President Kate Roberts updates you on the key topics of discussion from the latest Board of Trustees meeting, held on 22 April 2021.
As a Charity, our Board of Trustees are legally responsible for the organisation; the Board helps set out our strategy and provides guidance and expertise.
As there is often so much going on under our roof, we know it can be a bit confusing to understand where decisions are being made, which is why we aim to update you on the discussions held at our Board of Trustees.
Due to the nature of this unusual academic year, we have held more regular Board of Trustees meetings, to ensure that all trustees are informed and able to make important decisions.
On 22 April, I chaired our most recent Board of Trustees meeting and I am pleased to now share the key topics of discussion with you.
Update from the Officers
At every Board of Trustees meeting, the Officers provide an update on the work we have been undertaking. The recent meeting included updates on; the Housing Policy Inquiry, the Academic Societies Review, the University’s Sustainability Strategy development, an academic misconduct awareness campaign, a review of the Personal Tutor system, the Let’s Talk About Sex campaign, University Mental Health Day and student group mental health awareness training, Love Your Community volunteering activities, sponsorship resource packs for student groups, and the launch of Committee Cafés for student groups.
Update from the CEOs
At each meeting, an update is also provided by the joint CEOs. The recent meeting included updates on; University Rapid Response meetings, funding and budget discussions for the next academic year, re-commencement of our security review, and other partnership and sector engagement.
Budget Principles
Board received a paper setting out the principles to be adopted in the development of the 2021/22 budgets for the organisation.
Governance Plan and Annual Calendar of Business
Board received a paper recommending that the interim governance arrangements implemented at the onset of the pandemic are amended to return to the pre-pandemic arrangements. A proposed calendar of business, recommended changes to formal updates from sub-committees, annual review of terms of reference for sub-committees, mentoring support for student trustees and the further development of the Deputy Chair role were all presented and approved.
Staff Survey Results
Board received a paper to note the results from this year’s permanent Employee Engagement Survey. This will now go to the next Finance, Staffing & Risk Sub-Committee of Trustee Board to be discussed further.
Student Trustee Recruitment
The term of office for two of our existing Student Trustees has been extended for a further year following changes made to recruitment in February. Recruitment for one further Student Trustee role has commenced, if you are interested in applying you can find out more in this blog. The application deadline is midnight on Sunday 30 May 2021.
I hope that you found this of interest and that it went some way towards explaining how the Union works. As always, if you have any questions or queries about any of the information above, or would like to find out how you can get involved in the Union’s decision-making processes, feel free to email me at president@su.rhul.ac.uk.