[SSC] Notes from the SSC first meeting 24/02/2011 - 6-8pm, Mint Lane, Lincoln

[Joss Winn]

Attendees:

Dr. Nigel Horner (Lincoln)
Prof. Mike Neary (Lincoln)
Dr. Richard Hall (Leicester)
Dr. David Young (Lincoln)
Gary Saunders (Lincoln)
Joss Winn (Lincoln)
Charles Cooke (Lincolnshire Co-operative Development Agency)

Apologies:

Prof. Richard Keeble (Lincoln)
Prof. Pete Somerville (Lincoln)
Dr. Terry Wassell (Leeds)
Florian Zollman (Lincoln)
Jennifer Jones (Leicester)
Steve Thomas (?)

We began with introductions and apologies. Mike noted that Prof. Scott
Davidson (PVC Lincoln) and Prof. Howard Stevenson (Prof. of Education,
Lincoln) have also expressed an interest in supporting the SSC. Charles
Cooke also attended. Charles is assisting the SSC (at no direct cost to
the SSC) in formalising its governance and business model. (see further
below)

Mike and Joss provided some background to the idea of the SSC, noting
that they began discussing it last summer and have spent time since
then, canvassing opinion and forming an initial statement, which is
currently on the home page of the website. Time has also been spent
discussing the idea at Snr. levels in the University of Lincoln.
Although the SSC is not asking for any formal support from the
University, Mike and Joss felt it was appropriate to share the idea with
colleagues at the university to ensure it receives tacit support. Having
done this, a website and discussion list was set up to take the idea
further.

The first part of the meeting began with a general discussion around the
establishment of the SSC.

Nigel noted that informal adult and further education has collapsed in
Lincoln over the years, where before there was a network of schools
offering night classes, etc. these are much diminished. The Workers'
Education Association's role in Lincoln has also diminished over the years.

We discussed the need for accreditation or not, noting that there is a
£30K/year fee to be able to award undergraduate degrees and £40K to
include post-graduate degree awards. We also questioned the principle of
awarding degrees and agreed that authority of the SSC would lie in it's
academic reputation (including the reputation of its academics and
students), rather than the formal powers to award degrees. It is hoped
that the SSC's reputation alone will, for some people, be a compelling
reason to join. Mike also noted that there are similar organisations
that have an excellent international reputation for research and
learning but do not grant undergraduate degrees (e.g. The Architectural
Association http://www.aaschool.ac.uk grant diplomas at the
undergraduate level) Joss noted that the original medieval universitas
was a place wherever teachers and students met. A 'university' can
therefore be defined by its members.

We agreed that we need to develop a very clear statement for prospective
students on what the SSC offers to them. This would need to be developed
following a clear statement inviting academics to join the SSC has been
sent out.

Joss pointed out that because of the governance model we hope to adopt
(non-hierarchical, consensus based), the offering of the SSC will be in
the hands of all its members, once the formal governance structure is in
place. At this stage, there is a need to create the governance structure
and attract members who support the basic principles of the SSC.

Gary said that he thought some of his current students were the type of
students we might expect to join the SSC. He said that his students (FE
college with some HE provision) were very disgruntled with what is
happening in HE and the wider economy at the moment and that they often
don't see the point in continuing along the established route. He
thought that they'd be willing and interested in doing something
different. Joss said that in previous discussions with people, the SSC
appealed more to potential post-graduates rather than undergraduates.

Nigel thought we should consider what resources the SSC needs:
Academics, students, access to books, articles, IT provision, premises.

Joss said that the University Library can be used by non-university
members, including book loans on special cases. It may be that SSC
members could have special access to the University of Lincoln library
with facilities to borrow books, etc. Joss will look into this further.
We also need to make contact with the Lincoln public library, who
provide Internet Access and a book search service.

On the subject of IT, we agreed that much of the necessary IT is now
ubiquitous and that academics and students are likely to own their own
devices. Joss assured everyone that a central IT provision could be
provided at little cost. Mike emphasised that the SSC was not a distance
learning provision, but was very much tied to place and academics and
students meeting face-to-face, supported by the use of technology. He
also said that depending on income at the SSC, some students might be
able to receive a netbook, etc. if required.

Joss emphasised the need to work to a tight schedule if we are to hold
classes in the autumn term 2011. We need to first invite academics and
non-student members, then advertise for students, recruit students and
develop outline curricula prior to October. Nigel questioned whether it
was necessary to work to the traditional academic timetable as many
academics have more time over the holiday periods and are under less
pressure.

On the subject of premises, we agreed that the Mint Lane building where
we met was highly suitable, but noted that the long-term lease has not
been decided. It is owned by the County Council and a decision is being
made very soon about whether to grant a 12 month extension to the lease.
If this is granted, the users of the building (there are a number of
local community groups that use the building), would need to develop a
business case for holding the lease and even then, the Council could
decide to use it for other purposes or sell it. Charles said that he has
discussed the SSC with the Executive of the Lincolnshire Co-operative
Group (among other potential supporters) and that there is an interest
in supporting the SSC and they will get back to us about how they might
help. The Lincolnshire Co-op Group also hold a large number of
properties, including shops, in the city and might be keen to lease one
at very low cost. The Croft Street Community Centre also has rooms
available to rent for low cost. The Co-operative Group also have
'training rooms' available which we might be able to use on Tentercroft
Street. Joss noted that it was important to find a premises (like that
on Mint Lane), where the SSC can establish itself, rather than use
multi-purpose rooms. He said it was important to establish and develop a
sense of identify and place for the SSC and for that we need premises
that we can be identified with. Joss said that Andrew, a keyholder for
the Mint Lane building, is currently doing an 'audit' of potential
alternative properties for his community group and we should work together.

We then discussed membership of the SSC. Who do we initially want to
invite to become members of the SSC? It was agreed that the SSC would
benefit from a diverse range of academics, rather than simply creating a
Centre for academics who shared any one political position. The politics
of the SSC would be defined by the way we organise ourselves, not by the
specific subject matter we teach.

We then moved on to discuss the writing of a letter to invite academics
to join. It was agreed that we should aim to invite a large number of
people, locally, nationally and internationally. The idea being that not
all will join and that we should aim to attract even the very best
academics working in the Social Sciences, including the 'big names'.
Mike and Joss explained their idea, that some members may wish to
support the SSC as 'silent members', simply to support the objectives of
the SSC. Others may be able able to act as external examiners, receiving
one or two papers a year to mark. Others may wish to take a more active
role in the running of the SSC. Some academics in the social sciences
might soon be unemployed and wish to become members of the SSC so as to
continue teaching. It was agreed that we should compile a list of around
100 academics to invite to join the SSC. Joss will set up an online
document for people to contribute names to.

Concurrent with this, we agreed that a letter needs to be drafted. In
the first instance, we should aim to send it to academics working in HE.
Membership is open to anyone, but receiving the membership of university
academics is most urgent at this stage so as to clearly define our
offering to potential students. Also, the website needs developing to
show who its members are (biogs, pictures, etc.) and also a form for
students and academics to join. Membership fees will be based on income
ranging from £0 to £300/yr (or more?) We also questioned whether we
should send out a preliminary invitation to join and ask for a pledge.
However, it was generally felt that we need to send out a full letter of
invitation with a convenient method to join and pay there and then.
Therefore, the SSC needs a bank account and to be formally set up as a
co-op first.

We discussed what the SSC would provide. Would it also be a place for
skill sharing, etc. Joss and Mike both said that they intended the SSC
to focus specifically on the provision of higher education although
accept that will eventually be the decision of all members. It was
agreed that at this stage, it is important to focus on higher education
and do it well.

It was agreed that the drafting of a letter would be done online and
that members of the discussion list would be encouraged to help write it.

We then moved on to discuss the setting up of the SSC as a co-op and
governance in general.

Charles said that having listened to our meeting (and having met with
Mike and Joss previously and read our statement of intent), he thought
that we should initially set up an unincorporated co-operative. This
would reduce the level of admin required and although it would mean that
members would be liable for the SSC (i.e. not limited liability), we
have very little to insure ourselves against and there are no paid staff
either. This can be changed at any time in the future, but offers a
simple way to set up and begin.

We discussed the different between a 'workers' co-op' and a 'consumer
co-op'. Charles said that there is no such distinction in law and that
arguably, we are neither of these. He said it is is more important to
develop a well defined constitution which details the governance
structure we wish to have, our statement of intent and objectives.

We also need to define the types/qualifications of membership and
whether we wish to have a management group or whether there should be a
flat structure. There was a strong agreement among us that we should
have a flat structure, based on consensus decision making among all
members. Charles said that the Wholefood company, SUMA, work this way,
with  all decisions made by consensus, everyone receiving the same pay,
and a rotation of responsibilities rather than fixed posts. We agreed
that this was our preferred model.

It was agreed that Joss would be the main point of contact for Charles
while setting up the SSC as a co-op and that all decisions would first
be sent to the discussion list for comment.

The meeting ended at 8pm.

=================

Joss, Mike, Richard, Gary, David and Richard then went to the pub where
we discussed matters further.

We talked about the types of membership and whether membership fees
should be fixed to income or profession (i.e. a Prof. pay £300-500/year,
a lecturer pays £100-200/yr, low/no income pays £0/yr, etc.) I think we
felt that its best for people to provide a self-assessment of their
income and choose the membership payment themselves.

One way of thinking about the money we need is to think about what we
need it for. Mike thought that maybe we will need to establish a paid
admin post before too long.

We talked about getting the website developed so that people can join.
Richard said that he'd contact Jennifer Jones and Steve Thomas, who are
on the discussion list and have offered to help with it.

We need to develop some example 'offerings' so that people can get an
idea of what they might get out of the SSC. This will partly be defined
by the academics and other members that join. We therefore need to make
sure that the membership form asks people what they can offer to the SSC.

After a couple of drinks we left the pub.
=============

So, there you have it. Our first proper meeting. I hope these notes have
been useful and stimulate you to pick up one or two issues for
discussion here on this list. Also, if you were present at the meeting
and think my notes are inaccurate, please do tell us.

There is a need to focus on the letter of invitation to academics in HE
initially. Once we get the widespread support of members, this will help
define what the SSC can offer and what it might become (it will also
give us a lot of encouragement to make this thing work).

I'll send a note to the list soon about how we can jointly author the
letter and list of invites. Please do speak out about anything mentioned
above.

Cheers
Joss