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PRESENT: DB, DF, DM, KF, MM, PB, RB, ST
Nursery working group: Alex McLean
APOLOGIES: NF, BL
1. Nursery Closure
(following the email, a member of the Working Party attended the Exec and gave a report back as follows)
AM: There is a working group on Nursery sustainability, which has included Alison Ahern, Suzanne Stead, Victoria Brown (Finance), as well as someone from Greenwich College, amongst other staff and student representatives. (Suzanne later withdrew due to conflicts of interest with her union role for UNISON).
There is currently a £70,000 deficit. However, the cost savings procedures recommended by the group, which would have reduced this deficit to £20,000, were not taken seriously. The group recommended adding 3 places for people outside the College in the upstairs space. Ofsted was initially contacted by Alison Ahern about the space requirements for such an expansion. Ofsted asked for further information about the details of the space; nobody got back go Ofsted with this information, however, and the decision was reached on the basis of measurements taken by Estates, without checking these with Ofsted. The Nursery is not being managed most effectively either; e.g. the use of agency staff is costly. Another issue is that nobody on the working group who had any expertise in managing Nurseries, and (apart from the Greenwich representative) there were no experts brought in.
There are also issues with timing both with the announcement of the decision and with the timing of the proposed closure; the working group was not briefed before the email went out to everyone at Goldsmiths. Only 24 hours notice was given for the meeting with the unions, as well as the meeting with parents (and the working group was not invited or told in advance of the issue of these invitations).
Action points:
DF and MM to bring up at JNCC, calling for an extension until December 2010, pending the completion of a review into childcare strategic options and for the decision to be made properly, taking seriously the recommendations of the working group, rather than rushed through. AM to forward Jane Desmarais's letter to the Warden to KF, and KF to then forward to DF and MM (done). KF tried to contact Olivia Swift with no luck.
2.15 June General Meeting
Revised agenda:
1. Report back from Congress
2. Nursery closure
3. 21 June Day of Action
4. MM's retirement; discussion of new President
5. Education motion on Academies
6. Motion to approve conference on Points Based Immigration this fall
7. Training
8. Bulletin Board
9. AOB
Action Points:
Education motion to be ready tomorrow; KF to send revised agenda once it's ready.
KF can't attend as this clashes with the Reps Training Course at HQ; others to take minutes. KF to prepare agendas etc. in advance and make copies of the Anti Academies Alliance petition.
MM to get Finance code for Repro.
3. 21 June Day of Action
The event to be refocused on the Nursery closure; proposal to hold a rally outside Deptford Town Hall, dressed up as babies in nappies! - to be discussed at the General Meeting
The SMT are meeting at DTHB at 10AM
DF to talk to Bindz, Jesse, and James from the SU; MM to talk to Suzanne Stead.
4. IT Services Issues
4a Stress:
MM has attended a meeting between FR, BE and HR. FR has summarised the particular concerns, from the survey and from this meeting, (including competing demands on staff and communication problems in ITS) without quotes that can be attributed to individuals. FR is circulating the survey results and the notes of the meeting to members in ITS. Non-union members can also be given copies of results. The well-being working group to conduct a College-wide stress survey, and Frank Bond to be involved.
4b: Googlemail outsourcing
The Information Systems Steering Committee is now trying to negotiate a contract with Googlemail It is unlikely that this decision will require Council approval. The business plan proposing this said that £300,000 will be saved, but it is unclear as to where these savings will come from. Another issue is that Googlemail is initially free, but if they start charging later on, the get-out clause could be difficult.
Action point: MM and DF to bring this up at JNCC.
5. Bulletin Board
Action point: Ask at the 15 June General Meeting if people are interested in a bulletin board.
6. Training
Not enough exec members have taken training. One of the main obstacles is the time required and the rigid scheduling. RB feels the leadership course offered by HQ will be particularly useful.
Action points: KF has contacted Greg Barnett about offering training on campus in September.Training to be brought up at General Meeting.
7. Recruiting/Organising
Action points: KF to ask reps to give home emails and mobile numbers of members. KF to ask Music, Design and Psychology for a 3 minute slot at the end of departmental board meetings, to introduce the union and ask someone to volunteer as rep. KF to ask NF about possible departmental reps for Anthroplogy.
For an archive of older meetings, look here.
Any questions? email us at gucu-admin@gold.ac.uk.
