Jonathan Berry
johns.president@durham.ac.uk
Hello!
I'm the John's Hall Junior Common Room (JHJCR) President for 2010/2011, which also makes me the Joint Junior Common Room (JJCR) President for 2010/2011. The President's role is wide and varied, though at the heart of it there is a focus upon representation; representing the John's student body to college and to the wider university community. The role is also about responding to the needs of the JJCR to ensure that it runs as efficiently and smoothly as possible.
Most of my time is spent attending JJCR, College and University meetings. The college meetings include College Council, Estates Strategy committee and Resources Committee. At the university level, I also attend Presidents' Committee and Accommodation and Advisory Committee, as well as supporting the DSU rep in DSU meetings and matters. At these committees I ensure that the JJCR's views are heard and that the JJCR is updated with any important information. I also spend a lot of time liaising with college staff to ensure communication between college and the JJCR is efficient.
In my JHJCR capacity, I work closely with the JHJCR Vice-President. I sit on JHJCR executive committee feeding back any information from the various meetings I attend and issues I deal with. I try to ensure that the executive committee work well together and I offer support when it's needed to individual members.
As the JJCR President, I also work closely with the Cranmer Common Room (CCR) and the Middle Common Room (MCR) to build a solid working inter-common room relationship and to ensure that the needs and views of the John's student body as a whole are conveyed and defended wherever necessary. Part of this is to chair JJCR executive committee meetings where the Presidents and Vice Presidents of each subsidiary common room meet with a few others to discuss JJCR and college matters.
A lot of my time is currently taken up with Governance issues. A recent change in the Charities Act has meant that we as a JCR wish to register properly as a charity. Doing this requires a lot of work bringing our constitutional documents in line with the Charities Commission and taking a lot of decisions regarding the JJCR's future, which require careful thinking and proper discussion. My predecessor Steph Hannah made a great deal of progress with this, which I hope to continue to the best of my ability.
Like the rest of the JHJCR executive committee I am a welfare contact and so bound by the JJCR confidentiality policy. I, alongside the other two common room presidents, also handle members fund applications, which are completely confidential. I live in the President's flat in Linton House attic, so do pop in for a cuppa if you're ever bored or fancy a chat.
And that's my job in a nutshell! If you have any questions or suggestions don't hesitate to get in touch either by e-mail or by knocking on my door.
JB