LiverpoolSU Annual General Meeting
Thursday 12th March 2015, 5pm to 6.30pm
Sabbatical Officers in attendance:
Sam Davys – LiverpoolSU President (SD)
Dan Cole – LiverpoolSU VP Community Engagement (DC)
Josh McDowell – LiverpoolSU VP Activities (JM)
Lorraine Sebastian-Francois - LiverpoolSU VP Academic Quality (LSF)
Students present:
Summer Jette
Megan Brooks
Nathan Archer
Victoria Howkins
Stephanie Hires
Laura Latham
Naomi Davies
Matt Lowe
Liam Ward
Rebecca Holmes
Sam Keeling
Mark Kerr
Melissa McFarlare
Victoria Foster
Nicki Dowds
Danielle Millott
Jasmin Hobbs-rex
Keeley Hodgson
Callum Hough
Aisling Davis
Jo Cabot
Paul Roberts
Jgoli Chauhan
Angharad Millington
Joe Maycock
Rowan Woollard
Jacob Harris
Shanaine Munroe
KaltunAbdillahi
Noria Quist
Priya Patel
Abdul Rakib
Syed Zeeshan Nadeem
Lauren Doyle
Ryan Wilson
Matina Hakim
Sean Moore
Nathan Harris
Nichola Beattie
Jamie Bennett
Daniel Barrett
Dale Hodge
Ben Reid
James Stephenson
Vanessa Laber
DanyaalYasin
Matthew Wilson
Tom Mitchell
Joshua Arthur
Meeting Notes:
Introductions and overview
SD Welcomed and introduced students to LiverpoolSU AGM, and thanked them for attending. SD gave an overview of the AGM which would include;
-Candidate election questions
-Student Trustee elections
-LiverpoolSU yearly review
-Trustee approval activity
-Alcohol Impact Policy
SD made students aware of the hand outs that had been made available to them, which covered;
-Question slips for candidate election questions
-Paper ballot for trustee elections
-A copy of the proposed alcohol impact policy
-A list of affiliations and partner organisations
-A copy of the LiverpoolSU accounts
Have Your Say
SD welcomed LSF to the stage, to talk about the Have Your Say (HYS) activities which had been happening across campus this academic year 2014/15. LSF explained the Have Your Say process, and invited students to watch the video. This showed the Have Your Say topics, how students had inputted, what LiverpoolSU had done so far, and what the next steps are.
Once the video had finished LSF asked students if they had any questions about the Have Your Say process.
Question 1. ‘Starbucks in Redmonds – it’s really expensive for food and drink, I’m wasting half student loan on it, and it’s the only catering facility in the building’
Response 1. SD explained that we have HYS to gather the students’ perspectives on these areas, however there is a partnership agreement between Starbucks and the university. JM highlighted that the university subsidises the cost of Starbucks for students.
Candidate election questions
SD explained to the students that this was their chance to hear from the candidates running for VP Community Engagement and VP Activities, and they would be able to ask questions to all the candidates. SD explained that the same question would be asked to all candidates running for the same position.
SD invited the one candidate for VP Community Engagement and three candidates for VP Activities to the stage. SD explained that although there are four candidates present, there is an additional ‘candidate’ for each position – RON. SD explained that this stood for Re Open Nominations. SD explained that students had the opportunity to vote for RON if they did not wish to see any candidates in said position.
SD invited all candidates to give a 60 second speech to introduce themselves, their manifesto and why students should vote for them. All candidates participated and this ran in the following order;
-Joe Maycock
-Keeley Hodgson
-James Stephenson
-Aisling Davis
SD invited the audience to write down questions, which were collected in and SD selected three questions for the VP Activities candidates. There were asked in the following order, with the candidate ordered below;
Q1. How will you encourage people to join in sports and societies?
-James Stephenson
-Keeley Hodgson
-Joe Maycock
Q2. How would you raise awareness of the societies within the university?
-Keeley Hodgson
-James Stephenson
-Joe Maycock
Q3. How will you implement competitions and friendly rivalry between courses in the university?
-Joe Maycock
-Keely Hodgson
-James Stephenson
SD then selected the following two questions for the candidate running for VP Community Engagement; Aisling Davis.
Q1. How will you engage with home students?
Q2. What can LiverpoolSU do for the students at IM Marsh, because we feel left out?
NB: All candidates responses can be found via
When the question time was closed SD reminded students that voting opened on Monday 16th March, and reminded them about RON.
Accountability Reports
SD welcomed DC and JM back to the stage for their accountability reports, to illustrate their work in second semester. These were in the form of videos; DC was played first, followed by JM second.
The accountability videos can be found via the following links:
DC –
JM –
SD emphasised that the work of the current officers had no bearing on the manifestos of the candidates running. DC and JM opened the floor up for questions. No questions were asked.
LiverpoolSU yearly review
JM gave an overview of LiverpoolSU increased engagement with students across the year and how this had resulted in;
-New clubs and societies approved
-Increase in academic societies
-Achievements and performance across LiverpoolSU
-Strategic achievements that can be found at
JM shared an overview of the Trustee board report for the academic year 2013/14. JM then went on to talk about the affiliations.
Affiliations
JM explained that affiliations are organisations that we have formal associations with for the benefit of our students, and that students can find a list of them in their hand out packs. JM asked them to review this list, and invited students to ask questions about any of the affiliations.
Question 1. What is coppafeel.org?
Response 1. JM explained that coppafeel.org was an organisation who promotes women’s awareness to breast cancer.
Financial review
DC introduced the financial review and explained how the annual review was for 2013/14. He explained how the financial situation works at LiverpoolSU and how money left over at the end of the financial year goes straight back into the student experience. DC invited students to look over the financial records which were part of the hand out pack, and invited students to ask any questions. No questions asked.
DC talked about the impact this has on LJMU students’ experience, and explained the move from the Haigh building to the MiniSU sites across campus, and how this can only get bigger and better, as 75% of LiverpoolSU finances goes on the student experience.
DC explained that LiverpoolSU have to get approval that the students are happy with the annual accounts. All students agreed and approved the accounts.
Alcohol Impact Policy
DC invited students to look over the Alcohol Impact Policy that is part of their hand out pack. DC explained that LiverpoolSU were looking to achieve accreditation on this new policy, which brings together previous policies and LiverpoolSU’s commitments.
DC invited students to ask questions about the policy, or raise any queries. None were asked. DC explained that approval was needed. All students approved.
Student Trustee Elections
SD introduced the student trustee elections, explaining that there are three positions to fill and how the elected students would work alongside the community trustees and sabbatical officers. The elected student trustees help decide how the union runs and a great addition to the CV. It is a one year position with the chance to re-run next year.
SD invited students who wished to stand to come to the stage. She explained that students would have 60 seconds to state why they want to run, and why they should be elected. SD went on to explain how the voting would be conducted, and that the successful candidates would be announced at the end of the AGM.
Short break whilst candidates for student trustees are spoken to about the position in more detail.
SD reminded students of the voting process and the option of RON was once again available. Candidates were then invited to speak for 60 second in the following order;
-Paul Roberts
-Summer Jette Gray
-Megan Brookes
SD asked students to order their preference when voting on the ballot slips. These were then collected in for counting.
Candidate election questions
SD explained to the students that this was their chance to hear from the candidates running for VP Academic Quality and President, and they would be able to ask questions to all the candidates. SD explained that the same question would be asked to all candidates running for the same position.
SD invited the one candidate for President and three candidates for VP Academic Quality to the stage. SD explained that although there are four candidates present, there is an additional ‘candidate’ for each position – RON.
SD invited all candidates to give a 60 second speech to introduce themselves, their manifesto and why students should vote for them. All candidates participated and this ran in the following order;
-Callum Hough
-Jamie Bennett
-Michele Fresneda
-Lorraine Sebastian-Francois
SD invited the audience to write down questions, which were collected in and SD selected three questions for the VP Academic Quality candidates. There were asked in the following order, with the candidate ordered below;
Q1. What does Academic Quality actually mean to you?
-Michele Fresneda
-Jamie Bennett
-Callum Hough
Q2. How will you help reduce assessment bunching?
-Michele Fresnada
-Jamie Bennett
-Callum Hough
Q3. How will you ensure that each student’s voice on each course is heard?
-Jamie Bennett
-Callum Hough
-Michele Fresnada
SD then selected the following three questions for the candidate running for President; Lorraine Sebastian-Francois.
Q1. How will you maintain or improve the relationship with LJMU?
Q2. How will you allow a variety of voices to be heard?
Q3. Is there anything that you or Sam (current President) have done this year that you would like to improve on?
NB: All candidates responses can be found via
Accountability Reports
SD introduced hers and LSF accountability reports, once again in the form of videos; SD was played first, followed by LSF second.
The accountability videos can be found via the following links:
SD –
LSF –
SD and LSF opened the floor up to students to ask questions.
Question 1. Student asked what schools were not represented at the Copperas Hill meeting with LJMU?
Response 1. SD stated that this was LSS & TEPL. The meeting was held today, however if any students were interested in this process, they were welcomed to get in contact.
Question 2. With the implementation of directed study weeks, how will dual work?
Response 2. SD explained that the directed study weeks will all be set at the same time, and emphasised that dual course were an area of discussion during the process. SD said that link tutors from dual course should be working together to discuss how best students time is spent during the direct study week, as would be lectures for each course.
Questions 3. When will the academic timetable be moving to?
Response 3. SD explained that is was only being pushed back two weeks, to ensure that LJMU is in line with other institutions across the sector.
Student Trustee Elections
SD announced that all three student trustee candidates; Paul, Summer and Megan, had all been elected as the new LiverpoolSU student trustees.
End of Annual General Meeting.