Annual General Meeting 2022

Our Annual General Meeting took place on Tuesday 6th December. 624 students (including proxies) attended to debate and determine the direction of their Students’ Union. Below you will find a summary of the results of that meeting. For each motion, the 'AGM Resolves' section is included below, along with details of whether the motion passed or fell. Officers are mandated to work on these and will keep students informed on progress. 

Read the agenda pack and full motions here.

Agenda Items

ITEM TWO: Minutes from previous meeting approved 

The minutes from the previous meeting are reviewed by attendees to ensure that a record of decisions is accurate. 

Action: Minutes to be published on the Students' Union website. 

ITEM FIVE: Affiliations approved 

The Students' Union confirms its affiliations at every AGM – the two affiliations are: National Union of Students (NUS), and British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS). 

Action: To continue to be affiliated with NUS and BUCS. 

ITEM SIX: Questions to the Trustees  

A number of questions submitted to the trustees were answered by the Sabbatical Officer team, the answers to any remaining questions will be made available on cardifffstudents.com soon.  

Questions to Trustees Responses

Motions

Motion I: Adoption of an Official Pro-Choice Stance. PASSED 

1. Cardiff University Students’ Union will publicly announce they maintain their stance as pro-choice and clearly state on the CUSU “Pregnancy Support” webpage and any other applicable webpages such as in the “Policy” webpage. 
2. Maintaining the pregnancy and abortion related terminology throughout the Students’ Union to ensure it remains unbiased and medically accurate and add more information regarding miscarriage (support, policy, etc). 
3. Retain the balanced links to up-to-date information regarding pregnancy and abortion on the CUSU website. 
4. Up-to-date information on pregnancy, abortion and where to seek medical help on the back of the SU toilet stall doors to ensure students in abusive relationships can also access the information. 
5. The VP of Welfare and Campaigns will remain responsible for ensuring that the Students’ Union campaigns and strategies support the pro-choice stance to provide an equal, safe, and inclusive environment for students. 
6. The VP of Welfare and Campaigns, in collaboration with the Mental Health, Women’s and LGBT+ officers, will create an annual pro-choice awareness campaign that highlights the importance of access to safe and legal abortion using statistically and/or medically backed information. 
7. The VP of Societies and Volunteering will remain responsible for ensuring that Students’ Union affiliated societies do not spread misinformation about abortion and pregnancy nor participate in activities against SU policy. 
8. The Students’ Union and Cardiff University should work together to ensure that students understand their rights to bodily autonomy and abortion. 
9. The Students’ Union will publicly condemn anti-choice organisations actively seeking to interfere in our democracy with the aim of oppressing students’ rights and pro-choice views, especially those that resort to bullying, harassment, and misinformation. The Students’ Union shall also keep up to date on and enforce regulations and laws that are applicable to stop external organisations from being able to access students on the public roads between the campus and display blown-up misleading graphic material.  
10. The Students’ Union will thoroughly evaluate the support available to students who are targeted and threatened by external anti-choice organisations and individuals. The Students Union should increase support available in an aim to mitigate the harmful impact on students from the actions of these external parties. 
11. The Students’ Union, especially the VP of Welfare and Campaigns, will build on the positive progress that this stance has had since 2019, not to simply maintain what has been changed but also to keep striving for an environment where there is clarity, information, support and unbiased options around pregnancy and abortion whilst fully respecting the individual’s right to choose. 

Motion II: Climate action and accountability: Making Net-Zero a Reality. PASSED 

1. To incorporate sustainable development goals into Students Union decision making, in the mould of the 7 areas set out in the Well-Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and with a particular focus on what can be done to minimise avoidable environmental harms. 
2. To commit the Students Union to clear actions under four key headings, detailed below: 
2.1. A commitment to renewable energy, sustainability, and biodiversity 
2.1.1. That Cardiff SU must develop and implement a strategy to decarbonise its properties as soon as possible. Premises at Park Place have a non-domestic energy performance certificate (EPC) rating as low as D, with no provision for renewables (Appendix 1). Success will be measured by achieving an EPC rating of at least A for all of the SU’s premises. Achieving this could involve the use of renewables, energy storage technologies and measures to reduce energy demand such as insulation. This could also involve educating building users, including staff and students, to prevent energy waste. The time to act is now, not only to achieve Net Zero but also combat the SU’s vulnerability to rising energy unit costs in the non-domestic sector. A commitment to ethical investment, where investments and banking practices are conducted in an economically viable, environmentally responsible manner 
2.1.2. Striving for sustainable food production, where food policy and procurement includes fair, ethical, and environmentally friendly items where possible – and achieving the Soil Association’s Food for Life Served Here award   
2.2. Ensuring Supply chains are fair, ethical, and sustainable 
2.2.1. Source only reused/recycled products where possible, such as paper, plastics, and other recyclables 
2.2.2. Publishing a detailed plan for working towards a zero-waste policy. 
2.3. Ensuring services run by the Students Union have been assessed for their environmental impact 
2.3.1. Ensuring transport services see a transition to electric vehicles 
2.3.2. Promoting the use of Active Travel across university campuses 
2.4. Net zero accountability 
2.4.1. Lobby the university to create a specific job role responsible for net zero delivery 
2.4.2. Establish an Environmental Impact Committee, including Senior University Leadership, Students Union Representatives, and student groups to provide accountability for Net Zero promises 

Motion III: UCU Industrial Action. PASSED 

1.To mandate the Sabbatical Officer Team to stand in solidarity with UCU and publish a public statement of support for 2022/23 Industrial Action within five working days of any Industrial Action being formally announced. 
2. To mandate the Sabbatical Officer Team to work with UCU and lobby the University Executive Board to meet the demands of University Staff and Postgraduate Students who teach regarding the Four Fights and Pensions, whether or not Industrial Action is formalised via a member ballot. 
3. To mandate the Elected Officers to give UCU a communication platform with students online via the SU Website and offline via space in the Union building, to raise awareness and inform students about any UCU Industrial Action. 
4. To mandate Cardiff Students’ Union, particularly the Vice President Postgraduate Students, to openly encourage Postgraduate Research Students to join UCU, whether as a ‘student’ member or a ‘standard free’ member (eligibility depends on whether a PGR is carrying out teaching work). 
5. To mandate the Sabbatical Officer Team to encourage eligible Postgraduate members of UCU to submit their ballots in any further balloting period within the academic year 2022/23. 
6. Cardiff Students’ Union should work with UCU to facilitate and promote ‘Teach Out’ sessions for students should a strike period occur. 
7. Cardiff Students' Union should offer wellbeing support to all students who have been affected by the strikes. 
8. The Students’ Union Sabbatical Officers should lobby the University for fee reimbursements for any lost contact hours owing to potential Industrial Action in the Academic Year 2022/23. 
8. The Vice President Postgraduate Students will encourage PGR students who teach, that want to support any Industrial Action, to join UCU and apply to any available hardship funds for those who have lost income resulting from participation 
9. The Vice President Postgraduate will encourage students to support and engage with staff at rallies and on the picket lines if and when these occur. 

Motion IV: Cardiff Students’ Union Stance on the FIFA 2022 World Cup Cardiff University. PASSED 

1. To take a public stance on the World Cup 2022, making the thoughts of the Union and its members clear.  
2. To call upon Sabbatical Officers and Union Trustees to donate/reallocate all the ‘profits’ from bar (and app) sales in the Taf and YPLAS during the games to CU Pride and CU TANGGS with the purpose of using funds to run campaigns in their interest. 
a. By the term ‘Profits’ we are referring to Net Profits. 
b. ‘During the games’ defined as: Total sales taken during the time of each screening of the world cup and 30 minutes before match start and 30 minutes after match end. 
3. For transparency, Cardiff University Students’ Union / Cardiff Union Services Limited should publicly release a statement detailing how much was donated and to which group(s). This statement should be released jointly with the group(s) receiving the donation(s). This statement should be released promptly after donations have been given. 
4. Information regarding the negative treatment of workers and LGBTQ+ rights in Qatar should be clearly visible and freely available where matches are shown within CUSU. 
5. Relevant campaign officers should be consulted in the creation of information regarding the negative treatment of workers and LGBTQ+ rights in Qatar. 
6. To strengthen its work in promoting inclusion and equality in sports, especially for members of the LGBTQ+ community. 

Motion V: Cops off Campus. Amendment FALLS. Motion PASSED 

Read the amendment here 

1. Cardiff SU will publicly condemn police violence by South Wales Police, especially their brutality towards Black people and people of colour. 
2. Cardiff SU will audit where it engages with the police, and following this audit, cut down on engagement with the police to the minimum without violating legal requirements and interfering with strictly essential operations of the SU, such as the operation of its trading venues and important large-scale events. Cardiff SU will work towards non-engagement with the police in the future, and work towards a position where our operation and income are not reliant on engagement with South Wales Police or any other policing organisations. The immediate priorities in cutting down engagement with the police include refusing, opposing, and resisting police presence on campus, especially to promote career opportunities (including voluntary) and to promote themselves as the sole legitimate protectors of our safety. Cardiff SU officers will also lobby Cardiff University to take the same stance and cut ties with the police as much as possible. 
- This will not stop the police, with warrants, from investigating crime on Cardiff SU premises, nor from arriving in response to calls from individual students who choose to call the police and seek justice through this system. 
- Cardiff SU, especially its Advice service, will continue to support students who wish to pursue justice by reporting to and working with the police. 
3. Cardiff SU will actively promote alternatives to policing and transformative justice practices, steering away from promoting the police and the carceral justice system as the only channel that survivors could pursue, while raising awareness of the police’s complicity in violence and sexual violence. Cardiff SU will broaden its definition of safety in its campaigns to acknowledge how policing perpetuates violence, and that students can feel unsafe around the police. 
4. Cardiff SU will work with local and national organisations as well as student groups to raise awareness of police violence within our community, and to provide students with resources about resisting police violence, supporting victims of police brutality as a bystander, and knowing our rights when facing police violence. 
5. Cardiff SU will publicly oppose and condemn the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, especially its potential to suppress student protests, which are essential parts of students’ voice and democracy. 
6. Cardiff SU will provide resources to facilitate transformative justice practices at Cardiff University as an alternative to policing in addressing student safety, focusing on education, bystander interventions, and community care. 

Motion VI: Fossil Free Careers. 

This motion was not debated and will be passed to the next Student Senate meeting on Monday 30th January for discussion and voting.  

Motion VII: Full-Time Minorities Officer Cardiff University  

This motion was withdrawn by the Proposer prior to debate. 
 

We are aware that some courses such as Healthcare related courses like medicine, nursing, midwifery and many more tend to be longer than the average course as well as PG courses and those students who might have to resit. While we pause some of our activity due to the reduce footfall and to ensure that our staff get a break, we are still here. Most of our services like student advice and jobshop continue as normal during the summer. There is always more that we can do however this can be difficult due to the change in sabbatical team and other cycles of business. We have been working with Cardiff Council to prioritise accommodation for students, which includes the necessity to accommodate our students enrolled in non traditional courses.