Residents' Club Committee - survey feedback

In last week's survey, you told us that you want Hall events to be publicised better.

At last night's meeting of the Residents' Club Committee, your elected members discussed this and resolved to:

• give more notice of events;
• make announcements at dinner in the days leading up to events; and 
• invest in a printer so they can put up posters more easily instead of relying on Facebook alone for publicity.

October update

Dear resident

It's been a busy few weeks in Hall and there are a few more things coming up in the next week or so. I thought it might be useful for you to have an update on everything in one place.


1. Residents' Club elections - 08/10/13 

At dinner time on Tuesday 8th October, you will be able to elect five new representatives to the Residents' Club Committee. The people you choose will organise many of the social events in Hall this year, run the bar, and spend up to £6500 of your money - so listen to what they have to say and what they are going to do for you. At the time of writing, only two residents have put themselves forward for the election. If fewer than five people stand, there will be no election and those who have nominated themselves will be appointed automatically. More of you must have ideas for how we can make this year amazing for everyone: stand for election and share your ideas; if you get enough votes, you will be able to put them into practice! Visit election.connaught-hall.org.uk for more information about the Club and the election, and to nominate yourself. My "letter to candidates" tells you exactly what's involved, and what you can expect from us in return. Or speak to me, a Senior Member, or one of the outgoing members from last year's Committee. The deadline for nominations is midday on Saturday 5 October: it's an automatic system that will close at exactly midday. 


2. "Anything but clothes" party - 04/10/13 

Friday night is our freshers' ABC party in the bar, 8pm till 2am (bar serves alcohol until 1am). You are invited to be creative with your outfit and wear absolutely anything - except clothes. Maybe some photos of previous ABC parties at Connaught will provide you with inspiration: flickr.com/photos/connaughthall/tags/anythingbutclothes. 

As you can see, it's totally fine if you want to come to the party in actual clothes: we'd rather have you there in clothes than not there in not-clothes! 

As with all our late parties, you may sign in a maximum of two guests for the duration of the event (8 till 2). 

Please try and keep the party confined to the bar and Bell room so that residents who don't want to attend the party are not disturbed. I regret that we strictly cannot allow any "after-parties" in bedrooms or corridors after 2am, and we must keep noise outside the front of the Hall to a minimum so our hotel & residential neighbours don't complain and stop us from having more parties in future. 


3. Fire drill - 04/10/13 

Weather permitting, a fire drill will be held on Friday evening.

When you hear the fire alarm: 

Evacuate the building immediately.
Close all doors and windows behind you.
Leave by the shortest route.
Do not use the lift.
Assemble on the pavement outside Passfield Hall on Endsleigh Place.

Follow the green exit signs to find your nearest escape route. Hall staff will help you. Remember it is possible that there may be a real fire alarm on the day, so for your own safety never ignore the alarm because you assume it is a drill. Your Licence Agreement obliges you to participate in fire drills. If the total evacuation time is too long, more fire drills will be held over the next few weeks – so don’t let everyone else down! 


4. Have you taken some good photos of our freshers' events? 

We love our photos at Connaught. If you have any shots you're proud of from any of our welcome events (afternoon teas, grand bar opening, welcome dinner, speed meeting, or of course from tomorrow's party), I'd be really delighted if you sent me some that I can upload at photos.connaught-hall.org.uk or at instagram.com/connaughthall. Email me one or two pictures at warden@connaught-hall.org.uk, send me a link to your photos on your own Flickr, or ask me about lending you a memory stick if you have lots to share. 


5. Join the Facilities Committee and/or Multicultural Students' Forum (McSF) 

I posted a message about how to join these committees a few days ago: democracy-feedback-and-student. 

Both committees meet three or four times a year for about an hour. If you haven't been on a committee before, it will be good experience of how meetings work. And whatever your level of previous committee experience, your input to making Connaught Hall better for everybody will be greatly valued. Please follow the instructions in my previous post and join up as soon as possible if you're interested. 


6. Room swaps

I have been asked frequently about room swaps in the last few weeks. If you are thinking about asking for a room change, please take note of the following advice from our Residents' Handbook:

Requests for room swaps are dealt with exclusively by the Reservations Office based at ULU, and will only be considered after the middle of October when everyone has moved in: email info.halls@london.ac.uk. 

We regret that the staff at Connaught Hall cannot approve requests for room swaps.

The Reservations Team are the best people to answer all your questions on this subject, including things like "are there currently any empty rooms?" or "is there anyone who hasn't moved in when they should?". I regret that the Senior Members and I do not routinely have access to the information that would allow us to give you an accurate answer to these questions.


7. Access [H]all Areas 

This private, invitation-only online social network for the intercollegiate halls of residence was new this year. It already has almost 800 members so it's a good platform for sharing ideas for sports meet-ups, outings, and clubs, especially where there may be benefits in the numbers gained from getting more than one hall involved. 

If you're not already a member, sign up with this link: uol-halls.ning.com/?xgi=3KprrvqzHofzOa - and remember to join the Connaught Hall group on the site!

Do remember to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, as well: tweets.connaught-hall.org.uk and facebook.connaught-hall.org.uk.


8. Last reminder to check the Residents' Handbook! 

Our Residents' Handbook can be found at handbook.connaught-hall.org.uk.

It is long, so we don't expect you to read every page in detail. We do very much expect you to read the sections on noise and fire safety, and strongly advise you to have an idea of the contents pages, so you can dip into those bits that interest you now, and know what information is available for you to refer back to later in the year if you're not sure about anything.

So, one last time: please take a look at our Handbook!

Appointment of new officers to the Residents’ Club Committee

An important announcement has been published by the Residents' Club Committee on their page at committee.connaught-hall.org.uk.

The full text is as follows:


Appointment of new officers to the Residents’ Club Committee The President and Entertainment Officer are not planning on returning to Connaught Hall for the 2013-14 academic year. September/October is an important time for Hall social events to welcome our new residents, and for some administrative purposes, the Club must have a President or Acting president at all times. 

The Club Constitution states:

In the event, for any reason, of a post falling vacant mid-session, a by-election must be held within one calendar month of the vacancy arising, except when such vacancy arises in the third term, when the elective Committee shall have power to co-opt subject to approval at the next General Meeting.

The Committee has therefore made the following appointments with effect from 1 August 2013, until the elections in October:

President – Christopher Madden

Secretary – Rebecca Ashton

Entertainment Officer – Georgina Cherry 

If you have any comments, questions, or concerns about these appointments, you may write to the Warden, in confidence, at warden@connaught-hall.org.uk. The Warden will present your comments to the Committee at their next meeting. All feedback will be anonymised before being presented to the Committee, unless you explicitly state that you would like your name to appear with your comment. Please send any feedback before 5pm on Monday 15 April.

Formal ratification of these appointments is at a General Meeting of the Residents’ Club. The Constitution says:

The opinions of Members shall be voiced in General Meetings ... Ordinary Members shall have power to require a General Meeting to be summoned at any time on reasonable notice, but only if at least twenty-five Ordinary Members or one-eighth of the Ordinary Membership, whichever is the smaller, jointly wish to do so.

There is no scheduled General Meeting before the October elections at which these appointments can formally be ratified by the membership, but if the Warden receives twenty-five or more requests for the above appointments to be reviewed, an extraordinary General Meeting can be called this term for that purpose.

We wish the new officers a very successful and productive start to the new academic year, and expect they will prove to be a friendly, welcoming face for new residents. 

11 April 2013



An further announcement has been published on the bar page at bar.connaught-hall.org.uk:

Appointment of Bar Manager & Assistant Bar Manager for 2013-14
Acting on the advice of the Residents' Club Committee, the Warden has made the following appointments for the 2013-14 academic year:

Bar Manager - Emily Burns

Assistant Bar Manager - Marion Guiraud

14 April 2013

Televisions at Connaught Hall

Several responses in the residents' survey mentioned problems with the televisions in the common rooms.

The televisions are the property of the Residents' Club and responsibility for them lies with the Residents' Club Committee. Purchases of these televisions and associated equipment are funded by your £30/year Club subscription.

Today, I spent some time to find out exactly what is wrong with each of the televisions. My findings are shown in the table below, with my recommendations to the Residents' Club Committee in red.

It is up to your elected representatives whether they wish to use Club funds for the expenditure I have suggested. Talk to them - or email them at committee@connaught-hall.org.uk - if you have any views on whether they should or should not buy new equipment.

Please also email the committee if you are aware of any other faults or problems that I might have missed when I was looking at the TVs today.

This is one of a series of posts responding to the results of the residents' survey. You can see all the posts here: http://connaughthall.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Survey%202013. 

Why stand for election to the Residents' Club Committee?

Connaught Hall has a reputation as one of the most sociable halls of residence in London and that reputation is owed in large part to residents who are willing to give their some of their time and enthusiasm to contribute to our Hall community. One of the main ways you can contribute is by being a member of the Residents' Club Committee.

There are benefits to being a member of the Committee:

• You will meet almost everyone in the Hall and have the opportunity to earn the respect of your peers.
• A learning experience that will stand you in good stead for committee work in other organisations.
• A very good point to add to your CV and a talking point at interviews.
• A boost to your internship and job applications.
• I can write character references for Committee members. This can mean a lot more than a reference from your college tutor, since they will only see you for an hour a week or so and can only write about your academic side: I can comment on much broader aspects of your personality and suitability for a job.
• If you do a good job, I will guarantee you a room in Hall next year.
• If you do a very good job, I will try to get you your choice of room next year.

If you feel you have the necessary time and commitment to devote to a role on the Committee, please make sure you submit your written manifesto no later than midday on Sunday 14 October, using the online nominations system accessible from election.connaught-hall.org.uk.

Thank you to the Committee of 2010-1

On Thursday we will elect a new Committee to manage the Connaught Hall Residents' Club.

But before we get stuck into plans for a Hallowe'en party, Christmas events, restoring the newspaper subscriptions, and everything else our new Committee will want to do, I want to stop and say a great big thank you to James "Willy" Wilson, Michelle Ansah, Tom Stewart, Zac Zurybida, and Amin Yazdi who served on the Committee last year.

Zac and Michelle, though they no longer live in Hall, came back this month to help organise the fabulous welcome party on Saturday night. Being no longer resident, they had no obligation to do so but their dedication brought them back - and we must thank them especially for this.

As sports officer last year, Amin invested in equipment that residents can borrow from reception to play tennis, football, badminton, and other sports. Thank you, Amin.

Tom was the Club Treasurer last year and was appointed Bar Manager in June. He inherited a Club with a difficult financial position so his job as Treasurer has not been an easy one; but he successfully reined-in the Club's spending and although the Club still faces financial challenges this year, it should be much easier for the new Treasurer to build up the Club's depleted reserves. Tom took an interest in all aspects of the Residents' Club last year - not just the strict Treasurer's remit of accounts and balances. He has made an excellent start as Bar Manager, as is evident from the highly successful "grand opening" night and welcome party.

James has not been a good President: he has been an outstanding President. Again, he inherited a tough job with unique pressures - both internal and external - on the Club and, indeed, on the entire social fabric of the Hall. He has led by consensus; faced every challenge with vigour and good humour; and truly been a champion of this Hall's values, spirit, and community. Despite being short of money, his Committee organised events and parties throughout the year: every one was a success.

So finally, to James and Tom: thank you!

Residents' Club Committee

Congratulations to the successful candidates in tonight's election to the Residents' Club Committee:

President - Matthew MacLachlan

Secretary - Polly McKinlay

Treasurer - Alastair Heggie

Entertainment - Aria Shafa

Sports - James Hemsley



The results in full:

134 ballot papers were returned (turnout 63.5%).
There was one spoiled ballot paper.


President

• Hugh Black - 35
• Matthew MacLachlan - 44
• Roland Nathaniel - 17
• David Whelan - 5
• James Wilson - 25

Secretary

• Ilona Brenninkmeijer - 53
• Polly McKinlay - 69

Treasurer

• Naaz Ahmed - 38
• Alastair Heggie - 65
• Chris Radford - 25

Entertainment

• Josh Lipworth - 47
• Aria Shafa - 82

Sports

• James Hemsley - 108