JCR meetings happen roughly ten times in the year, and are an important moment of coming together and exercising our democratic rights as a student community…plus there are free snacks!

Meetings are held in the dining hall, and will be publicised on Instagram (@marysjcrchair) and in emails beforehand. JCR meetings are led by the JCR Chair and Assistant Chair, and we would love to see as many people there as possible. Gowns are worn to meetings, but other than that there’s no need to dress up, so we’re all in the same boat!

While the content of these meetings will shift through the year, these are the core components you can expect to see every time:

• • JCR announcements: incidents and announcements in college and a recap of the minutes from the previous meeting. This is mainly used to reiterate the outcomes of previous elections and motions, which will have been announced more widely prior to the meeting.

• • Motions – any member of the JCR can table a motion – all they need is someone to second their idea. Examples of motions in the last year include the creation of a movies society and the handing over of the toastie bar to the college. These motions are voted on by members online after the meeting – motions which are passed come into effect immediately and can be a real motor of change within college. All motions require a seconder, hust and questioning.

• • Husts – husts are the speeches given by candidates hoping to hold positions within the JCR. More information on elections is included below. Husts are 3 minutes long for all positions except for JCR President, for which the speeches are five minutes. Candidates cannot be in the same room for their husts, but are gathered afterwards for questions from members. Anyone in the audience can ask questions, but to ensure fairness, any questions must be addressed to all candidates. Voting will open at the end of the meeting (see below).

• • Raffle and snacks! – every meeting will see the hall tables stocked with biscuits, chocolate and sweets, and at the end of the meeting we draw hold a raffle to win big prizes.

Meetings are also a place for questions of officers – as part of having a transparent and responsible exec (the team of people elected to JCR positions), any member of the JCR can ask questions. While these are not especially common, they are an important way of ensuring accountability and questions are welcomed from all members, old and new. Following the meeting, the minutes will be available on our website.

Most positions within the JCR are elected roles. Throughout the year, the whole roster of jobs will be up for grabs, and any member can run, provided they have a seconder backing them. Running for a role require husts (see above) and bogsheets. Bogsheets (so named because they are put up in the toilets throughout college!) are posters encouraging your peers to vote for you.

Roles will first be publicised across Instagram and via email, along with deadlines to declare interest and get bogsheets in to the Chair. Candidates will then hust and be questioned at the next JCR meeting, after which voting opens and the bogsheets can be put up around college.

Voting is online, via a link sent out by email, and is open for around 4 days. All elections are conducted with ranked-choice voting, whereby candidates are ranked by preference and eliminated one by one until a winner with a majority remains.

Once a winner has been selected, the candidates will be notified the evening before the rest of the college, and are then brought in to their new roles as soon as possible.

Running for a role can be a truly rewarding way to give something back to college, and to your fellow students. Any of our JCR members are encouraged to run for roles – if you have the ideas and passion, then just go for it!