Members of DSU have shown their approval for a number of changes designed to better represent the 27,000 students at DMU.
Members of De Montfort Students’ Union (DSU) have shown their approval for a number of changes designed to better represent the 27,000 students at De Montfort University (DMU).
Students at DSU’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) voted in an 95% majority for the proposed amendments to our Articles of Association and Bye-Laws.
The two documents work in partnership to determine how DSU runs, and while the new Bye-Laws are effective immediately, the refreshed Articles of Association will need to be ratified by the university’s Board of Governors in the New Year.
Key changes include;
- tightening up DSU’s Elections rules to ensure that democratic processes are fair, honest and transparent;
- ensuring that any decision taken by a referendum is representative of the 27,000 students at DMU;
- enabling part-time liberation representatives to campaign for positive change through more official channels;
- updating the full-time Officer Team roles to better represent our members;
- ensuring each executive officer is empowered to take ownership of their area through an equal structure;
- formalising existing processes around student groups and Course Reps to give greater transparency and support;
- giving Student Council more power by introducing zones and allowing more effective student direction of DSU;
- and tweaking our Annual General Meeting (AGM) to an Annual Members’ Meeting (AMM) to more effectively represent and reflect DSU’s diverse membership.
Mollie and Derrick led AGM in Hugh Aston 0.10 on Tuesday evening.
Our AGM – led by Mollie Footitt, Deputy President (DP) Education and Derrick Mensah, Vice President (VP) Student Activities – explained the thinking behind each of the changes, as well as reporting back on what the Trustee Board has been up to over the last 12 months and giving our members access to DSU’s financial accounts for 2017/18.
Mollie said: “All of these changes accurately reflect the work we do for our diverse student membership, and I genuinely believe that these new Articles of Association and Bye-Laws are the best way forward for DSU.
“We’ve worked tirelessly for a number of months to make sure that our new processes will be up to scratch, and we’ve also made use of independent legal advice and taken guidance from the National Union of Students (NUS).
“I’d like to thank the hundreds of students who we’ve spoken to in consultation over the last six months or so, as your comments and feedback have been invaluable to us.
“I’m really pleased that the majority of students at AGM agreed that these changes are in the best interest of everyone, and I’m looking forward to seeing the students’ union go from strength to strength in 2019.”
You can see full coverage from our AGM for 2018 in our Twitter moment here.
The all-important votes made at AGM have now taken pride of place in DSU's offices in the Campus Centre...
RELATED NEWS