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University of Surrey Students’ Union
FINANCE & OPS COMMITTEE MEETING
Minutes of a meeting held on Tuesday 19th February 2008 at 9.30 a.m.
in Union House
PRESENT:
1.
Bob Anderson,
Alan Roy,
Ian Stephen,
Caroline Royle,
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Alex Collins,
2.
Director
Commercial Manager
Deputy Director
HR Manager
President
MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
Signed as correct.
3.
4.
MATTERS ARISING
3.1
Gift Aid
The auditors had confirmed this was not a possible option for the Union.
3.2
Bookshop
Ian Stephen would report back details of when the next Bookshop Steering
Group meeting would be held.
Action: Ian Stephen
3.3
Boat Club
Alex Collins to report back on discussions with the Vice Chancellor concerning
this project.
Action: Alex Collins
REPORTS
4.1
Deputy Director
It was noted the flash report for week 3 would be circulated later that day.
The meeting was informed that there was currently £517k cash in the bank. It
was reported that 75% of the PA installation had now been paid for although
nothing had yet been paid for the mobile PA system. £35k would be paid at the
end of the week to NUSSL central billing.
Ian Stephen had met with NUSSL to discuss progress with FLIRT! It was noted
that 36 unions were currently members of FLIRT! although there had been a
total of 60 involved, so there had been some drop out. Ian gave details of
problems Sheffield Hallam had experienced as a result of a campaign to get
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FLIRT! out due to a misapprehension that it was run by an external professional
company. It was also noted that the FLIRT! website was losing out to users of
Facebook and that the merchandise had not been successful due to its high
cost.
The meeting had discussed the possibility of licensing FLIRT! to competitors
during the summer months although concern was raised that this could cause
problems for unions when students returned to university. Discussions had
taken place on FLIRT! Europe and the closing FLIRT! event being held in
Magaluf. Questions were asked what the BCM nightclub and the Spring Break
company were getting from this event.
It was noted that the current contract with NUSSL concerning FLIRT! stated
that there was no contractual obligation for them to provide financial information
to Surrey, although they had agreed to provide details to the Union.
It was agreed further discussion on FLIRT! would take place outside the
meeting with Bob Anderson and Ian Stephen.
Action: Bob Anderson/Ian Stephen
Ian Stephen gave a report on his meeting with David Sharkey and discussions
concerning the Union’s Subvention request. It was agreed Ian Stephen and
Bob Anderson would discuss this further outside the meeting.
Action: Bob Anderson/Ian Stephen
Alex Collins would contact Professor Turner to get details of the top 10
universities the University of Surrey wanted to aspire to.
Action: Alex Collins
4.2
Commercial Manager
Alan Roy would be meeting Philip Henry to brief him on recent discussions with
the Registrar of University for the Creative Arts.
The meeting discussed Chancellor’s refurbishment project which was due to
commence at the beginning of the Easter vacation. Alan had become
increasingly concerned at the lack of adequate plans submitted by the architect
and had discussed this with Jonathan Richards, Estates & Facilities. Jonathan
had confirmed the plans currently available would not be adequate to go out to
tender. Alan had been trying to make contact with Ray Piper to discuss the
problems but had not yet been successful. Alan informed the meeting that he
was concerned the project timetable would not be achieved in view of the
problems with the plans and as a result the project could end up being put back
to the summer vacation. Alan was worried that if the work did commence later
than planned during the Easter vacation and was not complete in time for
students return it would have a huge financial impact as the second part of the
semester was incredibly busy. It was agreed Alan would continue to try and
make contact with Ray Piper and would also discuss the problems with
Jonathan Richards and Nick Rodgers.
Action: Alan Roy
4.3
Director
It was reported that the Grants Committee had clawed back £3500 of the £7000
allocation made to the Karting Club by the Finance & Ops Committee. It was
noted this claw back would go back into the Grants Committee fund.
The sabbatical election nominations had now opened.
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Bob Anderson had recently visited Exeter students union to look at their
volunteering project.
The meeting discussed the University’s Quality Circle and the fact that there
was no Union presence. This would be discussed further with Alex Collins.
It was agreed Aaron Salins would be invited to the next meeting.
There being no further business the meeting was closed.
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