UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Appendix 1
SPORT AND WELLNESS FULL DUAL ASSURANCE
SEMINAR ROOM 1, THE FORUM.
15.30 Wednesday 10th October 2012
Attendees;
Professor Neil Armstrong (Chair)
Mr Phil Attwell
Mr Joe Batten
Mr Nicholas Bull
Mr Geoff Pringle
Ms Abi Wooding (Notes)
0.1
Prof. Armstrong WELCOMED and introduced Mr Nicholas Bull to the group.
0.12
Mr Bull QUERIED the Sport and Wellness relationship with Cornwall and whether any Sport
and Wellness meetings should be held in Cornwall.
0.13
Mr Attwell NOTED that our role in Cornwall with FX+ is purely advisory, however the
Cornwall agenda is important and is discussed at these meetings. Mr Pringle NOTED that
there have been changes in funding with FX+ activities, and these are in fact not linked with
Exeter. Most of the sporting action is part of the Athletics Union here at Streatham, and
whilst Camborne School of Mines (CSM) do have sporting teams in Cornwall, they are not
part of the Athletic Union. Mr Attwell CONFIRMED that although £30,000 had been invested
for Exeter Students over the past few years to boost sport in Cornwall, CSM students are
happy to stay within CSM and not become part of the Athletics Union.
0.14
Prof. Armstrong SUGGESTED that Cornwall should be a major item for the next meeting in
January.
0.15
The group AGREED and Mr Pringle SUGGESTED it would be useful to invite Mr Steve
Trotter, Ms. Niamh Lamond and Professor Mark Overton to attend the next meeting and
receive their comments on sport in Cornwall.
0.16
ACTION: Phil Attwell and Joe Batten to provide a paper on sport in Cornwall at the 23rd
January 2013 meeting.
0.17
ACTION: Abi to invite Professor Overton, Mr S Trotter and Ms Lamond to attend the next full
meeting on 23rd January 2013.
1.0
Minutes of Dual Engagement Meeting 21st May 2012
1.1
The group DISCUSSED Item 1: Matters Arising - Academic Flexibility Approach encouraging scholars in sport not to have to choose between sport and academic
commitments by trying to convince Colleges not to schedule lectures on Wednesday
afternoons/ early evening to avoid conflict with sport training and matches.
1.2
Mr Attwell NOTED that the opening hours of the sport centre have been lengthened to allow
students more access to training facilities. Teaching space is an issue which tends to
encroach on provisions available for students and is not always consistent, but where
possible it is encouraged within Colleges to allow lectures to end before 18.00 during the
week and 12.00 on a Wednesday.
1.3
Prof Armstrong SUGGESTED that this be discussed as a larger item at the next meeting.
1.4
Mr Batten REPORTED on Item 3: Athletic Union President’s Review – With regard to INTO
students and sport, there will be a number of events available for INTO students over the
summer as well as other recreational sports to encourage INTO students to become
involved in sport. Weekends of sport are being encouraged in order to raise awareness of
International Sport Month which takes place in February.
1.5
The group AGREED the minutes of 21st May 2012 Sport and Wellness meeting.
1.6
ACTION: Mr Batten to report on International Sport Month at the meeting on 3rd April 2013.
2.0
Notes of Dual Engagement Management Meeting 26th September 2012
2.1
The group AGREED the minutes of the 26th September 2012 Sport and Wellness
Management meeting.
3.0
Report of the Director of Sport and Student Activity
3.1
Mr Attwell NOTED the highlights of the Director of Sport and Student Activity report;
3.2
The Nicholas Bull Boathouse is now fully operational with the opening to take place on
Saturday 13th October 2012. Nicholas Bull HIGHLIGHTED the importance of writing to the
barn owners following the opening event to thank them for storing the new boats.
ACTION: Mr Attwell to write a letter of thanks to barn owners.
3.3
3.4
Phase 1 of the Capital Build Programme has gone well and the target of completion by 17th
September has been met and the facilities are being well used. With regard to Phase 2, the
finishing work currently is being completed on the costings and work should begin on 27th
October, with completion set for Summer 2013.
3.5
There have been significant recruitment difficulties this year which have meant fewer
athletes joining this year, which has been disappointing. However, early indications around
numbers for AU clubs and Sports Facility memberships are good.
3.6
The Dual Engagement group strongly AGREED to retain the footprint for the build project
even if an overspend is likely. Mr Attwell NOTED the intention to increase the number of staff
members at the sports park to facilitate the increase in customers due to the increased
facilities.
3.7
A full time member of staff will be recruited for alumni fundraising within sport in the very
near future. Prof. Armstrong NOTED that this should be reviewed in the future.
4.0
Performance Programme
4.1
Mr Attwell provided information for the group to demonstrate the calibre of the sports
scholars arriving this year and NOTED that alongside the scholarships, bursary programmes
are also available across various sports.
4.2
Mr Attwell REPORTED on Exeter’s involvement in the Olympics. Mr Bull SUGGESTED that
the achievers should be noted in the alumni publications. The group AGREED this.
4.3
Graduate Scholars – Neil NOTED that looking at data from previous years, it is evident that
sport scholars do well in degree classification as well as sport.
4.4
Performance Review; Mr Attwell circulated a summary of key points from last year for Mr
Bull’s information.
5.0
2011/12 Financial Out-turn and 2012/13 Budget
5.1
Financial Outturn; Mr Attwell talked the group through the sporting budget process. Prof.
Armstrong NOTED that within the new Planning Review process, the Sporting budget will
come under scrutiny as part of the Campus Services budget.
6.0
Athletic Union President’s targets, 2012/13
6.1
Mr Batten NOTED the key points from his report; The inter-halls games is a new initiative
following feedback from 1st years wishing to get more involved in sport; There will be three
held per term and will be whole weekends where various sporting events take place.
Students will be grouped together from halls across campus to produce five teams who will
compete throughout the year and result in a tournament in the middle of the Grand
Challenges weekend event which takes place in Term three. Mr Batten NOTED changes to
the role description of the VP Sports in the Halls committee to include the Inter-Halls Games,
with their primary role being to get teams together for the events. Currently there are only
three Vice-Presidents for sport from the larger catered halls and so Mr Batten will be working
with the Guild to increase this and communicate the role to the smaller self catered halls to
result in wider participation.
6.2
Mr Batten also REPORTED on International Sport Month, which is February 2013 and is
comprised of a variety of events and free taster sessions which will run for all students but
are specifically advertised towards the International and the INTO students. The 2012 event
ran this year in order to get international and home students engaged and was very
successful, with 1959 participants involved, 613 international, 946 domestic and 400
unknown. Feedback forms have yielded good responses which have been taken in to
account and as a result, International Sport Month 2013 has been moved from March to
February in order to avoid March exams. Sports favoured are football, badminton,
swimming, basketball and volleyball, also table tennis. An International Sports Month
Student Committee is being set up as well as a meeting with Dr Shaun Curtis, Professor
Armstrong and Penny Foster (Centre Director, INTO) which will take place in December to
support this.
6.3
Mr Batten COMMENTED on the 21st May 2012 minutes regarding para-sports – Mr Batten
REPORTED that an event is being organised for the start of November to raise disabled
sport awareness – focusing on local clubs and getting disabled students involved there. So
far there has been a lot of interest and should be highly successful.
6.4
Mr Bull QUERIED whether it might be possible to organise team photos for halls games.
6.5
Mr Batten REPORTED that photos of sporting teams was indeed welcome and he will speak
to Megan Russell to see if this can be arranged.
6.6
Prof. Armstrong COMMENTED on the success of the recent Football Varsity event which
took place on 3rd October 2012 – it was an excellent occasion with a great turn-out of 3,932
attendees.
6.7
Mr Batten REPORTED on registration for sporting clubs, noting that membership numbers
for smaller clubs have decreased, but the larger clubs have boomed in registration numbers.
There are now 50 sporting clubs available at Exeter.
7.0
Draft Sports Strategy, 2013-2017
7.1
Mr Attwell NOTED the headlines from the Draft Strategy in terms of facilities and
performance. The overall mission will stay the same, however the environment in which we
are operating is changing and so sport at Exeter needs to adapt how we operate for example
the changing shape of the academic day, fees, paying extra for sport. A close eye needs to
be kept on the affected areas but early indications show very little change and students are
still very happy to train/ play sports. The capital investment is likely to be the last investment
for the foreseeable future but we will still be moving forwards.
7.2
Mr Pringle NOTED that the Long-Term Maintenance fund will be discussed with Ms Frances
Vowles (Deputy Director, Campus Services) for use in the up-keep of the existing sporting
facilities, such as new roof for sport hall instead of utilising funding intended for sport.
7.3
Mr Attwell REPORTED that preliminary work towards a Performance Development Centre at
the University will be carried out over the next few months in order to develop a plan for a
high performance facility, which would combine rehabilitation, applied sports science, athlete
and coaching development, and practical strength and conditioning.
7.4
Mr Attwell REPORTED on charges for the new gym and current issues with direct debit and
students. At present, the options for gym membership charges are either one-off payments
for the year or ‘pay as you go’. Staggered payments in relation to student loan payment
dates are being considered to remain sympathetic with student’s financial situations.
7.5
Mr Bull QUERIED Exeter’s sport ranking of 26th in the UK and Mr Attwell NOTED that Exeter
should rank near 10th once all the refurbishments have been completed.
7.5
Mr Pringle HIGHLIGHTED the Live Well Week in November which promotes healthy eating
and student wellbeing. Phil Rees Jones is promoting healthy eating within catering, Sport
Sciences are involved as well. Graze participating, bottles of water being handed out.
Support teams will get involved also to promote the event.
8.0
AOB; No items raised.
9.0
Date of next meeting:
15.30 23rd January 2013, John Usher, Northcote House.