Committee for 2022/23
New SU Groups policy and effect on elections
SU groups policy updated 2 years ago, but we as a club were not aware of these changes so found out last week that all designated positions were going (except chair and treasurer) and we would only be allowed 12 positions. We then protested this, alongside many other clubs and societies, and we now have 12 designated positions (chair and treasurer being 2 of them). Alongside these 12 positions we could also elect members of the club to become ‘coordinators’ and help with the running of the club.
Therefore we now need to remove 3 committee members. Ideally we would keep all 15 as they all play an important role in committee. However, unlikely to be much leniency in numbers as wouldn’t likely have the backing from SU membership and it has been in the SU groups policy for a while it just hasn’t been implemented. Additionally, the argument for 12 committee members and then having coordinators within the club to increase responsibility of the wider club members and outside of committee. Unsure of distinct roles of coordinators. We cover a broad range of activities so have a large committee, and as a club we should push it for future years to reintroduce these roles. However this is unlikely to come into play for next year so we still need to remove 3 committee members.
Could look at moving orienteering into its own club, but orienteering is growing, and there is a lot of overlap with people, and the club is often entry into orienteering.
2 options:
Option 1: Remove 1x climbing/walking/orienteering secretaries, and then add in a coordinator with website access
Option 2: Remove 3 other roles e.g. postgrad, voting member and welfare and inclusivity.
Option 1:
Walking, orienteering and climbing secretaries x2 fairly essential as need contingency for when people get busy/have issues, and a lot of work for 1 person.
Option 2:
Concept of voting member is good but because it is not a well defined role, then there are often issues with not having a set goal and not having much to do, therefore it seems like a good one to remove.
Argued that postgrad sec could be combined with W&I however having an obvious postgrad presence within the club is good as it is appealing to other postgrads wanting to join the club. Additionally if we had a younger W&I officer then they may find it difficult to organise events for postgrads.
Proposed to combine social sec and media sec however they are quite important roles regarding communication with the membership and involve quite a lot of work behind the scenes. Could add in media sec role within respective secretaries but this would add work to other roles and could lead to inconsistency in the communication.
Proposal to remove secretary and rotate minutes through committee but issue with BMC insurance and health declaration forms as this is usually centralised to 1 person so not sure who this responsibility would fall to.
Argued that although W&I is a good role, and we should push to reinstate it but realistically we do need to lose 3 positions and it does seem like an obvious one to lose. Often if people have an issue for W&I they would go to who they know better or who was running that activity, but that only works if you know someone or it is specific to an activity.
Argued that it is good to have an obvious W&I officer and person to discuss any issues you have. Also good for someone to pay lots of attention to W&I. Could come under remit of chair, but they have a big role so would be good for them not to be a designated W&I person. Could have W&I as a coordinator rather than as an actual committee role, but it is important to have incentive for this as otherwise it could get lost. Could be split it up across the club but then issues on how would we maintain knowledge and ability to handle these issues. Could combine W&I with media but that probably wouldn’t work, as the roles are not very compatible and the people who would apply for the roles are not necessarily the same.
Could combine W&I with secretary which would work in terms of workload, but unsure on whether or not the people running for each role would work. Alongside this could increase it within the committee in general and run training sessions to implement this.
Votes to remove voting member:
21 votes for yes, 2 votes for no, 0 abstained.
Votes to remove postgrad sec:
17 votes for yes, 2 votes for no, 4 abstained.
Votes to remove W&I officer:
1 votes for yes, 22 votes for no, 0 abstained.
Votes to combining W&I officer with secretary:
18 votes for yes, 3 votes for no, 2 abstained.
Votes to add in W&I role to secretary within the constitution:
- Lead on campaigns related to welfare and inclusivity within the club.
- Attend Welfare and Inclusivity Training provided by the SU.
- Promote actively the role to members so that they are aware of how they can raise concerns or issues within the club.
- Work to ensure appropriate committee members attend training provided by the SU.
- Be a reporting point for students in their club who wish to report welfare related incidents and work with committee or teams to resolve or signpost to relevant support.
- Ensure that where possible the club participates in the Inclusivity Award and co-ordinates this involvement.
20 votes for yes, 0 votes for no, 3 abstained.
Votes to actively pursue reinstating full committee:
23 votes for yes
Hustings 17th March
Hustings will be on 17th March, which will be where you can stand up for a role and say why you would be good at it. You don’t have to but it is encouraged. Nominations open from 14th March until 20th March so hustings is in the middle of this. Voting will be open from Wednesday 23rd March-Sunday 27th March.
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