YUSU have announced a complete overhaul of how democracy works at the University of York just two years after the last reforms were implemented.
Following constant feedback from attendees that Assemblies aren’t working, YUSU will be bringing their plans for widening participation in democracy to referendum in week 4.
The proposed changes will see Assemblies abolished in favour of an apparently more decentralised approach.
One criticism of the current system was that it is biased towards full-time officers and their friends, and as a result students were too scared to confront officers personally.
Other criticisms include that Assemblies are boring and often irrelevant to many students, that people weren’t informed about important votes or issues, and that students were unlikely to make the effort to come to extra meetings.
Kallum Taylor, YUSU President stated: “After two years of completely fair criticism despite a good effort to make it work – it was clear that YUSU were not making it ‘easy’ for a student to have their say.
“We rolled out a huge consultation with members, keeping the questions simple and to the point, and from the feedback we’ve put together a new alternative.
“This kind of thing is always hard to get ‘right’ but the model we’re proposing is like no other in the UK. It’s a massive kick up the backside for YUSU and I’d urge all students to vote yes to having a more accessible, approachable and collegiate Students’ Union.”
The proposed democratic reform is an attempt to tackle these issues, with a complex restructuring of how policies come to be decided upon.
Policies will be initiated by sabbatical officers instead of the Democracy Committee, and will be filtered for discussion by core consultative bodies of students.
One of these bodies will be the colleges, which are going to be renamed YUSU College Associations as a result of a new by-law which outlines their remit as no longer being constituted under College Councils. It will have no effect on their funding and they will each maintain their independence through a document called their Terms of Reference.
All college members will have the right to suggest or vote on amendments and it will be reviewed annually. One side effect of this is that it is likely that College Chairs will be referred to as Presidents if the referendum passes.
The other bodies will be the networks led by part-time officers, such as the LGBTQ Network, and constituencies under the full-time officers and their relevant bodies. The Welfare Officer will discuss policies with off-campus and College Welfare Representatives. Only consultative bodies that are deemed relevant to the discussion by the member responsible for them will be included.
The feedback from these consultations will be fed back to a body created for the purpose of reviewing the process and finding consensus. This will be recruited by students who are part of Networks, chosen by the relevant officers. The policy review team will ultimately consist of around five students and the position formerly known as Union Chair.
They will then discuss the feedback, and if a consensus is found among the participating members who have been consulted, then the idea will become policy. If the issue polarises debate then it will go to referendum.
Katrina Northern, a third year English student who does not usually participate in assemblies, said: “It’s wise to broaden the access points for contributions to decision making, as there are students who feel disconnected because they find the concept a bit alien.”
Rosie Litterick, a third year student, added and told Vision: “It seems like they’re doing the right thing by trying to engage more students but it’s going to be difficult Most students feel like YUSU’s irrelevant to them. We’ll just have to wait and see if these changes will actually make a difference”