Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ

Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ/845ÌýÌý 2 February 2018

University and College Union

Carlow Street, London NW1 7LH, Tel. 020 7756 2500, www.ucu.org.uk

ToÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Branch and local association secretaries

TopicÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ Congress 2018: Calling notice

ActionÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Motions to be submitted by 12 noon on Friday 16 March. Nominations to the Congress Business Committee to be submitted by 12 noon on Wednesday 23 May 2018.

Summary ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Calling notice of Congress 2018 including deadlines for motions and amendments and call for nominations to the Congress Business CommitteeÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý

ContactÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Catherine Wilkinson (cwilkinson@ucu.org.uk); Kay Metcalfe (kmetcalfe@ucu.org.uk) in the constitution and committees team

Dear Colleagues

Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ CONGRESS, 30 MAY – 1 JUNE 2018, MANCHESTER

CALLING NOTICE

including call for motions, and call for nominations to the

Congress Business Committee

Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ’s annual Congress will be held at the Manchester Central Convention Centre from Wednesday 30 May to Friday 1 June 2018. This will include meetings of the Higher Education and Further Education Sector Conferences on Thursday 31 May.

This circular is the calling notice for this meeting of Congress and the sector conferences and includes the following information:

1.   Timetable of key dates

2.   Submission of motions (deadline: 12 noon, Friday 16 March 2018)

3.   The work of the Congress Business Committee and call for nominations (deadline: 12 noon, 23 May 2018)

4.   Information about delegate entitlement and aggregation of small branches

Information about Congress, including standing orders, can be found on-line at . This page will be updated with links to relevant documents as the timetable progresses.

Information about the registration of delegates is being sent in a separate branch circular (Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ/846), and will also be made available at .

Yours sincerely

Sally Hunt

General Secretary

1ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Congress 2018: Timetable of key dates

Friday 2 February	Calling notice issued, including call for motions and call for nominations to the Congress Business Committee. Delegate registration opens.
Friday 2 March	Date by which the NEC’s report to Congress will be available
12 noon, Friday 16 March	Deadline for the receipt of motions for Congress and Sector Conferences at Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ head office
Friday 23 March	First meeting of the Congress Business Committee, to order motions submitted
Week beginning Monday 26 March	First report of the Congress Business Committee issued by the end of this week, setting out all motions received
Wednesday 25 April	Deadline for the registration of Congress delegates (see branch circular Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ/846)
12 noon, Friday 4 May	Deadline for the receipt of amendments to motions for Congress and sector conferences at Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ head office
Friday 11 May	Second meeting of the Congress Business Committee, to order amendments received
Week beginning Monday 14 May	Second report of the Congress Business Committee published as soon as practicable this week, setting out motions and amendments, and order of business
Friday 18 May (provisional date)	Mailing to delegates requiring their Congress papers in hard copy.
12 noon, Wednesday 23 May	Deadline for receipt of nominations to the Congress Business Committee
Tuesday 29 May	Meetings of the National Executive Committee and Congress Business Committee (Manchester)
Wednesday 30 May – Friday 1 June 2018	Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ CONGRESS, Manchester, including sector conferences, 31 May

 

The Congress Business Committee will determine the timing of sessions of Congress and the Sector Conferences.Ìý Sector Conferences will take place on Thursday 31 May. Sessions will begin not earlier than 09:30 on Wednesday 30 May, and Congress will close not later than 15:00 on Friday 1 June.Ìý In addition to a Welcome reception at 19:00 on the evening of Tuesday 29 May, a meeting for new delegates will take place at 18:00.

2            Submission of motions

2.1        All motions must be submitted by the deadline of 12 NOON on FRIDAY 16 MARCH 2018.

2.2        Motions from branches and local associations must:

a.   Be properly approved by a quorate branch or local association general meeting

b.   Be given a title of not more than 10 words

c.    Be not more than 150 words in length (excluding the 10 word title)

d.   Be clearly submitted to Congress or to a Sector Conference

e.   Be within the number of motions allowed: one per branch submitted to Congress, two per branch submitted to a Sector Conference.

f.     Be certified by the local secretary or other officer of the submitting body

2.3        Rule changes

Motions to change the rules are not subject to the 150 word limit, nor is there a limit to the number of rule changes a branch or other submitting body can submit. Motions to change the rules must describe exactly how the existing rules should be altered, and must be accompanied by a brief description of the purpose of the rule change (not an argument in support of the change), that is, the effect it is designed to achieve, which may not be immediately clear. Changes to the standing orders of Congress are dealt with in the same way as rule changes.

2.4        Motions submitted by other bodies (including regional committees)

Regional committees, Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ Wales, the Northern Ireland Council and the Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ Scotland Executive Committee are each entitled to submit two motions to Congress, and the sector committees of these bodies are entitled to submit two motions to the relevant sector conference. Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ’s national equality standing committees and employment special interest group committees are also entitled to submit two motions to Congress and two to each sector conference.

2.5        What is Congress business, and what is Sector Conference business?

Matters that are not particular to either sector should be submitted to Congress (for example: public sector cuts; campaigns which cover both sectors; union organisation; equality – unless calling for specific action in one sector only; international issues). Professional and employment matters particular to a sector should be submitted to the relevant sector conference (examples from recent years include sectoral pay or contract issues; in FE, IfL, lesson observation, college principal’s pay; in HE, the TEF, academic freedom in universities, university governance, outsourcing of HE services, the USS pension scheme).

2.6        Motions can be submitted by local officers using the following methods:

                  i.   On-line submission form available at /congressmotions. The form will ask for all the information required.

                 ii.   Submission by email to congressmotions@ucu.org.uk. Emails must provide all the information requested in the form at the end of this circular (text of motion, title, Congress or sector conference, confirmation of approval at a general meeting and the date of that meeting, position held by local submitting officer.)

                iii.   Submission by post or fax. A form is attached to this circular which includes a fax number and postal address.

2.7        Receipt of all motions will be acknowledged. If you do not receive acknowledgement, please contact Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ before the deadline for receipt of motions – by telephone to Kay Metcalfe (020 7756 2500) or by email to kmetcalfe@ucu.org.uk. Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ cannot accept responsibility for failure of electronic communication. Branches are advised not to leave the submission of motions to the last minute.

2.8        Motions received after the deadline will be ordered onto the agenda only if the Congress Business Committee considers them to be urgent, timely, requiring a decision of Congress or Sector Conference and could not have been submitted by the deadline (standing order 10). Any branch submitting a motion after the deadline should explain why the motion meets these criteria.

3            The role of the Congress Business Committee and call for nominations

3.1        The Congress Business Committee (CBC) is responsible for ordering the business of Congress. The matters that CBC consider include:

a.   Whether any motion received after the deadline for the submission of motions is urgent, timely, requires a decision of Congress or Sector Conference and could not have been submitted by the deadline

b.   Whether any motion submitted to Congress is properly the business of a Sector Conference, or vice versa

c.    Whether any motion is out of order

d.   Whether any motions should be composited, or re-drafted as an amendment to another motion, and the text of those composites or amendments

e.   The ordering of motions for debate using headings from the NEC’s report to Congress, and the scheduling of sections of business within the Congress timetable.

3.2        The Congress Business Committee’s second report, containing the ordered motions and amendments, forms the Congress agenda. Congress is asked to adopt the report. It is possible for elements of the report to be challenged from the floor of Congress.

3.3        A call for nominations to the Congress Business Committee forms part of this calling notice and is set out on pages 8-10. There are two HE vacancies and two FE vacancies, each for a term of two years. Nominations should be submitted to reach Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ not later than 12 noon on Wednesday 23 May. Nominations will be re-opened at the Congress meeting only if insufficient nominations are received by the 21 May deadline. If ballots are required, these will be held during the course of the Congress meeting.

 

4            Delegation entitlements for Congress

4.1        For institutions with over 100 members, entitlement to Congress delegates is one delegate per 400 members or part thereof in an institution. (Where there is more than one branch in an institution, the entitlement applies collectively to the members in all branches in that institution.) This is based on the membership census date of 1 December 2017. A full table of Congress delegate entitlements by institution will be made available at .Ìý Information can also be requested from Kay Metcalfe at Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ head office (kmetcalfe@ucu.org.uk).

4.2        Institutions with fewer than 100 members must form aggregations of small branches. Each aggregation must total at least 100 members, and has the right to send a delegate to Congress. Most small branches were placed into aggregations prior to Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ’s Congress meeting in 2017. Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ’s regional offices will be contacting branches where these aggregations need to change (due to changes in membership numbers, or where an aggregation was not previously reached).

4.3        A list of aggregations will be posted onto the Congress web page and updated periodically. The aggregation of small branches is a process that relates solely to Congress representation and not to any other Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ function.

4.4        If, as a branch with under 100 members, you need further information about aggregation or need to make a change to an existing aggregation, please contact your Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ regional office as soon as possible. Your regional office can also help put branch secretaries in touch with each other where branches have been aggregated.

4.5        Sector committees in English regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are each entitled to one delegate to Congress and the sector conferences. Where there is both an FE and an HE sector committee in the region, the two delegates should reflect, where possible, a gender balance.

4.6ÌýÌýÌýÌý Additionally, each of the English regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland shall be able to send up to four observers to National Congress - two from FE and two from HE; these observers will be able to attend all events at Congress and relevant Sector Conferences, but will not be eligible to propose or speak to resolutions.

5            Delegate entitlement for sector conferences

5.1        All branches are entitled to send delegates to sector conference on the basis of one delegate per 400 members or part thereof, up to a maximum of six delegates. (Aggregation does not apply to sector conference delegates.) A full table of sector conference delegate entitlement by branch will be made available at .

 

 

Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ/845 February 2018

University and College Union

 

Congress and Sector Conferences 30 May – 1 June 2018

Form for the submission of motions

Deadline: 12 noon, Friday 16 March 2018

 

1ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý This motion is submitted to (please tick):

CongressÌýÌý ¨

Higher Education Sector ConferenceÌý o

Further Education Sector ConferenceÌý o

Note: each branch/LA may submit one motion to Congress and two motions to the relevant sector conference. Regional Committees may submit two motions to Congress, and the sector committees of these bodies may submit two motions to the relevant sector conference. These limits exclude rule changes.

 

2ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Title of motion (10 words maximum)

 

 

3ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Text of motion (150 words maximum, except for motions to change the rules, to which no word limit applies. Rule change motions should be accompanied by a brief statement explaining the purpose of the rule change.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Declaration:

I certify that this motion was passed by a quorate general meeting of (name of branch/LA/other submitting body):

 

Held on (date):

If this motion was not approved by a quorate general meeting of the submitting body, please explain how it was approved in accordance with the Congress standing orders:

 

 

Name:

Signed:Ìý

Office held:Ìý

All motions must be received by 12 noon on Friday 16 March 2018.

Please submit motions electronically if possible. If using a paper form, please use a separate form for each motion.

Motions can be submitted using the on-line form at .

Motions can be emailed to congressmotions@ucu.org.uk. Emails must include all the information required on this form.

If electronic submission is not possible, motions may be faxed to 020 7756 2501, or sent by post for the attention of Kay Metcalfe, Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ, Carlow Street, London NW1 7LH.

Receipt of all motions will be acknowledged. If you do not receive acknowledgement of a motion, please contact Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ before the deadline – by telephone to Kay Metcalfe (020 7756 2500). Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ cannot accept responsibility for failure of electronic communication. Branches are advised not to leave the submission of motions to the last minute.

 

University and College Union

 

Call for nominations: Congress Business Committee

 

Nominations are sought for the following vacancies:

·        Two higher education members of the Congress Business Committee

·        Two further education members of the Congress Business Committee

from the close of Congress 2018, for a term of two years.

Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ’s annual Congress meeting takes place in Manchester 30 May – 1 June 2018.

The business of Congress and the Sector Conferences is ordered by the Congress Business Committee (CBC). The Committee meets at least three times – once after the motion deadline, once after the amendment deadline, and once immediately before Congress. Its business includes the ordering and compositing of motions and the arrangement of the Congress timetable. The committee has eight members: four from HE, elected by the HE sector conference, and four from FE, elected by the FE sector conference.

Standing order 54 states that NEC members may be elected to the Congress Business Committee provided that, at the close of Congress, there will be not more than two NEC members in each sector serving on the committee.Ìý In 2018, zero or two FE NEC members, and two HE NEC members (depending on election results), may be elected to the Congress Business Committee.Ìý

Nominations are self nominations, and must state clearly the members’ name, branch and consent to nomination. A form for this purpose appears overleaf.

The deadline for nominations is 12 noon on Monday 21 May 2018. If more nominations are received than there are places in either sector, a ballot will take place amongst voting delegates from the relevant sector at Congress. If insufficient nominations are received by the 21 May deadline, nominations will be re-opened at Congress. The section of the Congress standing orders under which this process is conducted is appended. Nominees may submit a statement of not more than 100 words in support of their nomination, which will be circulated with ballot papers.

 

Extract, Congress standing orders

 

FÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Procedures for elections held at Congress

Election of Congress Business Committee

53.ÌýÌýÌýÌý At each Congress, sector conferences shall each elect two members of the Congress Business Committee who must be members of the relevant sector, to serve for two year terms.

54.ÌýÌýÌýÌý NEC members may be elected to the Congress Business Committee provided that, following the close of Congress, this will result in there being not more than two NEC members in each sector serving on the Congress Business Committee.

55.ÌýÌýÌýÌý A call for nominations for two members of the Congress Business Committee to be elected by each of the Sector Conferences shall be made in the calling notice of Congress. Nominations shall be submitted to the General Secretary no less than 7 days before the start of Congress.

56.ÌýÌýÌýÌý In the event that nominations do not exceed the number to be elected in any category, those duly nominated shall be declared elected by the Chair subject to standing order 54.

57.ÌýÌýÌýÌý In the event of an insufficient number of nominations being received, no less than 7 days before the start of Congress, nominations for the remaining places on the committee will be re-opened, to be submitted during the meeting of Congress and the Sector Conferences, by a deadline announced by the Chair of Congress, which will not be earlier than the morning of the second day of Congress and the Sector Conferences.

58.ÌýÌýÌýÌý In the event that nominations received by the deadline for re-opened nominations announced by the Chair does not exceed the number of remaining vacancies, those duly nominated shall be declared elected by the Chair, subject to standing order 54.

59.ÌýÌýÌýÌý In the event that nominations received not less than seven days before the start of Congress, or, if applicable, nominations made on the re-opening of nominations at Congress, exceed the number of persons to be elected in any category, a ballot shall be conducted in accordance with a timetable determined by Congress Business Committee such that the result can be announced before the end of the Congress meeting. The elections shall be by single transferable vote.

 

Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ/845Ìý February 2018

University and College Union

Congress and sector conferences 30 May – 1 June 2018

Form for nomination to the Congress Business Committee

Deadline: 12 noon, Wednesday 23 May 2018

Name

Email address

Membership number

Branch

 

I confirm that I wish to be nominated as a (please tick)

Higher education o

Further education ¨

member of the Congress Business Committee, and confirm that I am a member of a branch in the relevant sector of the union.

Statement in support of nomination

Nominees may submit up to 100 words in support of their nomination, to be made available with ballot papers in the event of a ballot. If more than 100 words are submitted, only the first 100 words will be printed. Nominees are responsible for the content and factual accuracy of their statements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Signed

To be submitted to Kay Metcalfe, Constitution and Committees, Ó£»¨¶¯Âþ, Carlow Street, London NW1 7LH, email kmetcalfe@ucu.org.uk, telephone 020 7756 2500, fax 020 7756 2501. Any nominee not receiving acknowledgement of the nomination should telephone the office BEFORE the deadline.