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Table of contents
East of England elections
East of England Assembly
OUSA in Scotland has already taken advantage of the new principles, OUSA in Wales is doing the same and we, in the East of England, are planning to be the first English region to adopt the new pattern, in order that we can identify any apparent snags - so that what is eventually agreed at Conference 2011 will be tried and tested – and, hopefully, found to be preferable to what has gone before. The new OUSA in the East of England Assembly will enable the representation of O U students at a regional and national level in its own organisation (OUSA), at the O U regionally and also at national level to the wider higher education sector. With a student population of 28000 in the East of England, the Assembly can contain up to 50 voices – from all areas in the East of England and from all faculties or interest groups.
We intend to trial the new Assembly from November 2010 until April 2011 (with an option to continue after April if we like it, even if the “new deal” is not rolled out nationally – or to revert to the previous arrangement if the new deal is not accepted and we don’t like the way that it has worked). Student representatives will be able to join in at least 3 meetings during that time – you will be able to take part equally well online or at a face to face meeting (probably at Cambridge). There will be no distinction between being online or physically present at a face to face meeting. It is also likely that, even between face to face meetings, discussion will continue online.
The Inaugural Face to Face Meeting of the new Assembly will take place on Sunday 21st November 2010 (venue and time to be confirmed. Please check our FirstClass East of England Forum for further information) but there will be an associated online component from 14th – 28th November 2010.
East of England Executive
In addition to the Assembly Representatives there will also be 6 positions available for Assembly Executive Members. These six students will take the responsibility for the day to day running of the Assembly, so that the level of commitment for these posts will be a bit higher.
Documentation
Voting in the elections
The “OUSA Futures” project introduces the principle of one member one vote for regional level elections. All O U registered students in the region will now be able to register to vote in the elections (as at parliamentary and local council elections you don’t get a vote unless you register as an elector!). Accordingly, it will be necessary to “sign up” to the electoral register in order to vote. Even if you do not want to become a representative yourself, please do consider making use of your opportunity to vote in the elections. This is new – and a victory for democracy in the organisation. There have been some quite animated calls on the OUSA internet forums during the last few years calling for one member one vote. Now we’ve got it for the East of England, please use it.
Please note: the East of England elections have been held sucessfully and results have been announced .