Oboler and Jarvis

Jarvis Liaison committee

I sat on the Jarvis Liaison committee along with about 6 other students. We met with Jarvis and the University weekly about the build. We brought problem directly to the attendtion of Jarvis senior management and we inspected the building to see reported progress was actually done. The most amusing outcome was a serrious fault that no one on site could be bothered fixing... I e-mailed the Jarvis Chief Executive (who had given me his card at one of these meetings) and the next day things were happening. I was also getting some rather strange looks from the local staff as they tried not to be seen.

Dealing with Welfare as GSA Vice President

As VP of the GSA, I negotiated with College and Residences (and later estates) over changes to the build. I also organised kitchen visits to discuss the building work with residents. There was only 1 point we never managed to make progress on, that was the request for recycling facilties in each kitchen.

Working with the Media

When we stopped making progress on the main issues we got the media involved: My self on File on 4, BBC Radio 4

Creating the briefing Document

I prepared the background document that the solicitors slightly altered to make our case. I also met with the Union's solicitors a few times to work through the details of the compensation claim. You can see the report.

Taking it to the University's Court

I also prepared a motion for the university court (entered in the name of the graduate college) and prepared a briefing paper entered by the GSA and presented by myself. See the paper. This turned into a rather amusing incident as the university endorsed the report, highlighting all the channels of communication and close work being undertaken with the students. My reply was a verbal update highlighting how each of the positive things has (since the paper was tabled) been withdrawn, cancelled and failed to occur on time. The university's senior officers left the meeting with a certain amount of egg on their faces and a strong committement not to have a repeat situation with the next phase of the build... Cartmel and Lonsdale. In the ned the next phase did go much more smoothly and many fo the design faults were fixed.

Taking the final decision back to the students

I tabled the motion for the GSA meeting that decided to set a compensation limit agreeable to the students. I also proposed the amount (1 months rent) which the meeting accepted and the university eventually paid.