A Letter from Your Sabbatical Officers

Dear Students, 

We are writing to address concerns raised about the Oxford Students’ Union (SU) following recent articles published in the student media. We believe it is incredibly important to address the misconceptions that have arisen from these articles, as transparency and democracy are at the heart of the SU, and we are committed to ensuring students have accurate information about its governance and operations. We are releasing this letter in tandem with our Governance Timeline in an effort to provide full transparency and clarity regarding the decision-making processes and bodies behind the SU’s recent announcements. 

 

Maintaining student representation on the Trustee Board: 

We would like to correct claims and reassure students that recent changes to the Trustee Board do not mean it no longer has a student majority indefinitely. Following the sudden resignation of the former President, the Board’s composition temporarily became 50/50 between elected students and co-opted external trustees. To address this, and in line with our longstanding commitment to maintaining a student majority, the Board is planning the emergency co-option of two new student trustees in accordance with Article 18.3 of the SU constitution. The Board has not extended the terms of the current elected student trustees, though we have encouraged them to consider re-running in Trinity Term and could consider co-opting them for a second term should all student trustees not be filled. 

Additionally, there has been some misunderstanding around the recruitment of student trustees. Whilst discussions around the development of the new articles and bye-laws included some consideration of whether the Board should appoint or elect student trustees, the Board determined that both options - ‘appoint or elect’ - should be included in the articles, with the final decision to be confirmed in the bye-laws drafted by students. The Board acknowledged, however, that students had expressed a clear preference for elections during all-student meetings and had therefore asked us to prepare for student trustee elections in Trinity Term.  

The Board has been clear in its intention to hold Student Trustee elections in Trinity term, once the new democratic model and officer structure had been announced and the sabbatical officer elections had taken place and crucially once new bye-laws supporting the process had been written and approved by students. This intention was communicated on the 9th of January via the SU website. The specific process for recruiting student trustees will be decided with direct input from students through consultations during the drafting of the bye-laws, which will be voted on via a student referendum alongside the SU’s articles. At no point has a decision been made that included not electing student trustees. 

We strongly encourage all students to refer to the governance timeline, which has been released alongside this statement and is available on our website and social media, as it details the decision-making process up to this point. It is important to note that a student majority has been maintained on the Trustee Board throughout this process. 

  

Removing the President Role: 

Student media recently reported on the decision to remove the President role, citing survey results where 86.2% of respondents allegedly supported keeping the role. This figure is drawn from a small sample size of just 61 responses, of which only 25 offered feedback specific to officer roles. While the survey responses are confidential due to data protection policies, they ranged from suggestions of having no elected roles at all to having a student Secretary, and those which did not explicitly state not having a President were interpreted as favouring retaining the role in the referenced survey. This survey, along with other detailed papers which outline the historical context of sabbatical officer dynamics and effectiveness at Oxford SU, were considered by the Trustee Board before making the decision. 

We believe that adopting this flat structure empowers teamwork and collective decision-making, and the new role titles provide greater clarity regarding the remit of each officer. The transformation period presents an opportunity to trial a new structure, and we believe we owe it to students to do so, considering no sabbatical officer team have completed a full year without suspensions or resignations since 2009. This culture clearly needs to change, and we believe this new structure offers an opportunity to create a healthier and more effective working environment. 

In line with the announcement of our new democratic structure, we do not see a Students’ Union as a vehicle for Presidencies, rather a structure to support and empower the Presidents that exist within your JCR, MCR and GCR structures. The new officer roles align with and reflect the Conference of Common Rooms democracy model which the SU will begin trialling from Trinity. We believe that one of the best ways to ensure the success of this new model is through the introduction of a Communities & Common Rooms Officer, who will work specifically with JCR and MCR Presidents to make policy that benefits all students.  

  

Moving forward: 

Serving as your sabbatical officers so far this academic year has been an incredibly rewarding experience. The SU has consistently supported and empowered us in our roles, enabling us to accomplish meaningful milestones. This year, we have focused on building strong foundations and relationships, re-establishing representative legitimacy and credibility, and delivering evidence-based advocacy on behalf of students to the university. 

We look forward to building on this progress throughout Hilary Term and beyond, with consultation on Statute XI already underway and EIRRS (Ethical Investment Representations Review Subcommittee) consultations soon to follow. We have also reconvened the Transformation Taskforce to begin drafting the new bye-laws and look forward to seeing you all at the All-Student Meeting in Week 6 at the Oxford Town Hall. 

We are proud of the progress made so far and are committed to completing the transformation process and to building a strong union truly led by students. We strongly encourage students to reach out to us directly with any questions and we welcome the opportunity to meet with any student individually to discuss their concerns. Your involvement is crucial to ensuring the SU continues to represent your interests and priorities, and we sincerely thank you for your engagement so far this year. 

This is also a call from us to run for SU Elections! Nominations close at midnight on Thursday the 30th of January. If you’re interested in running, you can find everything you need to know on our website. 

  

From Lauren Schaefer and Eleanor Miller, your elected SU sabbatical officers, 

VP Postgraduate Education & Access, and VP Undergraduate Education & Access 

vppgeducation@oxfordsu.ox.ac.uk  

vpugeducation@oxfordsu.ox.ac.uk 

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