A Union Emergency General Meeting (EGM) has been called for May 16 to discuss the transparency of Union officers after the transfer of its bar and catering services, known as the Robbins Centre.
The open letter entitled “Accountability and Transparency of Union officers, particularly with regards to giving away the Robbins Centre” was signed by the required number of over 60 students to trigger an EGM.
Transfer of Union bar and catering services
On March 14, 2024 the Union issued a statement relaying their decision to transfer the Student Union bar and catering services to Stirling Hotels Services Ltd, a sub-brand of the University.
The statement outlined that the financial implications of RAAC threatened the Union’s ability to fund “societies, sports and academic representation”. This prompted the transfer of the Robbins Centre bar and catering services from June 1, 2024.
However, this was done without the consultation of students, causing concern over the transparency of Union officers.
The motion shares unease not only at the lack of consultation but that “minutes from the Trustee board meetings where this decision was made are not available to ordinary members”.
The Robbins Centre is currently used as a free venue for societies. The Union has since stated that “it is not the intention to charge societies or sports teams to use the space”.
Regardless, the motion describes the transfer of facilities as “frankly negligent” without consulting students about the decision.
Aims of the EGM
There will be an Open Meeting before the EGM, allowing students to ask questions about the transfer of the Robbins Centre services.
The motion asks: “Does this EGM disapprove of the decision made by the 2023/24 Sabbatical officers (who sit on the Trustee board) to dispose of the Robbins Centre without consultation with ordinary members of this union? And therefore, censures those officers?”
To avoid future issues, the motion proposes ‘accountability surgeries’ where Union officers hold regular sessions with students to maintain transparency.
It is requested that the Union researches other Scottish Student Union schedules to devise a ‘Union Officer Accountability Schedule’.
The motion argues that students should also be able to reject officer reports “where they believe the officers have not been properly representing students”.
It is also highlighted that students were unsatisfied with the last general meeting on March 14, 2024. The motion states: “Many students felt they were unfairly cut off by the chair of the meeting on the 14th of March before their questions could even be asked.”
In addition, “the chair of that discussion had a conflict of interest by being a member of the Trustee Board”.
The Open Meeting and EGM will be attended by a “neutral Student Chair” at the request of the motion proposers.
Vote of No Confidence
Also on the agenda is a requested change to the Union constitution regarding its Vote of No Confidence procedure.
The motion aims to change the requirement that “1/40th of the FTE [full time equivalent] population of Ordinary members” must sign a Vote of No Confidence for it to pass.
Instead, it requests that this number be changed to “60 Ordinary members”.
It also asks that the quoracy for a Vote of No Confidence be changed to 1/20th of the FTE population of Ordinary members as opposed to the 1/40th that the Union currently requires.
These measures endeavour to make a Vote of No Confidence more accessible. The motion argues that the current Vote of No Confidence “has near impossible requirements to pass”.
“We found no consultation or warning”
Stirling SSY (Scottish Socialist Youth) told Brig that they see two issues with the transfer of the Robbins Centre bar and services: “The first is that students are actively being deprived of a space over which they have some degree of control or ability to influence.”
Secondly “it exposes a degree of unaccountability of both the Trustee Board and the Student Union by extension.”
“We found no consultation or warning […] it was merely an announcement, and we were told we’d have to deal with the consequences.
“There is still a great amount of ambiguity as to what the situation with student venues will be for the next 5 years and a lack of transparency in how this decision was made.”
They also state: “These display worrying trends for student institutions which, in order to maintain their legitimacy, must be rectified, a dialogue must be established lest the union become another arm of the management.”
How to attend
The EGM will be held from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm this Thursday, May 16.
Due to it being outside of term time, it will be held on Microsoft Teams. Students are asked to register on the Union events page to attend and will be sent a link to the EGM.
Students can also submit questions for the Open Meeting in advance through the same link.
Stirling SSY told Brig: “We strongly encourage any and all students with similar concerns, and students in general […] to engage in such a dialogue and to begin efforts to reclaim what they’ve taken.
“It’s a small step forward, but a necessary one.”
The Union can be contacted with any questions regarding the Open Meeting and EGM at theunion@stir.ac.uk.
The motion notes and meeting agenda can be found here.
Featured Image Credit: Brig Newspaper
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