Student Council Agenda

Agenda for the Meeting of the 128th Student Council Tuesday 22nd November 2011 at 6.30pm Teviot Row House, Debating Hall
Democracy and Accountability

1. Questions to Executive Officers, Council Officers and Action Group

Conveners (Reports detailed in Paper A) Break and Buffet Substantive Business

2) How to make Council Policy (Craig Stewart) 3) Safe Space Policy: for Approval
4) Demo 5) AGM 6) Motions (1): Paper B

a. Empowering Student Council (Proposer: James McAsh)

Paper C

7) Nigel Brown, University VP Planning, Resources and Research Policy

6) Motions (2):

a. Unity with the International Student Population (Proposer: Peter

Thibault) Paper D Paper E

b. The Niqab, Hijab and Jibab (Proposer: EJ Beloten)

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c. Solidarity with Students at Birzeit (Proposer: Hugh Murdoch)

Paper F

7) General Question Time

End of Meeting: 9.30pm Note: No societies are pending Student Councils approval The following are attached for the information of Student Council:

Matters Arising Budget Status Zone Conference Reports Registers of Interest

Paper G Paper H Paper I Paper J

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Paper A
Presidents Report

Hello! I hope you are all well. Please scan my report, and get in touch if you have any questions. My email address is president@eusa.ed.ac.uk, and my numbers 0131 650 9405. ***ALSO if you want to get more involved in anything that I do, please let me know! Itd be great to have you along. Enjoy! Our Continuing Fight Against Fees As you can imagine, the demo in London, and the one next week in Edinburgh have taken up a huge amount of our time and resources over the last few weeks. On November 9th, around 8 000 students marched in London to campaign against the UK Governments attempt to transform our higher education system. Im really proud that Edinburgh sent the biggest delegation to the march out-with the M25, with 3 buses making the journey down. Edinburgh University accounted for one in every sixty of the students there what a success! I also appeared on Forth and Clyde radio along with many other media bits and pieces, which is really good news for us, as Scotlands eyes were very much on us. The organisation for Wednesdays demo is well underway. Were expecting a few hundred from across Scotland to meet outside the Scottish Parliament at 12.30, and march to the Scotland Office from there. PLEASE COME! Communicating Across Campus Weve been communicating a lot better across campus. The Student newspaper is working on delivering to different campuses, and every week, each Sabb goes to a different campus for a morning or afternoon, and chats to students there to see what theyre up to. I recently went to Easter Bush to chat to the Vet students, and it went well.

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I was conscious that when speaking to ECA students, they didnt feel like they knew enough about what EUSA did, and so I gave a presentation to the ECA Forum. Only a few people came (there were 60 at the last one I was at) so Im going to do another one with the ECA President Abi, sometime soon. **My Holiday to Munich was wonderful, thank you** Community Work On 1st November, EUSA held a South Neighbourhood Partnership funding event, which saw dozens of members from across our community come into our Union, including local Councillors, residents from other areas of Edinburgh, and the Police. Tables got together and agreed projects they would like to run, and everyone voted for which one would be funded at the end. It was a great success, and thousands of pounds of Council funding was given away to our winning projects. I have also been attending joint neighbourhood bicycle safety meetings with Spokes, the Council and the Police, amongst others. They have been very fruitful KB has been promised more bike racks, dozens of students have had their bikes security marked for free, and a high profile campaign including motorway road signs and traffic police will begin early next year with funding secured from the Council. *If anyone wants to get more involved in this please let me know. Edinburgh Students Forum We met two weeks ago, and our conversation floated mainly around housing. The ESF is all onboard with EUSAs housing campaign, and will hopefully follow suit banning any landlords or letting agencies from advertising with them, that fall below the standards we expect in our charter. University Governance The minutes of Court Meetings are available on the Universitys website, at the rather catchy url of - http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/governance-strategicplanning/governance/university-court We secured 340 000 extra to go straight into bursaries. The pressure we put on the University secured a 10 mill draw down fund for bursary and accommodation support. Were fairly pleased with this, and dozens more students will hopefully benefit from these. Cash Collection G4S I was pleased to support Liams G4S motion to the last Student Council. As a result, we called a meeting to look at what other options we would have to get our cash services completed safely and efficiently. The result of this process has been mixed.

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1) We will be signing a contract with G4S, as there was an operational need to move from our current provider (they no longer offer the services we need). 2) However, rather than the 3 year contract which was expected, we will only sign a contract with them until the end of our financial year, which is the end of July 2012. We will then look for another provider. Regrettably it was not possible to source another provider, as our current services were coming to an end in a matter of weeks. I can understand that this may be disappointing to some people it certainly is to me. However, I believe the team here at EUSA have made the right decision, and we will work hard to source another provider in the summer. I appreciate your understanding in this.

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VPAA Report
Exams: As noted in my last report, the University had tried to squeeze honours-level exams into the first 2 weeks of the exam diet in the summer. I am pleased to say that after EUSA took this up, the University has agreed to spread those exams over 3 and a half weeks, rather than 2. This will be a squeeze on last year, but hopefully a manageable one. Council should note a related motion at the AGM tomorrow night. Email Provision: In Septembers report I outlined my plans to get the University to switch taught students email provision to Microsoft Office 365, a cloud-based service which also includes free versions of Microsoft Office and extra storage space, by September. The consultation has now been launched, and there will be student trials of the software on the 1st December. I would be grateful if anyone who is interested in taking part in these trials, or who knows someone who may be interested, could get in touch with me as soon as possible. There may also be an opportunity to look at Google email, but this hasnt yet been confirmed. Teaching Awards: The new-look Teaching Awards have now launched thanks to everyone who came to the launch event. You can now nominate your teachers, departments, support staff, course etc for awards at www.eusa.ed.ac.uk/teachingawards. Please do spread the word about this as much as possible. We got 5,168 nominations last year and this year were hoping to break 6,000. So do please put it on your facebook, twitter etc, and consider doing lecture shoutouts to get people to nominate. DoS System: One of my main manifesto commitments was to reform the DoS system, and Im very pleased to announce that, after years of lobbying by EUSA, the University has finally agreed to make some huge changes. The precise nature of those changes are still to be decided (and inevitably it will be different on a school by school basis), but the new personal tutor system will enable tutors to look along the length of the degree, and they will also be able to go over feedback with students. Peer support mechanisms like academic families and buddy systems will also be incorporated into the broader way in which the University will be looking at academic and pastoral support. EUSA has a very good opportunity to feed into this process, so if you have any thoughts about it please do send them my way. Study Space: Im sure Hugh will write more about this, but at my request a subcommittee has been set up to look specifically at study space and the strategy around its provision. The first meeting was on Tuesday 15th, and we discussed quite broadly the development of a strategy around study space, trying to understand the issue in more depth and starting to develop solutions in the medium and long term. For this coming exam season, tutorial rooms in DHT have been opened up for study space, and we will be working with schools to make sure theyre publicising the space available to their students. Some of the meeting rooms in the library will be opened for use by students. Demonstration: As hopefully you all know, EUSA managed to send 3 buses down to the demonstration against fees and privatisation on the 9th November. The demonstration was a great success, and EUSA should be proud that it was one of the biggest contingents from outside London. Tomorrow (23rd) we will be marching against Rest of UK Fees, meeting at the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood at 12.30pm. Quality Assurance and ELIR: As noted in last months report, the University is going through the Enhancement-Led Institutional Review, basically an Ofsted inspection for Universities. The first visit went well, and the sabbs were able to highlight EUSAs main concerns with provision at the University. The review team will be coming back on Monday 28th to meet different groups of people, including a group of undergraduates and a group of postgraduates. I will be attending both of these meetings. Last month I was selected to be on the Quality Assurance Agencys Student Sounding Board, and the first meeting took place in London on Friday 11th Nov. It was a valuable experience, giving me the opportunity to discuss issues around Quality Assurance/Enhancement with

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other interested students, and to input into national discourse on student engagement in quality. Conferences: Council will have my report from NUS Higher Education Zone Conference last month. Whilst the conference was enjoyable and a good opportunity to discuss various issues with other student officers, I do not think it was a very useful event and I have already complained to NUS. Hopefully changes will be made to this before next year. NUS Scotland Zone Conference was on Saturday 19th November. At the time of writing we havent been yet but I hope it is a good opportunity to discuss in depth the Plan of Work and other NUS Scotland policy. Remembrance Day: I represented EUSA at the Remembrance Day ceremony at Old College on the 13th. The service was well attended by students and staff. Bursaries: University Court recently approved a new set of bursaries for Scottish domiciled students. The University will be drawing down from a 10m investment, spending approximately an extra 340,000, which creates 72 new access bursaries and 62 new accommodation bursaries, coming in 2012/13. I think thats all the important stuff. As always, please do get in touch if you have any questions or comments or ideas on vpaa@eusa.ed.ac.uk.

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VPS Report
Hello peeps, The last few weeks have been very busy what with marches and NUS zone conference. I also took some days holiday which means my report is not as full as the last one. Some things that have happened in the last few weeks: I went to the NUS Society and Citizenship zone conference which was great. There was a session on the possible criminalisation of squatting in England which I found particularly interesting because of the implications it could have on protesting, and it was also good to be able to feed into the zone policy that will then be brought to the NUS conference in the spring. I held the first entertainments focus group: Although there were only a small number of people there we had a great discussion and I think the feedback was very useful. I sorted out a couple of issues with societies specifically about banking and storage space: If you are in a society please change to society banking with..it saves me quite a lot of time. Some things that are happening currently Water campaign: The excuse I got from the uni about why they dont serve tap water in the library caf etc was terrible. Im hoping to meet with the head of catering to talk about the issue and convince them to change their policy. If nothing comes of that meeting I will be doing a petition and handing out free water outside the library to put on the pressure. Anyone who wants to get involved (especially anyone who can do paper mache-I want to make a giant paper mache tap as a publicity stunt), give me a bell. Swap shop website: Several member of council including myself, ran on manifestos that included book swaps etc. Several years ago eusa were asked to pilot an Edinburgh University version of freecycle. However, nothing was ever done about it despite the site being great. I am very keen to get loads of students swapping and although there are still a couple of issues to iron out to do with payment I am hoping we will be able to launch the site in the new year. Housing campaign: this is progressing well. The landlord charter is being finalised and I will be approaching landlords/agents to sign up to it in the next few weeks. We will then be having a launch event and making packs of information about tenants rights to give to 1st year students in early next semester. Landlords who sign up to the Charter will be listed on our website. Accommodation finder: we are costing how much it would be for us to build a new, improved online accommodation finder. Watch this space RUKidding campaign: All the sabbs have been mobilising students for the march next week. Today is Thursday and so far we have about 300 letters signed. Thank you so much for all your help if you have been collecting signatures or flyering. I know its cheesy but you are what makes this union so great. Things in the future: NUS Womens training: 4 of us will be going to the NUS I will lead training. We will then be delivering it at eusa AGM: I will be presenting the accounts so come along :D (P.S. I will not be wearing a Christmas hat) Thats all for now Px

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VPSA Report
National Demo Nearly 150 Edinburgh students headed down to the national demo last Wednesday. We were one of the largest delegations outside of London, so a huge well done to everyone who helped publicise and mobilise for it. But theres no time to rest! Next Wednesday 23rd November, EUSA have organised a demo against 9k fees. Well assemble at Scottish Parliament at 12.30 and march on the Scotland Office. We still need more stewards, so please let Stuart Tooley or one of the sabbs know if you can help out! Welfare Zone Conference At the end of October I attended NUS Welfare Zone conference in Liverpool, along with Callum, our Welfare Convenor. It was a good opportunity to focus on student welfare and some of the workshops were helpful, especially one on supporting g international students, but it was definitely not the most useful NUS event I have attended. A new NUS welfare zone committee was also elected. I stood in this election but sadly did not get elected! See my welfare zone report for more information about what I learnt. Im also heading to Scotland Zone conference on Saturday 19th, so I can tell you about this at Student Council. Block Booking Day Ive been working with the Societies Team to ensure that block booking (22nd-23rd November) runs as smoothly as possible. Bookings will be taken in the Connect Office from 12 midday, so if youre in a society who needs EUSA rooms for next semester, make sure one of your office bearers is there! Accessible Learning Morning Seminar One of the things that has come out of the Accessible Learning Implementation Group that I sit on is the formulation of a morning-long workshop, aimed at academic and administrative colleagues with managerial and strategic development responsibilities in learning and teaching. This will be really productive as it will target college level staff who can change this knowledge into policy, ensuring that accessible learning is embedded into the curriculum. Students are welcome to attend, so please contact me if you want to. The workshop will take place early in semester 2. Wellbeing Week Wellbeing week will be happening from the 28th November, with all things relaxing and distressing. Weve got everyone from the Counselling Service to SocieTEA getting involved and hosting events, so look out for the publicity that will be out very soon. Big thanks to Judith Drake for all her hard work on this. C:card

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C:card outreach will be starting up next week. I went along to get re-trained with a number of volunteers, so look out for volunteers at Pollock and Big Cheese who will be signing people up for free contraception for life! Mental Health On Campus With the change in the DoS system (see Mikes report), there will be resource implications for many student support services, as personal tutors will focus on academic support. There may be well be a need to increase investment in uni support services. One thing that I think is really lacking is staff dedicated to working on mental health, especially for students with ongoing mental health issues. In fact we are one of the only universities in the Russell Group that do not have this provision. Along with heads of various support services, I will be working on proposals to ensure that support services are getting the funding and staff that they need to be able to run effectively. Neighbourhood Partnership At the beginning of November we held our neighbourhood partnership event, bringing together members of the community and students to pitch ideas for joint community projects. It was a fantastic and really successful event, with up to 4 projects chosen for funding, ranging from break dancing lessons for kids in Dumbiedykes, to a community garden project. It was really great to see students having a positive influence on the community, and we hopefully got rid of a few student stereotypes too! Alcohol and the Community I went along to a morning-long event about Alcohol and the south central area of Edinburgh. It was a really interesting morning, with a variety of workshops and seminars to discuss the effects that alcohol has on the local community. I think lots of people were pleasantly surprised to learn about EUSAs commitment to responsible drinking, and are keen to take some of the things we do to promote this into different areas of the community. I Will Lead One thing I really want to do is ensure that EUSA is representing students effectively, and it needs some work. Last year for example, only 1 woman stood for President, out of 7 candidates. I think this needs to change. On Tuesday 22nd, Philippa, Abi, Hazel and myself are attending the I Will Lead training in Glasgow, a day long training session run by the NUS Womens campaign, which offers skills and tips on being women in leadership positions ,offers guidance and best practice on running elections & campaigning, and gives practical tips to empower women to get involved in student unions. After weve received this training, we will be able to deliver it to EUSA members-not just reps, but any woman who is thinking of getting involved in EUSA, or who wants skills training. Thats all for now, but get in touch any time! Emma x vpsa@eusa.ed.ac.ukn @eusavps

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Postgraduate Conveners Report

Hi all, One of the key things were trying to do this year is create a sense of Postgrad community and increase the number of PG events. We had a hugely successful showing of PhD: The Movie in conjunction with the Business and Informatics Schools and the demand for tickets means we can have a large scale showing in semester 2, in both Kings Buildings and the Central Area. We have also organised another over-21s ceilidh for the end of this semester! Ive also been working closely with the PG Society to try and deliver some more events throughout the year. The PG Festival is getting ever closer, the programme for this is now finalised and is in the process of being made pretty. Also the call for papers should have been distributed amongst schools, so Id encourage you to look out for this and get involved. It was fantastic to see a continued high turnout at the second PG Forum of the year. We were lucky enough to have the Careers Service along to ask questions on how the service can be improved for PG students so hopefully we can see some exciting changes taking place. We also addressed other issues centred on employment as a postgrad. Im excited to say we have a couple of PG reps going along to the NUS Scotland Zone conference which should be very valuable to both EUSA and NUS Scotland. As ever, any questions come find me for a chat or drop me an email (postgrad@eusa.ed.ac.uk) Sophie McCallum, Postgraduate Convener

Teaching and Learning Conveners Report

Hi all, Fees March I was unable to attend the fees march in London on the 9th Nov due to work commitments. (The joys of being a working student). HE Zone I only attended the first day to HE Zone due to unforeseen circumstances. However I found the event really productive and a great opportunity to share experiences with other SUs. In addition to this I had a chance to speak to NUS HE staff members about Edinburgh issues and was given some great advice. Academic Forum Apologies for the original meeting being cancelled I was sadly on orders from the doctor to stay in bed. However the rearranged forum meeting was very interesting, with an update from Mike Williamson on his meetings with the University in relation to DoS. Interesting issues being raised of which I was not aware in relation to ECA. As well as an update from Hugh Murdoch on the progress of the Study space issue some really good ideas going forward. DoS System The University want to put money into reforming the DoS system, and eusa have a good opportunity to influence this. When at HE Zone the staff there informed me that Sheffield have a good system of personal tutors, so I wanted to contact Sheffield SU to find out what they do and to compare out NSS results to see if they scored higher than us. Mike Williamson has emailed his equivalent at Sheffield and Sophie McCallum has checked NSS and they are consistently above us. With the information we will get from Sheffield we shall take the parts we like to the University to show good practice within other institutions. School Reps I have had a few meetings with the Law School Reps and the process of having school specific class rep training is moving forward. Also very promisingly Sophie McCallum has informed me quite a few other schools have come forward as wanting to do the

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same thing. I think it is important that a plan is put in place so that any training undertaking by Schools for Class Reps is extended and continued in the future. Any questions, please let me know. Claire Rackley, Teaching and Learning Convener

External Conveners Report

No matter where you study, no matter where you're from, NO to 9,000 fees March TOMORROW 12.30pm, Assemble outside the Scottish Parliament For more details, see publicity or this facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=180813522005674 Much time has been spent organising for two big demos. First the one in London, and I am indebted to all the activists who helped get people there and those who went for helping to make it such a success. The other demo is tomorrow, as advertised above. If you haven't already, please post it to your facebook tonight to spread the word, even if you are unable to make it. Other projects currently being worked on include the Alternative Prospectus and the one-stop website for Accommodation, amongst others! Any questions, or if you would like to help out in continuing campaigns, get in touch: stuart.tooley@gmail.com Stuart Tooley, External Convener

Accommodation Officers Report

Hi everyone, Here is an update on accommodation matters: 1) Ebony (Environment and Ethics Officer) and I have initially started planning a campaign to increase the number of bike racks available across university accommodation, particularly at Pollock Halls where this is a problem. This is a problem, for two reasons, firstly students are prevented from locking up their bikes, and secondly, they are discouraged from bringing or buying bikes due to the anticipated difficulties in locking them up. 2) There is an ongoing plan to effectively engage with letting agents as well as encourage them to ensure ethical practice with student tenants. We are all pushing to get support from agents to adhere to certain guiding standards (which they would sign up to); this agreement would exceed legal minimum requirements. This campaign aims to significantly improve the service students receive when they rent private accommodation. We hope we will have more to report back to you soon. Furthermore, this campaign will seek to communicate with our student body more effectively re accommodation. 3) The fact Edinburgh University students are living in accommodation (I assume organised by Accommodation Services) all the way out at QMU remains a big problem and something that needs to be addressed. I hope to meet with any reps that would like to offer their support in tackling this issue. Students in their first year at Edinburgh are guaranteed university arranged accommodation and they have been placed too far away from the university. They are quite arguably cut off from the university in many ways. They require buses to get into town. If you have any ideas and queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Alex Munyard, Accomodation Officer

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Equal Opportunities Officers Report

What Ive done: Given a workshop on accessible learning and mainstreaming at one of the learning lunches for class reps with Judith Drake (disability and mental wellbeing convenor). This was really great and I have had some good communication subsequently about with a few of the class reps about how to approach their staff-student liaison committees about accessible learning. Theres a bit push at the moment to get as many equal marriage consultation responses to the government by the 9th December (or to the Equality Network by the 6th). So last weekend I went to the consultation at Victoria Quays with the civil servants who are in charge of the collection of these responses and the Equality Network. The Equality Network has kindly given us lots of paper consultation responses, so if anyone is part of a society and thinks that they would help out or a big lecture that someone could come along to, let me or Kate (Harris) know please! I also went down to Edinburgh College of Art two weeks ago to the art and culture fair to talk about LGBT+ action group, and went there again this week to talk about Wellbeing Week and action groups and how they can also engage with student at ECA. Hazel Louise Marzetti, Equal Opportunities Officer

Community and Volunteering Officers Report

Following the success of our Neighbourhood Partnership event, I've been working to follow up on lots of the links made on the night between EUSA and community organisations. On the 1st December we'll be inviting a lot of these groups along to our Volunteering Forum, to be held in Teviot (details will follow). This is the second forum we have held and we hope it will become a useful place for all organisations interested in volunteering, inside and outside the university. The next thing I'm hoping to focus on is getting students along to community councils around the city. This has always been a difficult thing to motivate students to do but we often find ourselves fighting on issues that we could have confronted earlier were students more active in local democracy. All the best, Finbar Bowie, Community and Volunteering Officer

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Paper B
Draft Student Council Safe Space Policy 1. Members of Student Council are expected to respect the right of all Council members or students attending Council and staff to enjoy EUSA as a safe space environment, defined as a space which is welcoming and safe and includes the prohibition of discriminatory language and actions. 2. EUSA operates a Zero Tolerance policy towards discrimination based on: a. Age b. Race c. Disability d. Sexual Orientation e. Gender Reassignment f. Marriage and Civil Partnership g. Pregnancy and Maternity h. Religion and Belief i. Sex 3. All Council meetings shall be conducted with an assumption that the meeting shall constitute a safe space for the conduct of debate, discussion and decision making. 4. A meeting shall be deemed to be a safe space where no-one is disadvantaged or discouraged from contributing, so long as they respect others ability to contribute; and where the principle of equal opportunities are respected. 5. All members are expected to conduct themselves in a manner which is respectful and considerate of the contributions of others. This is defined as: a. Allowing Council members to speak when called upon by the chair. b. Refraining from speaking over, interrupting, heckling, laughing at or otherwise distracting from the speaker who holds the floor.

c. Refraining from hand gestures which denote disagreement or in any other

way indicating disagreement with a point or points being made. Disagreements should only be evident through the normal course of debate. d. Avoiding using gestures which are not generally known or accepted by Council.

e. Gestures indicating agreement are permissible, if these gestures are

generally understood and not used in an intimidating manner.

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Paper C
Empowering Student Council Proposer: James McAsh Seconder: Mike Williamson (0792336) Supported by: Mike Shaw (1010132), Liam Maguire(0700386), Susannah Compton (0700369), Alva Traebert(0970126), Ebony Ruggero (1030881), Aurora Adams (1004725), Kate Harris (0700449), Matthew Hepburn (1020995) Student Council Notes: 1. That according to the EUSA Constitution Student Council (or SRC) must have at least nine Ordinary meetings (not emergency meetings) per academic year. 2. That last academic year EUSA broke its constitutional obligation in this respect. 3. That previously Student Council has met every three weeks 4. That in the last year Student Council has met only once every four weeks. 5. That in the last 7 months we have had two Emergency Meetings. 6. That some recent meetings of student council have lasted for longer than three and a half hours. Student Council Believes: 1. That EUSA, and student unions in general, should be first and foremost campaigning organisations. 2. That Student Council has greater democratic legitimacy than smaller bodies like Student Council Executive or the sabbatical officers alone. 3. That members of Council should ideally be able to plan for their meetings in advance. 4. That having meetings only every four weeks prevents us from being able to react quickly to changing events. 5. That Student Council is the most effective body for holding the sabbatical officers to account. 6. That debate is a crucial part of democracy and that it should not be stifled. 7. That longer meetings: a) are unaccessible b) lower the quality of debate c) result in declining participation as the meeting goes on 8. That more frequent meetings: a) would allow Student Council to hold the sabbatical officers to account more effectively b) would allow Student Council to react faster to relevant events and developments c) would greatly reduce the use of Emergency Meetings d) would allow societies to be approved and get started more quickly. Student Council Resolves: 1. That whenever possible Student Council should meet at least every three weeks. 2. That a strict time limit should be imposed on meetings of no more than two and a half hours. 3. That when business cannot be completed in this time that it should be immediately added to the agenda of the following meeting. 4. That more time-sensitive business should be given priority in the agenda. 5. To mandate the Sabbatical Officers to carry out Resolves 1 through 4 as a priority.

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Paper D
Unity with the International Student Population Proposer: Peter Thibault (s0818669) Seconder: Aurora Adams (s1004725) Student Council Notes: 1. From the start of Academic Session 2011/12 the University is introducing census points within the session in order to confirm the attendance of students holding a Tier 4 Student Visa. This is to ensure the University meets the UKBA statutory requirements as a sponsor of Tier 4 students and its responsibilities in accordance with its Highly Trusted Sponsor status. 2. Students must ensure that they are fully matriculated for the session as this is taken as the first point to confirm their attendance at the University. Having attendance confirmed by the relevant School/College is part of the University's usual matriculation process. 3. In addition, International Undergraduates MUST report in person to one of the designated venues during week 6 of Semester 1 (24-28 October 2011) and week 5 of Semester 2 (20-24 February 2012) to have their attendance confirmed again. 4. International Postgraduates MUST report in person to one of the designated venues during week 6 of Semester 1 (24-28 October 2011) and week 5 of Semester 2 (20-24 February 2012) and during the summer (23-27 July 2012) to have their attendance confirmed again. 5. International Students not attending at the above times will be deemed to be "not in attendance". 6. Those students identified as "not in attendance" will be formally withdrawn from their studies. The University will report to the UKBA that the student has discontinued their studies and that the University ceases to sponsor the student's Tier 4 visa. As such the Tier 4 visa is invalidated and the student will be told that they are no longer entitled to remain in the UK and if they have more than 6 months left on their visa they must leave the UK within 60 days 7. All students with an INEEA (International Non European Economic Area) nationality recorded on their student record (MyED) will be emailed (UoE email and personal email, if recorded) and written to at their semester address by Registry in advance of the first census. Only those with a Tier 4 visa are required to attend a census point. (Source: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/studying/adultstudents/changes/#)

8. According to the UK Border Agency Securing our Border Controlling Migration Guide
to Sponsoring Students Under Tier 4 of the Points-Based System (henceforth referred to as The Guide) (Section 464) it is not* compulsory for students under pre 22 February 2010 [Visa letter] system to abide by the reporting duties. 9. The University of Edinburgh is considered a Highly Trusted Sponsor for Tier 4 Visas as specified under in the Guide (Section 32) as any institution who has a sponsor license for more than 12 months must successfully apply for Highly Trusted Sponsor status.

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10. Section 466 of the Guide reads: If you are a highly trusted sponsor you can* make
two checkpoints (re-registrations) during any rolling 12 month period and report any students who have missed 10 consecutive expected contacts without you reasonably giving them permission. You must report these students within 10 working days you completing your checkpoint process.

11. Section 468 of the Guide articulates what these 10 expected contact points may be:
Examples of expected interactions include, but are not limited to: attending any lesson, lecture, tutorial or seminar (as relevant to the level of study); attending any test, examination or assessment board; submitting assessed or unassessed coursework; submitting an interim dissertation, coursework or report; attending any meeting with a supervisor or personal tutor; attending any research-method or research-panel meetings, writing-up seminars or doctoral workshops; attending an oral examination (viva); registration (matriculation or enrolment); attending an appointment with a welfare advisor or international student adviser. (Source:www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/employersandsponsors/pbsguid ance/guidancefrom31mar09/sponsor-guidance-t4-050911.pdf?view=Binary) *Emphasis added Student Council Believes: 1. That the recent changes in the governments policy regarding student visas from students outside of the European Union represent a shift towards even more xenophobic visa regulations. 2. International students make up a large portion of not only the student body but also this council and that such diversity is beneficial to the overall student experience. 3. Students should not be made to feel like they are being vetted or closely monitored by any government when they have already had to prove the authenticity of their enrolment in courses. 4. Edinburgh University is publishing incorrect information in telling students who are on the visa letter system that they must attend the scheduled censuses. 5. We are living in a post-modern globalized era where the mixing of cultures and people is something that should be encouraged and pursued. 6. Edinburgh University is choosing to exercise an optional policy which is detrimental to the social standing of International students. Student Council Resolves: 1. To reaffirm to students EUSAs opposition to the recent changes in the Tier 4 Visa Scheme due to their xenophobic nature. 2. Issue a statement articulating EUSAs opposition to the recent changes. 3. Actively pressure the University to state why it is choosing to be one of the few universities to implement optional governmental policies which negatively affect students. 4. Lobby the University to remove the implementation of the UK Border Agency Securing Our Border Controlling Migration Guide to Sponsoring Students Under Tier 4 of the Points-Based System Section 466.

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5. If the University refuses to reverse its current policy, push the University to articulate that it is choosing to implement an optional governmental policy in the letter describing the census process. A reminder letter should also be sent out the weekend prior to the census dates. 6. Mandate the President to write to the Home Office Minister, and local MPs expressing our stance on this issue. 7. Mandate all appropriate officers to represent these views in any dealings with the University and UK government. 8. Mandate the President to investigate how this motion might be brought to the NUS Conference and to update Council when appropriate.

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Paper E
The Niqab, Hijab, and Jibaab Proposer: EJ Aaron-Beloten (s0841218) Student Council Notes: 1. That over the past decade Islamic dress known as the Niqab and the Hijab and the Jilbaab have come under sustained criticism. 2. Many politicians have made disparaging comments about the Niqab, Hijab or Jibaab. Student Council Believes: 1. That racism against any group is deplorable and should not be tolerated. 2. That any attack on Islamic dress, is an attack equal to any other form of discrimination. 3. That all people are allowed freedom of expression and belief and it is the duty of all citizens to stand up for those under duress. 4. The Niqab does not stop interpersonal communication, merely offers the wearer the ability to interact with others in a manner that is both comfortable and within their cultural beliefs. Student Council Resolves: 1. To defend the freedom of expression and belief, and stand by those who would be unable to voice their discomfort. 2. To mandate the President & VPSA to defend students rights to wear the Niqab, Hijab or Jibaab, at this University and voice their support for it throughout the United Kingdom and Europe.

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Paper F

Solidarity with Students at Birzeit University

Proposer: Hugh Murdoch (s0936237) Student Council Notes: 1. That EUSA is twinned with Birzeit University Student Council in the West Bank. 2. That there is ongoing work between the university and the University of Birzeit with scholarships available for Birzeit graduates to continue their study at Edinburgh. 3. That previous EUSA sabbatical officers have visited Birzeit to show solidarity with students and student unionists there. 4. That students and student unionists face persecution in Palestine: (i) Birzeit University has been closed by the Israeli military 15 times, the longest lasting over 4 years (1988-1992) (ii) Since November 2003, 480 Birzeit University students have been incarcerated (iii) Currently 80 students are in incarceration in Israeli prisons, more than half of whom haven't been found guilty of any charge. Student Council Believes: 1. That education is a universal right to which every person in the world is entitled. 2. That international academic co-operation increases the quality of education and university experience for the students, universities, unions and communities involved.

Student Council Resolves: 1. To mandate the sabbatical officers to communicate with students' union officers at Birzeit University with an aim to increasing co-operation between our institutions and unions. 2. To mandate the VPAA to investigate the possibility of academic exchanges between students at Edinburgh and students at Birzeit and to work with the university towards this goal. 3. To condemn the persecution of students and student unionists in Palestine and raise awareness among our membership of this issue both generally and in individual instances.

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Paper G Student Council Action Points Log

Date Action By Whom Update Any other Info

25/10/11

Find out how Craig Stewart much is spent on the buffet at Council meetings.

<1000

Does not come out of Student Council budget.

Paper H Budget Status

Main Student Council Budget Reason for Expenditure Media Event Reclaim the Night RUKidding Money for Demo Amount 23 270.45 266.5 1504 net Amount Left (running total) 7500 7477 7206.55 6940.05 5436.05

Student Council NUS Conferences Reason for Expenditure UK Zone Conferences Black Conferences (Nov) x2 Scotland Zone Travel to Black conf LGBT Activist Training Scotland National (Nov) Women (March) Disabled (March) LGBT (March) UK Conference (April) Black Conference (May)

Amount 2676 287.33 288 180 79.60

Amount Left (running Total) 4000 1324 1036.67 748.67 568.67 489.07

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Paper I Report from Events attended as an SRC Representative SRC on the 16th March 2010 passed policy that any rep attending an event as a representative of SRC should submit a report to SRC on their return. The purpose of these reports are: To ensure that SRC receives value for resources expended on such event attendance To inform decisions on future attendance at similar events by SRC reps To spread useful information/practice/lessons attained by individual members to other SRC members, in recognition that members are sent to events to benefit the SRC as a whole. A report does not have to be completed for events attended in a purely personal capacity, but for those attended as a representative of SRC (whether or not SRC has expended resources on attendance). The policy passed by SRC notes the value of event attendance and that members of the Association should rarely have to justify going to events, but should be eager to share their experiences of such events with the Students Representative Council (SRC) and wider Association.

Reports submitted will be seen by SRC Executive and there will be an opportunity for these to be reviewed and discussed by SRC. They will also be made publicly available to Association members on the EUSA website. To facilitate the process of reporting to SRC following events, the following pro forma should be completed and submitted to craig.stewart@eusa.ed.ac.uk. Reports should be submitted before the next meeting of SRC after the event being reported on has taken place.

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Name Position Title, location and date of event attended

Emma Meehan VPSA Welfare October Zone Conference, 23rd-24th

Cost to SRC if known and relevant (including fee for event and travel) Purpose of event/reason for going -Input into, and amending the Welfare Zones plan of work for the year. -attend workshops and bring back ideas to implement in EUSA. Main outcomes of the event You may wish to include here things you think would be good practice for SRC adoption, ideas for SRC action, benefits to SRC through rep training, key information transmitted etc. -vote in the NUS welfare Zone elections. -I will investigate our support for international students in crisis. One workshop I went to focused on this, and I want to ensure that UoE has provisions in place if crises occurs in any particular place, allowing students to access money to travel home quickly. If this is lacking, it is something that should be worked upon. -I attended 2 housing workshops, one with Shelter and one with Unipol, drawing good practise from other unions in terms of charters and cracking down on dodgy landlords. This will be helpful in EUSAs own housing campaign and charter that is being produced. -Input into Welfare Zones plan of work, holding the NUS VP Welfare to account and ensuring that NUS is working on relevant welfare issues. Would you recommend sending reps to a Yes, similar future event? But with significant improvements made, which NUS have been contacted about. I also dont think we should necessarily send 2 people to each zone. For some 1

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may be enough. I would have liked to have seen this event as more of a democratic one-although we had the chance to input into the plan of work, there was no formal method through which to amend it, which was frustrating.

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Name Position Title, location and date of event attended

Callum Leslie Welfare Convener NUS Welfare Zone Conference,

Liverpool, 23rd & 24th October Cost to SRC if known and relevant (including fee for event and travel) Purpose of event/reason for going Representing EUSA in the decision Approx 270

making functions of NUS Zone, as well as training and development.

Main outcomes of the event You may wish to include here things you think would be good practice for SRC adoption, ideas for SRC action, benefits to SRC through rep training, key information transmitted etc.

Learned a lot of best practice from more experienced officers. Established framework for a potential campaign on accessible learning. Attended good training sessions on student carers and the equality act.

Would you recommend sending reps to a I think in future we should send just one similar future event? rep to each, and that experienced officers should not attend. I found this useful as a new rep, however I am aware that others who have been to previous NUS events found it less useful, and sending them is

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a waste of time and money. I also think that the cost as should these be carefully considered, conferences

become more and more expensive. The second day was a bit of waste of time apart from the policy sessions, which were very short. The policy sessions, which in my view were one of the most important parts of the conference, were poorly attended.

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Name Position Title, location and date of event attended

Claire Rackley Teaching and Learning Convenor HE Zone Committee

Cost to SRC if known and relevant (including fee for event and travel) Purpose of event/reason for going To attend workshops and plenaries so as to gain training and to engage with other unions in the formulation of best practice.

Main outcomes of the event You may wish to include here things you think would be good practice for SRC adoption, ideas for SRC action, benefits to SRC through rep training, key

I attended two workshops; the first was on widening participation and the other on student engagement. As well as the plenaries scheduled. The widening participation workshops I found very interesting, we were split into groups and asked how we could formulate better WP. It was very

information transmitted etc.

interesting to share the good practices that Edinburgh does and to hear of what other SUs are doing. The WP shadowing scheme created by last years VPAA Stevie Wise was highly thought of and other unions were eager to follow our lead. But it became clear that the deficiencies within Edinburgh WP are we do not take enough students from nontraditional backgrounds. The Student Engagement workshop, I was interested to see what the definition of SE was. This workshop was about engaging students within the quality of

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their education. In Scotland we have a fantastic organisation called SPARQs that does class rep training and specialises in quality of education. The rest of the UK does not have this. various statements We were given from the absurd

(students should be consumers) to the obvious (students should be engaged on matters to do with their course). And asked to place them as if true or false. This gave a good opportunity to debate issues and find out what other SUs thought on issues. In the plenaries, of which there were two the first was a Q&A session however I was disappointed by this as I thought that we as a student movement have become too singularly focussed on the issue of fees and was extremely disappointed that no one brought up the issue of student support. The second plenary was very Fantastic plenary and moving and an account of being a mature student in HE. really highlighted to me the ways in which as a University we let down nontraditional students. Would you recommend sending reps to a Yes similar future event?

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Name Position Title, location and date of event attended

Hugh Murdoch Academic Services Convener Society and Citizenship Zone conference, Liverpool Adelphi

Cost to SRC if known and relevant (including fee for event and travel) Purpose of event/reason for going Training, election of a zone committee and policy discussion. Main outcomes of the event You may wish to include here things you think would be good practice for SRC adoption, ideas for SRC action, benefits to SRC through rep training, key information transmitted etc. Showed how LSESU got LSE to give money back to the Libyan people and caused their director to resign. Some really innovative campaigning: getting people's mobile numbers and texting them allowed them to organise actions instantly. Palestine: Talked about how we can support and show solidarity with the Palestinian campaign by talking about it not in terms of the conflict, but in terms of the human rights abuses that are happening. CitizensUK training: My FAVOURITE. This was truly inspiring. Talked about personalising issues by using individual examples of the people you're campaigning for to make the campaign more powerful. Also not being Three great workshops: LSE and Gaddaffi:

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afraid of confrontation: the people we're campaigning against are professional and can shift quite happily between issues so confronting them on one shouldn't be an issue. Confrontation is about saying what we ideally want. We can negotiate after that point. On the next day we talked about policy and elected zone committee. The only problem I had with the policy breakouts was that it often didn't seem like a great way of making policy: we would talk about what the chair wanted to talk about, basically. Would you recommend sending reps to a Yes similar future event?

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Paper J Register of Interests for SRC Executive Officers

Purpose This Register of Interests is intended to provide a summary of the interests of members of SRC Executive, as required by the Register of Interests Motion, passed unanimously by SRC on the 16th March 2010. Registerable interests are interests which: may be relevant to Officers actions as Officer holders of the SRC, or may have been attained due to their position as SRC Officers (for example gifts or benefits given because one is an officer of SRC). The Register has as its goals the information and education of individuals and groups with whom officers work on the SRC, and the Students they represent, regarding the ethical standards expected of SRC Officers in carrying out their duties. It is important to note that this Register relates to the conduct of Officers in relation to duties connected to being an Officer of the SRC. It does not cover the activities of Officers in other circumstances, for example: Officers private and family life; Officers political views (in their capacity as a member of a political party or organisation) Principles of Disclosure The register has been established on the basis of the following principles:

Student Interests: SRC Officers are expected to act in the interests of the SRC and University of Edinburgh Students. They should not act in order to gain financial or other material benefit for themselves, their family or friends. Integrity: Officers have an implied duty not to place themselves under financial or other obligations to individuals/organisation that might reasonably be thought to influence them in the performance of their duties. Honesty: Officers should act honestly and declare any private interests relating to their SRC officer duties and take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects students interests. Accountability and Transparency: Officers are accountable for their decisions and actions to the SRC. They should consider issues on their merits, taking account of the views of others. Officers should be as open as possible about their decisions and actions.

Interests Which Require Declaration Interests which require declaration meet the prejudice test. An interest meets the prejudice test if, after taking into account all the circumstances, that interest may be reasonably considered to prejudice, or to give the appearance of prejudicing, the ability of the Officer to participate in a disinterested manner in any proceedings of the SRC. Interests which meet the prejudice test may include: FINANCIAL OR RELATED INTERESTS An officer may have a registerable financial or related interests where an officer receives, or has received, remuneration by virtue of: being employed or self-employed; being the holder of an office (other than their post on SRC) being a director or partner in an undertaking or firm Or where the Officer received non financial benefits from such situations. GIFTS AND BENEFITS RECIEVED

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Any benefits or gifts which may be reasonably perceived as prejudicial to the performance of members of the SRC Executive are declarable. Officers are expected to register these as declarable interests. VISITS/TRAVEL Any accepted invitations or travel benefits received which could be perceived as proffered or received due to an Officers position should be declared. These do not need to include visits undertaken as part of the post-holders normal exercise of their duties, unless the Officer feels that such visits/travel gives rise to a declarable interest under the prejudice test. OTHER/VOLUNTARY INTERESTS A member may also register on a voluntary basis any interest which does not require to be registered. Timetable for Registration of Interests SRC Executive will be asked to complete the Register of Interests before the first meeting of the SRC each Academic Year, in October (the Second meeting of each SRC). The register will be made available online on the EUSA website prior to that meeting of SRC, so that SRC members can note any interests and hold the Executive to account. At any point in the year, members of the Executive can update their declaration of interests. They are expected to add any new relevant interests should they arise. Should any of their current declared interests expire, Officers should also have this noted on their Declaration. Officers initial Declarations of Interest, and any subsequent requests for additions or changes, should be lodged with craig.stewart@eusa.ed.ac.uk.

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Declaration of Interests Name Position Date of Initial Declaration Financial or Related Interests Mike Williamson VPAA 18/11/11

Gifts and Benefits Received

Visits/Travel

Other Interests/Voluntary Declarations

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Name Position Date of Initial Declaration Financial or Related Interests

Callum Leslie Welfare Convener 04/11/11 Employed by the University of Edinburgh as an alumni fundraising caller.

Gifts and Benefits Received

None

Visits/Travel

None

Other Interests/Voluntary Declarations

Member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. Employed on a voluntary basis by Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline Liberal Democrats as Press Officer.

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Name Position Date of Initial Declaration Financial or Related Interests

Claire Rackley Teaching and Learning Convenor 14/11/2011 N/A

Gifts and Benefits Received

N/A

Visits/Travel

N/A

Other Interests/Voluntary Declarations

Member of: Labour Party Unite the Union

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