On Tuesday 5 June, we held our seventh and final Union Executive meeting of the year. In this meeting, your elected student leaders consider your ideas that had been submitted and debated at our Policy Zones. Once a policy proposal has been ratified by Union Executive, this will become policy for two years and something that the Union actively works on.
Here's what we talked about this week...
Policy Proposals
This policy was taken directly to Union Executive and mandates the Sabbatical Officers to lobby UCL to sever any ties with arms companies (including sponsorships, investments, events on campus etc.) as well as obtain transparent disclosure of UCL's relationship with arms companies. This proposal passed with 86% of members voting in favour.
This policy was discussed at Welfare & Community Zone with members of this zone believing it was a viable proposal to be taken to Union Executive. The policy mandates the Union to provide a cheap, fairly healthy meal in at least one of the cafes and for the Union to lobby UCL to provide subsidised cheap meals in the refectory. This proposal passed with 100% of members voting in favour.
This policy was discussed favourably at Welfare & Community Zone and builds upon a previous lapsed policy which the Union passed in 2021. The policy mandates the Union to encourage students, student leaders and Union members to use their pronouns wherever possible and the Union to lobby UCL to ensure that online platforms such as Moodle, Portico and Microsoft Teams have integrated pronoun options. This proposal passed with 86% of members voting in favour.
This policy has also been discussed at Welfare & Community Zone previously and suggests that the Union should add an information poster next to prominent calorie displays in SU outlets. This policy passed with 100% of members voting in favour.
The final policy proposal discussed at Union Executive related to the evaluation and improvement of lighting infrastructure across the campus vicinity. The Union has already been working with the UCL Estates Team to improve lighting infrastructure for students. This policy passed with 100% of members voting in favour.
Amendments to Governing Documents (AGDs)
AGDs refer to changes to the Union's Bye-Laws. The Bye-Laws are part of the Union's governing documents and relate to how the Union operates.
At the end of each academic year, a Bye-Law review takes place to ensure that they are fit for purpose and reflect how the Union is run. The following changes were proposed as part of this AGD:
- Updated Liberation Networks to 'Student Networks' to reflect the introduction of new Networks which are not liberation related.
- Changes to Network constitutions to be ratified by Union Executive.
- Updates to Officer titles and roles to reflect the Student Officer Review.
- Sabbatical Officers to automatically be members of the NUS National Conference
Delegation
This AGD passed with 100% of members voting in favour.
This AGD include an update to the Complaints Bye-Law through removing outdated job titles and processes, specifies what complaints the Union can investigate and differentiates between formal and informal processes. This AGD passed with 100% of members voting in favour.
How to get involved
This was our final democratic meeting of the year so any ideas you have will not be considered until the next academic year. If you have any questions about Union Executive or Policy Zones, please contact [email protected].