Grim Democratic Failings

Systematic failings are rapidly becoming clear in the implementation of guild council mandates.

You may have read about the recent guild T-shirt error. First reported by Tom Guise VDPR and then by student media here on the Radish and later here in redbrick . In which the guild accidently used fruit of the loom for its freshers week T-shirts.

Another similar failing was when the guild accepted last January a company for a promotion without doing the research guild council has mandated “The Guild shall always look into the ethical standing of any company before a promotion is accepted. Such as its working practices, the nature of its business, and the supply chain of its products as well as taking into account its majority shareholder and their ethical practices.”– The company turned out to be an arms company which had illegally sold weaponry to countries in breach of international human rights laws and engaging in illegal wars.

Cases like these are just the tip of the iceberg and probably are just the examples we know about. I recently asked for copy of the guild environmental and ethical policies. Both of these policies which staff are suppose to refer to contain serious errors and are massively out of date going backwards chronological through these mistakes.

Shell is still Boycotted – this was overturned by guild council last term

Fruit of the Loom is not boycotted – guild council mandated it to be boycotted in March

Staff and exec flying – this still reads “No Guild officer or member of staff shall use air travel for any Guild business, unless in case of emergency.” This should have been changed allowing staff and exec to fly by the “fly me to moon motion” last winter.

Entering into contracts with companies against whom student groups have campaigns – “The Guild shall endeavour not to enter into contracts with companies against whom its campaigning societies are currently running a campaign.” This was also removed by guild council.

Oil companies – “or any other company engaged with the extraction of oil such as BP.” all oil companies are according to the guilds copy of the ethical policy banned, this was before my time but I know it has been overturned long ago.

These are policies to which staff at the guild use. Mistakes like these would make them liable to make massive errors even when acting in good faith.
Another issue emerging is reporting back to Guild Council on implementation. For example policy reads that the guild will stock fair-trade items in its clothing shop. Anyone who may have visited zest will have noticed this is not the case.

There is no mechanism for reporting back to students when a mandate has not been achieved. This may seem odd to you because if you were told by your boss told you do something and you could not do it for reason A, B and C you would go tell them asap, why? Because they are the person above you! Students are the governors of the guild…. Well at least nominally in practice clearly not.

I’m just reporting here on ethical and environmental mandates other areas are the same. This is not in my opinion a break down in communication as I have seen reported to students in redbrick and on blogs.

Guild council is totally sidelined and ignored its motions have little effect on the guild not because of poor communications but rather because of its integration within the guild. It is to low ranking and too separated from other key decision making bodies in the guild to have a impact.

Thing have gotten so bad in my opinion that the guild staff or the officer team quite simply can’t deal with these issues internally and need to sit down in open meetings with students and discuss reforms.

If you think the guilds structure needs reform and you want this process to be open and democratic involving all students let it be known! Comment here and e-mail this to these addresses-

president@guild.bham.ac.uk;vpdr@guild.bham.ac.uk; vpea@guild.bham.ac.uk;vphc@guild.bham.ac.uk; vps@guild.bham.ac.uk;vpw@guild.bham.ac.uk; vpsad@guild.bham.ac.uk; e.bauer@guild.bham.ac.uk

Dear executive,

I’m concerned about the failure to implement guild council motions. Recent events and past failures show drastic problems with the current system. I want to be heard please start a working groupopen to all students to tackle these issues and bring in real reform.

Sincerely

Concerned student

Environment Health and Safety Executive Committee meeting - Report

Hi I posted the agenda of the EAG meeting here, please – this my report on the meeting. When I receive the minutes I will also publish them online.

I would have liked to have used a dictaphone for this report and publish here (in addition to my summary) a recording of the meeting segmented into the sections on the agenda so you could listen to the points directly. Tom Guise however intervened and said that it would be “unprofessional” to use notation aids in the meetings, hopefully by the next one I will have changed his mind.

I aslo think all officers should to report like this on their blogs and will be tabling a motion to mandate them to do so.

3.Matters Arising:
a. Environmental Policy Review

This will be finalised on the 3rd of November. Any Review of environmental policy at the uni should be a key chance for the guild to campaign in. This review seems to be at the end of its process. If anyone is interested in trying to influence the proceedings at this stage I can try and get you a copy of what’s going on.


b.Waste and Recycling Contracts update

Veolia were recently given a temporary contract for mixed recycling and confidential waste. The possibility of extending this contract for the next three years will be discussed next September.

Veolia is a company that is willing to trample all over international law and human rights and is the target of an ongoing boycott campaign, something to campaign on this year?

c.Environmental Management Systems
(i) BiTC indices (attached EAG 09.09.2)

This is a initiative supported by UK uni funding councils, It measures the extent to which institutions integrate environmental responsibility into their strategic and operational activities.

The uni now have the report back, the results are a interesting read and I would love to share them with you. It was communicated that the report is strictly confidential.

I brought up if it could be made public and uni are going to make a “summary” of the results to put online (a nice chance for spin in my opinion – worthy of the guild of students) I’m going to continue to lobby to get it published in full.

(ii) Ecocampus scheme.

(Here some info on scheme http://www.ecocampus.co.uk/ have a gander). The cost to participate is £10,700 pounds which was deemed to expensive.

I’m not entirely convinced the BiTC indices which the uni currently choose to do is the most effective environmental management scheme. I’m going to do some research to check if the uni are trying to cop out of making real commitments. I’d appreciate any help in this research (please contact me if you know anything or are interested) - so that when the decision is taken next year to choose which carbon management scheme to choose the guild will be ready.

d.Sustainable Travel Plan Update

The ball has been dropped here (on drivers feet). The guild was in a dialogue with the uni over the new car parking scheme however during the handover this role has not been conferred. I don’t now what’s going, nobody does... the exec are trying to find someone new to do this role.

e.Carbon Management
(i) HEFCE consultation
(ii) HECM Update

(iii) 10:10 campaign targets

I’ll include here to save myself time (sry), tom guises report to the 10:10 campaign group since it’s a good summary of the discussion, hope you don’t mind tom.

“Myself and Trevor Shields have been actioned to write a note on 10:10 for the University Executive Board to consider and make a decision on signing up or not. The EAG spent a lot of time talking about the variety of schemes they are signed up to, and actually raised a valid point that focusing on this for a year would seem superfluous. The rep from Estates did not seem convinced that it was achievable and Judith Petts actually mentioned being more ambitious, cutting CO2 emissions by 20% by 2015.”

f.People & Planet Green League Table

The uni are upset by the changes in methodology and don’t think they represent a fair assessment of their green efforts and are considering not complying with Freedom of information requests submitted this year from P&P – (this is interesting will keep you updated).

g.Guild Activities

Tom guise reported a few things I will let him cover that in his own time I presented this …..

Can we have a Food action group?

“To influence and improve the health and environmental impacts of the university community, to establish, enable and maintain lifelong eating habits that benefit both themselves and the environment”

Objectives

Leadership

- To ensure that the entire university community are consulted on these issues via the food action group
- To ensure that the entire university community are kept informed of key changes in relation to food issues

Food quality of provenance

- To liaise with on campus retailers about lowering the environmental impacts of their food goods.
- To support the provision of food that has low environmental impact
- To work with campus retailers to endeavour to achieve the food for life targets of 75% unprocessed, 50% local, 30% organic and to address issues of seasonality, animal welfare and sustainable fishing
- To ensure that there is easy access on campus throughout the day to free drinking water that is separate from the toilet area.
Education
- To provide opportunities for students to eat and cook with vegetables that they grown themselves.
- To ensure that there is no collaboration with businesses that require endorsements of brands and products that have high environmental impacts or high in fat, sugar or salt.

The uni seem quite keen to create groups to work to improve the uni’s health and environmental impacts groups, which I find very encouraging. I plan on taking this further will keep you updated on this blog.

Additionally in response to the publication of the agenda I received three questions to ask to the EAG from a student.

Here are the questions and there responses

Q. do the uni know their current level of carbon emissions

A. No they don’t – they have this which is very rough estimate http://www.climatechange.bham.ac.uk/update.shtml
(Seriously look into where the figures come from and you can see how rough an estimate it is)
They did say that they thought money was best spent on making “real reductions” rather than into a full carbon audit.

Q. will the results from the sustainable travel survey be made available?

A. No they were not going to be, not because they have anything to hide but because they hadn’t thought of publishing them. I now have a copy I would post it here however blogger can’t have documents uploaded on for download ( I should get wordpress). If anyone wants a copy to read just write your e-mail in the comments section.

Q. with regards to the PP Green League... what the uni is planning on doing to improve its ethical and enivornmental standing in the region... because Aston, Warwick and Cov all scored higher

A. I got pointed in the direction of this mammoth document http://www.climatechange.bham.ac.uk/wecan/carbon.shtml

Environment Health and Safety Executive Committee meeting Agenda

Here is the agenda for the next Environment Health and Safety Executive meeting. Have a read and reply below if there is anything you would like brought up about any of the points or something you would like added. The uni loves student feedback don't hold back! If you would like anymore details about any of the subjects just ask and I will try to find it for you asap.

Meeting to be held on Tuesday 22nd September 2009 at 2:30 pm,
Vice Chancellor’s Meeting Room, Aston Webb

1.Apologies & Introductions

2.Minutes of the last meeting 1st June 2009 (attached EAG 09.09.1)

3.Matters Arising:
a.Environmental Policy Review
b.Waste and Recycling Contracts update
c.Environmental Management Systems
(i) BiTC indices (attached EAG 09.09.2)
(ii) Ecocampus scheme.
d.Sustainable Travel Plan Update
e.Carbon Management
(i) HEFCE consultation
(ii) HECM Update
(iii) 10:10 campaign targets
f.People & Planet Green League Table
g.Guild Activities

4.Annual Report (attached EAG 09.09.3)

5.Green Impacts Project

6.Sustainability Task Group Development

7.Date of next meeting

GC Motions

Yes I've been writing too much on this blog, more so than any other officer. I'm writing so much because I know that everybody who enters these positions has big ambitions which they constantly fail to achieve. With that in mind I'm starting right now. All the writing I have just done is a ground work trying to raise debate. I Intend to have motions on all these issues ready for the first guild council of term.

just to recap here are the points I have raised that I intend release motions on,

Monitoring the university here

Reducing executive powers here , here and here.

Getting students heard by the Uni making the uni more accountable here.

I will put them up here on this blog for criticism and debate so hopefull by Guild council we have motions that everyone can agree on.

Stuck in the bottleneck of representation

-I'm writing this because it was a election promise of mine to engage the grassroots and get students heard (this was described at the time as unrealistic). Why Am I not lobbying silently behind closed doors? Its because I just don't believe that the executive or guild council are democratic enough to reform themselves. I believe we need open and honest debate which all students can take part in too reform and re-ignite the guild of students as a campaigning organization.

Last guild council students decided to end the guilds campaign against shell after two years in failure. Two years ago the world and students across the country were in uproar about revelations about shells behavior in Nigeria; its disregard for international laws, its environmental abuse and its role in the murder of 9 Nigerian activists including and internationally acclaimed poet, writer, activist Ken Saro-Wiwa.

Several students societies rallied the student body, created a petition with hundreds of signatures showing broad student support for the university to divest its shares in shell and cease allowing it to promote itself on campus. Those societies and individuals passed a motion at guild council mandating the guild to cease its promotion of shell, investment in the company and for the EEO and president lobby the university to do likewise. At this point the guild got involved..... and a popular campaign which had the broad support of the student body was effectively over.

I don't want to discuss if students should or should not campaign against shell, I just want to analyze why a campaign with so many committed organizers, activists and popular support failed. Why two years later the campaign had lost all momentum.

Passing a motion through guild council - had the same effect on the campaigns momentum as a 20,000 ton train traveling east at 86mph would have on 12 stone 3lb jogger traveling east. The guild cuts its students out of any process of taking its campaigns further.

Its the job of the officers sitting of various university committees to pass up guild council mandates, that committee then hopefully discusses the proposal decides the outcome, and (if the motion mandates) for that officer to write a letter to relevant committee/person/organization . A process which the student group is cut out off. The influence the student group has over its campaign is via guild council and the officers reports on the process of their representation.

The system of campaign representation was (I hope) designed with the best intentions, to get students heard. Its has unfortunately now become more like a bottleneck more of a block than boost to student campaigns. It is surprising? how effective was the one man army ever going be against the university?

In the case of the Shell campaign the student groups behind it where left at a loose end, they still had all that energy all their passion but no real targets left to put it all to good use on. Given time with nothing to do it died away its members left or put their energies into new campaigns. By the time a group of students decided they didn't want their officers to campaign on this anymore, the campaign was truly a shadow of its former self (It didn't really defend itself very vigorously in guild council).

A student society should never be left in the cold, the guild should be helping its students take their campaigns further. Students groups don't know who two target next; guild officers in their reports on their campaigns on there blog and communications to Guild council should contain minutes of meetings they raise the issue at, which departs or individuals objected and who approved, (It will be hard) the guild should work to truly break the bottleneck of this representation open; get permission for student media and students to sit in on all the meetings from the council downward, let students groups send representatives to address the committees directly and even hard get even more representatives who are more accountable for students on these committees.

This bottleneck must be broken students voices should be heard by the university in there full undiluted force with all their passion and commitment. Maybe then popular campaigns like the shell campaign won't fail....

Re: Fabian: Add students to your team ;)

After reading Fabians Blog “we are a guild of students! A response” . I’ve decided to reply. I commend his desire to re-engage students in the very highest levels of guild politics. I like many was very encouraged by his manifesto promises of change and the sentiments he expressed during the election. I believe he really intends to try make these changes.

The platform me and Fabian are arguing on that is our guild provided blogs. These blogs are now as Nick Petrie says the “primary means of submitting a Guild Council report”. Guild council is the chief mechanism for students to debate with the officers the contents of these reports and the direction of the guild. To do this they are given the platform of guild council.

Online in the officers new e reports it’s a different matter any student commenting/ debating on these reports are given no platform. I think its time the guild followed step with other institutions and groups progressively trying to engage their grassroots.

I think you’ll agree that the “meet the team feed” you have on left and side of your page is the primary area for discussion of executive activities, it’s like a officer team giving reports but there is no guild council, lets not waffle to empty room anymore. The number of student’s blogging tweeting about guild issues shows how many students are clamouring to be let in to this room.

It’s great that you check their blogs that reflects well on your style of governance, however you don’t have to do it and other presidents may not do as you do. So I think it is time that we let those students fully into the online guild council, create an organ for them as Helen says. Include all students and students groups who want it in your “meet the team” feed on your blog because they are very much part of the team. Put links beside the officer blogs to all the students’ blogs that request it, promote them, give them a platform, create a organ etc.

“I been given a platform which is disproportionately superior to fellow student bloggers? Well, according to my google analytics statistics only very few visitors to my blog have come via the Guild website so hence many people have come through word of mouth and my own advertising via facebook and twitter”

Yes however I don’t think that reflects on the power of the platform it probably just reflects on how tucked away and poorly promoted these blogs are on the guild website (my analytics shows a similar story). Not many students turn up to guild council (or atleast stay for the motions) that doesn’t affect the power of it as a platform just its effectiveness.

Prince calls on students for support

"This was set up by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to find solutions to the global emergency of tropical rainforest destruction, a key part of the climate change equation.

On 30th September 2009, the PRP is launching the Rainforest SOS Campaign - asking people to tell the world to put a stop to rainforest destruction by adding their name and sending a Rainforest SOS to https://webmail.bugs.bham.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.rainforestSOS.org or texting 60777."

Its being lanched on september 30th to concide with students returning to uni who it is hoped will be the campaigns main supporters. The Prince's Rainforest Project is looking for students or a student group to champion it on campus i.e co-ordinate flyering and posters, signing students up or running events. If your interested in doing so they will provide you with campaining materials.

This could be some rewarding work and great experiance for you if you are interested organsing for Prince's Rainforest Project message quickly and I'll put you in contact.

Guild of Officers (Students Excluded )

I started part one of this here before I went to climate camp . I intend to put forward the issues I raise here too Guild Council in a motion, this is why I'm writing this in public blog rather than in a private e-mail to the executive.

Is the guilds system of absolving its members of power and responsibility appropriate in a age of modern communication? does it not dis-empower the guilds grass-roots while helping to create a inaccessible elite?

Obviously the guilds system of sabbatical representation is designed to defer power and responsibility to a select group. Built on a system based on simple division of labour, the average student is assumed to be too busy do certain tasks . So we have a system were activists are employed for the task of changing the students lives for them because they are assumed to be either to apathetic or busy.

To what extent is this need for this division of labour a thing of past? If it ever was the case that students were incapable of being forces for change, then the information age has certainly changed that. New communications on facebook, blogger twitter. Hundreds of students are now a hidden force for change at the guild and university. Its just a shame that the Guilds system actively disregards these students as elements for change in education.

Don't blame the guild its just that it is about as fast on its feet as a lead donkey and can't keep up with the times. The guild still only lets its executive take part in the official discourse of change. In doing so It demotes its membership who also blog, twitter etc to a lower sub platform. While the guild flops about like a lead donkey-fish out of its archaic snail speed communication water, other groups are already moving forward. The Labour parties Labour list, Conservative Home and other campaigning groups with the same structure as the guild of students like People and Planet have allowed their grass-root membership to start setting the agenda. Students are empowered and informed and don't want rely on supposed “experts” to do the work of change for them. The system at the guild is making assumptions about who is behind change at the university that certainly no longer apply/

I think the the guild needs to break down its separations which sustain a elite that are keeping students quiet and dis-empowered. Why should writers like Nick Petrie talking about the issues at the university and at the guild be given a lower platform to speak on than the president? To me the current guild seems unworthy of the explanatory descriptive of students and until it gives a better voice to its grass-root members then it will remain in my mind a guild of officers.

Take a look at the people and planet website on the front page it has a feed of blogs from its grass-root members> I've also changed the feed on this blog so that unofficial student writers are put next to guild officers on a equal platform. I will be creating a motion for the first guild council arounds the points here if you would like to help create it (or have a major problem with this) then either comment or message me.

The third part on this theme (I which I will write asap) will be on the content of officer blogs (interested?).

I do not intend "to swipe" at any of the current officers my criticisms are aimed solely at procedures that were in place before you got into office, I am sorry if you are attached to them however please don't these criticisms personally.