Statutes and Ordinances of the University of Cambridge
CHAPTER II
pp. 190–193
MATRICULATION, RESIDENCE, ADMISSION TO DEGREES, DISCIPLINE

In this section

GRADUATE UNION

1. There shall be a Graduate Union, which shall be an association of members of the University who are pursuing in the University a course of graduate study or research, as defined by the constitution of the Union.

2. The constitution of the Graduate Union shall provide for the objects of the Union to be:

the advancement of education of graduate students at the University and any other persons who are members of the Union by:

  1. (a)promoting the interests and welfare of graduate students and other members of the Union, and providing support and advice to them;
  2. (b)being a recognized representative channel between graduate students (other than those who are not members of the Union) and the University and bodies external to the University; and
  3. (c)providing social, cultural, sporting, and recreational activities and forums for discussions and debate for the personal development of graduate students and any other persons who are members of the Union,

and ‘graduate students’ shall mean any individual who is formally matriculated and registered for an approved graduate or postgraduate programme provided by the University, all undergraduates of the University who are in their fourth or higher year of residence, or who are formally registered for an approved programme of study provided by the University and are 21 years of age or over at the commencement of their course of study, and any student who is a member of the institutions belonging to the Cambridge Theological Federation or any successor body.

3. No amendment of the constitution of the Graduate Union to give effect to a change in the objects of the Union shall have effect unless Regulation 2 has been amended by the University. No other amendment of the constitution of the Union shall have effect unless approval has been given by the Council.

4. The Council shall have discretion to provide financial assistance to the Graduate Union.

5. The President of the Graduate Union shall be the principal financial officer of the Union and shall be accountable to the Council for the financial management of the Union (in addition to his or her accountability and responsibility under the provisions of the constitution of the Union). In the Michaelmas Term of each academical year the President shall submit to the Council estimates of the Union's income and expenditure for the Union's next financial year.

6. Before the division of the Lent Term in each academical year the President of the Graduate Union shall provide the Council with the audited accounts of the Union for the Union's previous financial year.

7. The office of President of the Graduate Union shall be defined as a major office for the purposes of Section 22(2)(d) of the Education Act 1994.

8. The Council shall have discretion to maintain a working relationship with the Graduate Union in the manner described in their Notice dated 26 November 1979.28

9. The Graduate Union shall be recognized by the Council as an organization representing junior members of the University who are graduate students, in University as distinct from College matters, subject to the conditions set out in these regulations.

10. Any member of the Union who wishes to resign membership in a particular academical year shall be entitled to do so by giving notice in writing, on a prescribed form, to the Registrary. The Registrary shall inform the President of the resignation, and the President shall forthwith delete the name of the person from any electoral roll or register of the Union, with immediate effect. Such resignation shall be effective for the remainder of the academical year, and such person shall not be regarded as represented by the Union under the provisions of these regulations. A person who has exercised this right, and who holds an office of the Union, or membership of any committee or other body in the Union, shall thereby vacate it.

11. If a complaint by a member of the Union, or a person who would be entitled to be a member if he or she had not exercised the right of resignation under Regulation 10, cannot be satisfactorily resolved by the officers of the Union, the complainant may refer the complaint to the Junior Proctor, who shall seek the opinion of the appropriate officer or officers of the Union, shall investigate the matter, and shall report on it in writing in such terms as he or she considers appropriate, indicating his or her finding as to whether or not the complaint is upheld, giving such reasons as he or she thinks fit, and stating provisionally what remedy, if any, he or she proposes. Notice of such findings and of any provisional remedy shall be sent by the Junior Proctor to the President or other appropriate officer of the Union, to the complainant, and to the Registrary. The Junior Proctor shall consider any representations made by these persons and shall then confirm, modify, or withdraw his or her findings and provisional remedy. Any remedy so confirmed, whether or not after modification, shall be executed without delay. The final decision of the Junior Proctor shall be notified to the Vice-Chancellor and those to whom the provisional decision was notified. Any functions of the Junior Proctor under this regulation may be delegated by that officer to another Proctor or Pro-Proctor.

12. The President of the Union shall submit to the Council each year in the Michaelmas Term an electoral scheme for the conduct of elections in the Union in the remainder of the academical year. The scheme shall provide for the appointment, subject to confirmation by the Council, of returning officers, and for the Council to receive from the returning officers a report on the conduct of each election.

Code of practice in respect of student unions issued under section 22 of the Education Act 1994

1. Section 22 of the Education Act 1994 places a number of responsibilities on governing bodies of universities (as defined by section 21, sub-section 5). Sub-section 3 of that section provides that every governing body shall prepare and issue, and where necessary revise, a code of practice as to the manner in which the requirements of sub-sections 1 and 2 are to be carried into effect in relation to any students’ union for students of the establishment, setting out in relation to each of the requirements details of the arrangements made to secure its observance. The present code of practice is issued by the Council in respect of Cambridge University Students Union (CUSU) and Cambridge University Graduate Union.

General duty of governing bodies

2. Sub-section 1 requires the governing body to take ‘such steps as are reasonably practicable to secure that any students’ union for students of the establishment operates in a fair and democratic manner and is accountable for its finances’. This requirement is fulfilled through compliance with the requirements of the Ordinances for each union, with the provisions of the present code of practice, and with the constitutions of the two unions.

Particular requirements of the Act

3. Sub-section 2 requires governing bodies to take ‘such steps as are reasonably practicable to secure that the following requirements are observed by or in relation to any students’ union for students of the establishment’. These detailed requirements are dealt with below.

(a) Written constitution: Unions should have a written constitution.

Both CUSU and the Graduate Union have written constitutions.

(b) Constitutions to be approved by the governing body and to be reviewed by it. The provisions of unions’ constitutions are to be subject to the approval of the governing body of the university and to review by it at intervals of not more than five years.

The constitutions of CUSU and the Graduate Union have been reviewed on their recognition by the University; the regulations for each union require amendments of the objects clause to be approved by Grace, and require the Council to approve other amendments to the constitutions. The constitutions of the two unions are reviewed in the Easter Term each year by the Council, acting through their Committee for the Supervision of the Student Unions (CCSSU).

(c) Opting out. A student should have the right not to be a member of a union or in the case of a representative body which is not an association to signify that he or she does not wish to be represented by it and students who exercise that right should not be unfairly disadvantaged with regard to the provision of services or otherwise by reason of their having done so.

The regulations for each union include provision for resignation; a form for this purpose may be obtained from the University Offices, The Old Schools, or from the officers of either union. The Council have been informed that the unions would nevertheless wish to continue to make their services available to students who choose not formally to be members and the Council have made it a condition of University funding of the two unions that this should be so. Payments should normally continue to be made by College student unions to CUSU or the Graduate Union as the case may be in relation to any student who has opted out of membership.

(d) Election to major union offices. The Act provides that appointment to major union offices should be by election in a secret ballot in which all members are entitled to vote.

The regulations for each union indicate which sabbatical offices are to be regarded as major union offices. Election to these offices is by secret ballot.

(e) Union elections. Governing bodies are required to satisfy themselves that union elections are fairly and properly conducted.

The regulations for the two unions require them to submit to the Council electoral schemes for the conduct of elections. There is provision for the Council to be informed of the appointment of returning officers, to confirm their appointment, and to receive from the returning officers a report on the conduct of elections. The CCSSU deal with this business on behalf of the Council.

(f) Sabbatical or paid elected offices. A person is not to hold sabbatical union office, or paid elected union office, for more than two years in total at the establishment.

A provision to this effect is included in the constitution of each union.

(g) Financial management. The financial affairs of unions are to be properly conducted and appropriate arrangements are to exist for the approval of unions’ budgets, and the monitoring of expenditure by the governing body.

The regulations require the estimates and accounts of the two unions to be submitted to the Council. The regulations also provide for the President to be financially responsible and to be accountable to the Council for the financial management of each union. Under the HEFCE Audit Code of Practice, the two unions are within the scope of the University's internal audit service and of the Audit Committee of the Council. It is a condition of University grant to both unions that interim half-yearly reports on expenditure should be made to the Council, and the Council will invite the CCSSU, and if necessary the Finance Committee, to consider these reports, and the accounts and estimates of the two unions.

(h) Financial reports. Financial reports of unions are to be published annually or more frequently, and are to be made available to the governing body and to all students; each report is in particular to contain a list of external organizations to which the union has made donations in the period to which the report relates and details of these donations.

Compliance with these requirements is a condition of grant from the University. The unions will circulate their accounts annually to JCR and MCR presidents and equivalent, who will make them available for reference in Colleges by junior members. The accounts will also be available for reference by junior members in the University Offices, The Old Schools, and, in respect of each union, at its own offices.

(i) Groups or clubs. The procedure for student unions to allocate resources to groups or clubs is to be fair and is to be set down in writing and freely accessible to all students.

In Cambridge the principal allocations to University clubs and societies are made not by the unions, but by two University bodies, the Societies Syndicate and the University Sports Committee. To the limited extent that the two unions make allocations to groups, clubs, or societies, they are required to operate fairly and to approve a written procedure, to be approved by the Council through the CCSSU.

(j) Affiliation to external organizations. If a union decides to affiliate to an external organization it must publish notice of its decision stating the name of the organization and details of any subscription or similar fee paid or proposed to be paid and of any donation made or proposed to be made to the organization, and such notice is to be made available to the governing body and to all students.

The constitutions of the two unions make provision for these procedures. Notice to the governing body is to be given to the CCSSU on the Council's behalf, and notice to students is by circulation of notices for display in Colleges.

(k) Report on affiliation. When a union is affiliated to any external organization a report is to be published annually or more frequently containing a list of external organizations to which the union is currently affiliated and details of subscriptions or similar fees paid or donations made to such organizations in the past year or since the last report, and such reports are to be made available to the governing body and to all students.

The constitutions of the two unions contain provision for these procedures.

(l) Review of affiliations. There are to be procedures for the review of affiliations to external organizations under which the current list of affiliations is submitted for approval by members annually or more frequently, and at such intervals of not more than a year as the governing body may determine and under which a requisition may be made by such proportion of members, not exceeding five per cent., as the governing body may determine, that the question of continued affiliation to any particular organization be decided upon by a secret ballot in which all members are entitled to vote.

Appropriate constitutional provision has been made in the constitutions of both unions. The Council have determined that the proportion of members seeking a requisition for a secret ballot shall be two per cent, and that such a requisition may be made once a year, in the Lent Term.

(m) Complaints procedures for students. There is to be a complaints procedure to be available to all students or groups of students who are dissatisfied in their dealings with a union or who claim to have been unfairly disadvantaged by reason of their having exercised the opt-out right referred to in paragraph (c) above, and this complaints procedure is to include provision for an independent person appointed by the governing body to investigate and report on complaints.

The regulations for each union include provision for a complaints procedure, the Junior Proctor being the independent person to investigate complaints. If the Junior Proctor believes that he or she cannot properly act independently in a particular case he or she will delegate the matter to another Proctor or Pro-Proctor, as provided for in the University regulations.

(n) Remedies. Complaints are to be dealt with promptly and fairly and where a complaint is upheld there should be an effective remedy.

University regulations for the unions require any remedy confirmed after an investigation under 3(m) to be executed by the union without delay. The union is required to notify the Secretary of the CCSSU confirming that the remedy has been implemented. Compliance with these remedies is a condition of University grant to the unions. If a remedy is not implemented, the matter will be referred to the CCSSU so that abatement or termination of University grant, or other measures, can be considered.

Sub-section 4

5. Governing bodies are to bring to the attention of all students at least once a year the code of practice; any restrictions imposed on the activities of student unions by the law relating to charities; and where applicable, the provisions of section 43 of the Education (No. 2) Act 1986 about freedom of speech in universities and colleges, and of any code of practice issued under it relevant to the activities or conduct of unions.

These matters are brought to the attention of students by the publication annually of Proctorial notices; by the publication of the present code of practice in Statutes and Ordinances, and information provided on the University’s online student gateway. An account of the restrictions on the activities of unions, together with information on charity law, and the provisions of Section 43 of the 1986 Act and the University’s code of practice under that section are included on the student gateway at http://www.cambridgestudents.cam.ac.uk/cambridge-life/student-unions.

Sub-section 5

6. Governing bodies are to bring to the attention of all students at least once a year and to include in any information generally made available to persons considering whether to become students of the establishment information about the right of opt-out from union membership (paragraph (c) above) and about arrangements made for services for students who have opted out.

This information is given by Proctorial notice and by information for applicants included in prospectuses.

Footnotes

  1. 28. See Reporter, 1979–80, p. 146.a