During this year’s Annual General Meeting held earlier this month, we gave students the opportunity to ask their questions to the Trustees. For those who could not attend, here are the answers...
During this year’s Annual General Meeting held earlier this month, we gave students the opportunity to ask their questions to the Trustees. For those who could not attend, here are the answers:
Questions to Naomi Oiku, SU President
- Why has the Union decided not to take motions at AGM this year?
‘The AGM is a purely reporting meeting in order to ratify our actions as a whole. Motions can still be taken to student council or an EGM can be called by 100 members, a resolution of student council or by the trustees at any time.’
- Per capita, how much do Student Finance England pay to the University and what is this spent on?
‘The university finances are separate to the Union’s, but this can be asked in the next finance meeting.’
- How much did the SU spend on rebranding in the past financial year and is this cost justifiable?
‘The Union spent around £1,200 on clothing and £5,000 on signage. The money came from a specific project fund from the University, therefore it did not affect any spending on students.’
- Can we get the price waivered or reduced for graduation robes?
‘This was something that I wanted to commit to in my first year as a Sabbatical Officer (2014/15). I have been working with the Vice Chancellor, Graham Baldwin, who would like to explore financial pressures students are facing at University further. A survey will be produced to find out what the top concern is, and free graduation gown hire is an option for students to pick. However, I will continue to put pressure on the University for cheaper or free gowns. I will continue to work towards reducing all graduation fees, such as cheaper photography by working with student photographers to take informal photos for free to help save our graduates money.’
- Why are you only showing the positives?
‘We highlighted the great stuff that our staff and officers have achieved this year as they have worked extremely hard to ensure the Union is a better place for our students. If you read the full Annual Report on the website then you can see what we have not achieved in the past year.’
- Will there be any help or consideration for students who cannot attend University due to financial reasons?
‘There is a £500,000 grant for student hardship, and this can be accessed through Students’ 1st. There is also a £200,000 fund for additional course costs available through Students' 1st, which I campaigned for and successfully obtained.’
Question to Charlotte Winfield, VP Education
Where are my printing credits?
‘I'm currently looking into the allowances given at other universities to see how Solent compares. I've also been working with Academic Services and have been given a database by them which details all of the assignments students have submitted throughout the University. I plan to analyse this to see how many physical hand-ins students still have, as the University have said they are working to ensure students have more online submissions to save printing costs. This will enable me to see how much money students should be receiving for printing. Naomi and I are also working together to save students money with additional course costs, which includes printing.’
Questions to Jasmine Barton, VP Employability & Engagement
- How much additional funding is there for societies this year?
‘There is £8,000 for additional society funding this year which was how much was spent last year. Considering our financial situation at the moment, we unfortunately could not add any more money in to the additional funding pot.’
- When will the LOST event be happening?
‘Hopefully in March 2016!’
- How many volunteering hours have been tracked?
‘Unfortunately we do not currently have a way to track student volunteering hours. However this is definitely something we can look into implementing.’
Question to Sam Spencer, VP Welfare & Community
- What is the process going to be to make the parks safer?
‘It remains a continuous item on the Safer Students Forum agenda and one we keep actively trying to improve with actions such as increased CCTV in the parks, more lighting and more police patrols. We are also trying to increase the awareness of personal safety through campaigns such as Take a Mate. Through my campaign’s last year we've already increased the amount of Police and Street pastor patrols around East Park through to Hoglands Park.’