2012 JCRC review

PASCAL DUBOIS – ALCUIN

 Key objectives:

– Increase team spirit and college rivalry
– Make Alcuin ‘Green College’ of the year
– Make Alcuin’s freshers’ week the best in the university

The past twelve months have seen Alcuin College progress dramatically under Dubois’ leadership, with a greater sense of community and a series of successful events held throughout the year. The college which has in the past been labelled the “boring college”, has made things more light hearted and enjoyable, receiving the plaudits of students.

Freshers’ Week was a resounding success with STYC’s and students alike having a brilliant time as Alcuin’s events, most notably AnimAL, and they were bigger and better than ever before. Fresher Luke Sheard described it as a “frantic blur of fun,” and feedback was in most cases overwhelmingly positive.

In sporting terms Dubois has led by example, captaining the volleyball team as Alcuin aimed to return to the top of the college sport pedestal. That wasn’t achieved, but more people seemed to take part in college sport which was an extremely encouraging sign.

His Environment and Ethics team did an excellent job in collecting spare food and kitchen utensils at the end of term which would have otherwise gone to waste, but overall energy consumption figures have not been fed down to the colleges. Overall it has been a successful twelve months, and the outgoing chair can be proud of his achievements and will leave the next chair with a much improved college.

 FRANCESCA KNIGHT – DERWENT

Key objectives:

– Promote RAG, particularly RAG week
– Foster a more accessible JCRC
– Fight for survival of events in D-Bar
– Make STYC training more intense, and the role more important

The last year has seen some controversial and significant changes to Derwent College, from it being one of the smallest colleges known for its tight-knit community it has become one of the largest and Knight has seen it through these difficult changes.

A keen member of the college netball team, Knight ensured that she remained a familiar and approachable face to all the members of her college. The fact that Derwent had a record number of people voting in its recent elections is testament to the affection its members hold for it.

When it comes to RAG, Derwent made up for its small size by winning the RAG Week prize. The survival of events in D-Bar has been a very big part of the year for Knight and the JCRC, she affirms that “D-Bar is our bar, and it remained so.” With the purchase of equipment to make Club-Ds and other events cheaper, it does seem that a more secure future for D-Bar is a legacy that Knight and her team can be proud of.

Despite the college being twice the size this academic year, and so worries there would not be enough STYCs, Knight’s implementation of longer STYC training, contracts and daily contact with head STYCs seems to have paid off. A Derwent fresher tells Vision: “Personally I felt the STYCs were very organised…There was a lot of them and everyone felt at home straight away.”

Her hard work appears to have left Derwent’s sociable, welcoming status intact.

 

EMILY MILLER – GOODRICKE

Key objectives:
– Improve the ‘Goodricke experience’
– Work with Langwith JCRC to create inter-college events on Hes East
– Improve welfare provision so that welfare issues can be resolved ‘in college’

Emily Miller may have accepted defeat in some aspects of her term as Goodricke College Chair, admitting that she “quickly learnt that not everything [she] had planned was realistically achievable.” Despite this she does seem to have achieved her aim of improving the welfare provisions of the college, which recently was joined by Langwith over in the Hes East part of campus. Not least of these welfare aims was the achievement of Miller and her team in running successful and free events such as GoodFest in the summer term. These events were inclusive to everyone, drawing the college together and ensuring that the JCRC were well-known and approachable figures.

Whilst the inter-college events may not have picked up as much momentum as hoped, the combining of the Rugby team with that from Langwith College, on top of all the other events and activities within the college, has ensured a lot more opportunities and incentives for students to play an active role within their college.

Miller emphasises that there has been a noticeable improvement in the working relationship between College Chairs than in previous years, which has become apparent in many respects, most notably the combined sports teams as mentioned above. This improved inter-Chair working relationship can also be seen in the referendums, such as the campaign for 24-hour portering, which was an all round success.

GEORGE OFFER – HALIFAX

Key Objectives:

– Revitalise JJs as a common room/social hub
– Extend opening hours of the college’s Costcutter to 8pm each night
– Create a college mascot
– Encourage second and third years to get involved
– Give more funding to international integration

Outgoing President George Offer has been very popular with ‘Faxers this year, with one third year student describing him as “the best Chair Halifax has ever had.” He’s made a real attempt to fulfil his promises. His major success has been relaunch of the ‘Xtra’ brand, which when speaking to Vision, Offer described as one of his “highlights of the year.” The Halifax club night has been a wild success, with themes such as Space and Jungle attracting many Halifax students to JJs, with all year groups getting more involved.

JJs itself is used much more frequently for events than previously, and can truly be described as a ‘social hub’. Halifax also created a mascot, and ‘Faxy the Lion’ is regularly present on Halifax nights out and at college sports matches.

Clearly, Offer tried hard to meet his policy commitments, but despite his efforts he did not manage to achieve them all. The Halifax Costcutter is only open until 7pm during term time currently. Proud of his contribution to Halifax life. George Offer enthused about his time as President, telling Vision: “It’s been an amazing year and an awesome team.”

 

        LAURA WATSON – JAMES

Key objectives

– Retain the RAG Cup
– Claim the College Volunteering Cup for James
-Improve communication and organisation

2012 was undoubtedly a fantastic year for James College, thanks in large part to the leadership and organisation of Laura Watson. She tells Vision: “I have absolutely adored my time as Chair; every term is different and you get to learn so many things. Freshers’ Week was a huge success and, overall, attendance at our various events has been good.

“For example, in the Autumn Term we had 300 people come along to the Halloween bar crawl. And also, we’ve focused on internationalisation which has been a unique part of the college.”

James also had a successful year, in claiming the RAG Cup, one of Watson’s key objectives as College Chair, and organising a hugely enjoyable Collingwood Cup tournament against Durham. Co-operation has also been a common theme under Watson, with the RAG team working with Alcuin to organise the spooning contest in October.

Watson says there are a couple of things which could be improved in 2013, namely “improving our publicity and building up the hype to make sure our events are even more successful,” something she says new Chair Dexter Clarke will hopefully be able to succeed in.

JACK BAKER – LANGWITH

Key Objectives

– Reform STYC system
– Hassle free move to Hes East
– Make sport more accessible
– Celebrate Langwith spirit
– Maintain relationships between colleges

It’s been an unprecedented year for Langwith with the move over to Heslington East finally completed. However, the question was whether the JCRC could successfully address not just the practicalities of the move but whether they would be able to transfer college spirit over to the new campus.

Jack Baker’s pledge to dramatically improve sport were seen through, with “sign-ups being made available during Fresher’s Week and uptake being particularly good.”
Langwith spirit is at an all time high, with event attendance on the up, with the college taking over 200 students to Leeds on a bar crawl. The college also managed to attract a huge number to the Langwith Christmas ball, with over 200 attending again, a college record.

Despite initially hoping to reform the STYC system, it seems Baker was unable to push through any genuine change. However, speaking to Vision he maintained that he is “immensely proud of all the work that the 2012 JCRC achieved. All of my campaign points were met through a combination of work with the JCRC, YUSU and the other colleges. All that has been accomplished leaves the new committee in good stead to further Langwith’s growing success.”

 MATT STEPHENSON – VANBRUGH

Key Objectives

– Re-open 24-hour portering
– Improve college security
– Promote college sports societies
– Ensure V-Bar becomes a successful college hub
– Promote music societies

Whilst the gain of 24-hour portering for Vanbrugh College may seem a bit of an easy achievement considering it was a University–wide referendum to get 24-hour portering in all colleges, there is no denying that Stephenson lived up to his promise to campaign tirelessly for the matter. He told Vision that; “Security and welfare in colleges is an issue I really care about” and he definitely appears to have been true to his word.

Stephenson also played a significant role in securing funding for the refurbishment of V-Bar, and thanks to that support alongside the hard work of the bar team and music reps, V-Bar has become a genuine social hub for the College and University, making good use of its central position on campus. The widely acknowledged success of the Battle of the Bands events are testament to the success of Stephenson and his whole team, which he increased by one music rep to aid organisation.

He has also focussed on increasing sports funding for Vanbrugh teams, to help them become as successful as they can be. Whilst in the rankings Vanbrugh may still have a way to go, Stephenson is confident that he has left them with “the best foundations to build on.”