The Union’s last governance review was conducted in 2005 and 2006 and then approved in 2007; the new Board structure was implemented on 1st January 2008. The last Governance Review led to the creation of the Board in its current format, with five sabbatical officers, two student trustees and two external trustees. At the time it was approved, this structure was fairly radical and at the forefront of changes being made in the student movement. Over two years since they were approved, these arrangements are now the norm and, if anything, not as forward thinking as many other students’ unions. Whilst the current governance arrangements are still relatively new, we know that there are significant weaknesses with the current arrangement and we know that other students’ unions, which completed their governance reviews after us, have been more radical in designing their governance arrangements. The new Strategic Plan, approved by the Board at its last meeting, includes a target for 2009/10 in the Democracy Strategy of completing a full review of the Union’s governance arrangements.
