Tuesday 07-03-2023 - 16:28

Melissa Rumbold, Assembly Media Observer, reports from Assembly, Thursday 9 February.

Chair: Aalaina Khan 

Highlights: 

Officer Updates 

Committee Updates 

Association Updates 

Assembly Committee Elections 

Trustee Appointment 

NUS Antisemitism Report Update 

Motion: NUS Policy: Housing 

Accommodation Fees: Discussion and Motion 

Chair Aalaina Khan began the meeting by welcoming members and attendees. Minutes from the last Assembly meetings were approved.  

 

Officer Updates 

Joe McGarry (SU President) has been investigating disability support at Durham, including negotiating with the University, and has been looking for a new Deputy Vice-Chancellor and developing a new Student Consultation Framework. 

Jack Ballingham (Opportunities Officer) has been looking at student group activity and the success of the Refreshers' Fair, as well as continuing to look at how the SU can be more involved in the Durham housing market and is working towards creating a supporting document. He is also working with MPs on the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill amendment. 

Joshua Freestone (Undergraduate Academic Officer) has been working on a Graduate Attribute scheme which has included refreshing desirable attributes employers are looking for, as well as helping out with the de-colonising the curriculum scheme and working to appoint a new Director of Careers and Enterprise.  

A question was raised concerning the recent wavering student support of the strikes, as reported by Palatinate. However, Joshua reassured Assembly members that he has been working with the University on mitigating and clarifying exam requirements and topics affected by the strikes. 

Laura Curran (Welfare and Liberation Officer) has been continuing to respond to increased accommodation fees, including working on the protest and has been moving towards creating a new discussion group on EDI and promoting the Report and Support Tool.  

 

Committee Updates 

JCR PresComm has been helping organise ongoing campaigns, circulating publicity on student protests, releasing statements, and encouraging motions, as well as making an effort to tackle the ongoing issues around medical notes and classism.  

Academic Affairs Committee has proposed an education strategy refresh which will allow for wider opportunities and the introduction of more master's courses. They have also been working on the cost of living crisis by clarifying the cost of resources at the University. 

SU Rep Committee will elect a chair at the next committee. 

Apologies were received from MCR PresComm, Student Groups Committee, and D.U.C.K (Durham University Charity Kommittee).  

 

Association Updates 

International Students' Association has been organising different events with success across their social media outreach, collaborating with colleges and societies, and focussing on planning for Durham Global Week and Worldfest. 

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

 

Assembly Committee Elections 

Three candidates are currently running for the Assembly Procedures Committee.  

Jon Chan emphasised his loyalty to Assembly and explained his active role in the democratic review debate, and promised to make Assembly a more democratic, transparent and efficient institution.  

Toby Saunders began by outlining his involvement in college roles and explained the enthusiasm and confidence he would bring to the role before emphasising the need for transparency and efficiency within the SU. 

Theo Stubbs outlined his desire to be more involved with the SU and emphasised the time and passion he would give to the role if elected. 

All three were successfully elected to the committee. 

The Officer Scrutiny Committee (OSC) is yet to be elected. OSC is responsible for scrutinising the work of the Officer team and supporting them in prioritising their workload and reporting to Assembly. Assembly members can apply by emailing dsu.governance@durham.ac.uk.  

 

Trustee Appointment 

Assembly was asked to ratify the appointment of a new member to the Durham SU Board of Trustees. It was explained that a panel of four current trustees met to interview candidates on 20 January 2023 and provided a recommendation. They advised that Assembly ratify the appointment of Rachael Taylor, who has extensive strategic and operational experience and is suitable for the role. This was ratified.  

 

NUS Antisemitism Report Update 

Joe McGarry spoke on the recent NUS Antisemitism Report and what it means for Durham SU.  

The NUS report is an independent investigation into allegations of antisemitism within NUS as an organisation and explores experiences from the last ten years. The report details numerous occasions where NUS has failed to identify, investigate, and tackle antisemitism within the student movement. The report makes multiple recommendations to tackle antisemitism, including education materials around current debates and creating a due diligence process for election candidates to demonstrate a commitment to anti-racism. 

NUS has acknowledged these findings, apologised to Jewish students, and recognised that discussions around Palestine/Israel need to change for Jewish students to feel welcomed. They have developed an action plan which attempts to understand and tackle antisemitism and have created an advisory board to oversee the implementation of recommendations from the report, including training and representation. Read the full action plan here. 

Joe McGarry noted that there has been a failure in NUS to take antisemitism seriously and informed the Assembly that the report can now be used to hold NUS accountable. Joe explained that racism and discrimination within Durham SU and Durham University will continue to be challenged. He stressed the need for more inclusivity, continued training, and partnership with UJS. Joe encouraged anyone with thoughts to discuss these issues with him so the SU can support students. He noted that as a result of the report, antisemitism training and educational materials will be available to SUs. Joe is working closely with the Jewish Students Association to respond to the report in full and create meaningful change across Durham. 

 

Motion: NUS Policy: Housing 

Frankie Tress-Wheatley discussed the urgency of the cost of housing crisis and stressed that universities need to start taking responsibility for setting affordable accommodation prices and providing quality accommodation. She spoke about the alarming increase in housing costs and lack of intervention by the government and stressed the risk of students dropping out due to financial concerns. Frankie recommended five main things that NUS can do to address student housing issues.  

These included a campaign for rent controls, a campaign for a link between student numbers at a university and the housing available locally, a campaign for a Decent Student Homes Standard, a campaign for the creation of a Student Housing Ombudsman, and a campaign for greater transparency across housing in UK higher education in general.  

Jasmine Uppal proposed an amendment to the motion and explained that the wording in the motion about how the housing crisis impacts black, disabled, LGBT+, trans and women students was incorrectly worded to suggest these groups may be more vulnerable to housing problems, therefore assuming an association between marginalised groups and housing conditions.  

The amendment was taken to vote and passed. 

This overall motion with the amendment was then taken to vote and passed. 

 

Accommodation Fees: Discussion and Motion 

Joe McGarry held a discussion session where Assembly members were invited to discuss how college accommodation could be made cheaper. This included whether aspects of college provision could or should be cut to reduce the cost to students. Members were also asked to resolve to set up a task and finish group. 

Joe explained the increased accommodation fees at Durham University and stressed that the rent increase would continue to fuel high rents for students in the private housing sector. Joe also explained that the University has chosen not to subsidise college accommodation fees in acknowledgement of the cost-of-living crisis, and therefore the University are causing students to feel the full effects of price increases. . He detailed that student leaders, JCRs and student societies are calling upon Durham University to reverse the planned increase in college accommodation, introduce a fee cap for accommodation calculated in line with the maintenance loan, further increase the amount of college accommodation available for returners, and to host a public meeting with student leaders and student groups about the above issues. 

Assembly then broke off into small groups to discuss solutions, how college accommodation could be made cheaper, and if there were any areas that could be cut to reduce the cost to students. 

When giving feedback, different groups came up with several ideas ranging from cutting or reallocating breakfast waste or cutting specific staff privileges to increasing transparency, so students know where their money is going and how much the University spends on vanity projects. 

Following the feedback, Joe formally proposed a Task and Finish Group to members of Assembly to gather evidence and explained his desire to work with the Working-Class Students Association and others who are keen to be involved. 

The motion was taken to vote and passed. 

 

The next Assembly meeting will be on 9 March.