A training session for the new non-sabbatical officers led to the death of the chair of the committee. In a team-building exercise, the chair was thrown into a crocodile pit, with a five minute timer before the crocodiles were released, and the rest of the committee given the task of rescuing him before then.
Eyewitness reports suggest that the committee easily overcame the first obstacle, and despite the lack of a Chair, were able to make decisions as quickly and efficiently as before. The equipment positioned by the organisers by the side of the pit was constructable into an improvised rope ladder, and it took an impressively short time for two non-sabbs to realise this, and suggest it to the committee.
After a short vote, construction of the ladder started. It was at this point that disaster struck. One of the officers realised that, with the Chair in the crocodile pit, and therefore technically out of the meeting, Campaigns Committee was inquorate, and so could not make any decisions. The officers agreed to meet again next week to discuss the issue further, and the meeting moved on to officers reports, for which no decisions were required.
Amid allegations that the committee should have ignored the quoracy issue and carried on regardless, the acting Chair of the committee made the following statement.
The Chair had made it clear at the previous meeting that the committee had to be quorate to make decisions, and he stressed the importance of attendance. Unfortunately, on the day, the two Stockton non-sabbs were unable to attend, and the sabbatical officers were at a meeting with the University Senior Management. The environment officer was also unable to attend due to illness. This had left 12 of the 18 members of Campaigns Committee present, which was just enough for quoracy. Unfortunately, when he was thrown into the crocodile pit, we were reduced to 11 of 18, and so we couldn't constitutionally decide to save him.
The committee considered several options to avoid this problem, but it transpired that all of the solutions would require quoracy to be achieved briefly, which would have required the rest of the committee climbing down into the pit, something which many members were unwilling to do.
In light of these events, Union Reform Committee has said that it will investigate possible changes to the Standing Orders to allow inquorate committees to make decisions in emergency situations, but one member of the committee pointed out that
While, in this situation, modifications to the rules would undoubtedly have helped, we can't fall into the trap of making knee-jerk responses to events like this. While in this situation it would have been beneficial for an inquorate committee to make decisions with the powers of a quorate meeting, there have been many situations recently where an inquorate meeting has provisionally decided something, often in quite controversial situations, and a later quorate meeting has over-ruled it.
A by-election to the position of chair of campaigns committee will be held at the next meeting of Council. A motion to create a Training Officer scheduled for that meeting has been postponed as a mark of respect.