UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
ALCOHOL AWARENESS TASK AND FINISH GROUP
A meeting of the Alcohol Awareness Task & Finish Group was held on 5th June 2009
from 2 to 4pm in the Guild’s Conference Room.
08.39 Apologies
Tom Stephens, Simon Tyson and Philip Rees-Jones (Ben Smith attending in his
place).
Sara Doherty welcomed Leo Rodrigues to the Group.
08.40 Minutes of the last meeting
The minutes of the last meeting were accepted as a TRUE RECORD.
08.41 Matters arising
Student Noise Campaign: GO reported that the copyright for Zippy’s image was
not cleared as it proved to be too expensive, and he is now looking at other
options internally.
Action: GO to report back
Francesca Litchfield reported that Exepose ran a story on the Student Antisocial
Behaviour system.
She also informed the Group that the Awareness Week that she ran went very
well; students filled in feedback cards which contents were put on a Facebook
page. She added that there had been a follow-up in the Express & Echo after the
Awareness Week.
South West Ambulances got in touch with the University to let them know the
numbers of students they picked up on Easter weekend was quite high; David
Dalziel agreed to make contact with them and find out what numbers are like on a
normal weekend.
Action: DD to report back
Rory Cunningham told the Group that the fact that students were involved in car
vandalism in the St James area has been refuted at a Residents’ meeting.
Sara Doherty explained that all issues surrounding the Green Stripe University
Card have been resolved; the Green Stripe has already been implemented and the
disciplined students are complying with the system.
Action: SD to provide DD & HW with a card sample
GO reported that the Annual Fund didn’t decide to pick the ‘Take Me Home’
scheme on; options will now have to be run past next year’s Sabbatical Officers
who will need to underwrite it. If they do, the scheme will launch next academic
year. If they don’t, GO will have to explore other sponsorship funds possibilities.
Action: GO to report back
Rory Cunningham informed the Group that the Street Pastors scheme has been
launched and he is to meet with one of their co-ordinators next week to share
information. The Street Pastors are keen to know about hot spots in town where
students might need help, as well as anything specific they could look at, such as
a certain place, zone or problem. They will also push any campaign the University
puts out.
Action: RC to report back
08.42 Report back from UGLG
Sara Doherty reported that she presented an Alcohol Awareness paper at the
UGLG meeting this month; she talked through the Action Plan, which was very
well received.
08.43 Action Plan
The late licensing on campus issue is still to be progressed; Helen Warren
explained that the number of complaints about noise at the Lemon Grove has
gone down, but it is still a tender subject in the neighbourhood.
Sara Doherty suggested that Helen Warren could gather positive points about the
Lemon Grove by talking to students.
Action: HW to gather positive points and report back
The Campus Licensee Forum, or Campus Watch as it is now called, is going well
and found to be very beneficial. It was suggested that action points from meetings
be brought to the Alcohol Awareness Task & Finish Group for information.
Action: HW to bring action points to next meeting
Queen’s Café will be open during Welcome Week as a non-alcoholic venue. The
Student Induction Strategy Group will discuss entertainment to be put on at the
Queen’s Café in that week. They will also discuss whether a non-alcoholic venue
can be open on the St Luke’s Campus.
Action: SD to report back
08.44 Alcohol Policy
Helen Anderson explained that resident tutors often find themselves at a loss
when trying to stop students drinking in halls in the daytime, before going out, as
there is no policy about this. It was suggested that the drug policy be rewritten
into a substance abuse one.
It was pointed out that the problem of nakedness during Welcome Week also
needs to be addressed; it was decided that this should be included in Welcome
Week leaflets that explain what is reasonable behaviour and what is not.
Action: SD & HA to review policy and report back
08.45 Incidents for discussion
David Dalziel informed the Group that crime in the city centre has gone up 40%
in the last six weeks, due to the fact that neighbouring beat managers finish work
at 12am and there are not enough resources.
It was pointed out that being arrested now has more impact as it could hinder an
application for US visa.
It was decided that an Anti-social Behaviour Escalating System presentation
should be organised on the St Luke’s Campus.
Action: HA to organise
08.46 Next meeting
It was agreed that the next meeting will take place in early October 2009.