Update from our latest SUmmit which was held at the end of November.
Last week, we held our first SUmmit meeting of the year, SUmmit is an SU committee made up of a range of student leaders and representatives who vote to create Standpoints. Standpoints are SU stances on any given issue, and are proposed by members of SUmmit, drawing on the various backgrounds, and interests of members in seeking to enhance the student experience.
Our first SUmmit went very successfully, and was held in the Council Chamber room in Wessex House. This was my first time chairing SUmmit, and the first year of SUmmit for many members, so I made sure to ease into the proceedings to better acquaint the newcomers to the procedures and style in which SUmmit takes place.
We initially voted on the election of a Vice-Chair, in which a unanimous vote was cast for Daniel Paul, thus electing him as my Vice-Chair for the remaining term. We then went straight into the main part of SUmmit, discussing the 5 proposed standpoints for this session. The standpoints varied in scope, and offered much in the way of discussion for members, who voted in session as to what to do next regarding each standpoint. Each standpoint received a majority vote to proceed to an online vote overall after SUmmit ended, thus allowing members to have a final vote on whether or not to Adopt the standpoint, Reject the standpoint, or Abstain from voting on the standpoint.
Voting closed yesterday, and the voting results for the proposed Standpoints of SUmmit for 27 November 2023 are as follows:
Standpoint 1 - The SU believes that all students, regardless of their year of study should have access to high quality, affordable accommodation at an accessible distance from campus.
Votes for = 14
Votes against = 0
Abstentions = 1
Result = PASSED
Standpoint 2 - The SU believes that every student in the University, at all levels of study, should have access to personal tutors or equivalent.
Votes for = 14
Votes against = 0
Abstentions = 1
Result = PASSED
Standpoint 3 - The SU believes that student's Disability Action Plans should be acknowledged and delivered in full by teaching staff.
Votes for = 15
Votes against = 0
Abstentions = 0
Result = PASSED
Standpoint 4 - The SU believes that the University must require that all recordings of lectures are accessible offline (e.g., downloadable).
Votes for = 10
Votes against = 1
Abstentions = 4
Result = FAILED
Standpoint 5 - The SU believes that all students at every level of study should have Wednesday afternoons off to partake in sports.
Votes for = 12
Votes against = 0
Abstentions = 3
Result = PASSED
The votes required to pass a Standpoint is 66%+1 of votes, and therefore Standpoints needed to receive 11 votes 'for' in order to pass.
We certainly look forward to our next session in the new year, and will continue to welcome new proposals from members!