Bureaucracy Roundup: edition 2, 2016
Good news (or bad depending on your perspective)! During O-Week, everyone was out and about getting stuff done, which means there were relatively few meetings to report on.
UMSU Students’ Council
The Students’ Council meeting we mentioned last issue in anticipation was… wait for it… inquorate. That means that it conducted no business—you’ll have to check back later. (See the later for an explanation of what that means.)
GSA Council
GSA Council was running as we went to print, so we have only the hottest results from what was a hot meeting. Those results are recounted in the article “GSA Presidential resignation” on the facing page.
Tell me about “inquorate”
Most deliberative bodies (committees, etc) have a “quorum” requirement—a requirement that a certain minimum number of voting members be present in order to make decisions. Sometimes (often with University committees), this will be only three or four people, but for contested bodies like student unions it can be half or two thirds of the number of voting members.
Often, the quorum requirement is simply a pro forma requirement. However, in student unions, intentionally failing to show up or “pulling quorum” (leaving the room) can be used as a tactic to block decisions that a minority opposes. This works because getting quorum—that is, getting enough people in the room—has also historically been difficult for UMSU’s Students’ Council; a fact which occasionally delays plans and is often a source of some frustration.
Future dates
UMSU Students’ Council — March 1st, noon, in the Training Rooms on level 3 of Union House.
All students are welcome to attend.
More dates when we have them!