Preferenda Guide

Preferenda Questions: 

1. Should SOAS SU support a Caste Campaign? 

WINNING SOLUTION:

Solution One: SOAS SU should support a Caste Campaign at SOAS - A Step towards Inclusivity and Social Justice– Proposer Harshul Singh 

Proposal Manifesto 

1. Leading Caste Campaign.

1. Enabling more active involvement of students from marginalised caste communities. In realising deeply entrenched caste-based issues at SOAS.

1. Laying out provisions for administrative redressal of caste as a protective category

1. The University to include Caste based discrimination within SOAS Policies, including through the creation of an Anti-Caste based discrimination policy. 

1. Creating a greater consciousness of caste-based discrimination.

1. Enabling caste-sensitisation sessions at SOAS.

1. All relevant cultural and religious societies should be actively involved in this. 

1. Include education about Caste in sensitisation training and within Freshers Week communication. 

1. The relevant university’s undergraduate programmes should include increased information on Caste and the way it manifests. 

1. Staff members/lecturers/tutors who are involved in programmes that are teaching subjects related to South Asia and staff members involved in the department must undertake specific and bespoke training around Caste based discrimination.

OTHER SOLUTIONS:

Solution Two: SOAS SU should not support a Caste Campaign 

2. Should SOAS SU advocate for a discount on bring your own bowl at on-campus catering and cut down on waste 

WINNING SOLUTION:

Solution Two: SOAS SU should advocate for a 20% discount on bring your own bowl at on-campus catering and cut down on waste – Proposer Margot Chesne 

1. I want to advocate for this idea of BYOB (bring your own bowl) at SOAS food stall.

1. I think not only should them have posters around the catering area advocating for bringing your own container and cutlery.

1. Advocate for a 20% discount for it will be a very effective way to encourage it.

1. I feel we also need a food waste bin in the lower ground floor of Paul Webley Wing, since food waste is sometime evitable (say, for example, when the chicken thigh comes with bones).

1. Encourage compost bins, utensils and work in partnership with the environmental societies

OTHER SOLUTIONS:

Solution One: SOAS SU should advocate for a discount on bring your own bowl at on-campus catering and cut down on waste – Proposer Shumin Zeng 

1. I want to advocate for this idea of BYOB (bring your own bowl) at SOAS food stall.

1. I think not only should them have posters around the catering area advocating for bringing your own container and cutlery.

1. Offering discount for it will be a very effective way to encourage it.

1. I feel we also need a food waste bin in the lower ground floor of Paul Webley Wing, since food waste is sometime evitable (say, for example, when the chicken thigh comes with bones).

1. Encourage compost bins, utensils and work in partnership with the environmental societies

Solution Three: SOAS SU should not advocate for a discount, 20% or otherwise, on bring your own bowl at on-campus catering and cut down on waste 

3. Should SOAS SU start an official campaign to reform Mitigating Circumstances?  

WINNING SOLUTION:

Solution One: SOAS SU should start an official campaign to reform Mitigating Circumstances – Stella Rose Dixon Hall 

Proposal Manifesto 

1. We call for the SU to create an official campaign to reform the Mitigating Circumstances policy.

1. This reform should aim to abolish or significantly relax the requirements for providing evidence, allowing a wider range of acceptable reasons to be granted Mitigating Circumstances, significantly extend the periods for submitting evidence and for extensions, and reform the Mit Circs team to focus on compassion and student wellbeing over arbitrary application of procedures.

1. The SU should facilitate a working group with relevant stakeholders, disabled students societies, students with SIPs and other disabled students to discuss the relaxing of requirements, propose something specific around policies and any other additional content which is created to make the process more accessible to ensure that any decision includes those most affected by it. 

1. Policies should be rewritten to be easier to read without having to cross-reference several documents and should be easy to find on the SOAS website. This should include making the content more accessible and the creation of other supplementary information to make the process more easy to navigate 

1. SOAS should proactively promote Mitigating Circumstances, ensuring that every student is aware of the policy. This should include being promoted within in Freshers Week (events/communication), an email to all students who have declared a disability, via physical communication and within more SOAS and SU webpages

1. The deadlines for applying for Mitigating Circumstances and Study Inclusion Plans (SIP) should be easy to access on the SOAS website as well as opportunities for late submissions.

1. The University should increase capacity of the teams who process Mitigating Circumstances and Appeals. 

1. The SU should provide specific information to international students about the available support that is available to them taking into consideration Visa requirements via Mitigating Circumstances and SIPs. The International Students Officer should support this work. 

OTHER SOLUTIONS:

Solution Two: SOAS SU should not start an official campaign to reform Mitigating Circumstances 

4. Should SOAS SU support the UCU Marking and Assessment Boycott? 

WINNING SOLUTION:

Solution One: SOAS SU Should Support the UCU Marking and Assessment Boycott – Abel David Harvie Clarke 

1. Carrying out a successful MAB will require solidarity and coordination across the university community.

1. The student union can play an important role here - informing students about the reasons for it, reassuring students about the consequences and being unwavering in their support for the MAB. 

1. The Student Union should defend students from any retaliation from management. 

1. Fundamentally, university workers must know that we back them 100%. We should organise more forums to discuss strategies in conjunction with UCU members in the dispute, social events to build community, protests to pressure management, spread the word amongst any students who are less informed and encourage student/staff dialogue. This should be consistent throughout the year.  

1. We should also take inspiration from the growing number of workers taking strike action in different sections, particularly other education unions - we should invite representatives to campus events to share experience and build common strategies.

1. The Student Union should specifically hold events informing International Students about the MAB, raising awareness and discussing their concerns such as fees and visa requirements. 

1. The Student Union should play a role in coordinating a response to ensure that there is a central place for information and that there is place for different groups, departments and Student Reps to come together. 

OTHER SOLUTIONS:

Solution Two: SOAS SU should not support the UCU Marking and Assessment Boycott 

PREFEREDNA INFORMATION

Key Dates

How Voting Works

Students are able to vote in order of preference, the 'solution' that recieves the highest number of votes will be adopted. The video below explains how this works:

Manifestos and Campaigning

A student can submit a manifesto for one of the proposals by completing the manifesto submission form prior to the deadline. This student then becomes the Campaign Group Lead. Anyone who campaigns for a proposal shall be considered to be part of the Campaign Group and must act in accordance with the Campaigning Rules. No Campaigning may commence until the start of campaigning. Campaign Groups are not permitted to spend anything as a part of their campaign and there shall be no print allowance. 

When submitting a manifesto you must include the solution within the response section of the manifesto.

Preferenda Campaigning Rules

Manifesto Submission Form

Complaints

Any complaint shall be directed in the first instance to the Deputy Returning Officer, who shall make a ruling in writing after examining the evidence. There will be a complaints period of one hour after the close of ballots. The only complaints which will be accepted after this point shall be on irregularities brought up by the count or the conduct of the count itself. Please refer to the Campaigning Rules for further information. You can contact the Deputy Returning Officer by emailing CM85@soas.ac.uk