AGM

AGM

At this year's AGM, there was plenty of debate on seven motions submitted by students. Among these was a motion to scrap Rent Retainers and a motion for NUS Wales to work more closely with students' unions. All Swansea University students were offered the chance to submit a motion and debate any motion at the AGM.

Following the AGM, the results of the motions are as follows:

• Living Wage Motion for NUS UK - Passed
• Living Wage Motion for NUS Wales - Passed
• People's Vote Motion for NUS UK - Withdrawn
• People's Vote Motion for NUS Wales - Withdrawn
• Rent Retainer for NUS UK - Passed
• Rent Retainer for NUS Wales - Passed
• NUS Wales Motion on Reaching out to Campuses (Wales) - Passed

You can watch the Officer Accountability video here.

We asked the officers any questions they didn't get a chance to answer at the AGM. Here's what they said:

1. About the bus pass you had mentioned, only for ages 18-22, there are many courses with students who are older than 22, especially in courses that may have 4 or more years. What can be done about this?
Chris (Societies and Services): The MyTravelPass is a Welsh Government initiative and they have decided it is only on offer for people until their 22nd birthday. I would have loved it if they extended it to anyone who is a student, similar to the young person railcard, but unfortunately they have not. I raised this concern with an NUS Wales President candidate and I hope it is something NUS Wales can pressure the Welsh Government for. 

2. Stores have been moved a lot recently. Will it have a permanent home with a clear system soon?
Chris (Societies and Services): The society storage space has been moved a lot recently due to the SU also being moved. We hope by the end of this academic year, that societies storage will have a permanent home in Fulton House. 

3. Why have there been so many room booking issues with Estates this year?
Chris (Societies and Services): We can only imagine how frustrating it has been for quite a few societies this year, and we apologise. However, we do try our best! There have been a couple of issues this year, and sadly as the academic year has gone on, some of it has snowballed a bit. However, it all seems to be coming together again now, and hopefully that means the rest of the academic year will work out smoothly! Part of the issue was that lecture timetabling had to be sorted before society bookings could be done. Another part of the issue is that space that the Union used to be able to book now is no longer available for booking, and that has meant that a lot of bookings have had to be reshuffled. There were also some societies that didn't put in bookings straight away for the entire academic year, which meant that at times other bookings squeezed in sneakily, but most of these have hopefully been rectified. Most of you already do this, but just a reminder that the sooner you put a booking in to Geri, the more likely it is that you'll get the room(s) you are requesting! Geri is there to help you, so know you can always drop by. (She'll gladly show you pictures of her favourite puppy too!)

4. Recently, to increase capacity First Cymru have replaced new single decker buses with 20-year-old double decker buses. How are we combatting the environmental impacts?
Chris (Societies and Services): The buses had to be switched to double deckers due to the very high demand for the bus service. Although they are old, they are still better for the environment than students driving individually to either campus. With the single deckers, it left students waiting longer to get on a bus with room, and be on a very busy bus when they did manage. It is important to keep bus users happy, otherwise they may switch to driving.   

5. Why are things so expensive? I feel like places like Tafarn Tawe are overpriced when it is aimed towards students. Do the establishments need to be making this much profit?
Chris (Societies and Services): I believe Tafarn Tawe offers very good value for money. A pint of Fosters or Strongbow only costs £2, a tea is £1 and a huge portion of dirty fries or nachos is only £4.

6. How do you currently support or plan to support smaller societies?
Chris (Societies and Services): Hopefully everyone knows that any and all support wanted and/or needed is available for societies, regardless of their size! As far as we are concerned, all societies are equal. Geri and I are always there to answer any questions, offer guidance, help set up things on the website, get rooms booked, etc. I hope new societies, especially, know they can reach out, as they've just gotten set up and that often requires a fair amount of communication, so hopefully it is just about people being reminded that there are people within the Union more than happy to help however they can!

7. How do you think a new building will improve social experiences on Bay?
Gwyn (President): The plans for the new building on Bay Campus have social spaces for students, as well as shops, a coffee shop, a bar, and hopefully even a nightclub. This should give Bay Campus more of an atmosphere and make it easier for students to meet one another and socialise outside of lectures.

8. What are you doing about the increased rate of sexual assault?
Grace (Welfare): The SU has set up a Sexual Assualt Referal working group in partnership with the University's Wellbeing Services. We’re currently in the process of getting key members of staff trianed as Sexual Violence Liason Officers who'll be specially trained to provide adequate and consistent support to those that need it. We’re also ensuring we have better information/advice and signposting on the SU and Uni's websites and we're in the process of updating these pages. 

9. Can the Sports Swansea membership cover other fees for each individual sport such as cost for equipment and attending each session as well?
Sophie (Sports): The cost of Sport Swansea membership is £20 for non-BUCS sports, which covers personal and equipment insurance, £10 off gym membership, a discounted Varsity ticket, free wetsuit hire, free squash and tennis racket hire at the sports village, discounted First Aid coaching and ref courses, and 2 parking permits per club. The BUCS Sport Swansea membership at £28 is for BUCS clubs and covers clubs for all of the above plus all BUCS transport, preferential training times and BUCS accommodation. It is then up to individual clubs to ask members to cover training fees, so Sport Swansea is unable to ask for a set cost.

10. Why are some lectures recorded but not others?
Chloe (Education Officer): Lecture recording has been consistently raised as something that would help students and something that we want. Unfortunately, plans to introduce it across the whole University for next academic year have been put on hold due to finances. Hopefully, it will be introduced for the 20/21 academic year, and I hope the next Education Officers continue to push for it. In the meantime, there is a lot of good work in Colleges introducing lecture recording measures for individual modules using less costly methods (such as just recording an audio alongside the presentation), however this is down to individual lecturers.

The next opportunity for students to hold the Union to account is May 14^th at the Student Forum on Bay Campus. All students are welcome to come and have your voices heard!