Friday 13-01-2023 - 10:00

Melissa Rumbold, Assembly Media Observer, reports from Assembly, Thursday 8 December 

Chair: Aalaina Khan 

 

Highlights: 

Officer Updates 

Committee Updates 

Association Updates 

Assembly Committee Elections 

Motion: Durham SU Position on Nuclear Weapons 

Motion: Durham SU Code of Conduct 

Palatinate Update 

 

Chair Aalaina Khan began the meeting by welcoming members and attendees. Minutes from the last Assembly meetings were approved. Student Group Committee noted that new student groups had been ratified. 

The Board of Trustees meeting Report was noted. Peter Robertson was ratified as the Returning Officer. 

 

Officer Updates
 

Joe McGarry (SU President) detailed the problems with student housing, including the uptake of too many students, which has affected affordability and quality and explained that a group has met to look at housing and hardship and to investigate how much housing there is, which will impact decisions moving forward.  

Jack Ballingham (Opportunities Officer) has continued to work on supporting students through the housing and cost of living crisis by providing more readily available information, involving the SU in the student housing market, and working with the University to increase warm spaces available to students. Jack has also been working with the SU to raise awareness of the Real Living Wage and noted that there are now 283 societies in the SU. 

Joshua Freestone (Undergraduate Academic Officer) explained the clarification around academic extensions by departments, investigations into student working hours, and presented the findings of departments' consultations on online and in-person exams. 

Laura Curran (Welfare and Liberation Officer) further explained the ongoing focus on the student housing crisis, including a housing toolkit and gave updates on organised active bystander training for students, the ‘Speak Free’ event which discussed what free speech can look like at Durham, and multiple committee meetings across the University.  

 

Committee Updates 
 

JCR PresComm has formed a housing strategy group and a WSE committee and are working on housing and industrial action campaigns and looking at teaching and learning assessment reviews.  

MCR PresComm met with PGR Representatives and received updates from JCR Presidents.  

Student Groups Committee has continued working with student groups, and 24 new groups have been ratified. 

Apologies were received from D.U.C.K (Durham University Charity Kommittee), Academic Affairs Committee. Assembly Procedures Committee and Officer Scrutiny Committee members have yet to be elected, so no update was provided.  

 

Association Updates 
 

Students with Disabilities Association (SwDA) have relaunched this year with increasing engagement through Facebook and have spoken with disability support services, revealing problems with accessing and changing support. Therefore SwDA is looking at holding workshops this term. 

The International Students' Association have doubled social media engagement, set up a family scheme, planned successful socials and events, planned for Durham Global Week and Lunar New Year and balls, and clarified visa support. 

Apologies were received from the LGBT+ Association, Durham People of Colour Association (DPOCA), Women's Association, Trans Association, Working Class Students' Association, and Mature Students' Association (MATSA).  

 

Assembly Committee Elections 
 

Updates were provided on Assembly Committees. Nominations are still open to members of Assembly for the Assembly Procedures Committee (APC) and Officer Scrutiny Committee (OSC). APC is responsible for setting the agenda, approving motions and amendments to be taken to Assembly, and overall ensuring that the meeting is well regulated and acts within its powers. OSC is responsible for scrutinising the work of the Officer team and supporting them in prioritising their workload and reporting to Assembly. If you are a member of Assembly and interested in applying, submit your nomination to dsu.governance@durham.ac.uk by midnight on Monday, 16 January.  

 

Motion: Durham SU Position on Nuclear Weapons 
 

Jack Ballingham (Opportunities Officer) presented a motion to propose that Durham SU hold a policy position which opposes the existence and use of nuclear weapons in general and the UK's possession of nuclear weapons specifically. Jack also called on the University to end any current relationships with the nuclear weapons industry and to commit to not establishing any such new relationships in future. Jack evidenced the Doomsday Clock, a live tool symbolising how close to nuclear war the world currently is, and noted it is the closest to midnight (nuclear war) the Clock has been since 1947. He spoke of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons making nuclear weapons illegal in international war, and the increased cap on the UK's stockpile of nuclear warheads. He highlighted that Durham University has had and continues to have partnerships, research and careers advertising with nuclear weapons companies and urged that, due to the dangerous consequences of the possession and advertisement of nuclear weapons and subsequent careers, the SU should oppose their existence. 

Tomas Main (Co-President of the Engineering Society) spoke against the motion and informed Assembly that he had discussed job opportunities with the Engineering Society and highlighted that companies which use aerodynamics come to Durham to draw in graduates. He also noted that the Engineering Society has had difficulty with sponsorship due to the SU's standing and warned that science and engineering students might not be able to enter these industries or speak to professionals in the field.

 

This motion was taken to vote and passed. 

 

Motion: Durham SU Code of Conduct 
 

Gary Hughes introduced the code and explained why this was being developed and what this would mean for members, how the process would work, and spoke of necessary measures when unacceptable behaviour is shown. 

Jack Ballingham (Opportunities Officer) explained the Code of Conduct in more detail.  

General comments were made about inclusion and how this could be looked at and amended further down the line. 

There was no opposition to the motion.
 

This motion was taken to vote and passed. 

 

Palatinate Update 
 

Jack Ballingham (Opportunities Officer) provided an update on Palatinate's call for independence from the SU and press coverage. He presented the timeline leading up to the current situation and highlighted the independence proposal submitted by Palatinate in March 2022. He spoke on what Palatinate is about, if it can be independent, and questioned its next steps moving forward. 

Nicole Wu (Editor-in-Chief of Palatinate) then gave a speech on Palatinate's call for independence and the reasons behind it, including clarifying what censorship meant as a result of being tied to the SU, and other University newspapers that have successfully gone independent. She made clear that Palatinate has not accepted nor denied The Mail on Sunday's offer to go independent and will be voted on by the Editorial Board in future. She thanked the SU for their continued cooperation. 

 

The next Assembly meeting will be on 9 February.