Focus on the Representation

Students will be aware the ULSU has been reviewing its operations for a number of months now. The latest in the series of refocusing efforts was decided last Thursday evening.

Meetings of the Board of ULSU Services Ltd and of ULSU Executive took place and it was agreed that ULSU will cease to be a retail operator at the earliest opportunity. This decision was agreed on the basis that ULSU is not a retail expert at the level required to operate convenience retail services at the capacity to which it has expanded, much larger than the initial shop which was located in the archway between the Student Centre and the Main Building.

The shop in the Student Centre will be run by ULSU until a new tenant has been found. The tenancy with Plassey Campus Centre (University subsidiary with responsibility for retail) has expired and it is not the intention of ULSU to seek to renew it, but rather to focus its efforts on representation and ordinary students' union activities.

Plassey Campus Centre will put the service out to tender in the coming weeks and the successful tender will take over the running of the convenience store ULSU at the earliest possible opportunity. This agreement was reached on the understanding that on-going income would be sourced as part of the deal.

While there is a potential income stream from continued operation, this is not guaranteed. The risk is too large for ULSU to bear as a member orineted organisation.  There have been issues in the past which may not have occurred had an experienced retail operator with full support services been in control.

This move will free a significant amount of time within the Union to focus on more pertinent issues, particularly for the General Manager and future Presidents.

I'll blog later on other issues that have arisen in recent weeks, but this matter is now at a point where a successful outcome has been achieved through the hard work of the Board, in particular the Chairman. I must also commend the General Manager and Accountant for their work to date in exploring options.

Ordinary People, Ordinary Things

Are you the next President of ULSU? This year marks the 40^th year of the institution that has grown to be UL, one that anyone who holds this position must be extremely proud of, but also critical of. I’ll be sad to leave here this summer, but I think that’s a common thread across the board. Anyone who leaves here misses it.

Across all of the people that I have encountered in three years as a sabbatical officer, there are few who are memorable for the wrong reason. I’ve gotten myself in some hot water and I’ve been the poster boy, but one thing remains as a common thread through all of that, representing your Union in a way that best represents you. Elected officers are here for the students; if you come here on a career path, or “to be the President” expect to leave unfulfilled, even if you do leave popular. It is only by being truly firm in your beliefs and doing what you believe is right that you can lead.

The third draft of governance proposals have now been approved by Exec and will be making their way to C&S and Council for consideration. Members for the Constitutional Working Group will be sought at Council and EGM next week.

I am often asked what’s in it for me. Well apart from the perks that come with being a governor, the most satisfying thing is knowing that I’ve made a difference. To me, it is important to make a difference, even if it is never spoken about, in fact some of the most satisfying things that any sabbatical officer will do cannot be spoken about, because they are extremely personal to the people we help. Bereavements, financial problems and health issues come through our doors year in, year out. We’re not the answer to anyone’s problems, but we are here to signpost and to assist along the way.
Be bold, be daring, but most of all, have a plan. Know what you want to achieve. Know why you want to lead this organisation. If a box can’t be ticked that it’s complete, then it’s not something you want to achieve, it’s woolly and is probably a “how” more than a “what”.
Being President of a students’ union is a very lonely place at times. Be prepared for constant abuse, but be mindful that those abusing are the minority. It is easy to be a hurler on the ditch, but you won’t have a chance score unless you put on your jersey and get on the field. Criticism is constant, both internal and external, you will need a mental strength to cope with it and the calm to realise that there are no solutions in it. There are of course situations where your passion for your belief takes over and all of that goes out the window, but keep your goal in sight.

Extraordinary things are not what make the world go round. It is ordinary people, doing ordinary things that make the biggest difference in our lives.

Are you an ordinary person? Are you willing to lead?

Any questions drop me a line SUPresident@ul.ie

So it Ends, So it Begins

Day 1, Week 1, Semester 2, year 7; so it ends, so it begins.

Though I’ve been back at work since 3 January, today is the first day of my last semester at UL. That’s a bit of a scary prospect. This will be my 14^th UL semester. In six months from now (almost to the day) I’ll be finishing up a three week handover process with my successor. If I’d started a PhD when I graduated I’d almost be finished now, but it could be argued that the insights and experience I’ve gained are more valuable to me than a PhD.

There are a lot of important issues coming up this semester.

·         Consultation and vote on new constitution for ULSU. Long overdue and necessary to protect the Union in the future interest of students

·         Plans for new Student Centre are at a site layout stage. The presentation given by the campus planner is attached

·         Extraordinary General Meeting (week 2) to discuss motions on the removal of 2 sabbatical positions (Vice President Campaigns and Engagement, Vice President Communications) to refocus the Union on its core representative functions with 3 full time officers supported by a Council with a wider focus.

·         Finance and Funding sustainability for ULSU

A lot of unpalatable decisions have been taken already to ensure that as your Union, ULSU is enabled to continue operating to provide the representation necessary to ensure your voice is heard, more will be necessary, but I believe that looked at in an overall sense, studetns will understand where we are coming from.

Throughout the year the team here in the Union have taken up a lot of representative slack while I was knee deep in resolving a financial and structural storm. I have done this on the basis that it will be finally resolved and that future Presidents will be free to focus on solely representative issues. I was never elected to take operational decisions in the running of events, shops or clubs, but due to the comings and goings these things have factored as a major part of what I have ended up doing.

Having management draw up policies and procedures so that whoever follows me won’t have to is one of they key things I hope to have left behind. It’s something the average student will never see, but it has consumed lots of my time. HR issues and negotiations, finance and operational direction are functions that should never arrive on the desk of the President of a students’ union, I hope what we have put in place will ensure that is the case going forward.

I hope to close out my outstanding items by week 10 and shift the focus of the Union to preparing the incoming team for year that will pass all too soon. My main disappointment will be that we haven’t been able to engage with the SUEI process due to cost, this was one of my priorities in my early blogs, something which I still firmly believe in, but I hope that a future team will be able to implement it.

There will be much more to come, so we could say that this is the beginning of a long goodbye.

D

Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Work!

So it's Christmas next week...YAY!!!

On the other hand I've so much to do that I'll most likely be here until Wednesday at least next week. Sure I'm used to that anyway. I hadn't realised it was so long since I last posted. Thigs just move so fast....WEEK 15. The Christmas party for kids of student parents is on TONIGHT as I write and Tara has done a great job pulling that together. Aoife also gace some assistance with the buns lastnight. It's carnage up there with the kids pulling out of Santa Rockett and running amock about the place. I have to give the lads great credit for the grotto in the Common Room.

So this week has been a little bit less stressful than last. Still working on getting issues with the Boathouse resolved. Looking more hopeful at this stage. The Arena Board met this week, nothing much to report there, everything's going alright.

PCC Board met last week and again, nothing much to report there. There is an increase of €2 a week in rent for Plassey and Kilmurry from next September following a re-evaluation of costs. UL remains the cheapest for like-for-like accommodation amongst the 7 universities and the 2 villages have had a lot of work over the last

ULSU Services has also met. I was joined at this meeting by VP Educaiton Aoife Kenny as the second sabbatical nominee following Paddy Rockett's resignation. The company is undergoing continuous re-evaluation at all levels. We are working to minimise costs of running the company as income has fallen by half a million over the last 4 years, combined with an extra unit opening in Cappavilla and Uni-Cycle. Closures cannot be ruled out, but that alone will not solve the issues at the company.

The Students' Union has also undergone a slimming down in financial terms. An Focal has been cut by 2 issues, colour printing is likely to be the next victim while Kelly works to boost advertising income. This is an important outlet for student creativity and I would hope students recognise this. Mental Health Week and I-Grade Awareness have been run to Tara and Aoife's best efforts showing that campaigns do not need money to be successful.

I will decide over Christmas if I'm going to seek another term, but at the moment if someone asks the answer is no. My reasoning on this is that to remain would damage the morale and ability of the organisation to move past thes tough times the organisation is facing. I would encourage others to think about running for a sabbatical position. If you are interested or have any questions you can call in to our Democracy Development Officer Róisín Monaghan. I'll be proposing to the Electoral and Referenda Board that campaign material be limited to just leaflets and posters. This should allow more people to consider running without the worry of the financial cost. Elections are likely to be week 8 or 9.

I want to put on record that what I have set out to do is place ULSU on a stable footing into the future. Lots of changes will be necessary, but anything I do as your President is in students' interests. There are those questioning what I'm doing, but everyone needs to be aware that my primary responsibility as President is to the students and I take that seriously. People are fully entitled to disagree with what I do, the only thing I will not take kindly to is any allegation that I'm not acting in the best interests of the student body.

The ULSU Survey is now live here. The finalised version of last year's survey has just arrived on my desk and the content of these will certainly determine how we move forward on behalf of students.

I'm going to do another blog, possibly a vlog on structures and constitution which according to responses to the survey so far 85% of you don't know that a new structure is proposed. This was a big shock to me and I suppose a bit of a wake up call to our bubble.

Finally, I was in the US during Week 11 at the Fall Conference for Region 1 of the ACUI. I'm trying, as futile as it seems, to get a report together with the guys from DCU, UCC and NUIM on the student centres we saw as part of the trip and the content of the conference itself. It was a huge eye opener and preliminary discussions with the University are now progressing in terms of getting architects drawings for a new, bigger, more suitable student centre in UL, with recreational, study, groupwork and union facilities as well as centralising as many student services in one area as possible.

Have a great Christmas!

D

The importance of remembering

Last week was particularly tough with the death of first year law student Kate Fleming. Attending Kate's funeral really opened my eyes to the strength we can have in numbers. Huge amounts of people travelled from near and far to attend in the small church on the hill in the small west Cork village of Timoleague. The community rowed in to make sure everyone found parking, and got to the church.

Kate's dad told a really beautiful story of her life, always positive, always composed, no regrets. I really despise having to go to students funerals, not because I don't care, but because it's not fair that generally I'm there giving the condolences of ULSU and the student population at large to a family that has lost a child, a brother, a sister, a father, a mother in horrific circumstances. Kate's dad understood this. He quoted the first words from a favourite movie of Kate's, The Lion King "Life's not fair". Even sitting here writing this I'm welling up, it was the one on of two parts of the service where I could not contain my tears. The second was during the prayers of the faithful; Kate's little brother Bill prayed that we could all find inspiration from his sister's life. It really isn't fair for a teenage boy to have to do that, but he did and he did it with a strength and class that many adults would struggle to do so.

Kate's family could give a class in how to cope through the funeral of a loved one. They spoke to everyone who queued to sympathise with them, not just a handshake, but a "who have we now" followed by a memory.

I didn't know Kate, but I left Timoleague last Wednesday evening almost feeling that I did, and that I had missed out. I spent 2 hours on Thursday with two of Kate's housemates, Sarah and Pamela. They had known Kate such a short time, but have fantastic memories that they will always remember her by. Talking about Kate gave them a chance to grieve.

On Sunday Sarah and Pamela lit Kate's candle at the mass for deceased students. So many bereaved families came to remember. The pain will never go away for them, but sharing their memories with others does help.

On Sunday following the mass I spoke with Shane Courtney's mother. Shane's death was equally tragic, he was hit by a car when out on his bike training. The grief was there as she remembered, but the openess and willingness of families, friends and relatives to remember helps them and it is everyone's responsibility to help them to remember, not to tell them to put it to the back of their mind.

When anyone dies, we know they'll never walk through the door again, never have an argument with us again, never crack a joke again, but we will always have our memories of them and it is important that we don't avoid those memories. These memories are what made them our friend or our family, so it is up to us to do them justice.

6 Weeks since I last posted!!

Wow! It really has been too long since I updated this. WAY too long. So what's been happening since Week 4?

I think I'm going to have to break it down into maybe 2-3 blogs. One will just get too crowded.

So this week is SHAG Week with Tara and Paddy putting in huge efforts so I really hope that it goes well. It's also Rainbow Week and I'm being married off as well as it being a good chunk of a way through Movember. It really is hectic with all of that going on, but this time of the semester is when iot starts to quieten down for me.

We'll be doing the usual exam drop in tea and coffee in the next few weeks and putting you at your ease. Remember to take breaks during study and that blocks of 40-50 minutes are the best way to study. Think of the way you break down time during an exam and take a break for 10-15 mins every hour

I had a huge blog written here about Kate Fleming and remembering our friends who have died, but I'm going to post it as a separate blog. It would just bee too long.

Lip-Dub

So a date has been cast for the Lip-Dub. It's going to be recorded on the 7th of March, Wednesday Week 7. This is the route and concept. I have to say this isn't my idea and that the credit for pushing this goes to Lily Carroll.

I really hope this goes well and before people ask why they haven't been told about it, there have been two, yes TWO emails about it.

Elections
So we've had progress on elections with ITD and we're on course to get them up and going for departmental councillors next semester to be elected for the 2012/13 academic year. There were some serious concerns over this, but we've managed to put those concerns to bed and ITD is now happy to proceed.

Student Centre
We've put up a survey on this HERE to ask your opinion on student facilities. This follows a meeting with the chairman of the Campus Development Committee. We're keen to guage how much you would be willing to see the Student Centre Levy increase to to provide top class facilities.

This debate has opened in response to the expected completion of the payments on levy projects a number of years ahead of schedule due to increased numbers of studetns attending UL. Many have cited sports facilities and storage for clubs and societies as major issues, whilst others have been affected by lack of groupwork space and break out rooms. In addition from monitoring the use of the SU Common room we feel that it is too small.

The location of the Students' Union has also been thrown into the mix by us as it was central when opened in 1997. However the Foundation building marked the corner of campus back then, there was no Arena and the Schuman Building was the most isolated and there were no bridges, and certainly no North Campus. Over €400 million has been invested in new buildings since then marking a distinct rebalancing of where the centre of campus is. We want to know what YOU think about this.

I will be travelling to New England next week where I will see some of the world's most modern and advanced student centres as part of a conference tour.

If you agree to extend the levy, the Student Facilities that will be developed here will shape student life not only for 2020, but hopefully towards 2050 and beyond. When the Student Centre was completed in 1999 there was no concept of how much student life would develop and how restrictive the space would be. Societies are starved of rooms to hold meetings, clubs have nowhere to stor large items and the building itself isn't the most inviting.

Stayed tuned for the second installment and in the meantime you can follow me and ask me questions on twitter by clicking the tweety bird!! D

Statement relating to questions on Union finances

I want to clear up some issues concerning the matter of the finances of the University of Limerick Students’ Union Services Ltd (ULSU Services) which have arisen over the past few days

I would rather have had full facts and audit complete before having made this statement, but my hand has been forced on the matter and I do not want misinformation and panic to distract from the real issues facing students.

ULSU Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of ULSU. The company is ultimately owned by the transient student body of the University of Limerick.

Over the past number of years ULSU Services has been trading poorly. In April of this year the company was restructured and positions were made redundant. An overall Commercial Manager was appointed. Summer is a traditionally slow trading season for ULSU Services and 2 of the 4 operations are closed for the summer months to reflect the trading realities. This summer, business on the campus was slow due to a reconfiguration of foreign language course offerings. This has been felt by all campus companies and ULSU Services is no different.

During the period where ULSU sought a new accountant following the departure of the Secretaty General the sabbatical officers were left to manage cashflow. This is not a function that transient officers are or should ordinarily be asked to undertake. Once a suitable candidate was found to fill the role of Group Accountant and he had begun work, he sought a meeting with me and the General Manager to advise a spending freeze. We could not agree to a blanket spending freeze, but did agree that only previously authorised and essential expenditures would be spent.

In July, in the absence of the physical ability to have a meeting of the Executive I contacted all members of the Executive with the following email.

Dear Exec,

Please note that anything contained in this email is not for discussion or information outside of those addressed until such time as I have spoken with all stakeholders and informed you otherwise.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there is a financial situation that has arisen through extraordinary expenditures throughout this year (5 figure recruitment costs being just one) as well as a poor trading year in the services company.

Our new Group Accountant Barry started on Monday and requested to meet with me and the new General Manager Philip this afternoon. There is currently €106,000 in Union Group bank accounts which will not meet requirements (mainly of the services company) until capitation is received and the trading season begins again.

As it stands the services company is eating into the Union's cash. This has been halted to an extent with the arrival of a Commercial Manager who has visibly transformed the operation and is keeping a close eye on all costs, however the costs of the commercial operations for the summer months have and continue to exceed the income.

The 2 substantive items I would like you to consider and revert to me on (by 1pm on Tuesday) are:

·        To cover capital items (minibus and radio station fit-out) I am requesting that I be authorised to apply for medium term loans of 3-5 years (should leasing not be available) not exceeding €70,000.

·        To cover on-going expenditure, such as salaries I am requesting that I be authorised to access the Union reserve and transfer this to the current account and to increase the overdraft available to us from €50,000 to €100,000.

Please be re-assured that all expenditure is under review as a result of this afternoon's meeting, but that we will endeavour to continue to operate more efficiently within the resources available.

These measures are temporary until capitation is paid by the University during the first week of October. I will be requesting a revised accounting procedure to ensure that a future Exec isn't receiving a similar email in a number of years.

Please accept my sincere apologies that this situation has arisen. In a break from past practices this information will be made available publicly as soon as all stakeholders have been consulted with. I believe in transparency above all and intend to outline the situation to all members of the Union at the earliest opportunity, but would remind you again not discuss this outside of the recipients of this email until that time.

I would ask you all to include your understanding of ULSU Services in the Handover Document for your position.

Gach dea-ghuí

Derek

The Sabbatical Team also met and agreed the measures following clarifications and discussion of concern.

All staff members were made aware of the financial situation in an email on the 3^rd of August, which they became free to discuss with anyone they so wished on the 4^th of August. It outlined that this is not a long term issue for ULSU, but for ULSU Services which is being addressed by the new management at the company. This email also outlined that management accounts, once prepared and approved would be published and made freely available. This remains the intention.

The matter which has led to the necessity of a statement concerning whether €60,000 in underspent administrative charges through Clubs and Societies was utilised is a moot point. Clubs and Societies have this available to them. All money held in bank accounts of the Students’ Union belongs to students and as the head of the Union I, along with the Executive, must ensure it is utilised for the ultimate benefit of students.

To ensure staff continued to be paid and that on-going expenses could be met I recommended the actions above. In the end, due to prudent financial management of the reserve it was not necessary to extend the overdraft.

At 30 September 2010, the date of the last audited accounts ULSU held reserves for clubs and societies nominal codes (cost centres/expenditure lines) of €158,740. This information was and continues to be available to anyone who wishes to call to the Union to view accounts. That figure was an increase of €21,742 on the previous year and includes vehicle and safety net reserves. It forms part of the Union reserve. I do regret that some members of the Executive felt that this was an oversight in forming a decision, for me the best interest of the student body dictated that as a Union we must be unified for the benefit of students.

The simplest decision in requesting to access the reserve was that reserves are held for “a rainy day” and at the time of recommendation there were storm clouds gathering. The money belongs to the students and the recommendation was made on my belief that it was in the best interest of students.

The issue that most concerns me is whether ownership of ULSU Services continues to be in the best interest of the student experience. There is no doubting that as a standalone commercial entity with the sole aim of making profit that some of the operations of ULSU Services would have ceased, however at the moment it is the view of the Board (and the Executive which was briefed on the financial situation at ULSU services following the 2010 Audit and controls the Board) to continue providing the service.

I am wholly in support of Clubs and Societies in this matter and recovering any monies owed to ULSU by ULSU Services over a sustainable period for both entities is a priority of mine. Attempts to recover loans to ULSU Services over the last number of years in a condensed period have led to an unsustainable circle whereby the sustainability of the company has been threatened. Loans will have to be recovered over a longer period and it is vitally important that students utilise the shops at Cappavilla, Dromroe and the Courtyard as well as Uni-Cycle to ensure the natural balance whereby ULSU Service is a net contributor, not only on paper, but in cashflow to ULSU is returned to.

Any claims to the effect that ULSU is engaged in financial mismanagement are unfounded; and I reiterate that I am fully committed to recovering the loans from ULSU Services.

Once audited accounts at the ULSU Services are complete and have been approved by the Board I will make all members aware of the situation as I had committed at the end of July. However without full knowledge I do not intend to engage in guesswork.

If there are any further queries relating to the above I will make myself available to discuss them with anyone who wishes to arrange to meet with me over the coming days.