Thursday 01-07-2021 - 09:49

Max Kendix, Assembly Media Observer, reports from the June Assembly meeting.

The final gathering of Assembly this academic year was an extraordinary one, called to discuss the reform of the composition of Assembly itself. The Zoom meeting did not reach quorum, the number of attendees required to make voting official, so all votes were indicative. Official voting is to be carried out at a later date.

The meeting began, however, with the appointment of new lay trustees onto the Student’s Union Board of Trustees, and the approval of an Honorary Life Membership to Postgraduate Academic Officer Sarah McAllister, who was praised for her “enormous help to the PG community”.

Assembly’s membership and purpose

The main motion of the evening concerned the third part of reforms to Assembly that came out of the Democracy Review, conducted over the academic year. Opportunities Officer Anna Marshall said the proposed changes would ensure a “representative Assembly that cuts across all aspects of student life in Durham”. 

Along with some adjustments to how the Chair of Assembly is elected, the motion proposed a significant change to Assembly’s membership, with the addition of 18 new academic departmental representatives and seven new non-portfolio places, elected by reference to university demographics data in a summer term election.

Some members raised concerns that the increase in academic representatives would decrease the overall proportion of college representation on Assembly, especially given the attachment students feel to their colleges. Others raised concerns over the practicalities of demographic selection for non-portfolio places. 

The Opportunities Officer explained that the SU’s unique role in Durham is in academic representation to the University, and stressed that details on non-portfolio places were in early stages. The motion as a whole was supported by the indicative vote.

Postgraduate amendment 

PG Academic Officer Sarah McAllister presented a successful amendment to add four new postgraduate-specific representative roles, arguing the Democracy Review showed a need for more not less postgraduate engagement in Assembly. Anna Marshall objected, saying the present motion struck the right balance. Nevertheless, the indicative vote supported this motion. 

Watch the full meeting here