| Description | Minutes of the working party appointed by the Planning and Priorities Committee to consider improvements in and extension of the catering and other related facilities in the University, which invited suggestions from members of staff for shops which might be incorporated in future development of the University campus at Edgbaston. See UB/COM/5 for records of the Planning and Priorities committee
Membership consisted of the Deputy Principal, who acted as chairman, the Secretary, Bursar, Senior Assistant Bursar, and the Catering Officer. A member of academic staff was also on the working party.
Minutes of the first meeting, held on 14 February 1964, include a copy of a memorandum describing existing catering arrangements for students and staff which had been planned before the proposed expansion of the University in the late 1960s to admit more students and to employ more staff. It contains discussion as to how to increase the capacity of catering facilities in both the Guild of Students building and the recently opened Refectory and in Staff House. This discussion is continued in the minutes, and topics include ways of adapting the dining rooms within the Refectory for lunches and evening meals, expanding the snack bar, and the possibility that student halls of residence might be able to deal with lunchtime demand
Minutes of subsequent meetings discuss a range of solutions to the problem of capacity, including staggering lecture times to reduce queues and the possibility of extending the Guild of Students building. There are also lists of suggestions submitted by staff for shops and other facilities required for units in the Refectory and Staff House buildings. Minutes of the meeting held on 11 March 1964 include a copy of the draft enquiry to the Estate Architect written by the working party, which includes details of anticipated requirements for student and staff catering in the larger University. Minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 1964 include a copy of the Estate Architects' report on Refectory and Staff House Extensions in response, including several proposals, together with architects' drawings, and minutes of the next meeting, held on 1 May 1964, discuss these proposals.
There are references in the minutes to the need to gather the views of the Senior Common Room committee and Staff House committee as to requirements for numbers to be served and the type and standard of service desired in Staff House, and minutes of the meeting held on 2 March 1964 include a copy of a memorandum on Staff House Expansion submitted by the Senior Common Room committee to the Planning and Priorities committee, which contains information about the needs of staff for dining and common room facilities, as well as rooms for meetings and bedrooms for guests. Minutes of this meeting also include a copy of a catering questionnaire completed by students, giving figures for the number of people having lunches and evening meals on University premises and elsewhere.
The working party met almost weekly during February and March 1964, and met regularly between May and July 1964 to discuss the chosen proposals of the Estate Architects, to extend the 'Technicians' Dining Room' and the student snack bar. Minutes of these meetings include figures giving details of the number of staff using different dining facilities in Staff House.
The working party met again in September, October, and November 1964, and these minutes discuss the possibility of making longer term extensions to Staff House and the Refectory; the use of ground floor units by a bank and bookshop; the possible expansion of the Guild of Students building, and the better use of the Refectory by the Guild of Students 'to achieve integration in the use of the two buildings for student social requirements'. These meetings also discussed agreed extensions to the Refectory snack bar. The working party met only once after November 1964, in November 1965 to discuss the scheme for the snack bar extension, but the volume also contains a copy of a report of the Works and Maintenance committee dated March 1965 which gives details of tenders received for the snack bar extension, and notes of Refectory Snack Bar Extension progress meetings held in August, September, October, and November 1965, and February 1966 which contain information about the construction process. These notes state that another meeting was planned for April 1966 but no records survive. The notes also refer to the planned completion of the snack bar in April 1966, so it is possible that this planned meeting was not held.
The volume also contains a report of proposals for alterations to the Great Hall, submitted to the Planning and Priorities committee in September 1965, together with copies of architects' drawings
Although covering a short time period, minutes of this working party are a useful source of information about the use of different dining facilities in Staff House and in the student Refectory during the mid 1960s, revealing patterns of use, the sorts of meals that the University community expected at lunchtimes and in the evenings, and the kinds of social interaction that staff and students might be accustomed to at mealtimes |