Standing Items
Written updates from the officer team and trustee board and verbal updates on standing actions were supplemented with discussion of positive progress made with the period poverty scheme, and the active bystander, consent, and ally training program.
Written updates submitted to the council can be read at staffsunion.com/studentcouncil, which now also includes a rolling list of actions from the year’s meetings.
NUS Delegate Updates
The NUS Delegates provided an update from their attendance of National Conference, where they presented a policy seeking to improve student accommodation, broaden support for families and international students, and reduce exploitation of vulnerable student tenants by unscrupulous landlords. The delegates tabled an amendment to the education policy calling for proper scrutiny and accountability for sector regulators, and discussed how the NUS can improve its own accountability and regional devolution. All policies and amendments tabled were passed.
The five policy proposals discussed at the conference, and the original submissions that informed them, can be found on the NUS website.
Better Staffs Updates
The actions put forward by the year’s third and final Better Staffs Forum were ratified.
No formal Better London Forum had taken place since the last meeting, but the university’s Chief Operating Officer had recently held two meetings with London students about their concerns, which are being addressed by the university at the highest level.
Discussion Items
Discussion around LRV and Verve bathroom accessibility continued from previous meetings. This was supported by context from the venue manager, who clarified that the Verve bathroom remains accessible during club nights: staffing constraints mean the door to Verve cannot be manned, but access can be facilitated by request to bar or security staff.
The council considered additional meetings to be held over the following months, which was not pursued due to councilmember availability over summer falling below quoracy.
The Voice Team sought contribution from the council for a focus group to support the university’s adoption of Content Capture for the next academic year.
The hot mic incident that occurred at this year’s Varsity was discussed. While Rep Council, being a legislative body, is not positioned to handle the situation, it was acknowledged that an investigation is ongoing; that the student concerned was a film student volunteering as part of their degree rather than a StaffsTV member; and that an apology was issued through the same medium (per industry standards) and subsequently cross-posted to social media.
Discussion of hidden course costs in Media, Performance and Communication; Society, Crime, and Environment; and Art & Design confirmed the need to continue pushing for a reduction in additional study costs outside the fees disclosed at enrolment, and an expanded survey will be conducted at a later date.
Actions going forward:
The session resulted in the following actions, to be fed included in updates for the council's next session in January 2023:
- Len & Choto to investigate timetabling accessibility and clashes with extracurricular activities, particularly sports and society events
- Officers to continue to lobby university staff about academic issues on the London campus
- Officers to push for a review of the Student Charter and seek clarity for on-campus teaching policies and their impact on accessibility
- Officers to put strike-related questions to senior University colleagues
- Officers to raise bathroom accessibility to be raised as part of the Trans Inclusion Policy update process