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Sunday, 19th May 2013 (TT Wk 5)
4pm in the JCR
SU Meeting: Agenda
A: Officers Reports:
B. Motions
Motion to accept an increase in rent charges
This SU notes:
1. Over the Easter vacation and first half of this term, the SU
President and SUTreasurer have been working on rent negotiations
with College.
2. Every year, the accommodation charges increase in the various
OxfordColleges. This is as a result of inflation increases and
increased costs to the
College each year.
3. Current rent charges are 2,933 per year. Wadham currently has
the lowest rentcharges in Oxford.
4. The latest figure we have been offered is a 4.5% increase,
along with variouscommitments (see below):
o The College has also promised to increase the Living Out Grant
by up to6.5%.
o The College has also pledged to an increase in staff wages
across theboard, which will bring almost all College staff wages up
to the Living
Wage standard.
o The College has committed to increase investment in student
financialsupport, hardship funds and bursaries.
o The College has also agreed that future annual increases will
be arounda similar or even a lower level.
This SU believes:
1. It is fair that the students bear some of the financial
burden of cost increases, aswe also benefit from everything that
College invests.
2. The SU President and SU Treasurer have worked hard on
proposals submittedto College to keep our rents as low as
possible.
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3. Due to the fact that Wadham students currently pay the lowest
rents in theUniversity, it has been difficult for us to argue that
the increase should be very
low.
This SU resolves:
1. To accept an increase of 4.5%. This will bring rent up to
3,064.98 per year(i.e. an actual increase of 131.98 per year).
2. To mandate the SU President and SU Treasurer to continue to
lobby College toensure that the Living Out Grant increases, that
staff are paid a Living Wage
and that investment in student financial support continues.
Proposed by: Jahni EmmanuelSeconded by: Max McGenity.
Motion to introduce secret balloting upon request: First
Reading
This SU notes:
1. According to the current SU constitution, a secret ballot can
be suggested forany motion in an SU meeting but then must be voted
on before it takes place.
In order for it to be a secret ballot, the vote must pass by a
two-thirds majority
2. This is based on the idea of public balloting for
representative institutions.3. Any member of the SU can vote in an
SU meeting, and therefore votes reflect
the opinions of individual students, not public representatives.
(Even elected
SU Officers voting at SU meetings are acting in their own
personal capacity,
not as elected officials.)
This SU believes:
1. Many of the motions we discuss within the SU are
controversial and sensitive.The debate surrounding such motions can
become heated and the environment
of the meeting can be intimidating.
2. Everyone in the SU has a right to vote on issues without
being made to feelintimidated.
3. Even if just one person within an SU meeting feels
uncomfortable voting theway they actually feel about something, the
outcome of the result is swayed
and not truly reflective of the views of the SU.
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4. Holding a secret ballot as opposed to a public one has no
negative impact. Theonly potential problem can be a slightly more
time-consuming vote, however
the secret ballot at the 2nd Week SU meeting took only a few
minutes.
This SU resolves:
1. To introduce a constitutional change specifying that a secret
ballot must takeplace for that particular motion, if it is
requested by any one member of the SU.
Proposed by: Jahni Emmanuel
Seconded by: Paul Calleja
C. Discussion Points
Posters for SU Elections
The recent SU Meeting saw posters being torn down/defaced. What
do we think of the
role of posters in SU Elections? Should they be allowed? Should
they be more strictly
regulated?
(Proposed by Alex Bramham)
Wadham sweatshirts for Access
We're considering getting some Wadham sweatshirts (in a similar
design to the onesTrinity have now). We're hoping that College will
be able to buy them, or that the
Development Office may be able to find some match-funding, but
if not, then would
the SU consider subsidising them? We would then sell them to
students at a reduced
cost and any profits will go towards Access schemes.
(Proposed by Loukia Koumi)
SU guest dinners
After last term's SU motion about formal hall/guest dinners,
more guest dinners have
been added to the system. However, the last few have not sold
out, which may be to
do with the time of year, but may be to do with the expense of
it. Would the SU prefer
to have a slightly cheaper 3-course meal, perhaps linked in with
the international
nights?
(Proposed by Jahni Emmanuel)
Themes at Freshers Week club nights
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One of the other JCR Presidents is putting through a motion to
OUSU Council which
he wants all the other JCR (/SU) Presidents to sign. The motion
says that, at least
during Freshers Week, we should not allow clubs to have certain
themes on the
grounds that they can encourage highly sexual costumes (e.g. wet
T-shirts), can be
exclusive or elitist (e.g. back to school) or can create gender
binaries (e.g. Hoes andCEOs). What are peoples thoughts?
(Proposed by Jahni Emmanuel)
D. OUSU
Future of Undergraduate Student Finance
At OUSU Council on Wednesday, they will be discussing and
deciding on the
university's student finance policy which will be submitted for
review in autumn.OUSU are looking for feedback and input from
colleges for their final proposal.
If you have any thoughts or improvements, let us know at the SU
meeting. Particular
points of concern are fee waivers and access opportunities.
See the document attached to the email in which this agenda was
sent out for more
details.
