Selection not election in the GSU

trinitycat

I am completely surprised at the current GSU officers. There was the whole provost election charade and now they are changing democratic processes to non democratic processes......

Email circulated post-meeting:

*Constitutional Amendment*

Last week’s Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) saw a positive move
forward for the GSU, as the position of Treasurer will now be appointed by
interview. We hope this will allow a wider range of candidates to apply
for the job, who in previous years wouldn’t have done so, as it involved a
campaign and election.

-The GSU Treasurer will no longer be an Officer of the Union or hold a
vote on the Executive, as they have not been elected as a student
representative. They will sit on the Executive Committee and hold all
other rights the Executive have.

-Interviews for the position will take place each year and candidates will
be selected on the basis of their ability, experience and interest in the
GSU.

-The term for the Treasurer will begin after the first meeting of
Capitation and candidates who plan to run for the position again will have
to apply and be interviewed again.

-The job is only open to postgraduate students.
For more information please log onto the GSU website www.gsu.tcd.ie

The EGM wasn't even mentioned on the website. A poster announced the meeting and indicated that constitutional changes involving the election of the treasurer would be proposed. However, the text of the proposed amendment was not posted at the locations required by the GSU constitution. This is important so as to ensure that people can reflect on the proposed changes and present well thought out arguments for or against proposed changes at the meeting.

GSU Constitution Article 26:

a Any part of the Articles of this Constitution may be added to, deleted or amended only by resolution at the General Meeting, provided that no such resolution shall be deemed to have been passed unless it is supported by not less than two-thirds of the members of the Union present and voting.
b Motions for amendment to the Articles of this Constitution must either be signed by twenty full members of the Union and submitted to the Vice-President or proposed by the Executive Committee at least fourteen days prior to the General Meeting. Copies of any such proposed amendment must be posted in a conspicuous place in the Common Room at least seven days prior to the meeting.

This was not done. If the proposed amendment was posted it would have brought postgrads out to oppose it, as it represents a self interested backwards step when the country is doing its best to rid itself cronyism in general. I am still unable to find the text of the new constitution online (which should have been available not only after the meeting, but 7 days in advance), and do not know who will be selecting the treasurer by interview. It would be a very serious concern however if it is the sabbatical officers as the treasurer would then have to ingratiate himself with the sabbatical officers, as it is vital that the treasurer is independent of the other officers in carrying out his duties. It is also of interest that the post is no longer an officership as this allows people who have been officers of the union for more than 3 years (conveniently including the current treasurer !!!) to apply for the position and hold it indefinitely...., contrary to the intent of the article limiting terms of office.

No person shall serve as an Officer of the Union for more than three terms of office.
In addition, no person shall hold the same Officer's position for more than two terms
of office.

Denerick

Abolish the Student Union, create a voluntary union in its stead, and keep the electioneering to within the consensual electorate.

Student politics... Sometimes I think the world would have better off if the US and the USSR had blown the entire place up in the 60s.

baby and crumble

i remember getting about 4 emails with links to the changes coming up to the event, plus it was advertised on the FB page. A lot of grad students aren't based on campus, so other ways of communicating events are probably more efficient and they don't have to waste college money on printing...

Brian

I didn't get any email. Aren't spam filters lovely?

trinitycat

zoegh wrote: »

i remember getting about 4 emails with links to the changes coming up to the event, plus it was advertised on the FB page. A lot of grad students aren't based on campus, so other ways of communicating events are probably more efficient and they don't have to waste college money on printing...

There was never any actual information in any of the emails or the facebook posts, they only said that some changes were being made to the appointment of the treasurer. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001416192592&sk=wall


they had already wasted money printing the colour posters, so they should have included the proposed amendment, as required by the constitution.

Would it have been too much to ask that they post details of the proposal on their own official website?