CHESS
National Meetings, procedures and draft documents
(Information for institutions/Disability Services hosting National Meetings)
Date of meeting
Meetings are agreed at the beginning of the academic year. At present, CHESS is moving towards organizing one or two meetings per year which address topical issues for the sector. Dates and topics for these meetings will be updated in the near future.
The Skill website holds the dates for forthcoming meetings (address below)
Venue
The venue for the National Meetings are agreed at the November meeting. CHESS supporters are encouraged to host meetings on a voluntary basis. The intention is to hold meetings across England to encourage attendance by Disability Advisers/HEI members and D/deaf students from each region.
Meeting details are circulated on Deaflink and Dis-forum mail bases, and posted on the Skill website by the Convenor.
Responsibilities of host venue
Notification of venue details to the CHESS Convenor at least two months in advance including a map, car parking arrangements and travel details (please complete the CHESS National Meetings pro forma available from the CHESS Convenor - contact details below)
Meeting room booking and payment (where required)
Hospitality i.e. coffee and tea during meeting (provision of lunch is an optional extra. If lunch is to be charged it is the responsibility of the meeting host to organize payments)
Arrange for minute taking, writing up and forwarding to the CHESS Convenor (the most recent CHESS minutes can be viewed on the CHESS page of the Skill website – address below)
Ascertaining and facilitating access and communication requirements of those attending (and dietary requirements where food is to be supplied). Attendees who receive Access to Work support may be able to pay for their communication support; this should be discussed with the individual concerned. This does not negate the host venues responsibilities to arrange support
Providing a flip chart or other equipment requested to enable presentations/discussion activities (i.e. overhead projector, PowerPoint presentation projector and screen).
Meeting structure and timing
Meetings are generally divided into two sessions: morning 11.00am - 1.00pm; afternoon 2.00pm - 4.00pm.
Mornings are issue focused, typically starting with a presentation or a number of short presentations and then breaking down into group discussions.
Afternoons can continue the theme of the morning session or be an opportunity to raise issues and enter into Q&A as well as providing opportunities for information delivery/sharing.
Agenda
CHESS Convenor distributes an Agenda for the National Meeting one month before the meeting, by posting to Deaflink, Dis-forum and Skill web site, along with any documents that are to be discussed at the meeting.
Documents
Attendees at the meeting should bring their own copies of previous minutes, agenda and any accompanying documents. The Host centre should provide some additional copies of these documents, but is not expected to provide copies for everyone.
Contact Details
Jannine Williams, University of Newcastle: (Convenor)
Paddy Turner, Sheffield Hallam University:
Lynne Barnes, University of Central Lancashire:
Chris Baxter, Nottingham Trent University:
Nicki Ho, Manchester Metropolitan University:
Sheenagh Hull, University of Leeds:
Skill:
(If you have any suggestions to improve the information provided to assist host venues in arranging meetings, please contact the CHESS Convenor)