CCR HT Week 7 2026 Motions

Wider Student Access to University Committees

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This motion proposes to require the SU to lobby the University to widen attendance of non-Sabbatical Officers at key University committees. 

Proposal  

To require the SU to lobby the University to widen attendance of non-Sabbatical Officers at key University committees. 

Which of the following aims does your motion or proposal hope to achieve?  

  • Support the SU to build a collective voice between the Officers of the Students’ Union and the representative bodies of individual common rooms 

  • Provide the views of students and a position deemed to be representative of wider students at the University of Oxford 

Conference Notes:  

  • That the University Statutes and Regulations provide for student representatives on many key university committees, including (but not limited to) University Council. 

  • Many of these committees (including University Council) have more than one seat reserved for Student Representatives.  

  • Currently, all of the SU representatives at many of these committees are sabbatical officers. The “highest” committee that “ordinary students” currently sit on are the Divisional Boards. 

  • At Cambridge, one of the attendees to University Council is an incumbent “lay” student, elected annually by the whole student populus.  

  • That there is an upcoming university-led review of the ‘University Policy and guidance on Student Engagement’, which the SU will contribute to as the principal driver of student representation on these committees. 

Conference Believes:  

  • That Student Representation would be strengthened by having both current students and sabbatical officers on key committees, particularly University Council, especially students who are not involved in the quotidian affairs of the SU. 

Conference Resolves:  

  • To mandate the SU to lobby the university to widen the presence and attendance of non-sabbatical officers at key University committees where multiple positions are reserved for student representatives, including (but not limited to) University Council. 

Equality Impact Assessment: 

  • Stated as net positive impact for all listed demographics