CONTACTING US AT CONNAUGHT HALL

We can help you most efficiently and effectively at Connaught hall if you contact us using our published email addresses:

• The Hall Management team: info.connaught@london.ac.uk
• The Warden: warden@connaught-hall.org.uk
• Suggestions, compliments & complaints: suggestions@connaught-hall.org.uk
• Noise complaints: noise@connaught-hall.org.uk

We aim to reply to all emails within 3 working days of receipt, but we are usually much quicker than this.

If you try to contact us using Facebook, Messenger, Twitter, iMessage, or other media, we don't always see your message right away and this can cause very significant delays to our response (in some cases, where Facebook Messenger has put messages into the "filtered messages" folder, they have only been seen months after the message was sent!).

Our "How can we help you" poster is displayed prominently around the Hall and tells you the best way to contact us for pretty much any kind of query or problem: 

• https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8aHo3-r-MQLN1EzMHZzSTQ2RXc

There's more information about how to contact the Warden - and specifically how to arrange an appointment to meet - here:

• https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8aHo3-r-MQLeUo5eWdzRzVUVVk

Finally, please may we reiterate that it's best not to contact us about official queries or problems via Facebook or other social media, as this can lead to a delay in us responding to you.

As always, get in contact if you need any help or guidance. We depend on your feedback to help us get things right for you.

Warden's speech at welcome dinner on Sunday 14th September

Hello everyone. I’m Adrian Clark, your Warden.

Let’s say a big thank you to the kitchen staff for preparing tonight's meal for us.

Tonight, you get the short version of my speech. I thought it simply wasn’t really fair to put you through the same speech three times over the next three weekends, just because you’re the first people to arrive!

Well, my first job tonight is to extend you all a very warm welcome to Connaught Hall. Wherever you’ve come from, whatever you’re studying, I look forward to meeting you – if we haven’t met already – and I hope you settle in and feel at home here very quickly.

You might have seen this logo on a poster at the front door. It symbolises how we respect, enjoy, and celebrate diversity in our Hall community – and I hope you will join us in making everyone sitting around you now feel welcome and at home here.

Connaught Hall has a reputation for being the friendliest and most social hall in London – this year, keeping up that reputation is down to you. So I hope this year will be one that you look back on as one of the best of your life.

And we’re all here to help make sure you do. This is my team. Becca, Bill, Jing, Jon, and Leah. I’m a doctor in the emergency department at University College Hospital. The senior members are all students in at least their fourth year of university study. We’re here to help the Hall community grow together, look after you when you need a bit of support, and help you resolve conflicts with other residents. Talk to me or a Senior Member if you’re feeling lost, sad, or anxious about something. We’re here to listen to you. We all have down times. And it’s OK to ask for help.

  

We’re really lucky at Connaught Hall to have a fantastic hall management team who look after the building and all the facilities and services you use every day. Alice is our Hall Manager, Julie is her assistant, and we also have Dave, our admin. assistant, with us for a little while longer. They’re based in the office behind reception and they’re very happy for you to pop in talk to them during their office hours.

 

You can also write to us with any ideas, suggestions, or complaints about pretty much anything in Hall at this suggestion box address. It’s well publicised in the Hall Handbook, online, and on posters in reception and in the dining hall. We really do want to hear from you. We will always reply and will always do our best to take action on your suggestions wherever possible.

Another way you can shape what happens in Hall this year is by standing for election to, or voting for, the Residents’ Club Committee, who organise most of the social, sports, and entertainment events in Hall. I’ll talk more about that next week.

Now, the last bit of advice I have for you tonight is that the bar is staying open until 10:30, so maybe it’s time for another drink? But before you run off to the bar, let’s make a toast with the last drops of whatever drink you got earlier… 

To a very happy and successful year for all of us!

Senior member vacancies 2013-14

I am being asked a lot about senior member vacancies for next year (2013-14).

The most up-to-date, confirmed information about our vacancies will always be posted at vacancies.connaught-hall.org.uk. Updates to that page will always be publicised via Twitter (tweets.connaught-hall.org.uk), Facebook (facebook.connaught-hall.org.uk) and our RSS feed (rssmix.com/u/3697426/rss.xml), so if you are interested in applying, make sure you are following at least one of those.

However, I also have lots of unconfirmed news that potential applicants will find interesting but is not definite enough for me to upload to the vacancies page. So I will use this blog post to share what I know.

The University of London is currently reviewing senior member posts and the recruitment process. Likely or possible changes include:

• Recruitment of senior members will be centralised, so all applications will go to the University's HR department instead of to the warden of each hall.

• Applications will be completely anonymised so the shortlisting panel does not know the name, age, sex, disabled status, or ethnicity of the applicants.

• Applications may be invited for all eight halls at the same time, on the same form, instead of separate applications being made to individual halls. Interviews may be centralised so there is one big recruitment day for all eight halls.

• Instead of candidates sending a short "eligibility" form along with a letter, curriculum vitae, and equal opportunities form, there may be one form that covers everything, dispensing with the need for letters and CVs.

• Appointments will be for one-year, fixed term.

• It may be possible for appointments to be extended, one year at a time, depending of satisfactory service. This decision may be guided by a formal process of appraisal and assessment, which may be externally validated.

• The current absolute maximum of three years as a senior member may be lifted completely, or increased to four years.

• It may be compulsory for senior members to take standard single rooms, losing the option to upgrade to en-suite or other accommodation.

• For the first time, a formal person specification has been developed, detailing certain "essential" and "desirable" qualifications, training, personal attributes, and experience.

• There will be detailed guidance on the appointment and eligibility of students who are in the UK on a "tier 4" visa. At present, these students are not eligible to apply as they can only work 20 hours or less per week during term time. This blanket ban may be removed or changed, subject to certain rota requirements.

• It may become possible for third-year undergraduate students to take on senior member positions. (At present, you have to be at least a fourth-year undergraduate, or a postgraduate student.)

All these changes are still being considered and possibly modified between the wardens, halls management, and human resources. As soon as the recruitment process and eligibility criteria for this year are confirmed, I will update the vacancies.connaught-hall.org.uk page.

Christmas speech - delivered 14 December 2012

Well done: we’ve all survived our first term together! I hope you have found Connaught Hall to be welcoming and friendly, and that you have now fully settled in and are calling this place “home”. I know many of you have made friendships here already that will endure long beyond your time at University.

We have enjoyed lots of freshers’ events together, a great Hallowe’en party, a really fun and festive night of decorating the Christmas tree last week, and a sophisticated night out at Senate House on Foundation Day. We’ve hosted a Thanksgiving dinner and a Diwali celebration. The Residents’ Club have organised a bingo night and trips out for fireworks and a carol service. I hope events like all these help you to meet people you otherwise would never get to know and reinforce your sense that this place is your home, and that our community is your family here in London.

This Hall can only be what we collectively make it. It’s up to all of us to think what kind of environment – both physical and social – we want to live in and make our own positive contributions towards making that happen.

This is a good time of year to reflect, repair, and renew. We’re at the end of term 1 already. That’s the hardest bit of university out of the way. For let’s not underestimate the massive upheaval of moving home, making new friends, settling into a new way of studying, and finding your way around a new city. But you’ve done it. It perhaps doesn’t seem impressive until you stop and look back – then you realise how much you’ve been through in the last 2.5 months. You should allow yourself a little bit of pride for this alone.

Here at Connaught Hall, I believe we can all draw strength, support, and encouragement from those around us – our London family. That’s something else that maybe doesn’t seem impressive until you look back and realise none of us knew each other 3 months ago. Yet now we are all bound up together in so many ways.

Christmastime is about selflessness - about giving without expecting anything in return. Unconditional love, friendship, and respect are the most wonderful and valuable things we can give. Lets all try to embody those qualities this season and throughout the year ahead.

Some of you are leaving the Hall tomorrow, others are here for another week; some, I know, are staying in London throughout Christmas. If you are travelling during the holidays, I wish you a safe journey and look forward to seeing you back relaxed and refreshed next year.

And I wish all of you a wonderful, joyful Christmas, and a happy, successful new year.

----------

Photographs from Christmas dinner are online: http://www.flickr.com/photos/connaughthall/tags/christmasdinner2012/

Proposed amendments to Residents' Club Constitution September / October 2012

It is proposed to reform the voting system for officers of the Residents' Club Committee.

	Residents' Club Constitution as it is now
	Proposed amendments to section 11 (highlighted in red)

 

At present, there are five elected Officers: President, Treasurer, Secretary, Sports Officer, and Entertainment Officer. If a resident wants to be on the Committee, s/he must decide which post s/he would like and stand specifically for that role. His/her application must be proposed and seconded by two other residents. On election day, every resident has one vote in each of five separate ballots: one for each Officer. We believe this system may have contributed to declined numbers of nominations and the increasing number of uncontested posts (meaning that somebody wins by default).

 

The proposed reforms would mean that everyone who wanted to be on the Committee this year would simply stand as an "Officer". There would be no distinction in the election between President, Secretary, etc. Every resident will be allowed to vote for up to three candidates for the position of "Officer".

 

The top five candidates in this single poll will all be elected as Officers of the Club. The candidate with the greatest number of votes will automatically be President. The remaining four Officers must then decide between themselves who will take on the duties required on the Secretary, Treasurer, Entertainment, Officer, and Sports Officer.

 

Next year, a more thorough review of the Constitution may lead to the abolition of many of these separate titles all together.

 

We need your feedback. If you disagree with these proposed amendments, please email committee@connaught-hall.org.uk no later than 12 midday on Tuesday 2nd October. If objections are received from fewer than 5% of the resident community by that time, the amendments will be adopted.

 

You can visit the Residents' Club web page here: http://www.connaught-hall.org.uk/pages/community/committee.html

FAQ: Residents' Handbook

Please remember to check our Hall Handbook (http://handbook.connaught-hall.org.uk) if you have any queries about Connaught Hall that are not answered in the FAQs section of my blog (http://connaughthall.blogspot.com/search/label/faq).

Foundation Day

As a Hall Warden, I enjoy leading a contingent of residents to Senate House on Foundation Day. Before we leave Connaught Hall, those of us attending the ceremony get together for a special meal and a drink then walk across to Senate House as a group. The residents who request tickets are always a diverse bunch and the evening is therefore a time when they socialise with a completely different group from usual.

At the presentation ceremony, we learn about the extraordinary and often inspiring lives of the graduands. But it is the reception afterwards that is really special for the students: the excitement is palpable when the Chancellor is approaching our group, yet everyone says afterwards how much Her Royal Highness put them at ease and was so interested in what they had to say. For most student residents, both home and international, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event; many can hardly wait until the official photographs are available to buy online!

Everyone who attends loves the excuse to dress up and look their best; we meet people we might otherwise never talk to; and the presence of the Chancellor makes it an evening the students remember forever.

Facebook page for students at all the intercollegiate halls of residence

I have set up a Facebook page for residents and staff of all eight intercollegiate halls of residence:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/University-of-London-Intercollegiate-Halls-of-Residence/248015725232212

My hope is that this page will make it much easier for residents in different halls to contact one another and organise inter-hall events, sports competitions, etc. It should be especially useful for elected JCR / Club committee members.

Defining the Warden's role

The recent University of London consultation on removing all Wardens and Vice-Wardens from the intercollegiate halls of residence (see this thread of posts about the consultation and what happened) prompted me to review the way we describe the Warden's role at Connaught Hall.

It is important that residents understand precisely what the Warden and Senior Members are for and what they do. Correspondence from the Warden's team will now make clear that the Warden's role lies in -

enhancing opportunities for personal, social, academic and cultural development through: welfare and pastoral care; discipline and conflict resolution; community and social life; Residents’ Club and Hall bar; out-of-hours emergencies; and re-admissions.

I would value your feedback on this description: is it too long? does it make sense? does it help clarify the Warden's role? Feel free to comment directly on this blog post or email me.

The Warden's Team: supporting you all the way.

Results of the Consultation on Pastoral Support in the Halls of Residence

The University has recently completed a consultation exercise on proposals to create more than 50 new student bedrooms by changing the arrangements for pastoral support in the Halls.

The Vice-Chancellor’s Executive Group has now considered the results of the consultation and we are grateful to those people who took the time to submit their views. The consultation has shown the range of groups interested in the outcome of this decision. The VCEG wishes to examine fully the range of options available and the implications of any changes and has therefore decided:

1. To suspend the consultation and implementation process immediately and confirm the status quo for the coming year 2011/12;

2. To review and re-examine the range of options available to ensure the availability of appropriate pastoral support for students and to increase the availability of student rooms in the intercollegiate halls, taking in to account the suggestions that emerged during the consultation;

3. To receive by the end of December 2011 proposals on the case for restructuring and the range of options, along with a full consultation and communications plan; this will take account of our legal obligations to Wardens and to students, and the UK Code of Practice for University-Managed Student Accommodation.

Wardens' formal consultation response

The response of the ten University of London wardens and vice-wardens to a proposal to cut student support in the halls of residence has been published online: http://www.hallwardens.org/wardens-response.pdf

Letter to Editor of London Student

Sir

I read with interest your interview with Martin Burchett about the University of London’s proposal to remove wardens and vice-wardens from the intercollegiate halls of residence.

Wardens are life-in staff who work part-time in the halls, being also employed as academic or senior academically-related staff elsewhere within the University. We help to provide students, especially first year undergraduates, with a safe, friendly and supportive home-from-home in halls by maintaining discipline, resolving conflicts, supporting students with difficulties, and organising community and social events.

The University of London Strategic Plan for 2009-14 states that “the University has a proud tradition of providing services to Colleges which add to their students’ experience of University life, both educationally and socially.” Wardens are one of the main ways in which the University maintains this tradition.

Students in halls are often living away from home for the first time. In my experience, they can encounter problems with loneliness, social isolation, bullying, conflicts related to religion or sexuality, depression, eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, self-harm and suicidal thoughts, as well as antisocial behaviour, noisy neighbours, theft, and damage to property. Wardens have a wealth of experience in offering front-line advice and support for students wrestling with these problems.
The University’s stated reason for cutting wardens and vice-wardens is to create up to 52 extra student rooms from the conversion of wardens’ flats. The University asserts that the cuts will not cause a reduction in the level of pastoral support or community building because the wardens’ functions will be taken on by volunteer senior students and the halls’ administration staff. They further argue that private halls of residence and some other universities’ halls do not have wardens.

We certainly recognise the need for more student accommodation in London, but degrading the quality of existing accommodation is not the way to do it. The University’s plan is akin to making more seats on an aeroplane by taking out the pilot: it won’t get off the ground. We can identify numerous means by which more accommodation can be created in the halls, without shedding staff or cutting services.

Of course removing all of the currently employed, dedicated, and experienced welfare and community-building staff out of the halls will lead to a reduction in the level of support and social events. There is nothing in the cuts proposal to guarantee otherwise.

It is true that private halls of residence often do not have wardens. But we are, after all, a University: surely it is our responsibility to provide academic and pastoral support for students? Students who are more independent or who require less of a social scene in their residence may well choose to live in private halls; but the University should make provision for those who wish or need to choose a more supported or more social living environment.

It is also true that some other universities do not have wardens in their halls. But if you look at the top ten UK universities, nine of them have wardenial systems similar to ours; and nearly all of the elite Russell Group universities have wardens. These are the institutions that the University of London is competing with. Moreover, residents in the intercollegiate halls can be relatively disadvantaged by the geographical and organisational remoteness of their college welfare services, unions, and health centres – especially those from smaller colleges or colleges outside of central London. I believe a robust pastoral and social support system within the halls, led by wardens, compensates for this.

We have been greatly encouraged by support from doctors, counsellors, chaplains, and other bodies involved in student support, as well as many students, hall residents, neighbourhood groups, and local councillors. Almost 1,000 people have signed an online petition (petition.hallwardens.org) supporting the wardens, and many students and their parents have written to the University (mail@hallwardens.org) to express their opposition to the cuts. A Facebook group (group.hallwardens.org) and Twitter profile (@SaveTheWardens) have been set up by hall residents.

The University’s consultation on this proposal ends on Friday 17 June and the Vice-Chancellor’s Executive Group will make a decision on 29 June. I hope your readers will agree with me that they should reject the proposed cuts and look instead for positive ways of creating more student accommodation in London.

Yours faithfully

Adrian Clark
Warden, Connaught Hall

The future of student support in halls of residence

On 9 May 2011, the University of London informed Wardens that it intends to make significant cuts to the student support service in the halls of residence: it proposes to make all Wardens and Vice-Wardens redundant, and for the management of Senior Members to be transferred to the residences administration staff, who have no background, experience, or interest in dealing with social, welfare, community, or disciplinary matters.

I believe the University's proposal is wrong and dangerous. I think it threatens the very healthy and enjoyable community and social life from which intercollegiate halls residents currently benefit, and may be harmful to the welfare of more vulnerable students.

This is at a time when Hall fees are set to rise by well above inflation next year, and English students will soon start paying up to £9,000 for their tuition. If next year's residents can expect not to be supported by a Warden, and not have a thriving Residents' Club and vibrant Hall community, why should they pay even more than they pay this year? And why should next year's freshers not be given the opportunity to apply for a Hall like Connaught Hall - different in so many ways from the accommodation provided by UCL, Kings, LSE, etc.?

Students should expect more choice, more support, and better value for money. Removing the Wardens diminishes all three.

For the sake of future generations of students, I believe we must fight against the University's proposals.

At www.connaught-hall.org.uk/support.pdf you can find a full-colour booklet explaining the University’s proposals and exactly what it will mean for future residents of Connaught Hall.

If you agree with me that Wardens add something distinctive, useful, and desirable to the student experience in the intercollegiate halls, please act now: send an email expressing your support to mail@hallwardens.org. Also, please sign the online petition at http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gopetition.com%2Fpetitions%2Fpetition-to-oppose-the-re-structuring-of-the-pastoral-s.html&h=d6700.

Parents - especially those of international students - often are relieved to find there is someone in Hall to look after their sons & daughters as they leave home for the first time, so please ask your parents to write in, and to sign the petition, too.

There isn't much time: the University proposes to wipe away formal student support in the halls of residence by the end of this academic year, and the final decision will be made before the end of May. Please help us to persuade them that they are wrong.

I will continue to fight tirelessly for what I believe is the right level of student support in the halls of residence. I will be very grateful if I can count on your support.

Remember to visit www.connaught-hall.org.uk/support.pdf for more detail and a guide to how you can help. Also review my letter to Dame Jenny Abramsky, the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the University of London, at www.connaught-hall.org.uk/abramsky-letter.pdf.

Foundation Day 2010

I have a limited number of tickets for Connaught Hall residents to attend Foundation Day 2010 at Senate House on 25 November. The Chancellor of the University of London, HRH The Princess Royal, will preside over this flagship event to which students, staff and those with long-standing connections to the University are invited.

A special dinner will be held in the dining hall at Connaught Hall so all those attending can eat together at high table and then depart for Senate House as a group.

The following eminent individuals have already confirmed their acceptance to receive an Honorary Degree from the University:

• HE Luisa Dias Diogo, former president of Mozambique – Doctor of Science (Economics)
• Mary Quant OBE, fashion designer – Doctor of Literature
• Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu – Doctor of Divinity
• Anne Stevenson, poet and writer – Doctor of Literature

Hall residents who want to attend Foundation Day should complete the online form at tickets.connaught-hall.org.uk before 10 October. Please do not sign up if you think you might not actually attend, as you will be taking a ticket from someone else who might really want to go.

The dress code is lounge suit or smart day dress/academic robes.

The poster advertising Foundation Day at Connaught Hall can be viewed here.

Background: Foundation Day is the annual celebration of the grant of the Royal Charter to the University of London. Held in the evening at Senate House, the event begins with the presentation of honorary degrees to a number of public figures by the Chancellor of the University of London, H.R.H. The Princess Royal. Following the honorary degree ceremony, there is a reception where Her Royal Highness likes to meet many of the students present.

Intercollegiate halls residents' survey

Last week, you should have received an invitation to take a survey about your experience of life at Connaught Hall. The same invitation has been sent to residents in all eight intercollegiate halls – so for the first time we will be able to compare the experiences of students in different halls (we’ve conducted surveys just like this one for several years at Connaught Hall, but this is the first time it’s been sent to residents in other halls).

Your views are important to us and I will read each and every survey that is returned by Connaught Hall residents. You can see from the minutes of Facilities Committee meetings (available online – http://facilities.connaught-hall.org.uk) that we do try to change things in light of the responses to this survey.

So please take the online survey at http://survey.connaught-hall.org.uk.

It is important that you tell us what we are doing well as well as what you think we could do better, so please do write your comments in the free text sections. Knowing what students like about the Hall helps me to argue the case for continuing those things next year (like keeping the bar open, allowing late parties, Christmas dinner, welcome events, not charging for overnight guests, allowing guests to sign in at any time of day or night, our “mediation” rather than “disciplinary” approach to many neighbour disputes, the hall website...).

If you like these things, tell us! If you don’t, then tell us how we could improve!

As I said, I will read every single one, so I will really appreciate it if you can spare five minutes to give us your feedback.

http://survey.connaught-hall.org.uk.

The closing date is 28 February.