• Student Trustee Elections
• Constitutional Referendum 2012

► Constitutional Referendum 2012

ELECTION CLOSED

Polling has now closed in this election. The results are available here.

Details

The proposed changes to the Constitution (below) should not be confused with the proposed changes to the Standing Orders. We're provided a guide to differentiate between them here.

The referendum

The Board of Trustees has proposed some changes to the Union's Constitution in accordance with clause 109.1 of the Constitution. The proposed changes must be approved by the membership in a referendum before they can be enacted. At least 5% of the membership must vote in the referendum for it to be considered valid and at least 75% of those voting must vote in favour of the motion for the changes to be approved. If either of these requirements are not met, the motion will fail.

Polling will take place alongside the Student Trustee elections from Monday 11 June 2012 to Thursday 14 June 2012 on the DeVote system.

Motion

The motion is: "Do you consent to the changes proposed by the Board of Trustees on 30 May 2012 being made to the Constitution of Durham Students’ Union?” You will have a choice of voting Yes or No.

Proposed changes

The proposed changes are as follows:

The Chair of Council
1. In clause 26, replace the existing clause with “The Assembly Chair shall chair annual Members’ meetings.”
2. In clause 31, replace the existing clause with “The Assembly Chair shall chair the EGM.”

Sabbatical Officers
3. In clause 47, replace the existing wording “Five Sabbatical Trustees” with “Not more than five Sabbatical Trustees”.
4. In clause 48, replace the existing clause with “The Sabbatical Trustees shall be elected to such full-time posts as are specified in the Standing Orders of the Union from time to time.”

Student Representative Council/Assembly
5. In clause 5, insert the new wording “Student Group – clubs, societies and associations ratified by the Union in accordance with the Standing Orders” as clause 5.40 and re-order and re-number accordingly.
6. In all clauses where they appear, replace the existing wording “Student Representative Council” or “Student Council” with “Assembly”.
7. In clause 103, insert the following wording after clause 103.5:
   "103.6. receive reports from sub-committees of the Assembly;
   103.7. appoint student representatives, other than ex officio representatives, to University committees as and when required;
   103.8. hold the Sabbatical Trustees to account for their representational work;
   103.9. ratify the affiliation of Student Groups within and to the Union.”

Explanation

The Chair of Council
1. This will correct an existing error, i.e. a sentence which does not currently make sense.
2. This will correct an existing error, i.e. a sentence which does not currently make sense.

Sabbatical Officers
3. This will remove an inconsistency between clauses 11.9.2, 45 and 47, relating to the number of Sabbatical Trustees.
4. This will remove the specific naming of the President and DUCK Officer roles from the Constitution. It does not remove or change either role as these are specified in the Standing Orders and can only be changed by agreement of the Board of Trustees, the Student Representative Council and the University.

Student Representative Council/Assembly
5. This includes a definition for Student Groups. They will be inserted in clause 103.9 related to the powers of Council/Assembly.
6. This changes the name of the ‘Student Representative Council’ to ‘Assembly’.
7. These new clauses grant additional powers to the Assembly to allow it to become more democratic and open and to enhance accountability. This includes scrutinising the work of the Sabbatical Trustees, appointing student nominees to University committees and approving the affiliation of student clubs and societies to the Union. Further changes are also being proposed to the Standing Orders to make substantial changes to the composition and operation of Assembly. These will be discussed separately in Council/Assembly.

You can check the clauses referenced above in the Constitution.

Further information

Further information on the changes will be provided in the next few days. If you have any questions, please contact the President on dsu.president@durham.ac.uk