Monday 13-03-2023 - 14:39

Melissa Rumbold, Assembly Media Observer, reports from Assembly, Thursday 9 March

Chair: Aalaina Khan

Highlights:

Officer Updates

Committee Updates

Association Updates

Board Report

Honorary Life Memberships

DU Anti-Spiking Policy: Discussion and Motion

Chair Aalaina Khan began the meeting by welcoming members and attendees. Minutes from the last Assembly meetings were approved. The meeting did not meet quorum, so all votes are subject to ratification via email.
 

Officer Updates

Joe McGarry (SU President) has spoken to three other Student Union’s in the north east about the new Mayor of the north east. Collectively they have listed art and culture access, increased transportation, public safety including lighting and safety in bars and clubs, and challenges with housing as some of the most important issues facing students. He has also been continuing to work on the NUS housing policy where universities will combine their proposed policies and has been looking at the cost-of-living crisis with a focus on students.

Jack Ballingham (Opportunities Officer) has been working on the Living Wage campaign alongside students from various societies. He has also continued his research into the housing crisis including talking with different Student Union’s across the country about accommodation with a student consultation happening soon. His work has also continued on the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill which is currently making it’s way through parliament, and has been helping Joshua with the Fossil Free Careers campaign. Jack attended the annual Student Union Awards which were a great success.

Joshua Freestone (Undergraduate Academic Officer) has been looking at Manchester students’ rent strike and believes it is important to learn from other student bodies. He is continuing his work with the Graduate Attribute Scheme including organisation of three successful focus groups where valuable information was gained and will soon be rolled out to colleges. He has also been looking at issues with multi-disciplinary timetabling and ways around clashes, alongside continuing his work on the Fossil Free Careers campaign. Joshua has also seen the ratification of four new heads of department, though stresses the need for representation and encourages a range of demographics to apply for leadership positions going forward.

Laura Curran (Welfare and Liberation Officer) has been looking at a race and inequality action plan and has begun to establish what a focus group would be working on in their meetings. They have also been working with the Trans Association and non-binary students to organise a café event to discuss issues affecting trans and non-binary students. She has also met with Team Durham to discuss ways to combat sexual misconduct and violence and established the need for active bystander training and communicating this to the student population.
 

Committee Updates

JCR PresComm have been working with the University on misconduct in the Durham Union Society, and have been working with the SU and academic departments to discuss improvement to the student experience including issues of timetabling. They have also been working on Durham Global Week, as well as safety for Durham students, ongoing accommodation issues, and have been looking at how JCR’s can work with the SU.

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

The newly elected Assembly Procedures Committee has not yet had a quorate meeting, and the Officer Scrutiny Committee has not yet been elected, so no updates were provided.
 

Association Updates

Students with Disabilities Association (SwDA) have been working with the disability access review group on a survey conducted by the group and have been making efforts to make the information collected available to SwDA and colleges. They have also seen a successful increase in their social media presence and have seen the neurodiversity group back up and running.

Trans Association has successfully restarted and recently held their first meeting where an election timeline was developed and the growth of their social medias, social activities, and discussion of issues will be looked into more as the year progresses.

Apologies were received from LGBT+ Association, Durham People of Colour Association (DPoCA), Women’s Association, Working Class Students’ Association, and Mature Students’ Association (MATSA).
 

Board of Trustees Report

Joe McGarry (SU President) told Assembly that the Board of Trustees met on 1 March to consider the reports from the Sustainability and Risk Committee and People, Governance Committee and an agreement for JCRs to undertake elections on behalf of the SU. The Trustees approved a framework under which external organisations are able to undertake democratic processes. They also approved the near-term priorities within the Durham SU strategy, a Code of Conduct for Trustees and the Annual Report for 2021/2022.

Following ratification by Assembly, Rachel Taylor was appointed as a lay Trustee to the Board of Trustees. The PG Academic Officer elect, Freddy Fossey-Warren, was appointed to the Board of Trustees also.
 

Honorary Life Memberships

Aalaina Khan (Chair) explained that Honorary Life Memberships are awarded to a select few students as recognition of their work and impact on the communities of Durham, which Assembly would like to thank them for. Nominees will have consistently embodied Durham SU’s values and purpose as well as have made outstanding and continuing positive contributions to student and community life, either through volunteer roles or employment.

Nominees will have consistently embodied Durham SU’s values and purpose as well as have made outstanding and continuing positive contributions to student and community life, either through volunteer roles or employment.

Public nominations were open to all students, and Assembly voted to approve the award to Fin Brown, Benedict Mensah, Aditya Lathar, Simon Stevenson, and Sophie Whitfield.

Assembly approved all nominated candidates.
 

Anti-Spiking Policy: Discussion

Laura Curran (Welfare and Liberation Officer) began by stressing that spiking has been a prevalent issue within Universities and at large for numerous years. She highlighted that both needle spiking and drink spiking are carried out without knowledge or consent from the victim/survivor which therefore makes them susceptible to other forms of harm, including sexual misconduct and violence. Laura noted that various communities such as students, Universities, charities, and government working groups have committed to challenging spiking to various extents.

They noted the prevalence of spiking at universities and flagged Durham’s experience of this. Laura explained that the rise in spiking prompted student boycotts of nightclubs as a form of protest including the Durham Night In Boycott on 26 October 2021. She clarified that the University has had regular Multi-Agency Group meetings considering spiking and has provided colleges with £10,000 worth of anti-spiking equipment and resources this year and increased information about reporting spiking.

Laura noted that these recent conversations require the University to commit to anti-spiking in the long term and asked Assembly what a University anti-spiking policy should consist of as a means to springboard further consultation into this issue via a Task and Finish Group. She stressed that a long-term approach to anti-spiking would prove a commitment to the issue and hold the University to account, as well as highlight the fact that spiking is a long-term issue that many people face.

Assembly first discussed what practices and procedures are already in place within University spaces and elsewhere. These included; an anonymous reporting system, CCTV in college bars, drink tops in college bars and Durham nightclubs, training for college bar staff, Ask Angela, anti-predator signposting, allocated safe spaces in other Universities, welfare centres with rapid testing services in other Universities, and more.

Assembly was also asked how they would like to see the University commit to anti-spiking, both year-on-year and in the long term, and which groups of people the University should work with to make these ideas come to fruition. Ideas discussed included; talks from college Principals stressing the seriousness, consequences, and severity of spiking, talks from local authorities, reassurance from the SU or colleges that students are safe, training for welfare officers to deal with the emotional, physical, and medical fallout after being spiked, anti-spiking devices to be rolled out immediately in Freshers Week, spiking to be covered in the Consent Matters course, a zero-tolerance policy, better bouncer training, education for students on how to respond in emergencies, metal detectors and bag checks in bars and clubs, and expelling perpetrators.

Assembly was asked to resolve to form a Task and Finish Group to conduct consultation with students on what an anti-spiking policy would consist of, to present their findings to the final Assembly meeting of the academic year, and to work with the outgoing and incoming Welfare and Liberation Officers on how to present this information to key University stakeholders. The group will review the ideas discussed in the Assembly meeting.
 

This was taken to vote and passed.
 

The next Assembly meeting will be on 25 May.