1. FOR DECISION: approval of the minutes from the last meeting. 

Paper: Minutes for 26 March 2021. 

2. FOR DECISION: New Articles of Association.

The Guild needs a new set of Articles to better reflect the organisation and to be able to respond to future changes in the Guild more easily. 

The Articles also update some older provisions and clarifies the legal position on issues such as membership.

Paper: Proposal.

Paper: Proposed Articles.

3. Election Update.

Update from the Voice Team following the recent Subject Chair elections. 

4. FOR DISCUSSION: Exams in Law.

Focusing especially on second year law, we had a high degree of bunching of assessments, with deadlines for summatives being very close to exams. This led to me, for example, having 4 deadlines (both coursework and exams) in 5 days. This may not seem a lot but given the weighting of these assessments (one summative being worth 100% of my module grade, another being worth 50%, and both land law exams being worth 40% and 15% each), this was quite stressful for my peers and me. Coupled with the fact that, upon me speaking to people in the College, I’ve been told that they have raised the issue of bunching of assessments with the Exams Office repeatedly in the months leading up to the exam timetables being released, and while their concerns were noted, they were not acted upon. This is quite troubling for me. I raised these issues with the Exams Office, and while this was ultimately resolved, it was the fact that they were aware of this potential conflict and did not immediately address the concerns academics have raised is what is particularly concerning for me.

5. FOR INFORMATION: Year in review.

As this is to be the last Guild Council of the Academic Year, each elected officer will be invited to share with Council a brief perspective on their year in their role.