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CONFIRMEDUNRESTRICTEDTRUSTEE BOARDMinutes of the 74th Hybrid Meeting held on Thursday 28th April 2022, 10.00a.m.Membership:George Sullivan, Union Development Officer andChair of TrusteesClive Bridge (CB), Lay TrusteeMichele Colenso (MC), Lay TrusteeBrad Ewles (BE), Postgraduate Officer and TrusteeDave Ellis (DE), Vice Chair and Lay TrusteeChris Taylor (CT), Education Officer and TrusteeAlice Kosse, Welfare and Wellbeing Officer and TrusteePhoebe Willis (PW), Activities Officer and TrusteeWill Bowling (WB), Student TrusteeMuhammad Ali (MA), Community Officerand TrusteeJenny Brazier (JB), Student TrusteeSultan (Sully) Chaudhury (SC), LiberationOfficer and TrusteeAmba Gooden (AG), Sports Officer andTrusteeHamza Nouman (HN), Student TrusteeRachel Munton (RM), Lay TrusteeApologies:Will Bowling (WB), Student TrusteeJenny Brazier (JB), Student TrusteeGeorge Sullivan (GS), Union Development Officer and Chair of TrusteesIn Attendance:Emma Birkinshaw (EB), Head of Finance – minute items 7406, 7407, 7408 and 7409Susan Dosangh (SD), Governance Specialist (Secretary)Lucy Gill (LG), Director of Student InfluenceNatalie Martin (NM), Director of Student EngagementDaryl Ormerod (DO), Chief ExecutivePhil Smith (PS), Director of Social EnterpriseBeth Yearsley (BY), Head of People and Organisational Development – minute items 7406 and 7409STANDING ITEMS7401 Welcome and QuoracyThe Vice Chair welcomed colleagues to the meeting and apologies noted in advance. Theyextended a warm welcome to Lucy Gill, Director of Student Influence who joined the organisationin March, and acknowledged Daryl Ormerod’s impending departure.The meeting was declared quorate.7402 Declarations of InterestThere were no declarations of interest.7403 MinutesThe Trustees CONFIRMED the minutes (TB22.01) of the 17th February 2022 meeting were an accuraterecord.

ActionAction OwnerMark 17th February 2022 minutes as Governance SpecialistconfirmedDue byWeek ending 29th April2022Trustee Board CONFIRMEDthe minutes of the 17thFebruary were an accuraterecordAction TrackerTrustees NOTED the Action Tracker (TB22.02).The Vice Chair asked the Board if there was anything specific they wanted to speak about regardingthe live actions on the Tracker.7301 Meeting Administration – the Governance Specialist reported this action was to confirm theminutes of the 17th February of which the Board had done so, therefore, will now be marked ascompleted.Safeguarding Policy – the Governance Specialist reported this was not an action arising from anyparticular meeting, but more from an assurance point of view for the Board. They referred to the SUCode of Governance and the Integrity Principle where one of the elements is regarding Safeguarding.They wanted to assure the Board due diligence had been carried out with regard to ensuring UoNSUPolicy on Safeguarding was fit for purpose. They reported liaising with the Director of StudentEngagement and Union Safeguarding Officers in this review. While the Policy does not specificallyreference Trustees, it speaks to representatives of the Students’ Union, therefore, content with thisbeing addressed.ActionSend copy of the UoNSUSafeguarding Policy to TrusteesAction OwnerGovernance SpecialistDue byEnd May 2022Recruitment – question raised from Trustees as to where the recruitment of the replacement LayTrustee and additional Student Trustees would be recorded, as well as the Chief Executive. TheGovernance Specialist reported the Lay and Student Trustee recruitment activity would be picked upon the People, Culture and Inclusion Committee Action Tracker, and the Vice Chair said therecruitment activity regarding the Chief Executive would be discussed as part of today’s meeting withclear next steps for action.

BUSINESS ITEMS7404 Chief Executive ReportTrustees RECEIVED and NOTED the Chief Executive’s paper (TB22.03).The Chief Executive shared key headlines from the paper: University of Nottingham Students’ Union (UoNSU) and University of Nottingham (UoN)partnership work – developments in the last few days regarding the commercial arrangements.Engaged SUMS consulting who undertake work on behalf of Universities on a retainer basis.They are working with the two organisations to create an action plan with a view to bringingkey stakeholders together. Code of Practice – this is currently in the process of being revised and will determine theformal relationship with the University, and it is hoped this will inform all other ‘informal’agreements. Strategic Performance Dashboards – second round of data collection, and developingconfidence in the validity of the data. Using the key performance indicators to inform theoperational plan and working towards assigning targets to these.The Chief Executive invited the Board to comment/ask questions:Question asked on the difference between the Code of Practice and the Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU), and whether there is anything we can do to strengthen the Code of Practicewith the University?The Chief Executive reported the Code of Practice document provides more detailed guidance on howto comply with legal obligations whereas the MoU describes the broad outline of an agreement thattwo parties have reached. With regards to strengthening the Code of Practice with the University, theChief Executive encouraged the Officer team to engage with University colleagues when in attendanceat committee meetings about the Code, and obligations within this as it is key students are beingconsidered by the University as part of any decision making process.ActionAction OwnerProvide Officer team with list ofkey bullet points regarding theChief ExecutiveCode of Practice for use whenattending University meetings. Tobe incorporated as part of the newOfficer team trainingDue byEnd April 2022Building Student CommunityThe Board asked the Chief Executive if they had any insight into why the number of unique studentsvoting across all elections was just over 4,000, yet the number of unique students engaged in anyaspect of SU activity was 24,000, therefore, less than 10 per cent.

The Chief Executive reported the elections data has increased slightly for this year, and whilst we aredoing a good job of engaging with our members, this is not being converted into democraticrepresentation.Prioritising Academic RepresentationThe Board asked if there is a breakdown of schools in terms of academic representatives in place.The Director of Student Influence reported the Student Voice team will hold some of that data, andthey are aware there are some schools with no representatives. They also said we only have 36% ofcourses with academic representation in place, an area which deserves attention.ActionAction OwnerDue byReview data as outlined above and Director of Student Influence Week ending 14th May 2022feedback to Student TrusteeThe Board commented on the recent industrial action, and the planned marking boycott affectingstudent progression as members are being asked to undertake free teaching, and causingPostgraduate Research Students concern.ActionAction OwnerDiscuss further concerns ofStudent Trustee, EducationPostgraduate Research students in Officer and Postgraduatelight of marking boycottOfficerDue byEnd April 2022Improving Student LivesThe Board referred to the point highlighted in the paper regarding the number of cases relating tostudent housing and housing contracts.The Chief Executive said this is an issue raised in the data, and the Students’ Union Advice teamcontinue to build and maintain strong relationships with the relevant University departments to ensurestudents are supported in this area.Muhammad Ali in their role as Community Officer shared with the Board the work they have beenundertaking around students feeling unsafe, and engaging with the University and Nottingham TrentUniversity regarding student safety. They mentioned the Student Living Strategy where the twoUniversities, together with other key stakeholders, for example, City Council are coming together inthe spirit of community building.Nottingham Students’ partnership initiative – recruitment is underway for the role of PartnershipCoordinator who will work across UoNSU and Nottingham Trent University Students’ Union.The Chief Executive at Trent University is standing down next month, with the Deputy Chief Executivebeing the successful candidate to move into this post.

‘Students feel low levels of loneliness’ – the Board expressed this being a complex measure by itsnature, and asked if it would be appropriate at this point to speak about the impacts of the war inUkraine.The Chief Executive reported the University acting quickly to support those students impacted withhardship funds and the Students’ Union has contacted the relevant student groups to offer support.Glossary of terms – the Vice Chair took the opportunity to express thanks to Sam Nichols, Policy andImpact Manager for providing this document.7405 Chief Executive Recruitment – CLOSED ITEM7406 Pay Award – CLOSED ITEMFINANCE ITEMS7407 Management Accounts SummaryThe Head of Finance referred the Board to pre-circulated paper (TB22.06) and shared key headlines.They invited the Board to ask questions/make comments.No questions raised.The Vice Chair praised the Head of Finance on the format of the information included in the paper andexpressed thanks to them and their team for the reporting.7408 Strategic Finance PrinciplesThe Head of Finance introduced this item by referring to the pre-circulated paper (TB22.07), andinvited the Board to ask questions/make comments: The Vice Chair said in order to ensure we meet our objectives, we would need to do some sortof blended approach between cash holding and investments and what that would look andfeel like given the context around already having reduced our risk profile. They asked the ChiefExecutive if the Leadership Team (Chief Executive, Directors, Officers and Heads of) had apreferred option in terms of the preferred strategy to be implemented.The Chief Executive said this was discussed at a recent Leadership Team and we were contentwith strategy 2 or 3 to balance the risk levels. Trustees felt it important to clarify what considering strategy 2 or 3 represents. Money that isbeing spent ‘in year’ should be kept in working capital. Our previous risk profile was relativelyhigh and achieved approximately three per cent growth over five years. To achieve better thanthree per cent we would need to maintain some investment in the high risk strategy. We needto be mindful in protecting purchasing power, therefore, we have to take risk in protecting ourcapital. Consideration of the net investment return should be given and we should also think about thefees paid to Rathbones. As we gradually de-risk the profile, we may not require the same levelof expertise. We may find reducing the level of risk actually provides us with a better netreturn, therefore should consider the fees and whether we are still getting value from these.