Steven Topazio's Union Council Chiar and Cousre Rep Chair

Who runs what at the students union

Tue, 27 May 2008 12:42:29 GMT

What are UPSU and UPEL?

The Union is run by three companies: UPSU - the Union's charity which runs clubs, societies, volunteering and democratic processes - whose mission statement is to "promote, extend and defend the rights of students", UPEL - the Union's trading company - which takes responsibility for running the Union's entertainments and bars to the highest possible standard, and the University's catering department, which manages the Union's catering services in conjunction with UPEL.The split: Summer 2005

In the past the Union was made up of the UPSU (charity) and UPSU Trading Limited (a subsidiary trading company) so that any profit made by the trading company would be covenanted back to the charity to support its charitable objectives.

Since moving into the Student Centre in 2002 it became apparent that the trading subsidiary would struggle to make a bottom line profit having a client base of only students and being able to trade for only 33 weeks a year.

The situation was therefore discussed at great length and a decision was taken that the UPSU could no longer sustain the UPSU Trading Limited in its present format.

After taking legal advice it was agreed that the trading company would be put into administration. To preserve the assets and facilities available to the student membership the decision was made that the University through their own subsidiary company University of Portsmouth Enterprise Limited (UPEL) would purchase and run the trading side of the Union’s facilities.

This meant that when students returned, in October 2005, they were able to enjoy full use of the Union’s facilities as they had always done.
The Current Situation

UPSU and UPEL are working alongside each other to provide representation, membership, social space and activities for the student body.
Who runs UPSU?

Ultimately you, the students of Portsmouth, do!

Therefore by getting your voice heard, things can be changed to the way that you want them to be.

However the practicalities are that all 18,000 registered students couldn't run the union, so each year the students of Portsmouth vote in a team of six Sabbatical officers to run the union in the elections.

They, along with two representative union council members and a university nominee, form the trustees of the union.

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IN A NUTSHELL

UPSU is the charity that runs clubs and societies at the Union. They also organise the Christmas and Graduation balls.

UPSU is also responsible for the whole range of democratic processes that go on at the Union, including Sabbatical officers, and the wide range of support facilities provided.

UPSU also runs the Job Shop and Copy Shop.

UPEL is the company that runs the bars and most of the night-time entertainments at the Union, as well as the catering outlets.

UPEL lease the Union's buildings from the University of Portsmouth, who own the buildings, and UPSU (the charity) can use the rooms by agreement with UPEL for club and society events, etc

Thanks to Tom who posted this on Facebook!

Join the Debate about the Students Union

Tue, 27 May 2008 12:33:13 GMT

Hello all, Below is a link taking you to a facebook group where an intersting debate is occuring with regard to making the Students Union better. Take a look and join up. All comments will be compliled and used to try and improve the situations.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=15487715974

Water Water everywhere - well except for poor old James Watson

Thu, 15 May 2008 16:39:46 GMT

Ive just heard the unsurprising news that there is no water in James Watson Hall. Why does this not surprise me I hear you ask? Well the lovely people called UNITE who own the halls have a tendacncy of cutting through pipes and laying pipes liable to bursting. My mind is cast back to my first year when we went 3 days without water because some plonker cut through the pipe. On that occasion we were issues with 1 X 500 ml bottle of water to last us each day, and £10 which was supposed to pay for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As far as washing was concerned we were invited to go and shower at the Nuffield Gym. Lovely and private those showers in the gym. Of course our exams and coursework suffered and as did our bank balance, although the very kind Dr Craven gave us a £50 refund at the end of the year.

This time round I doubt you will be so lucky, I have heard stories of poeple not getting water. Although you are being given plastic knives and forks to eat your deli too's with. So if I were you I would walk down to University House now and demand answers. UNITE are useless - FACT. Hopefully one day the University will realise this and ditch them. We have to pay over £3000 for the privilage of living in the dumps (which by the way is more than the basic student loan!) so the students should have some say. So stand up and hold the people who run this place accountable.

And for all of those students coming here in the future, avoid the UNITE halls, unless of course you like living like a tramp.

Whats on at the union this week

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:39:47 GMT

Upcoming events at the union in the coming weeks

30th April sees the return of the RAG jail to the Union's purple wednesdays, lock your mates up in the jail for £1 for 10 minutes!! great fun and all monies raised go to charity. Also the annual RAG slave auction takes place. Bid against your mates to buy a slave (students or have been nominated, usually by people who want to seek revenge for something you did wrong on tour!). This slave is then yours for 4 hours and you can make them do alot of things, but some things are not allowed!! Again all money raised goes to RAG!!

Friday also sees the Carnival come to Ravlin park with a showcase of all the societies of the UPSU. So come along and have fun in the sun/rain!

NUS conference

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 15:32:34 GMT

So after 11 hours on a train, travelling overnight via Carlisle I arrived at the NUS conference in Blackpool, not knowing what to expect and having no idea of the controversy and emotions that would become apparent over the next three days. Over 1300 delegates from as far as way as Belfast in Northern Ireland to Plymouth in the South descended onto Sunny Blackpool full of optimism and expectations. I was not disappointed, after the usual boring bits about not booing speakers and behaviour we launched ourselves straight into the biggest debate to take place at NUS conference since the Stop the War debate five years ago. The debate centred on reform of the NUS constitution, basically the National Executive committee of the NUS was effectively sacking itself. Everyone agrees that the NUS needed change, but the UPSU delegation like many felt that the change being presented was not the effective change that was required. Many gaps had been left and in my opinion this new constitution was being forced upon us. The debate lasted around an hour and arguments both for and against we presented excellently, both making very valid points. The only question that remained was would the oranges or the greens? When the vote was eventually called at just gone 3pm it was clear that more people wanted the change offered than those who did not. A two thirds majority was needed, and initially the chair called a victory for the oranges. The greens called for a count, and the conference held its breath and their hands as NUS bods ran around counting. The result, the oranges fell short by a mere 25 votes! Uproar ensured as the greens in their minority jumped with jubilation whilst the oranges were aghast at their defeat. A recount was ordered, but rejected. The NUS president Gemma Tumlety then took to the stage and openly critised those who had voted against her, and I don’t blame her for her outburst, to be honest I would be pretty pissed if I had put a year of work into something I believed in and lost by 25 votes. But then that is why we have democracy, it is their to protect us and to ensure the right decisions are made. I give Gemma Credit, she was humble enough to stand up in her closing speech and apologise for her outburst, but did she mean it? I can honestly say she did.

The rest of the conference was in a shadow from that first two hours, but the fun continued. Motions were debated, some were passed and some were defeated, at times I thought why am I here, but for the most I enjoyed it and actually felt that my voice as a student was being heard. But one thing is certain and that is that NUS needs to change and change fast. If it does not then we will be left behind in the 20^th century and in the words of Gemma Tumlety, “We will be back, and We will drag this union into the 21^st century”. I don’t doubt that, I just hope I have as much fun next year as I did this year.

This week at the union

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 11:47:43 GMT

Another hetic week at the union is underway. the week began with the OAP valentines lunch, which in my opinion was an excellent success, many thanks to all those volunteers that helped out! Today we have Course Rep Council at 3.30pm in function room 1, a chance for you all to moan about your course to me, and hopefully I can give you answers.

On thursday we have Union Council at 4pm in function room 2, and it would be great if lots of you attended as there is alot of debate to be had.

Also on thursday at 7 pm we have the great fees debate at park building.

So hopefully see you at one of these events.

Union Council - Why students should care

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:50:54 GMT

I figured it was about time that I wrote a blog as I've avoided doing so for the last 3 years! And to mark this fine occasion I hope to open up a huge can of worms surrounding our lovely monthly event at the union - UNION COUNCIL

For those of you lucky enough not to know me I'm Steve Topazio and I am chair of Union Council. Union Council is the ultiamte decision making body of the students union and is the place where the sabbatical officers are held to account by the students for their actions. There are currently 14 people who sit on the board of Union Council - they are the six sabbs plus the chair of RAG, VIP, SOCIETY EXEC, AU EXEC, MEDIA EXEC, EED EXEC, HALLS EXEC and COURSE REP EXEC - a role which i combine with the chair of the council.

These 14 people put an enormous amount of time and effort into the running of the Students Union and are extremly passionate about what they do, however they need to be guided by you the students as it is YOU the STUDENTS that we are representing.

This is where we hit a problem, Attendance at Union Council is poor - and that is an understatement, only 8 people were in the audience when the Council was last in session. The reasons for this are two fold in my opinion, the first is that students are not aware that there is a Union Council let alone when it is in session and this is an issue that the reps and sabbs shall be addressing in the near future. The second reason is that I dont think students are aware of what goes on at union council and why they should care about the events that take place. Students are very good at moaning about the union, but if you want action then you need to come to union council and tell us what you want doing and how you want it doing.

So this is a call to all students, Come to Union Council on Thursday Feburary 21st Function Room 2 at 4pm and make a difference. Union Council is YOUR Union Council so come along and exercise your right to voicing your opinion and hold us accountable for our actions. Union Council - For students by Students