2016-10-17

Attendance: 40

Agenda

Minutes and Matters Arising
1. Objections to the minutes of the previous meeting
JCR Funding
Safety in Cambridge
Alumni and Development
Rent Report
KFC
A.O.B.

Minutes

The president (Sam Pullman-Slater) welcomed everybody to the open meeting.

Minutes and Matters Arising
– No objections to the minutes of the last meeting
JCR Funding

The allocation of funds was explained by the treasurer (Veer Goiporia) and asked if there were any issues or questions from the society representatives present.

JCR funding can only be used for specific purposes
ACTION: Treasurer to send out copy of the rules and regulations for the use of JCR funding to all societies

Natural Sciences Society:

Asked for £450 but were allocated £350 based on the budget of last year’s spending.
Want to hold more talks and events
ACTION: Granted an extra £70 (Total: £420)

History Society:

Representatives not present but requested via email that the funds were raised from £225 to £250
ACTION: Granted extra £25 (Total: £250)

New Societies:

It was pointed out that if a new society was started by a Fresher, they did not have the opportunity to apply for funding as applications are not received after September
ACTION: New societies can talk to Treasurer on an as and when basis. Treasurer has the right to process any reasonable request for funds.

Financing Society:

Has the greatest funding per head
New society so unsure of how this will run
Very few members recorded due to the fact that the society is new so when the application for funding was submitted they had not had a chance to recruit members
ACTION: Funding will be rewarded based on the number of members. The funding allowed in the budget is a maximum.

Femfo:

Asked how Formal Hall could be subsidised
ACTION: Told to email conferencing as this is not within the power of the JCR

Questions from the Treasurer:

Will the Rugby Society be purchasing new kit?
Yes.
ACTION: Next treasurer to be told about expenditure at hand over (Lent Term)
NOTE: All kit MUST stay on College property

Vote to implement budget: Approved

Safety in Cambridge

Vice president (Jennie Towler) reminded those present of the email from the Senior Tutor and to stay safe, as assaults have been reported on Sidgwick site.
In addition, the JCR members are reminded to use bike lights when cycling at night.

Alumni and Development

The Secretary (Catherine Hooper) informed the JCR of some possible workshops in networking and public speaking which were well received.
ACTION: The email address of the Communications Officer of the Alumni and Development office to be added to Listings for students to get in touch.
ACTION: Societies to email the Alumni and Development office of any events they are holding that Alumni may be interested to hear about in order to help create a good working partnership.

Rent Report

A current project being undertaken by the JCR
It is a document containing information on prices in Cambridge and how much Trinity Hall students are paying in comparison to other colleges and also in comparison to how much students are given as a student loan
Document also to act as a comprehensive account of how students felt about accommodation changes in the last ballot
It has been suggested that an Accommodations officer should be given a role on the JCR and this has been allowed by college, however the constitution is unclear as to whether the MCR representative who must attend JCR committee meetings is a member of the JCR, and so the JCR committee may or may not have already reached the maximum number of members.
ACTION: Members of the JCR to fill out questionnaire about rents to be included in rent report
ACTION: Once completed, the document should be shown to Alumni and Fellows, as it seems they do not know how the JCR feels about the current accommodation available

(Kitchen fixed charge)
JCR members at the Kitchen and Education policy committee meetings were told that KFC was “under review” but have yet to hear anything on the matter
As it stands, it is unclear what KFC contributes to or why it is paid by students. All we know is that first year students pay the most KFC allowing them to use the lower band (A) for Hall food (37% reduction) and anyone paying less KFC must spend the difference in Hall on food in price band B before accessing the lower band (A).
ACTION: President (Sam Pullman-Slater) to have meeting with Junior Bursar

A.O.B

Bike racks: Could more bike racks be placed outside of the Porter’s Lodge?

2 bikes were stolen from outside college during Easter Term
Not enough room to place all bikes in North Court
Unable to place bike racks outside of college as not college property and college buildings are enlisted so any alterations are unlikely
There are no bike racks to be placed in Avery Court
Bike racks have to be removed for June Event so can not place double layer bike racks
ACTION: Students are encouraged to purchase a good D-lock and JCR committee is open to suggestions from students about where more bike racks can be placed
ACTION: JCR to talk to college about installing CCTV outside of college where most bikes are placed
ACTION: JCR to suggest double layer bike racks in the garage

40 Years of Women:

Portrait to be completed and hung in Hall
Originally to be three women in one portrait but this idea was rejected
Now unclear as to whether there will be two portraits, one for each woman, or one portrait of two women and who these women will be
ACTION: Possible open letter written on behalf of the JCR to encourage the portrait to be of one woman and for a picture to be displayed in Hall in the meantime

Boat Club Set: Why does the Boat Club captain get a set?

The Boat Club Captain is entitled to a set every year however this is not written in the constitution but is set aside on the ballot given to each JCR president
It is a concern that members of the JCR with specific welfare requirements could benefit from the set being available
JCR members feel that it is unfair that the Captain of the Boat Club be granted a set on central site which should otherwise be a public resource while other society captains do not receive such a privilege
In the constitution, the only referral to the Boat Club is found in Section 11, point 11:
“At the end of the financial year, the Treasurer and Senior Treasurer will audit, or arrange for the audit of, the accounts of all College Clubs and Societies other than the Trinity Hall Boat Club”
Representatives of the Boat Club responded to say that the reason why a set is allocated was due to tradition, as a storage place for documents and college blades, and also used as a place to hold meetings with Alumni
The Boat Club representatives informed the JCR that the set used to be in J but had to be moved and that both the Women’s and Men’s captains used to be granted a set
It was also highlighted that the Boat Club provide a service to the college by maintaining the facilities required to learn how to row
It was noted that this is not a case of the JCR versus the Boat Club, but a case of whether JCR members feel that the allocation of a set to the Boat Club captain is unfair and unnecessary
If this is to be taken further, a motion would have to be submitted by a member of the JCR
ACTION: The boat club captains are to be emailed in order to find out the reason why the set is allocated
ACTION: This is to be discussed further by the JCR committee. The conclusion was that either the set should be written into the constitution or no longer allocated for the Boat Club.

Laundry: Why have the rents been increased on the Wychfield site, when the facilities have been reduced?

The change in the number of washing machines was agreed by a previous JCR president although no record of this could be found in the minutes of previous years
The washing machines were considered to be unsustainable as they kept breaking
The rent increase and change in washing machines is an unfortunate coincidence, agreed by previous JCR members
ACTION: JCR committee to suggest to college that the Wychfield washing machines be put on the online system and also to see whether two more machines could be added.

TV Cable:

The TV in the JCR is broken and needs to be fixed
JCR informed that this happens regularly due to the building being listed, so there are specific regulations on where a satellite dish can be placed, leading to poor signal at times
ACTION: Maintenance request filed

2016-10-17

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