Delegate training National Conference 2015

This session will cover the basics of NUS National Conference and how to submit motions

Who is this for? This presentation is for delegates elected to go to NUS National Conference It is designed so that a trainer can use it as the basis for a session – there are a few activities and questions within it Individuals can use this on their own but it will be enhanced by going through in groups and in conjunction with the NUS National Conference Hub

Well Done! Well done for being elected as a National Conference Delegate In HE you were elected by cross campus ballot – no mean feat In FE you may have been elected by cross campus ballot, student parliament or from your executive You are elected to represent the views of your student body and students’ union

What We’ll Cover This training approaches the conference thematically Your role at conference - Policy - Elections - Accountability What you should be doing in and with your union Getting to National Conference and looking after yourself while there Reporting back to your union

Your role at Conference Set the Policy of NUS for the year ahead Elect the political leaders of NUS for the year ahead Elect the Trustee Board and Democratic Procedures Committee Hold the political leadership accountable for the work done over the past year Approve the Estimates and Accounts

Activity Get into groups of about 4-5 people. The following bullets are actions for you. We are going to eat some food. Each person should tell your group about your favourite meal – one you have had or one you want. Concentrate on describing the food. Each person should spend about a minute doing this. You aren’t going to eat alone – you have to cook for the entire group. Once you’ve finished describing the food, negotiate – without voting - with each other about what meal your group will have. Think about combining starters or mains, making things vegetarian or spicier.

Activity Now you have your meal. Unfortunately you need to persuade another group to eat it too. Elect someone from your group to go to another group and ‘sell’ your meal to them. They have a few minutes to do this. Now your group (with the person selling the other group’s meal) can make a number of alterations to your menu. You can change 3 things to make the proposed meal more like your original one.

Activity The chef has said that they can only do one meal for the entire room. Two people must speak for their group’s amended meals for 1 minute. Now we vote and whichever meal wins is what’s on the table tonight… Happy with the result?

Setting policy Policy sets out what the NUS as an organisation believes about an issue and what it resolves to do about it The policy process is governed by a group of students, known as the Democratic Procedures Committee or DPC, who are elected by delegates at National Conference If National Conference votes for a motion or amendment it will become the policy of the NUS and the officers will have to obey it Each individual policy is made up of an ideological position (Believes) and a plan on how to enact that position (Resolves) To help make sense of our policy it is split into ‘zones’ (there are 5 of these: Further Education, Higher Education, Society and Citizenship, Union Development and Welfare. Each of these zones are convened by a Vice-President, elected at National Conference)

Setting policy: Zones Further Education – which deals with things affecting academic provision in the FE sector. Higher Education – which deals with things affecting academic provision in the HE sector Society & Citizenship – which deals with the world in which students live Union Development – which deals with students’ unions Welfare – which deals with student safety and wellbeing Although not a political zone – unions can also change the way NUS works by submitting motions to the Annual General Meeting – more on which later.

Setting Policy: Zones Each zone has a vice-president and a committee elected by Zone Conference. Back in October this Zone Committee started researching what sort of issues students and unions were facing at the Zone Conferences. From this research they wrote a set of recommendations, which were published in January on the Conference Hub.

Setting Policy: Zones Students’ unions have a chance to submit text that either adds to or changes the existing Zone proposals (amendments) or discusses something new (ordinary motions). Deadline is 6 March 12pm The Democratic Procedures Committee (DPC) bring together these different texts into the final motions document that you have. In your earlier exercise you amended the other group’s meal proposal. You can do the same thing for the proposals from Zone Committees before 6 March 2014.

Things to do in your Students’ Union Conference Document (CD) 5 has all the motion proposals from the Zone Committees. Your union has 1,400 words with which to amend these proposals or add new motions It is up to you to decide how your union will do this. You will need to think about how your word count is used and who debates each zone. Will you work with other unions to submit new motions? Come up with some bullet points on how your union will debate policy. If you already have a process what can you do to improve it?

Setting policy: priority In most cases DPC will bring text together where it is consensual or even identical to allow the debate to flow. In some circumstances they will contact a union to come to drafting commission to resolve differences over the text. The order in which policy is debated is decided by a priority ballot of delegates to Conference. This will be released ahead of Conference. You’ll be able to vote by on which order the zones are discussed and which order ordinary motions are discussed within that zone.

Your first role at Conference The policy in each zone is split into motions, each dealing with a different issue For each motion you’ll hear some speeches, some in favour and some opposed After these speeches you’ll be asked to vote by raising your delegate card at the appropriate time. You can vote: -FOR if you want the motion to become policy -AGAINST if you don’t want the motion to become policy -ABSTAIN if you don’t understand the issue or don’t believe NUS should have a stance on it

Amendments Some motions will have amendments to them. Conference will hear speeches and be asked to vote on amendments in the same way as the motion. Amendments then become part of the main motion. If you vote for the motion you’re also voting for the amendment. Example: At National Conference 2011 the first motion was called ‘Education Funding’ which called for a specific type of funding system and resolves to do specific things. It had a number of amendments. Conference voted for amendment (a) then the motion became a mix of the original AND the text of amendment (a). Conference voted for the motion as a whole and NUS’ policy became both the main motion and the amendment

Amendments example Motion Fibchester University submits a motion and speaks on it at National Conference Amendment 1 Unreal college submits an amendment to the motion and speaks for it Fibchester speaks against it. National Conference votes for the amendment so it is added to the motion Amendment 2 University of Fakeshire submit a second amendment and speak for it. National Conference votes against the amendment and it disappears National Conference votes for the motion as amended and it becomes NUS policy

In your Union Some unions will mandate their delegation to vote in a certain way on some or all policy debates If your union wishes to do this how will it set the mandate? How will they ensure delegates vote that way?

Policy Lapse, Ratification & Adoption Policy lasts for 3 years at which point it lapses. Lapsed policy no longer becomes something officers need to work on A policy lapse document is available on the conference Hub. If you don’t want something to lapse then you need to see DPC before the second day of Conference for it to be debated Policy that changes the constitution needs to be ratified and will be discussed as the first item at conference Policy passed by other bodies will come to National Conference to be adopted and become part of NUS’ policy

Elections The people you elect will be your political leaders for the next year. The elections process is governed by the Chief Returning Officer (CRO) You’ll hear speeches from candidates for each position before having to make a decision. After all the speeches you’ll be able to vote in the ballot boxes as you leave conference hall.

Elections Conference Document (CD) 11 has all the information you need to stand for election including the deadline for nominations After the close of nominations for Full Time (March 4) and NEC members (March 18) For the first time this year, nominations for DPC and the Trustee Board will close ahead of Conference on April 18 NUS will put the candidate manifestos and other information online: Your union may mandate your delegates to vote for certain candidates at conference

Your 2 nd role - Voting Voting Elections are decided using a system of transferable vote. You choose candidates in order of preference by putting a ‘1’ by your first choice, a ‘2’ by your second, and so on. This allows you to say who should be elected if your first, second, or even third and fourth choices do not attract a lot of support.

Your 2 nd role - Voting Delegates each have a unique book of ballot papers. To vote, number your choices on the ballot Tear off at the top perforation. This is to prevent fraud. Place your ballot in the box. Your number will be removed from your ballot before counting. VP Ballot example COLE Cheryl SHEARER Alan STING Mr 007

Election Results Full Time Officer election results will be announced on Conference Floor. Other positions will be counted within 1 week of Conference and announced online.

Reports NUS National Conference will receive a number of reports to be accepted. These are On the work done by the Vice-presidents and Zone Committees On the work done on the Priority Campaign On the work done by the NEC, Trustee Board, Democratic Procedures Committee, Nominations Committee & Chief Returning Officer The Accounts for the past year and Estimates for the year ahead

Your 3 rd role - Accountability You should read each report – they’ll be online for at least 2 weeks and copies are available for each delegate. Presentations will be given at Conference You can ask questions about each report by submitting them to DPC (or the CRO for DPC’s report) You can vote to accept the report or reject it If you don’t like the work done you can try to refer it back. If you don’t like the actions or behaviours of an individual you can censure them

Your 3 rd role - Accountability To censure someone, go and see DPC and explain the action you want to undertake before the report section begins. There chair will ask to see 100 delegates to hear the case for the censure or reference back. If they see 100 delegates you’ll be asked to do a speech for the action, and there will then be a speech in defence. After the speeches there will be a vote. If a majority wish to censure or refer work back then this action will pass.

Accountability and the AGM The Trustee, DPC, NEC and CRO reports will all be discussed at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) The amount NUS plans to spend in each area is outlined in the Estimates and approved here The estimates will include a proposal about the affiliation fee unions pay to NUS for membership Motions that change how NUS’ internal processes are administered are voted for here too DPC will propose the formula to calculate how many delegates are sent to National Conference

Conference timetable The agenda (order paper) for conference will only be set a few days before the event as it depends on the number of motions and candidates at the event. This is a rough day by day guide based on our expectations Day One – Registration, opening speakers, approval of the order paper, approval of minutes, ratifications. The first two of the five policy zone debates, two fringe breaks and presidential hustings Day Two – The last three policy zone debates, the elections for President and the vice presidents, the adoptions, two fringe breaks Day Three – The AGM, election of the national executive councillors and democratic procedures committee, closing speeches

In your Union The Estimates (CD6) are available on the Conference hub and unions will be able to challenge them via by 20 March If your union believes NUS should spend more on one area and less on another you can tell us and it will be voted on at conference If your union believes NUS should alter its internal processes to help it and students’ unions change the lives of students then you can submit text by 20 March

That was… Your role at National Conference Set the Policy of NUS for the year ahead Elect the political leaders of NUS for the year ahead Elect the Trustee Board and Democratic Procedures Committee Hold the political leadership accountable for the work done over the past year Not a role as such – but please see the Fringe events and meet lots of new people

In your Union – Before Conference You should get to know your delegation – go for a meal or a coffee. You’ll be spending 4 days together so its worth being friends Make sure your union has booked for subsidised accommodation and access needs by 18 March Get details of your union-organised transport to Liverpool. Registration on the day opens at 10am The Order Paper (Agenda) for Conference is finalised just days before the event but will include plenty of time for breaks Does your union have an expenses policy?

Your delegation at Conference To register you’ll need to print out your unique e-ticket sent to you. Keep it safe! The Fringes often include food so use them over lunch There are plenty of stalls to look around and people after your vote – so enjoy the atmosphere and look around There is time to work, socialise & rest – but do all in the right amounts – not just the first two!

In your Union – at Conference How will your union report back on what they did at conference? How they voted, what they spoke on and the ideas they want to bring back Fill in the evaluation form that NUS send you. Feedback is the breakfast of champions

Questions For issues relating to the administration of conference, including registration, access needs, room bookings and stalls contact the Events Team through For issues about delegate entitlement, zone committees, reports and policy, amendments to zone policy proposals & Cross Campus Ballots contact the Chair of the Democratic Procedures Committee through For issues about elections contact Chief Returning Office through