JCR Meeting 2020-05-04
Setting: On zoom. EAM and AW have matching Cuth’s bar backgrounds. JR gets asked to take his top off. SWC does a fantastic charade of Sharknado to show how uncultured CG is.
EMM gives an update on her blister, that still hasn’t healed after 4 weeks.
Voting on all motions will be done online.
Present: JC (Vice-President), TP, EMM (President), EAM (Student Trustee), RJ (FCO), SWC (Chair), PA, XR, WE (Stool), BT (JRO), BC (Welfare Campaigns), SM (PGM Chair), AC (Sports & Societies Chair), JR (Facilities Manager), TB, SA (Outreach Chair), JS (Working Class Students’ Rep), DT (Student Trustee), KM (Finance Comm), CG (Communications Officer), MF, AJ (Librarian), ES (Senior Welfare Officer), AB (PG International Rep), AW (Music Rep), SG (JRO), CA (Year Out & Placement Rep), KB (JRO), EW (Social Comm), EBM, SP (SRO), HM (Assistant Ethnic Minorities Rep), LH (Assistant LGBT+ Rep), AL
Apologies: JW (PGM VP), JG (Welfare Campaigns Manager), SLP, HB (Welfare Campaigns), EO, AxJ, CP (Bailey Wardrobe Manager)
Absent:
Agenda
Motions
Election Calendar
Gym
Election Appeals
Musics Comm Reorganisation
Censure of AC Procedural
Elections
Method II
Local Students’ Rep
PGM Vice-President
PGM Treasurer
Bailey Wardrobe Manager
Assistant International Rep
Gym Manager
Transgender and Non-Binary Rep
Mature Students’ Rep
Postgraduate Rep
Method I
SRO
Head Frep
Welfare Campaigns Team Manager
Ethnic Minorities Rep
LGBT+ Rep
International Rep
Working Class Students’ Rep
Students with Disabilities Rep
DUCK Rep
Minutes of previous meeting
Passed on a general aye.
Correspondence
RJ
RJ: We’re hopefully getting campus card entry for the Fonteyn Music Room. It won’t cost the JCR anything. Hopefully that will make the system more efficient. We don’t know when it will be installed but hopefully soon.
Motions
Election Calendar
This JCR Notes
- That the election calendar has not been restructured from the top down for several years
- That many positions have been changed or created since the election calendar was last looked at as a whole
This JCR Believes
- That it is beneficial for elections to be well spaced throughout the year
- That there should be a logical structure behind the order of elections
- That the exec elections should occur before the rest of the method I elections
- That positions with greater responsibility should generally be elected earlier in the year
- That for positions of similar status, positions that are often highly contested should be earlier in the calendar than those which are less often contested
- That where possible, the calendar should allow unsuccessful candidates for a position to run for similar positions in later elections
This JCR Repeals
From the Positions in the JCR Order, Article 1:
- 3.12.1. Elected via: Method I, Meeting 2.2. (Librarian)
- 3.15.1. Elected via: Method I, Meeting 2.3. (Outreach Chair)
- 3.16.1. Elected via: Method I, Meeting 2.2. (PGM Chair)
- 3.17.1. Elected via: Method I, Meeting 2.3. (S&S Chair)
- 4.2.1. Elected via: Method I, Meeting 3.1. (SRO)
- 11.4.1. Elected via: Method II, Meeting 3.2. (Green Machine & Hires)
- 12.4.1. Elected via: Method II, Meeting 1.4 (Feast Manager)
- 15.2.1. Elected via: Method II, Meeting 3.2. (Year Abroad & Placement Rep)
- 17.2.1. Elected via: Method I, Meeting 3.1. (Environment Rep)
This JCR Orders
Positions in the JCR Order, Article 1:
- 3.12.1. Elected via: Method I, Meeting 2.3. (Librarian)
- 3.15.1. Elected via: Method I, Meeting 2.2. (Outreach Chair)
- 3.16.1. Elected via: Method I, Meeting 2.3. (PGM Chair)
- 3.17.1. Elected via: Method I, Meeting 2.2. (S&S Chair)
- 4.2.1. Elected via: Method I, Meeting 2.3. (SRO)
- 11.4.1. Elected via: Method II, Meeting 3.1. (Green Machine & Hires)
- 12.4.1. Elected via: Method II, Meeting 1.3 (Feast Manager)
- 15.2.1. Elected via: Method II, Meeting 3.1. (Year Abroad & Placement Rep)
- 17.2.1. Elected via: Method I, Meeting 3.2. (Environment Rep)
Proposer: JC
Seconder: SP
Discussion
JC: We’ve rearranged the election calendar from the top down following logical principles, because it hadn’t been done in a few years. We’ve tried to put positions with more responsibility earlier, and our next priority was to put positions that are generally more contested earlier. We’ve also tried to spread them our evenly across the year.
*No questions or amendments*
Gym
This JCR notes:
- The equipment in the gyms needs updating.
- £15,000 was previously approved to update the equipment.
- The JCR has a large amount in its reserves.
This JCR believes:
- Spending some more money on improving the gyms properly would be of benefit to the many Cuth’s members who use them.
- Spending another £5,000 would mean we could get most of the kit that was requested by students.
- Investment of this size is several years overdue.
- The equipment will last for a long time.
This JCR resolves:
- To spend no more than £5,000 on improvements to the Bailey and Parsons gyms.
Proposer: RJ
Seconder: JR
Discussion
RJ: Basically, we were looking into the costs of new gym materials. Last meeting, we approved a number that I’d made up. I now think it would be sensible to spend £5,000 more than that. We have the money for it and the gyms haven’t been invested in for a while.
CA: Is all this money to be spent on equipment?
RJ: Yes.
CA: Last year there was discussion about moving the gyms, has anything happened relating to that?
EMM: Yes, but a lot has changed because of covid-19. We were planning to move the weights gym to the new building at Parson’s Field. The new building now might not be built over summer. So hopefully that will happen in the next couple of years, but we shouldn’t wait on it.
AW: Could you give us an approximate figure for the reserves after this?
RJ: I don’t think it will change, because we have £120,000 in our reserves accounts. Because we’re still not spending as much as we can each year, I don’t think it will go below £110,000 after this year’s accounts close.
*No amendments*
Election Appeals
The JCR Notes
- That the formal means of appeal that currently exists only offers one appeal to the candidate and that to the Governance committee. There have been several cases of candidates asking Governance committee to reconsider their decisions. These appeals are currently discussed by the same members who voted on the initial decision.
The JCR Believes
- That creating an Appeals Tribunal would help make the process more democratic. Furthermore, it would help add external voices to Governance committee, who will bring a different and unique perspective to the Tribunal.
The JCR Orders
Election Appeals Order
- Appeals tribunal
1.1 There shall exist an Appeals Tribunal (The ‘tribunal’).
1.1.1 The Tribunal will convene to deliberate and rule on all appealed governance committee Election rulings. The decision of the Tribunal cannot be appealed and will be considered final.
1.2. The Tribunal will consist of-
1.2.1 President of the Society
1.2.2 Vice President
1.2.3 JCR Chair
1.2.4 Senior Returning Officer (SRO)
1.2.5 2x Student Trustees
1.2.6 2x Members of the executive committee
1.3 Selection procedure-
1.3.1 The members of the two Executive Committee positions on the Tribunal will be decided upon by the President of the Society via application.
1.3.2 The members of the two Student Trustee positions on the tribunal will be decided upon by the Vice-Chair of Trustees.
1.4 Meeting procedure
1.4.1 The Tribunal will be convened by the Senior Returning Officer at the earliest possible time after the appeal is submitted.
1.4.2 It shall be chaired by the Senior Returning Officer and Minuted by the Vice-President.
1.4.3 The Tribunal can overturn any decision made by the governance committee vis-à-vis the appeal with a simple majority vote (50%+1 vote).
Election Rules order
Article 1 Method 1 and Method 1 Presidential
5.1.3 Appeals tribunal
5.1.3.1 Any candidate can appeal Governance committee sanctions and rulings to the Appeals tribunal. The candidate must electronically submit an appeal to the SRO.
5.1.3.2 The SRO shall convene a meeting of the Tribunal as soon as possible. The tribunal has the power to amend, affirm or overturn any Governance committee decision vis-à-vis the appeal with a simple majority vote (50%+1%).
5.1.3.3 The Decision of the Appeals Tribunal cannot be overturned and or appealed
Proposer– SP
Seconder– JC
Discussion
SP: Basically, what was happening before with election disputes was gov comm would decide. If anyone wanted to appeal, it would come back to gov comm. That wasn’t particularly fair, so we wanted to offer an opportunity for other people to be involved in the appeal. So we’re introducing a tribunal with 2 students trustees, 2 exec members, VP, President, Chair and SRO, so it’s 4 gov comm members and 4 non-members, and decisions will be made based on a simple majority.
AW: I don’t think the 4-4 thing makes sense. Because someone from gov comm would need to change their mind. Does that not set up a difficult situation? All 3 student trustees would make it 5 vs 4.
SP: Part of the reason is that gov comm exists for this, has a lot of experience and understand the orders well, so we don’t want them to be minority. We expect a lot of people will appeal. If there are all 3 student trustees, then one might be on their year abroad.
AW: But the two exec members are chosen by the president, so couldn’t they pick people that agree with them?
SP: The president will pick them at the start of the year, and they’ll be the same exec members at each tribunal. So they can’t pick people who agree with them. I get your point about manipulations. The idea was that it would be good to get some fresh voices. It’s likely that gov comm could be swayed by outside voices with fresh arguments.
AW: Could it be 3 exec members then instead of 2? Having it 4-4 doesn’t make sense to me, in case there’s a deadlock.
SP: The way it’s written is that a 4-4 tie causes the appeal to fail. The intent was that gov comm would need to be persuaded otherwise, rather than it being a battle.
AW: But then gov comm can do what they want, and no one can override them if all 4 agree.
SWC: The idea is that if gov comm thought one thing and the others something else, that’s clearly a big issue. It’s very unlikely that there’ll be a 50:50 split at an appeal. It’s possible that there’s a conspiracy, but in general if 4 people from outside disagree with them, I think it’s unlikely that no one on gov comm would change their mind.
AW: If it was gov comm vs non gov comm, that’s a very dramatic situation, that we should probably address.
EAM: My worry about that situation is how we would resolve the situation. It feels like gov comm normally seems to form a consensus. If the main intent is to allow it be discussed more, then fair enough. But I don’t think this limits gov comm’s power. So what exactly do you want to achieve with this?
SP: The intent isn’t to limit gov comm’s power, because people are elected to gov comm with this mandate. The idea is to allow more voices into the room, to open the discussion further and hear more opinions. But ultimately it is gov comm’s job to handle this.
DT: What’s the point in having an appeals procedure if it might not change anything? Surely if gov comm disagrees with everyone else that suggests that there’s a problem with gov comm.
SWC: I struggle to see a situation where that arises, but I suppose theoretically it is possible.
SP: If there’ll be an amendment, I’m open to that. But could it be a third student trustee rather than exec member? Student trustees are generally less political and above day to day JCR politics.
DT: We are above the JCR.
*DT proposes an amendment that there are three students on the tribunal.*
AW: It could be an open position.
EAM: Also, a student trustee could be on a year abroad, and this will happen on a timeframe of hours. So maybe say that there’ll be a 5th person that’s either on the exec or a trustee?
EMM: I think that 3/3 trustees might end up with someone who doesn’t deal with it responsibility. But out of 13 exec members, it’s much easier to find 3 trustworthy people.
TP: Isn’t the point that the exec are chosen at the beginning of the year?
SWC: Yes, but it’s a bigger pool when they’re chosen.
EMM: Also, in terms of making sure everyone has unconscious bias training, it’s easier to ensure from 3/13.
AW: I would be in favour of it being an open position.
SWC: That requires a whole process of how they’re chosen, so maybe we should work that out afterwards. So we could either put in that there’ll be an independent person, or we can put it as an exec member.
AW: I would like to propose that it’s 3 exec members for now, so that this is functional. And we can change it at a later date if we want.
*AW proposes amendment that there will be 3 exec members on the tribunal*
JS: Would it be feasible for the third person to be a non-exec member that’s on the college advisory board? They’re removed from the exec but still have responsibilities in the college.
*JS proposes amendment to the amendment that the 5th person will be a non-exec member of CAB.*
AJ: Will these people not be very busy?
EMM: It’s no effort.
*Amendment to amendment on a general aye*
*Amended amendment passed on a general aye.*
*DT withdraws his amendment*
Musics Comm Reorganisation
This JCR Notes
- The Music Committee is only one year old and the job descriptions were defined before the roles were ever filled.
- Most other JCRs’ Music Representatives are responsible for the management of their music facilities and discussion at an inter-JCR level often centres on discussion of facilities.
- The Music Representative and Assistant Music Representative have done much of the work of managing the music facilities this year.
- The Music Committee has a budget but is not minuted.
This JCR Believes
- The Music Room Manager role has been made superfluous by the formation of a Music committee with multiple members.
- The JCR’s music facilities would be adequately managed by the Music Representative and Assistant Music Representative and the Music Committee.
- The Music Committee should manage the Music Room budget but report to the Facilities Manager on all matters regarding spending to ensure the synergistic management of all facilities.
- The Music Committee should be minuted in order for it to be accountable for its spending.
- The job descriptions of each role should be updated to reflect the practical reality of the roles.
This JCR Repeals
11.3 Music Room Manager
- Music Committee
This JCR Orders
- Facilities Committee
11.1.3 It shall consist of
5) The Music Representative
- Music Committee
16.1. There shall exist a Music Committee who shall have responsibility for:
-
-
-
- Overseeing all music societies within the Society,
- Organisation of and promotion of musical events with the Society, and
- Managing and ensuring access to all JCR music facilities for members of the Society.
- Representation of all general musical interests within the Society.
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-
16.1.1. It shall be called by the Music Representative. It shall be minuted by the Vice-President.
16.1.2 It shall meet at least once a term.
16.1.3 It shall consist of:
-
-
-
- Music Representative,
- President of the Society,
- Vice-President
- Assistant Music Representative,
- Music Events and Publicities Officer,
- Social Committee Chair
- Sports and Societies Chair, and
- The President(s)/Captain(s) of JCR Music Societies.
-
-
16.2. The Music Representative
16.2.1. Elected via: Method I, Meeting 3.1
16.2.2. Their duties shall be to:
-
-
-
- Assist and supervise JCR music societies, overseeing the creation of new societies to fit demand from members of the Society,
- Promote JCR music societies at the Freshers’ Fair and throughout the year at any suitable opportunity,
- Organise and promote events to showcase JCR music societies and all musicians within the Society,
- Liaise with the Social Committee Chair to ensure representation of JCR music societies and all musicians within the Society at JCR social events,
- Oversee the internet presence of Cuth’s Music,
- Attend relevant meetings with Music Durham,
- Maintain all music facilities, ensuring their accessibility to and proper usage by members of the JCR,
- Report to the Facilities Manager any suggested improvements for the music room, and
- Keep an inventory of all equipment in the music room, reporting changes and missing equipment where necessary.
-
-
16.2.3. They shall be provided with a key to the music room facility for the duration of their term in office.
16.3. The Assistant Music Representative
16.3.1. Elected via: Method II, Meeting 1.2.
16.3.2. Their duties shall be to:
-
-
-
- Assist the Music Representative with all of their duties, and
- Attend music events and socials to report and write articles that may be featured in Cuth’s newsletter, the Palatinate, or on JCR social media accounts.
-
-
16.3.3. The overseer for this role if this becomes an application position shall be the Music Representative.
16.4. Music Events and Publicities Officer
16.4.1. Elected via: Method II, Meeting 1.2.
16.4.2. Their duties shall be to:
-
-
-
- Assist in the organisation and promotion of music events (for example, open mic events) within St Cuthbert’s Society, and
- Assist the Music Representative with the running of relevant social media accounts.
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-
16.4.3. The overseer for this role if this becomes an application position shall be the Music Representative.
This JCR Mandates
- The Music Room budget shall be kept separate from the Music Committee budget.
Proposed by: AW
Seconded by: IC
Discussion
AW: There’s a lot of small things. It updates the orders to what’s happening, and adds the VP to music comm. It gets rid of the music room manager, because it makes sense for the music rep to do it. I’ve basically been doing that this year and there’s enough time. The music room budget would then be separate to the music budget, and the music room would sit on facilities comm for the music room.
MF: Will the music committee carry out all the responsibilities that the music room manager currently does?
AW: Yes. They’re job description is now in the music rep job description.
RJ: There’s an alumnus who donates to the music room every month. But that can only be spent on certain things. Then we have a music room budget for the room, and a music committee budget which is for them to put on events. The GKL fund is managed by the facilities manager, with the assistance of the music rep. The music committee budget would be fully under the jurisdiction of the music rep.
*No amendments*
Censure of AC Procedural
Discussion
AW: I propose a procedural motion of censure against AC for not doing a single couplet.
AC: I haven’t had as much time to think of couplets as I would have in other meetings, so it’s not really fair.
*Opposition so a vote is called*.
*Motion passes*
*AC has been censured*
AC: It’s the elephant in the room, but all JCR meetings should be on Zoom.
Elections
Method II
Local Students’ Rep
Candidates
AxJ
Request New Candidates
Husts
AxJ:
Questions
PGM Vice-President
Candidates
JW
Request New Candidates
Husts
JW:
Questions
PGM Treasurer
Candidates
JC
Request New Candidates
Husts
JC:
Questions
Bailey Wardrobe Manager
Candidates
CP
Request New Candidates
Husts
CP:
Questions
Assistant International Rep
No Candidates
Gym Manager
No Candidates
Transgender and Non-Binary Rep
No Candidates
Mature Students’ Rep
No Candidates
Postgraduate Rep
No Candidates
Method I
SRO
Candidates
AW
EAM
Request New Candidates
Husts
AW:
EAM:
Questions
Head Frep
Candidates
JR
SLP
Request New Candidates
Husts
JR:
SLP:
Questions
Welfare Campaigns Team Manager
Candidates
CA
HB
EO
Request New Candidates
Husts
CA:
HB:
EO:
Questions
Ethnic Minorities Rep
Candidates
HM
Request New Candidates
Husts
HM:
Questions
LGBT+ Rep
Candidates
LH
Request New Candidates
Husts
LH:
Questions
International Rep
No Candidates
Working Class Students’ Rep
No Candidates
Students with Disabilities Rep
No Candidates
DUCK Rep
No Candidates
Song
We attempt to sing the song but can’t synchronise timing because it’s online.
*AL finally arrives*