| Description | Minutes of the committee established by University Council on the recommendation of the Finance and General Purposes committee, to replace the Senate Committee on Halls of Residence which had been responsible for the academic administration of Chancellor's Hall, Manor House, and the new halls of residence on the Vale site between 1962 and 1966. This joint committee of Senate and Council had wider terms of reference, and included management of all aspects of administration within these halls of residence. It was dissolved in 1972 and the Senate committee was reconstituted. See UB/COM/25 for minutes of the Senate Committee on Halls of Residence 1962-1966 and 1973-1982.
The committee usually met two or three times a year, once in each university term. There is a single numerical minute sequence, though minute numbers in the first volume, UB/COM/26/1, are differentiated by an 'A' or 'B' prefix, depending on whether the minutes deal with financial or private business discussed by committee members only, or with business discussed by the whole committee including Hall Presidents.
The joint Senate and Council Committee on Halls of Residence was made up of four members appointed by Council, and seven members appointed by Senate. The chairman was the Deputy Principal, Dr T. Alty, and Joyce Cadbury, Mr Beale, and Mr Foxall were to be three of the members nominated by Council in 1966. Hall Presidents were to be invited to attend for parts of the meetings, and the chairman would meet the Presidents as a group to discuss inter-hall matters. Council was responsible for the provision, maintenance, and supervision of halls or other premises for the residence of students, including finances and accounts, delegated to the Finance and General Purposes committee. Senate was responsible for the government, management, and carrying out of any curriculum instruction and education offered by the University to student residents, and for the discipline of students living in halls. The committee's terms of reference were to be responsible for all aspects of administration in the halls of residence, with the exception of University House, which had its own committee which reported directly to the Finance and General Purposes committee. The governance of Manor House was to be transferred to the committee from 1 August 1967. The committee was responsible for appointing and approving the terms of appointment of resident and non-resident members of the Senior Common Rooms of the different halls; facilitating co-ordination of the activities of the Hall Councils of the individual halls of residence, receiving the annual accounts and estimates for the different halls to approve them for transmission to the Finance and General Purposes committee, and submitting to Senate and Council regulations for the discipline of students living in halls of residence.
Matters discussed by the committee include procedures for filling Senior Common Room vacancies, and lists of Senior Common Room members and information about appointments is included in the minutes. The committee also commented on Senior Common Room and Hall Council constitution and responsibilities, and copies of these are sometimes included in the minutes. It considered the allocation of Vale site halls of residence and the distribution of students between them; admissions policy and the provision of places for first year students; rules governing student residents and the disciplinary powers of Hall Councils and security and control of the Vale site. The committee received annual reports of each hall, as the Senate Committee on Halls of Residence did in both the 1962-1966 and 1973-1982 periods, as well as annual accounts and income and expenditure estimates for each hall, together with statistical information about income and expenditure. Minutes of the meeting held on 17 November 1967 contain a copy of the first annual report of the new Halls of Residence committee for the session 1966-1967, as well as a copy of the Manor House handbook for 1967-1968
Minutes of the first meeting, held on 18 November 1966, include a copy of the annual report of the former Senate Committee on Halls of Residence for the academic session 1965-1966 which gives a summary of the issue affecting the Vale halls and Chancellor's Hall, and a table showing the distribution of students in university halls of residence. Minutes of the meeting held on 15 March 1967 include some discussion of the administration of the new post-graduate hall of residence on Pritchatt's Road and details about the establishment of a sub-committee for this hall, but no separate records survive.
Minutes of meetings held in 1967 contain frequent references to conflicting views about the segregation or mixing of genders in and between halls of residence on the Vale site, following the opening of Mason Hall. Minutes of the meeting held on 6 May 1967 mention that a joint presidency of Mason Hall had been recommended, blurring the boundaries between the separate but associated pair of halls for men and women students originally planned.
Minutes of meetings held in 1968 contain substantial information about the issue of student representation on Halls of Residence committees. Minutes of the meeting held on 21 June 1968 refer to the decision to amend the constitution of Hall Councils and to make arrangements for the attendance of members of the Junior Common Room committee at meetings, and include reports on student attendance at Hall Council meetings and views submitted by individual Hall Presidents. According to the minutes, no immediate decision was made, and the need for further discussion was agreed. The minutes also include a copy of a report on the 'relationship between academic performance and type of resident', comparing the class of degree awarded, the faculty awarding the qualification, and whether the student lived at home or in halls, lodgings, or flats. A copy of 'The Student Role' published by the Guild of Students on student representation within the university, is also included.
Minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 1968 refer to continued discussion about student representation on Halls of Residence committees, and include a copy of the annual report of the Joint Senate and Council Committee on Halls of Residence to Senate. This report mentions the appointment of Senior Common Room staff to individual halls, and includes an overview of the working of the joint committee, a summary of the first year that the Vale site was fully operational, and draws attention to problems at Chancellor's Hall and to the good working relationship that had developed between the Senior Common Room and Junior Common Room committees in some halls of residence. A copy of the report of the Halls of Residence committee to the Finance and General Purposes committee is also contained. This includes estimated and actual annual income and expenditure accounts ,and a report on alterations submitted by the Halls Administrator. These reports are followed by copies of annual reports submitted by the individual halls of residence, and after this date, these reports are typically included with the minutes of committee meetings held in November each year.
Minutes of the meeting held on 19 June 1969 set out the responsibilities of the Halls of Residence committee and the Hall Councils following the reconstitution of the Hall Council, providing for greater autonomy for individual halls. Each Hall Council would have its own terms of reference, and could appoint committees as necessary to conduct its business subject to the ratification of the Halls of Residence committee. Membership would consist of the Senior Common Room President as chairman, the Junior Common Room President, the chairman of the Halls of Residence committee, and other members of the Senior Common Room and Junior Common Room as determined by Hall Council. The Halls Administrator and other University officers were to attend meetings for discussion of matters for which they were responsible, and Hall Councils were to meet at least once a term. Hall Councils were to be responsible under powers delegated to them by the Halls of Residence committee for the administration of discipline within halls, the formulation of house rules including visiting hours, all social activities within halls, and any other matters as determined by the Halls of Residence committee. Hall Councils were not responsible for the halls of residence when the buildings were not occupied by students of the University.
Minutes of the meeting held on 11 May 1970 discuss the future of Chancellor's Hall in the context of the University's acquisition of the leasehold of the Maple Bank site, and subsequent plans to build accommodation there. The minutes state that Chancellor's Hall was expensive to maintain as a building, and that the Calthorpe Estate were interested in acquiring the land. Following the unanimous decision of the committee that the hall should be closed, minutes of meetings held later in 1970 contain information about the closure of the hall and plans for the construction of accommodation at Maple Bank, and there are minutes of meetings of the sub-committee appointed to manage this process dated 29 June 1970 and 21 June 1971 which discuss the allocation of residents, the need for common room space in addition to study bedrooms, and implication for existing student communities on the Vale site. A report of the Maple Bank Working Party and a report on central facilities proposed for the Maple Bank development are included with minutes of the meeting held on 9 March 1972, together with minutes of a further meeting of the Maple Bank sub-committee held on 3 May 1972 which records discussion about catering, the possible use of hall dining facilities by residents, and a pay-as-you-eat scheme, and minutes of meetings held later in May 1972 and in June 1972 which show that the committee eventually recommended the development of Maple Bank as a self-catering site.
Copies of handbooks for the individual halls of residence for the 1971-1972 academic session are included with minutes of the meeting held on 18 November 1971. These minutes also discuss the provision of accommodation for students with disabilities, and include minutes of a meeting of the Halls of Residence committee Working Party which looked at the provision of accommodation for students with disabilities, setting out the architectural and structural limitations of each of the existing halls of residence, restricting access for students with mobility problems using wheelchairs or crutches.
Minutes of the meeting held on 22 June 1972 express concerns about the serious deficit incurred after the 1970-1971 academic session, and estimated deficits for the following years resulting from increases in costs, mostly due to external factors including Trade Union pay agreements and the rising prices of food, electricity, and oil. The minutes discuss ways of making savings and include reports of a sub-committee set up to review problems facing halls of residence and to report to the Finance and General Purposes committee on university catering. In addition, the minutes include the regular annual reports for individual halls of residence, several of which state concerns about the future in the context of increases in fees and the popularity of the new self-catering accommodation at Griffin Close which could lead to more students leaving hall and fewer students wanting to return after their first year, changing the balance between 'freshers' and older students.
UB/COM/26/4 contains minutes and substantial meeting papers of the sub-committee set up to identify and consider ways of resolving major problems associated with the University's halls of residence and how they were run, possibly established partly in connection with the work of the University Review Body, but largely in response to the deficit incurred during the 1970-1971 academic session and the estimated deficit for future years, but possible as part of an initiative that led to the publication of the University of Birmingham and Guild of Students Joint Accommodation Survey, the final report of which was published in 1971, to gather information on student accommodation and to determine the preferred accommodation choices of students in order to plan for future requirements. Another copy of this report is catalogued at UB/GUILD/E/7/5.
The sub-committee's terms of reference were to review the problems, to take evidence, and to make recommendations to the Halls of Residence committee. The meeting papers include reports on proposed increase in hall fees and re-structuring of hall systems to save costs including submissions from individual halls of residence, and there is some contrast between those under central administration and Manor House and University House which were not in deficit; copies of accounts and estimates; report of the committee on halls of residence administration and clerical work compiled in 1966; report on halls of residence organisation and staffing compiled in 1964; information from other universities (Durham, Bristol, Keele, Exeter, Southampton, Liverpool, Lancaster, Leicester, Leeds, Hull, Manchester), on the current situation regarding their halls of residence and other student accommodation, particularly focusing on financial viability and the management of halls of residence; submissions from Hall Councils and Junior Common Rooms of individual halls about the desirability of maintaining management structure which fosters sense of community and suggesting ways of working with Halls Administrator, some suggesting more autonomy and decentralisation as way to save costs, or responding to proposals to allow students to rent rooms without paying board, and to pay for catering as they use it, much less of a collegiate structure; a submission from Guild of Students; and papers submitted by the Halls Administrator on the future and finance of halls of residence.
Minutes of the meeting held on 16 November 1972 include a report of a special committee of Council on Halls of Residence, following comments from Senate, the Finance and General Purposes committee, the Halls of Residence committee, and University House committee, which recommended that the Halls of Residence committee be reconstituted as a committee of Senate, with representation from University House, and a sub-committee of the Finance and General Purposes committee to be responsible for recommending financial policies to be followed by halls of residence and catering units |