Idea
TSDSU Councils Review
Category: Union Democracy
TSDSU Student Councils Review
Councils Note:
- That since 2010, the University of Wales, Lampeter, Trinity University College Carmarthen and Swansea Metropolitan University have merged to form one singular institution, the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.
- That Coleg Sir Gar and Coleg Ceredigion have also merged, to create the UWTSD Group of HE & FE institutions.
- Prior to being one singular institution, each separate partner had their own, autonomous Students’ Unions which have since merged to reflect the merger of the institution as a whole.
- That Trinity Saint David Students’ Union is recognised formally by UWTSD as the representative voice for students from Lampeter to London and everywhere in between.
- Each of the ‘core’ campuses (Carmarthen, Lampeter and Swansea) have a democratically elected Campus Council system who are autonomous and report into the wider SU Council format where policy is debated upon and the political leadership of the SU takes place.
Councils Believe:
- That TSDSU currently faces some challenges in terms of accessibility and ease of engagement with its democratic procedures due to legacy issues from its former composition of three separate entities.
- Currently, Campus Councils have a similar structure but there are differences between each campus which can prove a barrier for students trying to engage with the process.
- That it is in TSDSU’s interests to review and adapt the current Part Time Officer roles to add an element of standardisation across all campuses where there are shared roles, with the same representational remit.
- While certain roles can be amended to offer parity across sites, it is important that TSDSU continues to recognise that each campus is different and that Campus Councils retain the ability to maintain current and create new, campus-specific roles where decided appropriate via democratic procedures.
- That TSDSU should give consideration to how it elects/recruits/appoints its Student Trustees in an attempt to achieve a full, effective and engaged Trustee Board each academic year.
Councils Resolve:
- To commission a review into the Student Council structures, to identify whether the Union can make changes in order to better engage its members.
- To consider the makeup of the Student Trustee positions on the TSDSU Trustee Board and make changes where appropriate in order to better engage and embed students in the decision making within every level at TSDSU.
- For the commission to report back to Councils in November with a view to incorporating the review into policy in November’s General Meeting.
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