16.

Co-opt School Rep for Arts and Humanities: The Chair advised that he had received interest for the vacant position on the Executive Committee and that 2 students were willing to share the role due their own personal commitments. The Council was asked to vote for or against the proposed co-opt.

The Council members voted unanimously in favour of the co-opt. Charlotte Maltby and Georgina Andrews would share the role of School Rep for A&H.

Meeting closed at 5:30pm.

Date and Time of next meeting: 2pm, 23 October 2015, SU Lounge