Coordinating Committee
Meeting
The meeting was
chaired by Dr Alex White and attended by:
Mr Grigson, the Senior Bursar, gave the following response to
the JCR’s response to the proposed charges.
Basic principles
of Peterhouse finance:
Information Provided by College
The college is
starting work on a new Undergraduate Handbook, which might possibly be out by
this Michaelmas, and will definitely appear by some
point within the next academic year. It will contain information on rooms and
charges, bills, etc. Currently, information is available via the Freshers’ pages, stewards notices
and the little blue book entitled ‘College Regulations’. (It was later admitted
that the Freshers’ pages do not exist anymore, but
the relevant information will be made available later, and will be publicised
accordingly. Dr Pattenden will see to this.) A first
draft of the Handbook will be sent to the JCR for approval before publication.
It will be distributed to all
students, not just freshers.
If students have any queries, they should email the
Bursar directly or sort it out with the College Office. The Bursar welcomes
such emails. (His email address is: bursar@pet.cam.ac.uk.)
List of Room Rents
The annual list of
rents given by the Bursar to the Rooms Committee is always final. If anyone wants a personal copy, the Bursar will give his rent spreadsheet to anyone who emails him and asks
for it.
Signouts
The college has
already made many changes to the signouts system. The
‘catchup’ concept for signouts
has been put in place, and next year it will be analysed to see if it does
actually help. The link between the penalty charge and formal hall price has
been cut. The price of formal hall has been pushed up at a slower rate, and the
takeup has been encouragingly good, so everything is
OK here. Not everything has been pushed exactly in line with annual increases
because round numbers are easier to deal with.
The graduate
system is very different (it is done on a ‘pound basis’).
So don’t compare the two!
The Bursar is willing to let Superhalls
count as signouts. However this does not extend to special meals, as they
involve only a small group of people and don’t really promote college
interaction, which is the point of the signout rule.
Corkage
The proposal to implement corkage was accepted. The corkage charge needs to be roughly the
same amount as the profit on each bottle (else the deficit goes up again).
Currently, the profit is £1.00 – £1.50 per bottle. So a
corkage of £1.25 (roughly) should be fine.
Heating
Why do we need a surcharge?
In 2004/05 we had
contract protection from price rises, leading to a stepped cost. Gas and
electricity prices went up nationwide by 90% during this period. Between last Michaelmas and setting rents, the contracts were all
renegotiated and the hike was 100%. Since then the cost has gone even higher,
although we are currently protected in the short-term. The Bursar sent out a
note at the beginning of Michaelmas term asking
students to conserve electricity and warning that a surcharge may be imposed.
The increase in
annual college costs has been more than £100,000 – such a large number, that it
cannot be ignored. According to the taxman, 55% of costs should relate to Junior
Members. This would equate to £55,000 distributed among 265 undergraduates and
about 100 graduates, i.e. £150 each.
Alternatives to a
surcharge don’t work:
(Also, note that
rent increases this year have been relatively low.)
More than £100,000
has been invested in upgrading library and
The College has
decided that £50 is the most they can reasonably charged students; it will be
done in two instalments of £25.
Why a flat charge?
First reason:
Simplicity.
Also, College is
asking for £50 instead of £150. This is such a discount that the Bursar thought
small variations between students would not matter very much. Anyone caught out
on a hardship basis can talk to his/her Tutor.
However, the
Bursar is happy to consider levying the charge based on room size (e.g. 2.5% of
rent plus £25), since larger rooms tend to consume more electricity. This
decision is left to the JCR.
Communication with Undergraduates
The Coordinating
Committee feels that it is the JCR’s job to provide information and report back
to undergraduates on the matters discussed. However the Bursar is open to
emails from undergraduates on any relevant matter.
Electricity
The method of
calculating electricity charges has historically been very inefficient, and
what students are paying is quite far away from the real cost. In one
staircase, the electricity meter was accelerating.
The idea that WSB
electricity bills are disproportionately high is an urban myth. Many people in WSB have bills of £5 – 10; only around
six people have huge bills. But a comparison of bills for the same room last
year and this year shows that it is indeed a matter of personal preference –
some people had huge electricity bills this year but their predecessors had
small bills.
The Bursar is always happy to receive emails about
electricity charges.
The Bursar will
investigate the situation further, so there are likely to be some changes soon.
He is considering the idea of switching to a flat charge for all undergraduates
to eliminate costs associated with checking and maintaining electricity meters.
The Bursar also noted that graduate rent increases are
much lower because they all pay on time and are all paying on direct debit,
thus saving College many thousands of pounds a year.
Compiled by Sean
Lip
JCR Secretary and
Communications Officer 2006