General Meeting 10 April to consider Congress Amendments and elect Delegates

As previously circulated, we have called a General Meeting to discuss Amendments to motions submitted to our union’s Congress and Higher Education Sector Conference, which will be held in Liverpool from Saturday 24 to Monday 26 May.

General Meeting (Congress Amendments & Delegates)
Thursday 10 April, 1-2pm
Members have been sent a link to register for this zoom meeting.

Congress is the supreme decision-making body of our union, and motions to Congress set policy for our union. Higher Education policy is set by the HE Sector Conference, a one-day sectoral conference within the ‘Congress’ event. 

At our meeting UCL UCU members will vote on amendments to submitted motions which the branch can decide to submit to Congress and Sector Conference. We will also elect delegates (we are entitled to 8).

Depending on time, we will also hear branch motions of urgent business.

Election of Branch Delegates

We are entitled to send eight (8) voting delegates from UCL UCU. We are the largest UCU branch in the country, so it is important to us to ensure our delegation is complete, and to use our votes.

This is also a big conference where reps can meet each other and discuss connecting up between branches of the union. This helps our union become stronger and better organised.

Delegates may self-nominate. If you wish to put yourself forward, please email ucu@ucl.ac.uk. If you are interested in participating and wish to know more, you can also contact members of the UCL UCU branch committee.

Procedure: At the General Meeting on 10 April, members will elect delegates from nominated candidates before the start of the meeting. If there are any spaces left, we will accept nominations from the floor.

Colleagues may put themselves forward even if they can only attend for one or two of the three days of Congress. 

UCU covers the cost of accommodation, travel and reasonable expenses for those attending in-person. For the first time Congress will also operate in a hybrid setting, although the details of this have not been announced. For reasons of networking and participation, we do encourage colleagues to attend in person if possible.

Amendments to motions

Any UCL UCU member can submit an amendment to the branch. Members at the General Meeting would vote on this and, if passed, it may be submitted to Congress. 

Colleagues are encouraged to read the First Report of the Congress Business Committee, which documents the motions ordered onto the agenda. UCL UCU is entitled to submit amendments to motions: up to 1 for Congress and 2 for HE Sector Conference.

An amendment consists of up to 75 words of new text, and must specify which motion to which it refers. For more information, see the First Report.

Deadline: Please email ucu@ucl.ac.uk with proposed amendments before 12 Noon on Friday 4 April, so that we can circulate any received on the same day.