Governance
In 2008 the Union is undergoing some major changes. Some of these have already happened but there are plenty left to come.
On February 14 and 15 the student body voted to approve the governance changes proposed by the executive committee and student council. The result was a resounding 660 votes for 'Yes' and only 8 for 'No'.
These changes were:
- To create a Board of Trustees made up of five elected sabbatical officers, two appointed students and three people externally appointed
- The executive committee would lose one full-time sabbatical officer and all three part-time officers
- Student Council would become a more representative body focussed on campaigning, rather than on legal or financial issues
The reason for these changes are to make the Students' Union an organisation that is ready for the 21st century, the previous mechanisms were developed in the 1970s and had not been majorly updated since then. The governance of the Union is compared to the nuts and bolts, it's what makes the Union fit together and run.
What happens now?
There is a timescale to implement all of the changes proposed. The first is the election of a new set of sabbatical officers, for five position:
- President
- Education officer
- Activities and participation officer
- Media officer
- Campaigns officer
These will form the Student Affairs Committee and all five will also sit on the Board of Trustees.
Student Council elections are also happening at the same time as the sabbatical officers, with represenative positions available.
After the elections in April 2008 the process of recruiting the two student trustees and three externally appointed trustees will begin.
If you have any questions about the new governance setup of the Union you can email Chris Lowden, Union president, at supresident@uclan.ac.uk
Related pages
How the Union works (until the new governance changes take effect)
