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What would you like the Union to do?

Lobby UCL to make the relevant liberation part-time officers (PTOs) automatically named as ex-officio members on all UCL working groups and committees specifically set up to deal with the concerns of this liberation group. 

For example, for the BME officer to be a member together with the Equity Officer and the specified UCL employee for Race Equality Steering Group; for the Disabled Students’ Officer to be a member together with the Equity Officer and specified UCL employee for the Disability Steering Group. 

Ask UCL to invite the Liberation Officers to Education Committee and the Student Experience Committee where necessary.

Why would you like to do this?

It has been noted by liberation students in the past few years that it is usually difficult to get institution-level discriminatory patterns to the attention of UCL management. UCL management has praised and valued the insight offered by liberation officers to committees which make policy decisions. This policy seeks to formalise this advisory relationship and ensure that it is maintained as important issues continue to be raised in future years.

Co-chair: This ensures proper representation at specific steering groups, where if the Equity Officer is not a member of that liberation network, there will be adequate inclusion and representation of liberation members in discussions that directly affect them.

Ex-officio Membership: This allows direct input by liberation officers to provide advice from their lived experience as and when policies would benefit from this. They can choose whether to attend meetings depending on whether there is an issue they would like to weigh in on.

Overall, this policy supports elected part-time liberation officers in better representing students’ interests and ensures they are not excluded from liberation-specific matters.

How will this affect students?

Students from liberation groups are experts on their own experience and inclusion. They are the best informed members of the UCL community on how to facilitate the inclusion and achievement of their own communities. Our liberation officers are well placed to take feedback directly from students in their own liberation groups as they are accessible and friendly figures for the student body. They can feed institution-level information directly into UCL policy-making decisions whilst referring individual students to the SU Advice Service and not taking on any casework.

This motion will support liberation group students in having a direct say in issues which affect their studies and supporting their own liberation at UCL. As the Disabled Students Network motto says, “Nothing about us without