tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10968338.post116966959733613627..comments2023-08-11T09:56:34.039+01:00Comments on timrollpickering: On trustee boards for students' unionsTim Roll-Pickeringhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12589024696145675963noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10968338.post-1169725181169230082007-01-25T11:39:00.000+00:002007-01-25T11:39:00.000+00:00I think another problem is finding the external ex...I think another problem is finding the external experts - given the often precarious position of SUs, having to take the blame if it all goes wrong is a big risk. So who'd want to be an SU trustee? The University could probably dig up some people, but that I think would be dangerous to having an independent SU - on the other hand, where else would you find them. Alumni networks are a possibility, but risk you getting the same people who messed things up ten years ago back for another go (of course, they might well have learnt from their mistakes a bit in the meantime, so this might be a good thing).<BR/><BR/>There are also questions about how you appoint the external trustees and whether they should be a majority (I say democractically and no, but others disagree)cimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16218137725855991073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10968338.post-1169676999289953442007-01-24T22:16:00.000+00:002007-01-24T22:16:00.000+00:00While I sympathize with the need for such an entit...While I sympathize with the need for such an entity, the <I>problem</I> that jumps out -- from bitter experience -- is that when you make such an entity a gatekeeper for enacting union policy, the elected officers -- who in many unions will often lack familiarity with legal and administrative issues -- may find themselves manipulated, should trustees be so inclined. I don't want to name names, but I can remember several instances when the dreaded spectre of "ultra vires" was wheeled out to explain why the union couldn't do this or that by the general manager, and on at least one occasion, by advisers at NUS itself. The executive officers swallowed this hook, line, and sinker, and declared that any policy passed by Union Council that <I>they</I> determined was ultra vires would be considered void. As Madison observed, men are not angels, and those who seek election in student politics are even less likely to be so.<BR/><BR/>It seems to me that you're in a bind: the trustees should be disinterested in the day-to-day operation of the Union, but at the same time, by the very fact that they are trustees they are involved. It's a tough one.Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065798213115341398noreply@blogger.com