Read on for guides containing more information about how to go about achieving your JCR-related aims.
Here you will find a list of the many and varied committees that meet in college.
Under each link you will learn the purpose of the committee, which officers attend the meeting, and find a link to the minutes. Non-voting members of the committee are given in square brackets.
Chaired by: JCR President.
Attended by: JCR President, Vice-President (Cranmer), Vice-President (John's Hall), Vice-President (Postgraduate), JCR Treasurer.
Chaired by: [JCR Chair] or a JCR Vice-President.
Attended by: JCR President, Vice-President (Cranmer), Vice-President (John's Hall), Vice-President (Postgraduate), Treasurer, Sports & Societies, Welfare, Services, Comms, Social Secretary, Senior DSU Rep, [Senior Bar Officer].
The JCR Exec hold a weekly management meeting to facilitate the day-to-day running of the JCR, and to be accountable to the President and one another.
Chaired by: College Bursar.
Attended by: Senior Bar Officer, Bar Treasurer, College Head of Maintenance, [JCR President], [JCR Treasurer].
Chaired by: Senior Bar Officer.
Attended by: Bar Treasurer, Cellarman, 2 Junior Bar Officers, CCR Bar Rep, 2 BEC Decorations & Publicity Officers, [JCR Social Events Chair].
The role of the Bar Events Committee is of planning, organising and financing social events in the bar for the JCR.
Chaired by:
Attended by:
Chaired by: [JCR Chair].
Attended by: [JCR Vice-Chair], [JCR President], [JCR Treasurer], [JCR Comms Officer].
Chair's Committee meets before each JCR meeting, and is responsible for approving motions, making sure motions are well written and planning to ensure the smooth running and efficiency of the meeting. It also serves to strengthen communication between Chair/Vice-Chair and the Executive.
Chaired by: JCR President.
Attended by: 3 non-executive JCR representatives, 1 other JCR representative, [JCR Chair], [JCR Vice-Chair], [JCR Comms Officer].
CRC is normally inactive, but is automatically put in session at least once every four years, and exists to keep the documents up to date, correct inaccuracies, restructure and generally keep the constitution relevant and useful. When a motion is passed to bring it in to session for a specified period of time, it begins to meet and propose amendments to the constitution. During this time, the committee are the interpreters of the constitution, except at JCR meetings, where it remains the sole responsibility of the JCR Chair.
Chaired by: College Bursar.
Attended by: Senior Environment Rep, Assistant Environment Rep.
Chaired by: JCR Treasurer
Attended by: tbc
Finance Committee meets a couple of days before each JCR meeting.
Chaired by: College Senior Tutor.
Attended by: a JCR Vice-President, JCR Welfare Officer.
Chaired by: Social Secretary.
Attended by: SEC Secretary, SEC Treasurer, 2x SEC Food & Formal Officers, 2x SEC Entertainments Officers, 2x SEC Decorations Officers, SEC Publicity Officer, SEC Technician, [JHMCR Social Secretary], [CCR Social Secretary], [Daylight Robbery Organiser], [Senior Bar Officer].
The role of the SEC is to plan, organise and finance social events for the JCR.
Chaired by: JCR Sports & Societies Officer.
Attended by: Representatives, one from each society
The role of the Societies Council is to:
Chaired by: JCR Sports & Societies Officer.
Attended by: Representatives, one from each sports team
The role of the Sports Council is to:
Chaired by: JCR Welfare Officer.
Attended by: JCR President, JCR Vice-President (John's Hall), MCR VP: Welfare, CCR Welfare Rep, JCR Assistant Welfare: Male, JCR Assistant Welfare: Female, JCR Livers'-Out Officer, JCR LGBTa Rep, JCR Students' with Disabilities Officer, Careers Rep, College Chaplain, student2student supporters, [JCR Comms Officer].
The Role of the Welfare Committee is:
Here is a 9 step guide to standing for election…
Presidential and Executive Committee positions have special conditions and procedures attached to them. For more information on standing for those, please speak to the JCR Vice-Chair or Chair.
These pages give information on standing for election to exec positions. There is general information following here, and see the child pages for information on specific positions.
All these positions require a manifesto. For exec positions, there is no word limit on the manifesto, you must state whether you plan to live in for some or all of your term of office (for some positions this is a requirement), and manifestos must include a photograph. As with any manifesto, you must also include your name, the name of the position you're standing for, the date of the election and the names of your proposer and seconder. The whole point of the manifesto, of course, is to tell the JCR why you would be the best person for the job, so don't forget that bit!
Nominations for the Presidential election run from the 22nd of January until 8pm on the 30th of January.You are allowed to actively campaign from the open of nominations until the close of voting. There is a limit of £10 expenditure on your campaign, including your manifesto, and you must keep receipts for everything you spend. The following forms of publicity are permitted, when approved by a returning officer:
If you wish to campaign for RON, you must obtain the permission of the Returning Officer. If you wish to do this, the rules governing this will be made clear to you at the time, or are available in the constitutional documents.
Make sure you read the pages specific to the position you're interested in, since there are a number of rules on eligibility to stand and other things that are specific to individual positions. Most importantly, make sure you talk to the person holding the position at the moment, they'll be able to give you the best information on the job!
Good luck!
Content coming...
The Basics:
Your manifesto must include the title of the position you are running for and the date of election. Remember to include your name, and the name of your proposer and seconder(s). These people also have to either sign the manifesto, or sign a separate candidate slip, which you can download here. The slip should be posted into the JCR post box by the Bailey Room.
Manifestoes should be given approval before being put up - this can be done by any member of Chair’s Committee, who are: the JCR President, JCR Chair, JCR Vice-Chair, JCR Treasurer, and JCR Communications Officer. Remember to check when nominations close for the position and get your manifesto done before then!
Some Tips:
Being president of the JCR is a fantastic experience, and in my opinion, the best way to spend a year at University. It is a lot of work - if you were at the meetings when we initially discussed the possibility of a sabbatical presidency, you'll remember that I quoted figures of 60-70 hours a week. To fit third year around that, you need to be extremely good at time management, to accept that you will only be able to do a fraction of what you want to do, and to accept that there is a good possibility you will drop a class in your degree.
What you lose is more than worth what you gain: unique experiences and skills in management, a year to help shape the College in the run-up to its centenary and with a new Principal at the helm, the chance to represent your peers at all levels of the College and University, from the Vice-Chancellor down to your friendly cleaners and support staff. You become an integral part of the College's and the University's decision making process, and if you're good, you can seriously influence what happens in the University on all kinds of levels. You make some fantastic friends, both in your exec, in other yeargroups, and with other JCR presidents. You will be involved in freshers' week, and all kinds of other social events. You get out what you put in, and putting in 60 hours a week, you get a heck of a lot back out. This year has, for me, been the best year of my time at University. It's very different to a normal year, and is often very high pressure. It's rarely been easy, but it's always been worth it, and I won't regret my decision to stand for election, no matter what my degree ends up as.
In order to stand for JCR President, you need to fulfil the following criteria:
In a more general vein, you must be able to commit to a handover period in this term. From the moment of your election you occupy the official JCR position ofJCR president-elect. During that time, you become a non-voting member of exec, you are expected to attend College Council (which is a 24 hour residential meeting this time) and Resources Committee, and everything else relevant to learning the ropes. I don't want to scare you off, but it's important that while you're considering standing, you realise that there is a big commitment this term, as well as for the rest of the year.
The JCR stands for the John's Common Room, which is a charitable organisation. It is an overarching group which includes all students affiliated with St John’s College which includes the Middle Common Room (MCR) and the Cranmer Common Room (CCR), for Cranmer Hall students. You can only be a member of one subsidiary common room at a time, and upon joining a subsidary common room you are automatically made a member of the JCR. The subsidiary common rooms each have their own Constitutional Documents but these largely mirror the JCR's.
There are a number of elected positions, which can be either open to any member of the JCR, or only to a single subsidiary common room. Each subsidiary common room holds annual elections for a president and executive committee. The JCR executive committee is split into two tiers: Tier 1 executive which deals with overall JCR issues and are also automatically Trustees of the JCR. Tier 2 executive is made up of executive members who deal primarily with their own assigned area. All other non-executive positions are elected in ordinary general meetings and help with the day-to-day running of the JCR.
You ask a valid question. Well, basically, the JCR is you. But on a slightly bigger scale. John’s Common Room is a charity and a democracy, and you can be as involved as you like. It exists to function as a whole and to work collectively for certain aims. Together we vote on certain policies, elect people to positions and represent our views back to college.
This is mostly achieved through JCR meetings, which are usually held three times a term. These meetings can be attended by everyone and are usually held in Leech Hall. They can be exciting, inspiring, controversial and often downright hilarious (especially the fancy-dress ones). They tend to be quite casual – although you will need your gown if you want to speak, you could be wearing your PJs under it, or sitting at the back eating sweets, and no-one will care. If you’re at the meeting, then you can give your opinion and make sure that things are going as you would like them. They’re a bit like school assemblies (only more fun), in that they’re one of the only times when the whole college is together. We make important decisions, from ethical policies about what we stock in the JCR shop, to how and what and when we give to charity, to rules about snogging and petting in the college bar...
JCR meetings are your main chance to have your say in the running of the JCR. They exist to hold JCR officers (both exec and non-exec) to account, to debate and make decisions regarding the JCR's policies and money, and to elect people to positions in the JCR. In short, they are the democratic decision making body of the JCR. Any JCR member is entitled to attend, speak, and vote at any JCR meeting, and at any meeting of their subsidiary common room.
JCR members also all have the right to propose motions and stand for election to any JCR position, as well as positions in their own subsidiary common room. Guides for writing motions and manifestos are available here.
The minutes of all meetings are made available on this website.
There are lots of other rules and regulations for different types of meetings - for more details, take a look at the Constitution.
Money request forms are available from the JCR website, and also from the Exec flat (where they can be found in a plastic wallet above the sink). If your motion for spending has been passed, or if you are entitled to spend on behalf of the JCR, then you need to fill out a money request form, attach your receipts to it and place it in the Treasurer pigeonhole in the flat.
Money is only released if a motion for spending has been passed, or if you are in a treasurer position within the JCR, with certain exceptions. Without a motion for spending, money cannot be released and given to an individual, except in certain situations. Captains of sports teams can also claim back money from the JCR as this is budgeted spending.
Once your form has been received, the treasurer will write you a cheque and contact you by email so that you can pick it up from your pigeonhole in the Bailey Room. If you have any doubts, please contact the treasurer BEFORE spending any money.
(See Bye-Law 4: 'Affiliated Organisations' of the JCR Constitution for the full text)
Once your society has been passed by the JCR, you will be allowed to receive funding and access other facilities. You’re not allowed to charge a membership fee, so talk to the JCR Treasurer about obtaining funding (there is no minimum number of members needed for a society to receive money from the JCR).
Any problems or questions, please get in touch with the Sports and Societies Officer (johns.sportsoc@durham.ac.uk).
(Schedule 1 of JCR Sub-Committee and Society Regulations)
The aims and objectives of the society must be listed in the society constitution, or be implicitly defined within the society name, and these aims and objectives must be compatible with the aims and objectives of the JCR.
The constitution of any society affiliated or wishing to be affiliated to the JCR shall be deemed to contain the following clauses. Job titles may be changed to suit a society's requirements.
1. The aims and objectives of the society must be listed in the society constitution, or be implicitly defined within the society name, and these aims and objectives must be compatible with the aims and objectives of the JCR. The constitution of any society affiliated or wishing to be affiliated to the JCR shall be deemed to contain the following clauses. Job titles may be changed to suit a society's requirements.
2. Membership of the Society shall be open to all JCR members.
3. The Society shall have a Chair, who shall have overall responsibility for the activities of the Society.
4. The Society may only disaffiliate from the JCR if the JCR approves this decision by an ordinary motion, and/or either 66% of those society members voting, or 50% of all society members, whichever is less, vote to disaffiliate in a one-member, one-vote election, in which all those listed on the society membership list shall have the right to vote, and at least 50% of the society must vote. The voting shall be supervised by the Vice-Chair of the JCR, unless there is an objection raised to this, in which case the voting shall be supervised by an independent observer, selected in line with the JCR election regulations. Upon disaffiliation, any unclaimed JCR grant is kept by the JCR. Any debts to the JCR must be paid immediately upon disaffiliation.
5. The society, its constitution and its actions cannot contravene any part of the constitutional documents of the JCR.
6. If the society spends the JCR's money, then the Treasurer of the society may be required to attend a meeting of Finance Committee at the invitation of Finance Committee.
Writing a motion is your way of getting the JCR to do what you want! They come up in a certain section of JCR meetings and are the method through which everyone decides whether or not to take a certain action.
This is a brief overview of how to write a motion, and you can always contact the JCR Chair for help if you decide to write one.
Some rules regarding motions:
Past and present policies have included: company boycotts, policies to allow linguists and 4th years places on the room ballot, and political policies against top-up-fees, or third world debt.
At each JCR meeting you will be given the opportunity to petition the JCR for money, to go towards an item not covered in the college budget. Previously motions for spending have covered a variety of different items, from new curtains in the bar over-spill, a trophy for the tennis team, and even a new college croquet set.
A motion for spending is written in the same as any other motion, but with differences in the third section. In section 3 there are 3 options with regard to how much money you would like to be released. You can say “to release exactly”, which is to release a set amount of money, “to release up to”, which is to release any figure up to and including the figure stated, and “to release approximately”, which is to release any amount within 25% of the amount stated. You’d pick one of these depending on how certain you are of how much money you will need.
This motion needs to be submitted by the motion deadline before the next JCR meeting. Then it will be discussed at Finance Committee, which you will be welcome to attend and answer questions about your motion.
Finance Committee meets before every JCR meeting and discusses the motions for spending which are due to be presented at the next JCR meeting. Here members of the JCR with a position connected to spending, and also representatives from each common room will vote on the merits of the motion. If the motion passes then it will then go on to be seen by the JCR and finally approved there.
Quick Guideline for Motions for Spending