Minutes BLSA Board Meeting #3

8 Nov 2016 | 6pm

Study Room, BLSA Building

Meeting called by: Jay Stanley (JS)

Scribe: JS (Secretary)

Apologies: Mathew Robathan, Sandali Wickrama, Mahnur Khan

Present: 17 members of BLSA Board, Louise Bracken (BLSA Staff)

Part 1 Preliminary Items

1. Approval of last meeting’s minutes

The Board approved the minutes.

2. Action points from last meeting

Progress still to be made on Harlow outfirm Internet

access.

Media officer role to be discussed in the next Board

meeting when Mat is present.

Freshers feedback document for board members to be

completed as soon as possible.

Board informed of new WhatsApp group. Any board

members who are not in the group were instructed to

inform JS.

Ongoing discussions on Griff Inn food policy. Soup is

soon to be added onto the menu.

Ongoing discussions with regards to the food policy in

the Whitechapel library.

Led By

JS

JS

Board reminded of the upcoming public recording

session for the Friday Foundation’s Christmas song.

Board agrees to use BATLAA Legacy Fund towards

improving the experience for Allied Courses students if

possible. William Atkins (WA) to action.

Series of talks from female ex-Barts President to be held

sometime in the new year. Sophie may get involved in

this.

Part 2 For Discussion

1. Officers’ Updates

Anna: planning event for Allied courses students on the

theme of future careers and support. This is to be held in

January. Also planning a Christmas event.

Nina: working with Emma to find venues for flagship BL

events. Is meeting with fifth-year students this week to

address any issues.

Emma: went to the NatMedSoc 2016 conference where

medical student societies from across the country were

present. It was a good opportunity to attend workshops

and share ideas.

Guy: working on anonymous app/platform for LGBT

students. Aiming to get this set up before the new year.

Thinking of launching a publicity campaign such as

‘Humans of New York’ to provide a platform for LGBT

community at BL.

Ruari: working with Dr. Molyneux to prepare for Junior

SSLC.

Led By

JS

Ama: new in role, getting settled in.

Kieran: planning socials. Student Staff Quiz planned at

the Griff Inn for the 28th November. Christmas party

organized for 6th December which is open to all students,

not just dentists. The Tiger Tiger venue has been secured

for this.

Jonas: working on ironing out timetable issues for first

year students.

Jennifer: had first committee meeting for international

students. Identified issues mainly around the finance

theme. Exploring ways to address these issues. The

student experience survey is still ongoing. Jennifer

emphasized the fact that there is a microwave in the

BLSA Building and has been involved in advertising this

to BL students.

To Action: WA to consider purchase of a second

microwave for the BLSA Building.

Megan: in talks with Sports Clubs about ideas for Merger

Cup. Final Whistle was held at the end of October and a

good response was received from clubs, where the idea

of a RAG collaboration was also discussed. Has been

providing feedback about the Sports Strategy to WA.

Sameer: 2nd funding round for volunteering groups has

been completed. Health Fair has been arranged and

charities that we could invite are now being considered.

To Action: Board to suggest charities for the Health

Fair to Sameer.

Also continuing to have meetings with various

volunteering groups.

Tom: Hallowe’en event went well. More than 150 tickets

were sold in advance and over £300 was made for RAG.

The Santa Dash December event is being planned for the

3rd December with a QM vs BL theme. Advertising should

start soon and Anna is taking the lead in helping to

organize this along with QM RAG. There is a possibility

that the event will be held in Mile End Park. Tom is also

taking part in Movember himself and was happy to show

the Board his valiant effort so far. The RAG committee

recently received training from Emma Galt at the SU

which went well.

Logan: reaching out to the School to create and

distribute a student support survey. Working on the

SHAG calendar and has proposed moving it to an

academic year schedule system to provide more time for

planning and a good execution. The Board agreed that it

is a good idea to delay publishing of the calendar. SHAG

week had been planned for January, however this is now

subject to change.

Sophie: pulled together 2 panels with student members

sitting on each of them. Two meetings are to be had

with these panels soon.

Ross: had the 2nd Societies Board Meeting. Fourth dental

society has now been affiliated. The MedTech society are

now just a BL society. The BL Yoga society has been

affiliated.

2. The splitting of the 'Campaigns officer' role to

'Women's Representative' and 'Disability and SLD

Representative’

SH reiterated her points from the proposal which was

attached to the agenda. The issue of filling both

Women’s and the Disabilities roles was raised and some

of the Board thought that it would be easier to fill the

women’s role. Logan mentioned that it may be wise to

rename the ‘Disabilities’ role. Ruari mentioned that there

may be a risk with not filling the ‘Disabilities’ role. WA

mentioned that whether mental illness is included in the

‘Disabilities’ role is debatable as it could be within the

remit of the Welfare Officer. SH agreed but made the

distinction between mental health and mental illness.

Board agreed for this to be taken to Student Council

once details have been finalized. Emma mentioned that

the Board needs to consider how the number of Officers

on the Board would be decided upon in future as large

numbers may reduce the efficiency of the Board. WA

mentioned that it would be possible to hold a BLSA

Board ‘Effectiveness Review’ at some point in the future

to address this. SH mentioned that there are only 4

liberation groups represented at NUS. SH mentioned she

is considering tabling a motion on this at the next

Student Council meeting. Both SH and WA agreed that

these roles would only come into force in the next round

of elections.

Sophie Hoque (SH)

To Action: Board to decide the name for the

‘Disabilities’ representative role.

3. Drop in sessions open to all students at BLSMD

JL mentioned that from the ongoing survey, it was

picked up that many international students are not

content with the level of contact with BLSA

representatives. JL suggested holding drop-in sessions

hosted by the BLSA Board aimed at addressing concerns

or issues raised by international students as well as the

wider BL student population. Nina mentioned that

having suitable refreshments such as tea would attract

students. WA mentioned that holding these monthly

would be a good idea.

To Action: Board to consider arranging the first

drop-in session for December. Board to also consider

refreshments for these sessions, perhaps to include

seasonally appropriate selections such as mince pies,

hot chocolate and non-alcoholic mulled wine

(mmm...)

4. Update on TEF and Fees

WA delivered update on TEF and the Higher Education

Bill. Board were invited to provide their thoughts as

representatives of BL students.

5. Officer Recruitment Update

WA has been actively working on this and applications

were open at time of this meeting. SPC to assess these

applications.

6. BATLAA – BLSA Dinner Dates

Jennifer Lok (JL)

William Atkins (WA)

WA

WA

To Action: WA to update Board on dates.

7. Stratford Olympic Park Building Petition

WA has been approached in order to gain support from

BLSA for a petition against building large asphalt

factories next to the Olympic Park. Board was asked

whether BLSA should support the advertising of the

petition. Board debated the issue and came to the

conclusion that it was a local matter and so was happy to

publicize it via the BL bulletin.

To Action: Board to receive the petition prior to it

being advertised via the BL bulletin.

8. Association Fund Reminder

Board reminded that the Fund is open until Friday of the

week of this meeting.

To Action: Board to make BL students and groups

aware of the deadline.

9. Sanitary Products in BLSA Building

WA mentioned that this is an issue that may be

worthwhile taking to next Student Council meeting.

QMSU trialed this but had some issues. Nina asked

whether a dispenser would be appropriate. WA

mentioned that as this would be a pilot, the initial cost of

setting up a dispenser would be excessive. There are

ongoing discussions on this topic. The Board suggested

putting a sign on the products would encourage good

WA

WA

WA

use. Board also suggested emailing students specifying

the exact purpose for these products (i.e. for emergency

uses only). As students are mainly based on the

Whitechapel campus, the Board decided that it would be

best to concentrate efforts there. Emma suggested the

idea of having small bags of emergency supplies which

people could collect from a safe area. QMSU had limited

success with their pilot. WA suggested that a motion on

this be submitted to next Student Council, with a broad

remit to allow for fine-tuning at the execution stage. SH

mentioned that the Board would need to provide their

support for such a motion to pass at Student Council.

Sameer suggested that free condoms could also be

distributed in this way.

To Action: Board to consider this matter in the

period before the scheduled BLSA Board Meeting on

the 29th November, where it will be discussed again.

10. BLSA Building Update

Computers are now fitted in the Study Room. Board

reminded to encourage students to use the space.

Signage in the BLSA Building is to be updated very soon,

along with a map of the BLSA Building and an Officer

Board with pictures.

To Action: Board to provide WA with suitable

pictures for the Officer Board.

11. Study Room Usage and Upgrades

WA

WA

To increase revenue from the BLSA Building, the idea of

hiring out individual desks for use by private companies

has been floated by Staff Members at the Students’

Union. WA mentioned that there were a number of

practical issues and that the BLSA Building is a student

space and its atmosphere should stay that way. BLSA

Reception Staff are monitoring usage of the Study Room

on a regular basis and the Board were reminded to

encourage students to use the space. WA mentioned

that the Board should consider this matter from the

perspectives of being individuals that represent the

wider BL population and hence take their views into

account. JS mentioned that he has noticed an increase in

student usage of the Study Room in recent times. Logan

asked how private users would be vetted and Louise

(BLSA Reception Staff) mentioned that this would be

done to the same standards as vetting for external

speakers. WA mentioned that there could be

complications associated with potential student

complaints against the conduct of people from private

companies. Megan suggested that it may be a good idea

to have this done at weekends and during non-termtime

hours. Tom asked whether hiring out the whole room

would be a better option than just individual desks. Tom

also suggested that course reps could be encouraged to

have study times for certain year groups at different

points in time and that a timetable could be set up for

this purpose.

12. State of toilet facilities at Mile End Library

JS raised the issue of unacceptable toilet facilities in the

Mile End Library and that it was a safety hazard for

students. Nina suggested forced consumption of

loperamide for students visiting Mile End Library

(students are also advised to seek medical advice from

their registered healthcare professional as opposed to

BLSA Board Minutes).

To Action: WA to discuss this with the other

Sabbatical Officers.

JS

Part 3 Other Business

WA mentioned that the Board will soon be asked to

provide feedback on the Memorandum detailing what

BLSA and QMSU stand for.

WA mentioned that positive steps are being taken to

improve representation for postgraduate students and

that the possibility for a large BLSA event for

postgraduate students is being considered.

To Action: WA will update the Board soon on the

plan for Refreshers Week.

Due to the mismatch between when current BL students

are starting and when Physician Associate students are

starting in January, there have been some difficulties in

deciding when to hold the Refreshers events.

To Action: Board to provide input on the plan for

Refreshers Week.

WA mentioned that the Griff Inn needs to be continually

supported financially through student usage of its

facilities. The idea of a campaign for the Griff Inn was

suggested, involving stickers and coffee cups. The aim

would be to encourage students to use the Griff Inn

more. Logan commented that the Burger of the Month

was very appetizing. Kieran suggested that there was a

possibility for us to learn from how Mile End outlets

operate. WA mentioned that translating their strategy to

the Griff Inn would not be straightforward due to the

different student population. WA commented that

historically, students were using the Griff Inn a lot more.

To Action: WA to run campaign ideas by the Board

and to invite comments on these.

Sameer mentioned that Imperial run an event in their SU

by a different sports team every 2 weeks. Megan said

that this would be something that we could consider for

BL Sports Clubs and that they would be happy to back

Griff Inn campaigns. WA suggested holding a big event

in the Griff Inn. Nina put forward the idea of

encouraging sports teams to eat at the Griff Inn before

Tables events. JS asked whether there was scope for

prices to be adjusted to suit student budgets a bit more.

WA informed the Board that due to the NUS affiliation,

there are fixed costs associated with buying stock for our

outlets. The idea for a survey was suggested but Megan

mentioned that students may experience survey fatigue.

Nina suggested better incentivization for filling out

surveys.

End of meeting