EB'99 Academic Staff

Academic Enterprise Bargaining Group Protocols

Meetings

The frequency of meetings of the group shall be as determined between the respective team leaders. Meetings should not normally exceed a maximum of three (3) hours.

Agenda

The agenda shall be set by the two team leaders and shall be distributed to all members of the Group at least one week prior to each meeting.

Minutes

The Secretary of the Group will take the minutes of the meeting. A draft copy of the minutes will be distributed by the Secretary to Group members within one week of the meeting.

Group member's responsibilities

All Group members shall carry out their duties in a responsible and conscientious manner and comply with the University's Code of Conduct for Employees and other related policies. Members shall:

· Be punctual
· Objectively represent the interests and opinion of any constituents
· Respect each member
· Criticise ideas rather than people
· Question and participate
· Listen constructively
· Be open to constructive feedback
· Seek to resolve areas of dispute
· Forward apologies to the facilitator if unable to attend meetings
· Come to meetings prepared having read the minutes of the previous meeting
· Study the agenda beforehand and be prepared to contribute briefly, clearly and perhaps with illustrations
· Encourage and assist constituents to submit agenda items
· Provide explanations of items recorded in the minutes
· Brief constituents as required.

The Role of the Facilitator

There shall be a facilitator appointed at the beginning of each meeting of the Group. The facilitator shall alternate each meeting between the two teams. The role of the facilitator is to ensure that the meeting runs smoothly and that the agenda items are dealt with. The facilitator shall:

· Make sure that the minutes are being taken
· Set the finishing time for the meeting
· Be attentive to what is happening in the meeting
· Encourage participation and make sure that everyone gets a say
· Make sure that only one person is talking at a time
· Keep discussion to the point
· Regularly summarise the discussion on each item and point out areas of agreement and disagreement
· Keep the meeting moving and keep a check on the time
· Be assertive about their role as facilitator to make the meeting run smoothly
· Not get bogged down in personality clashes
· Remain part of the Group and should participate in discussions
· Be a fair facilitator, remembering that everyone must leave the meeting feeling that they have had a fair hearing.

The Role of the Secretary

The role of the Secretary is to ensure that Group members are provided with all the information necessary to fulfil their role. The Secretary shall:

· Ensure that minutes accurately reflect decisions/recommendations made by the Group
· Ensure all information provided is accurate and timely
· Compile and circulate an agenda and supporting materials for each meeting
· Compile and circulate minutes of each meeting
· Draft correspondence or other documentation as requested by the facilitator
· Ensure that all group minutes, agenda and other papers are kept in accordance with the University's policy.

Confidentiality

Generally speaking, whilst decisions made by Group are usually made public or passed on to other committees or staff, comments by individual committee members should remain confidential to the Group.