YSTV Policy

Revision as of 00:29, 29 April 2020 by Caroline.pv (talk | contribs) (AGM 2020)

Introduction

York Student Television (often referred to as YSTV) is a student media group based at the University of York which provides a television service to the staff and students of the University. Its purpose and main rules are found in its Constitution. This document outlines the day-to-day operating procedure of the media group, and should be read within the context of both the current Media Group Constitution and with the constitution of YUSU (the University of York Students’ Union, at yusu.org).

Terms and Definitions

  1. YSTV is an abbreviation of York Student Television.
  2. YUSU is an abbreviation of University of York Students’ Union.
  3. YUM is an abbreviation of York University Media, the informal collection of media groups at the University of York.
  4. AGM and EGM are abbreviations of Annual General Meeting and Extraordinary General Meeting respectively.
  5. The terms “YSTV” and “the Media Group” refer to YSTV’s membership as a whole.
  6. An “Officer” is a member of YSTV elected to a named position concerned with the running of YSTV.
  7. The “Committee” is a subset of the Officers, defined as those roles specified in the Constitution. Committee members have certain powers and responsibilities, as laid down in the Constitution and Policy, which exceed those of the remaining Officers defined in the Policy.
  8. “The Station” refers to the rooms occupied by YSTV that are used for the production of television programmes.
  9. “Facilities” refers to all of the rooms and equipment owned or occupied by YSTV.
  10. “The Studio” is the room within the Station used for the set of television programmes.
  11. “The Control Room” is the room within the Station which holds the electronic and computer equipment used in the production of programmes, YSTV’s server system and the editing stations.
  12. “The Tech Cupboard” (formerly known as “The Workshop”) is the room within the Station used for maintenance and storage of equipment.
  13. “In writing” means either a printed or handwritten document, which must be signed in person, or an email, or a formal message in Slack.
  14. “OB” is an abbreviation of Outside Broadcast. Any live programme produced outside of the Studio is considered an Outside Broadcast.
  15. Any piece of video is referred to as a work. This includes anything produced by YSTV, shown on YSTV or being considered for showing on YSTV.
  16. An idea for a potential future work is a concept.
  17. A YSTV Production is a work or concept which has been ratified by YSTV (see 3.2).
  18. A programme is a work of televisual content that has been or will be produced by YSTV.
  19. An episode is a specific instance of a serial programme.
  20. A producer is a person who takes overall control of producing a work, accepting responsibility for one or more Productions.
  21. An Executive Producer oversees and takes responsibility for a Production that includes a subset of more than one producer running the Production on a day-to-day basis.
  22. An Ordinary Member is any member of YSTV that does not hold a formal position within YSTV.
  23. ‘A show of hands’ is a vote where all ordinary members present are required to vote (by raising their hands at the appropriate point) either in favour of the motion, against the motion, or abstain from the vote. Any member directly affected by the outcome of the vote (e.g, producers when ratifying a production) must not be present for the vote. The motion shall be passed if there are more votes in favour than against.
  24. Computing Service refers to an aspect of YSTV’s computing software and equipment.

Rules and Regulations

  1. YSTV shall conduct its affairs in accordance with the YUSU Media Charter. It is the Station Director’s responsibility to uphold this (see 5.6).
  2. Further to the above, YSTV shall conduct its affairs without discrimination on the grounds of gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or any other basis. Any member who feels that discrimination has occurred should contact the Station Director or YUSU Welfare Officer.
  3. YSTV shall be guided by the ITC Programme Code, the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP Code), the NUS Student Media Guide and by the NUJ Code of Conduct.
  4. No member of YSTV shall be liable for any loss, damage or misfortune which may be incurred by YSTV during any YSTV business. However, this does not affect their liability for the consequences of any wilful misconduct or negligent act on their part.
  5. A decision may be taken by an Admin Meeting (or, in an emergency, by a Team Leader) to withdraw the use of any YSTV facilities from a member if it is decided that the Constitution has been or would have been breached. Any action taken by a Team Leader under this provision must be reported to and ratified by the next Admin Meeting.
  6. Key-card Access to the Station may be allocated to Ordinary Members at the discretion of the Station Meeting. The holding of key-card access to the Station, including that held by Team Leaders, can be removed by a majority vote at an Admin Meeting. Unauthorised holding of a key-card may be grounds for disciplinary action involving YUSU, the University or the Police.
  7. All members of YSTV are required to abide by the Station’s Health and Safety Procedure and Computing Policy. Failure to do so may result in ejection from the Station. It is the responsibility of the member who signed out the key to make sure that visitors are aware of, and abide by, these rules.
  8. All members of YSTV are to treat individually-owned equipment (equipment or items owned by one or more members that have been temporarily entrusted to YSTV) with special care, although YSTV will not be held accountable for insurance, damage or loss to these items, unless these occur due to wilful misconduct or negligence, where in this case the member responsible for the damage is responsible (refer to 3.4)

Membership

In addition to the types of membership in the constitution, Honorary membership may be conferred upon anyone by means of a majority vote at an Admin Meeting. It may also be withdrawn by majority vote at an Admin Meeting, but the member in question should receive at least three days’ notice, by email, of the impending vote. Honorary members do not pay a subscription. They may not serve as Officers and have no voting rights at a Admin Meeting.

Officers

  1. All Officers have a responsibility to uphold the YSTV Constitution and Policy and to carry out their duties as defined by the Constitution and Policy.
  2. All Officers are to ensure that all visitors to YSTV are aware of and abide by YSTV’s Health and Safety Policy and Computing Policy.
  3. All Officers have a right of access to the Station via the key list, and key-card access to the Station; and have a right to an official YSTV email address.
  4. All Officers are expected to keep members up to date on station occurrences under their responsibility where necessary, orally in an Admin Meeting, or through another relevant medium.
  5. All Officers are responsible for organising and providing adequate training of new and existing members in areas relating to the Team to which they belong.
  6. Officers must resign if they take office in Parliament or a sabbatical position within YUSU.
  7. The activities of YSTV have been divided into four distinct areas. Each area has a Team of members associated with it, and each Team consists of one or more Officers and any other interested members.
    1. The Administration Team are responsible for the maintenance of YSTV’s records, both secretarial and financial, YSTV’s branding and other general administrative matters.
    2. The Production Team are responsible for overseeing all in-house productions, seeking and producing new commercial productions and any rebroadcasting of third party material.
    3. The Technical Team are responsible for the technical operations of YSTV, the maintenance of YSTV’s equipment, and liaison with other Officers of YSTV with respect to technical matters.
    4. The Computing Team are responsible for all computer and network equipment of YSTV, their operation, and maintenance.
  8. Within each Team, one officership is defined as the Team Leader. These positions are as follows:
      1. Station Manager (Leader of Admin Team);
      2. Production Director (Lead of Production Team);
      3. Technical Director (Lead of Tech Team);
      4. Computing Director (Lead of Computing Team).
    1. Team Leaders are responsible for coordinating the activities of their Team and YSTV’s functions within their remit, and report directly to the Station Director.
    2. Team Leaders are responsible for carrying out the duties of any vacant officerships within their Team.
    3. Team Leaders are advised to hold a Team meeting, open and publicised to all, at least once a term.
  9. No member may hold more than one Officership at any one time. After the AGM however, vacant posts may be covered by assigning the responsibilities of the post to another Officer. Otherwise, the responsibilities fall to the appropriate Team Leader.
    1. A delegate to a post is defined as an Officer who has been assigned the responsibilities of an otherwise unoccupied post.
    2. A post to which a delegate has been assigned is defined as a delegated post.
    3. The positions of Station Director and all Team Leaders are exempt from delegation. These posts must be held by a dedicated Officer. If the Team Leader post is vacant then the responsibility is shared as necessary between the Station Director, Station Manager, and the team Deputy.
    4. An Officer may only take on one delegated post in addition to their primary Officership.
    5. An Officer can be delegated to a post by a simple majority vote at an Admin Meeting. This vote occurs in the same way as a regular election and is open to all paid members. A show of hands vote is sufficient, although the Officer must leave the room and, as always, any present member may request a secret ballot, as described in section 9.
    6. Should another member (who does not hold an officership) wish to stand for the delegated post at a later date, a normal by-election should take place. The delegate to the post shall be required to relinquish the duties if the election decides in favour of the candidate, however if the election result is to reopen nominations, the delegate to the post shall continue their responsibilities.
    7. Any delegated posts will be reset at the AGM as with any normal officership.

Non-Committee Positions

  1. The following positions are available in the Media Group in addition to the Committee:
    1. Deputy Technical Director
      1. A member of the Technical Team.
      2. Responsible for assisting the Technical Director in their responsibilities, as directed by the Technical Director.
    2. Deputy Computing Director
      1. A member of the Computing Team.
      2. Responsible for assisting the Computing Director in their responsibilities, as directed by the Computing Director.
    3. Head of Commercial
      1. A member of the Production Team, although liaison with the Production Team is advised.
      2. Seek out new commercial productions;
      3. Assist the Production Director with assigning producers to commercial productions;
      4. Assist the Production Director in liaising with the Treasurer to manage and distribute contracts and invoices to third parties;
      5. Assist the Production Director and Head of Presentation in ensuring commercial productions are completed on time and to a good standard;
      6. To be responsible for uploading consistent social media posts at YSTV events by fulfilling these responsibilities themselves or delegating this responsibility to another member;
      7. Responsible for assisting the Production Director in their responsibilities, as directed by the Production Director.
    4. Head of Factual
      1. A member of the Production Team.
      2. Responsible for assisting the Production Director in their responsibilities with relation to factual content (excluding sport) as directed by the Production Director.
    5. Head of Scripted
      1. A member of the Production Team
      2. Responsible for assisting the Production Director in their responsibilities with relation to scripted content as directed by the Production Director.
    6. Head of Sport
      1. A member of the Production Team
      2. Responsible for assisting the Production Director in their responsibilities relating to sport, as directed by the Production Director.
      3. Being the first point of contact for York Sport or the York Sport President.
    7. Head of Archives
      1. A member of Admin Team.
      2. To manage the digitisation of materials, including video cassettes, photographs and paperwork.
      3. Ensure the secure storage of both digitised and original source materials.
      4. Has the ability to create a supporting team and to assign roles that they must coordinate.
      5. To work with the Computing Director and Head of Presentation to release digitised content on the website.
      6. Maintain the YSTV History Wiki; keeping information up-to-date; creating new articles respecting the online privacy of the station’s members.
  1. All paid members of YSTV are considered to be Ordinary Members.

YSTV Productions and Producers

  1. Any work/concept/production may be ratified by a vote of a Station Meeting.
  2. In the case of large OBs/event-based productions (e.g. YUSU Elections, Roses), two co-producers or at least one assistant producer are required. It is recommended that at least one (assistant) producer focuses on the technical aspects of the production, and at least one other (assistant) producer on the show's content.
  3. For a work/concept/production to be ratified it must have a named producer or two named producers and be approved by the Production Director or their deputy. The Station Director may also approve works/concepts/productions in exceptional circumstances.
  4. Before being ratified a new work/concept/production should be pitched at a Production Meeting and the members present offered the opportunity to ask questions or give suggestions to the producers. A vote of confidence may also be taken by show of hands, at the discretion of the Production Director or the Chair.
  5. A ratified YSTV Production is afforded the following facilities:
    1. Use of the Station’s Facilities including the Studio, Control Room, and technical equipment.
    2. Advertising to members via the use of the website’s calendar system and the weekly Media Group email (where the Station Director is given appropriate information and notice).
    3. Support from the Production Director and other officers as defined in their respective roles.
  6. On becoming a Producer, a member accepts the following responsibilities:
    1. To meet with relevant members to receive training on the relevant aspects of producing where needed before commencing production.
    2. To read and abide by the YSTV Constitution and Policy.
    3. Producers should regularly attend Production Meetings to provide updates on their production in the period that their production is active. If a producer doesn’t attend three Production Meetings in a row or there is no update for three Meetings in a row then the Production is to be seen as “inactive,” and to be removed from the production slides. (Note: Whilst “inactive” the production is still seen as “current”). At the request of the Producer to the Production Director, the Production can be made active again.
    4. Use of a YSTV domain account and corresponding email address, where necessary and requested, and any email aliases for the Production.
    5. An overall responsibility for the Production they are in charge of, making sure it is of a high standard and does not break the rules of YSTV’s or YUSU’s Constitution, or any applicable laws (e.g. copyright).
    6. To mark all programmes as a YSTV Production by the inclusion of the YSTV copyright slide at the end of each programme.
  7. It is expected that YSTV Producers will make efforts to liaise with the Production Director and the Head of Presentation as appropriate to develop their skills and produce high quality output, the Station Director regarding legal risk, and with the Technical Team to ensure that the facilities they need/request are feasible and available. In return they can expect to receive help and advice from these Officers in making and improving their Productions.
  8. A YSTV Production ceases to be recognised as current (and therefore the producer ceases to be a YSTV Producer) if no new programmes are made within one academic year of the University of York. Should the same individual or someone different wish to restart production at a later date, the concept must be re-ratified via the same procedures as for a new work/concept/p.
  9. Should a Producer wish to stand down and/or end a Production or pass on the role of Producer to another member, they should inform the Production Director or announce this at a Production Meeting.
  10. Any Production may also have any number of assistant producers. These members do not take on the overall responsibility for the show in terms of copyright and so on, but are expected to assist the main producer(s) in making the programmes, and are encouraged to attend Station Meetings.
  11. Productions with societies should be actively encouraged to improve the development opportunities offered to the members of YSTV. Mutually acceptable terms for these Productions should be negotiated on an individual basis, and a written agreement produced.
  12. Any complaints regarding YSTV Productions should be brought to the Station Director’s attention. These will then either be dealt with at a Station Meeting or on an informal level based on the Station Director’s judgement. If an individual feels that the Station Director has not or is unable to deal with the complaint sufficiently then they should contact the YUSU Student Activities Officer.
  13. Requests for the removal of a YSTV Production, or an episode of a Production, should be passed to the Station Director, and will be discussed at a Station Meeting based on whether there are legal or welfare grounds for its removal. A majority vote will decide whether the Production or episode is removed. If this is deemed insufficient then the YUSU Student Activities Officer should be contacted.
  14. Any non-commercial project made by YSTV has to be uploaded to our website.
  15. The computing and technical teams need to be informed at least 48 hours before any live broadcast.
  16. In extreme situations, the production may encounter exceptional circumstances resulting in the immediate cessation of the production.
    1. Such exceptional circumstances are as follows:
      1. The production poses immediate health and safety concerns to persons involved.
      2. The production involves the misuse of equipment and/or computing equipment.
      3. The production includes content damaging to YSTV’s image.
      4. The production poses serious ethical concerns which are potentially damaging to persons involved.
    2. In each event, the producer is expected to recognise the risk and cease the production. In the event they do not, the following members of committee have the ability to, as an executive decision, cease the production:
      1. For issues outlined in 16.1.1: Station Manager, Production Director, Station Director;
      2. For issues outlined in 16.1.2: Technical Director, Computing Director, Production Director, Station Director;
      3. For issues outlined in 16.1.3: Head of Presentation, Production Director, Station Director;
      4. For issues outlined in 16.1.4: Station Manager, Head of Presentation, Production Director, Station Director.
    3. Cessation is defined as the immediate halting of production, with equipment made safe and returned to the studio.
      1. For live broadcasts, this includes the immediate stoppage of the broadcast.
    4. The production may be reinstated at any time by the person responsible for the cessation, with the expectation that the issue has been resolved.
    5. If a person believes the cessation to have been unfair, they may appeal to the Station Director directly, but if this is not immediately revoked the appeal decision goes to the committee, with the possibility of the cessation being revoked if their appeal is upheld by a majority committee-only vote.

Computing Policy

  1. For any website maintenance that may affect availability of the website, the member responsible for the work must ensure that the website retains at minimum the same degree of functionality after maintenance as prior to maintenance, otherwise rollback the change or contact the Computing Team.
  2. Any Computing Service that isn’t public should be secured by an authentication mechanism.
  3. Anything that is exposed on the public internet should be secured by HTTPS.


Meetings

YSTV meetings (referred to as Station Meetings) shall be held weekly during the term time of the University of York. At least 24 hours of notice is required to be given to all members.

  1. All Officers are required to attend Admin Meetings, or present a verbal or written apology to the Secretary, Station Director, or their Team Leader, giving reasons for their absence.
  2. If an Officer does not attend, and fails to provide an apology, for three consecutive Media Group meetings, a vote of no-confidence may be taken in them, in accordance with the rules laid down in the constitution.
  3. The meeting shall ordinarily be chaired by the Station Director. In their absence, the person present who is highest in the following list shall chair the meeting:
    1. Station Director
  4. Station Manager
    1. Production Director
    2. Technical Director
    3. Computing Officer
    4. Treasurer
    5. Head of Marketing
    6. Head of Presentation
    7. Social Secretary
    8. Secretary
  5. There are two separate Station Meetings: the “Admin Meeting” and the “Production Meeting”. Matters likely of interest only to those involved in the running of YSTV should be brought to the Admin Meeting, though any member may attend if they wish. The separation from the Production Meeting is to allow those members only interested in production work (direct involvement in shows) to attend only the section that interests them and avoid topics such as the passing of budget funds.
  6. The specific format of Admin Meetings is at the discretion of the Chair, however it is advised that they include:
    1. Apologies for absence
    2. Elections for vacant posts
    3. Officer Reports and Questions
    4. Any other business
  7. The Chair of the meeting may be required to defer the Chair to the next available person on the above list if they are deemed to be unfit to chair the meeting or have a perceived conflict of interest in the matter under discussion. The decision to defer the Chair shall be taken by a simple majority vote.
  8. All binding decisions regarding the Media Group (except where explicitly described elsewhere in the Constitution) shall be passed by a simple majority vote of quoracy except the Chair of the meeting. Proxy votes (via a secure and sufficiently real-time method) are permitted in the case of unavoidably absent officers, agreed at the start of the meeting. Members may abstain, in which case their vote does not count towards either side. In the event of an even split, the Chair of the meeting shall have the casting vote. After the vote, the Chair should announce that the motion has been carried or defeated, and the results and voting figures noted in the Minutes.
  9. Quorum for a Station Meeting shall be 20% of the total number of media group members or 10 members of the media group, whichever is greater.
  10. Votes should ordinarily be taken by show of hands, but any member of YSTV present at the meeting may request a secret ballot. In this case, the ballot should be counted by the Chair, although the Station Manager, if present, might be asked to assist in the process. The results shall be recorded by the Secretary.
  11. The Secretary should circulate copies of the Minutes of all previous meetings that have not been previously circulated through an electronically publicly available platform to all members. The Minutes should be circulated to the membership within two days of the Station Meeting. A member may contest that the Minutes are a true and accurate record of the events of the meeting, and a vote may be taken to amend the document. If amended, the new minutes shall be circulated as above.
  12. The Media Group shall hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM) once per academic year, typically during week 3 of the Summer term. Ten days’ notice should be given in writing or by email to all members of the Media Group. The AGM has the full powers of an Admin Meeting and replaces it for that week.
  13. The outgoing Committee shall review the YSTV Constitution and Policy in advance of the AGM to determine if revisions are required to reflect current practice and conditions.
  14. The Admin Meeting may create (by majority vote) a working party to address specific matters. This must report to the Admin Meeting on request.

Elections

Annual YSTV elections take place in the week following the AGM to allow for appropriate time between meetings should any role definitions be updated. All YSTV officerships come up for election. The Officers shall serve from the end of the annual election until the end of the following annual election, subject to their resignation or being deprived of their officership by a vote of no confidence at an Admin Meeting.

  1. The Returning Officer shall be the Chair of the Station Meeting, as described above. They are entitled to vote in the elections or abstain as they wish. If the Returning Officer wishes to stand for an individual officership they must pass the Chair of the meeting to the Station Manager for the individual position. If both the Station Manager and Returning Officer are standing for the same position, the duty of Returning Officer for the position passes to the next most senior position.
  2. Only paid members of YSTV are eligible to stand.
  3. Candidates for Officer positions must have read the YSTV Constitution and Policy before standing for election.
  4. If more than one position is up for election, they will be decided in seniority order:
    1. Station Director
    2. Station Manager
    3. Production Director
    4. Technical Director
    5. Computing Director
    6. Secretary
    7. Treasurer
    8. Head of Marketing
    9. Head of Presentation
    10. Social Secretary
    11. Head of Factual
    12. Head of Scripted
    13. Head of Commercial
    14. Head of Sport
    15. Deputy Technical Director
    16. Deputy Computing Director
    17. Head of Archives
  5. All candidates shall be invited to give a speech, which is not longer than two minutes for Committee positions, other than Station Director, which would have a maximum of three minutes. For all other officerships they would have a maximum of one minute to speak. During each speech other candidates for the same officership shall be excluded from the room. Candidates should be invited to give speeches in alphabetical order by surname. When all of the candidates have given their speech, the candidates shall return to answer questions put to them jointly. The order of answering shall be determined by the Chair. Those running for a position are excluded from voting on said position.
  6. Voting in all elections shall be by secret ballot, according to the Single Transferrable Vote system, with the addition of an option to reopen nominations (commonly known as RON). However, if there is only one candidate standing for an officership, a vote of confidence may be taken by show of hands, with the candidate excluded from the room.
  7. Only paid members of YSTV present at the meeting are eligible to vote. An exception may be made, at the discretion of the Chair, to allow paid members to vote remotely in real-time via a secure connection.
  8. The Returning Officer may release the voting figures with the consent of all the candidates, or by request of a majority of two-thirds of the membership present at the meeting.
  9. Any candidate who is elected to an officership shall be deemed to have resigned at the end of the meeting from any other officership that they may hold in YSTV. Their new officership commences from the end of the meeting.

Equipment for External Filming

  1. Live broadcasts from locations external to the Station must be authorised and coordinated by the OB Coordinator and Head of Presentation.
  2. Any person taking equipment from the Station for YSTV business is responsible for returning the equipment and restoring it to its original state at the request of the Technical Team. This includes both booking out equipment online and signing cameras out on the Equipment Sheet.
  3. Before taking any equipment off campus, the equipment must be booked out online and signed out.

Equipment Loans

  1. If any member of YSTV removes any equipment, it must be signed out on an Equipment Borrowing Form, and either registered in the Bookings system or (where it is unbookable) known to an Officer. When it is returned, the form must be signed by a member of YSTV to state that the equipment has been returned in the same condition as when it was lent out. The member who has borrowed the equipment is responsible for the equipment and also for returning it to its original state.
  2. Technical test equipment may not be borrowed from YSTV for non-YSTV purposes without the consent of the Technical Director. The above procedures listed under Equipment Borrowing must also be followed.
  3. YUSU societies may borrow equipment providing that full responsibility is taken for its safe and timely return (normally within 24 hours), and it is signed out by a Team Leader, and passed at a Station Meeting beforehand. Before equipment is lent out the Commercial Director should be consulted regarding charges.
  4. Any person or group making use of YSTV equipment for non-YSTV purposes should be charged according to fees laid down by the Commercial team.
  5. It is the responsibility of the borrower to protect the YSTV equipment in their care. In the event of damage to YSTV equipment while on loan not covered by insurance, the borrowing party will be charged for the repair or replacement of the damaged equipment. This charge may be reduced or waived by majority vote at a Station Meeting.

Station Keys

  1. YSTV keys and access to the Station are the responsibility of the Station Manager.
  2. The key list is a list of YSTV members who are allowed to withdraw a key to the Station (the “Porters’ Key”), which is held by James Porters. The list may be accessed at any time at ystv.co.uk/keys. Anyone not on the key list will not be allowed to borrow this key. On borrowing the key, the member must sign the porters’ key form and their university card must be left with the porters as a deposit. The member is then responsible for looking after the key, securing and locking the Station when they leave, and returning the key. Key holders should also be on this list.
  3. All officers of YSTV should be on the key list. The Station Director or Station Manager may add any member to the key list. The Station Director is responsible for maintaining the list and members are advised to contact the Station Director or Station Manager if they would like to be added to the list.
  4. The Station Director may remove any member from the key list for reasons including, but not limited to, breaking rules laid down in YSTV’s Constitution or Policy. If a key holder is removed, their key must also be returned to the Station. This may be appealed against at a Station Meeting.
  5. Ordinary members who wish to temporarily hold a key to fulfil a role should consult the relevant Team Leader for that role (e.g. for an editing project, consult the Production Director). The team leader will, at their discretion, bring the request to a Station Meeting to be voted upon. Any terms of the key being held (i.e. to be returned after the project is completed) must be mentioned at the Station Meeting and minuted.
  6. All key holders must pay a £5 deposit, which is refundable upon return of the key.
  7. The Station Director or Station Manager may propose at a Station Meeting to cut new keys for the Media Group in the event that too few are available. Upon passing a vote, it is the Station Manager’s responsibility to see it done and distribute/store the new keys.
  8. Any member found to have duplicated a YSTV key will be asked to surrender it to the Media Group. If a Station key is not surrendered after a formal request, disciplinary action may be taken in conjunction with YUSU, the University, or the Police.

Purchases

  1. All agreed purchases made on behalf of the Media Group will be refunded to the purchaser from the Media Group’s YUSU grant or Own Funds account upon completion and submission of a claim form to the Treasurer.
  2. All production purchases up to and including the value of £20 must be authorised by at least two Officers other than the purchaser, in addition to a signatory of the YSTV account. Verbal authorisation should be reinforced by a confirmation email.
  3. All production purchases above the value of £20 must be brought to a Station Meeting and passed by majority vote. Where a station meeting cannot take place in a timely fasion, the purchase may be made with the consent of a majority of the Committee, including the Treasurer.
  4. Purchases for the benefit of YSTV’s infrastructure (primarily that maintained by the Technical and Computing teams under the Repairs and Renewals budget) shall be subject to the same policy but with a raised limit of £50.

The Station

The Station must not be entered by any student without the presence of a member whose name is on the key list.

  1. The producer of a programme is responsible for the tidiness of the Station at the end of that programme. All members of YSTV are responsible for ensuring that the Station is kept tidy, and is a safe place to be.
  2. Any person choosing to eat or drink in the Station becomes fully responsible for any damage caused to any equipment as a result. See item 14 for regulations regarding alcohol. The privilege to eat in the Station may be removed by any team leader for an individual or as a whole, due to continued failure to clean up after oneself.
  3. The Technical Director may withdraw any item of YSTV’s equipment from use for technical maintenance or repair. This may be questioned at a Station Meeting.
  4. All members are responsible for placing their rubbish into the bins provided. All members of YSTV are responsible for ensuring that the litter bins within YSTV are emptied. This is to be coordinated by the Station Manager in liaison with the University cleaning service.
  5. The Station Manager is responsible for ensuring that all items owned by YSTV are insured and for maintaining a list of this equipment.
  6. Upon entrance to the Station, it is the responsibility of the key holders present (including the member who has signed out the Porters’ Key) to ensure that all persons within the Station abide by the policy defined here for the use of YSTV.
  7. Only those persons associated with the activities of the television service are permitted to make use of the Station.
  8. No fewer than two people can occupy the Station if work is to be carried out on the internals of any mains-powered equipment.
  9. Any member changing stream output away from the Video Server becomes responsible for all output until the Video Server is returned to stream. The director of a live show is ultimately responsible for its content.
  10. No modification is to be made to the structure of the station, and no University-owned furniture is to be removed without the prior consent of the James College administrator.
  11. No smoking is permitted within the Station.
  12. The consumption of alcoholic beverages within the Station is forbidden. However a reasonable quantity of alcohol (less than 2 units) may be consumed within the Studio in front of a camera for the purposes of broadcast. Where possible it is advised that a substance similar in appearance (e.g. apple juice) is substituted.
  13. Anyone in a state of intoxication must be excluded from the Station by the member who has signed out the key and is therefore responsible at the time.
  14. On no account is the Station to be used for the purpose of sleeping.
  15. Upon leaving the Station the RCD-protected power circuits (1, 2, 3, 4) must be switched off, unless any power equipment which must temporarily remain on, e.g. that being used for stream output; the window must be closed; and all doors locked.

External Websites

  1. The Computing Team are ultimately responsible for all online accounts held by YSTV on external websites. The passwords may be requested by any Team Leader or by the Station Director.
  2. Any member of the YSTV officership, including non-Committee roles, may request the account details of YSTV’s social media accounts from the Commercial Director. The granting of these details may be refused by the Commercial Director, Computing Officer, or Station Director if they feel the individual in question should not be allowed access. At a Team Leader’s discretion, they may provide details or access to a trusted Ordinary Member in order for them to perform a specific role in a Production (e.g. Social Media Coordinator for an Outside Broadcast).
  3. Any show may request publicity on one of YSTV’s social media accounts by means of the Social Media submission form on the YSTV website. The response to the request is the responsibility of the Commercial Team.
  4. Any show may create an account with a social media website or similar service, however this shall be coordinated with the Commercial Team, and the access details shall be stored on file by the Computing Officer. Accounts for YSTV shows must acknowledge their connection to YSTV and link to YSTV’s official account on the relevant service or YSTV’s website.
  5. Passwords for all external accounts should be changed at the end of each AGM, and contact details should be checked to ensure they are not locked to an address that no longer exists or is no longer associated with the Media Group.
  6. Media Group accounts created with any organisation or website must be registered to a position-named email address (e.g. station.director@ystv.co.uk) or a dedicated alias (e.g. news@ystv.co.uk), not a personal YSTV email address.
  7. Publishing any content on websites other than YSTV’s own on behalf of the Media Group or a Production must be coordinated with the Commercial Team. Publishing or re-publishing YSTV programmes on other services must not take place before the initial release of the content on the YSTV website. All content published on-demand by YSTV (on ystv.co.uk and external sites) must include license information, preferably in the form of a relevant version of the standard licence slide graphic.
  8. In the case of co-productions, terms of publication and re-publication will be defined in the Production Agreement.
  9. Embedding YSTV content does not require permission, and the embed code for videos is freely available on the video page. A separate credit and link back to ystv.co.uk is required.

The Constitution

  1. It is the Secretary and Computing Officer’s joint responsibility to ensure that whenever the Constitution is amended, the out of date copies are destroyed or marked as invalid, and that a new edition is published.
  2. The Media Group Constitution should be on display prominently within the Station, and also made available in electronic form on the Media Group’s website.
  3. The Secretary should also ensure that YUSU hold an up-to-date copy of the Media Group Constitution.

The Policy

  1. The Media Group Policy sets out the rules, regulations, and procedures governing the day-to-day use of the Media Group’s facilities and equipment. It covers matters such as equipment loans, production guidelines, charges for commercial services, safety, security, purchasing, and other such matters.
  2. Amendments to the Policy should be discussed at a Station Meeting and may be voted on by a simple majority vote of those members present at the meeting.
  3. It is the Secretary and Computing Officer’s joint responsibility to ensure that whenever the Policy is amended, the out of date copies are destroyed or marked as invalid, and that a new edition is published.
  4. The Media Group Policy should be on display prominently within the Station, and also made available in electronic form on the Media Group’s website.