The Accountability Panel had its second meeting of the 2023-24 academic year on 12 February with President Steven Suresh, VP Thea Turton and VP Janvi Jagasia present. The Panel expressed its support for the officers in adjusting to the absence of the other officers and asked about how this had impacted their duties; the officers in turn shared how they would take on additional duties (such as sitting on extra committees) to make sure that students continued to be represented and their pressing concerns be addressed.

Furthermore, the Panel voiced its appreciation for the officers making efforts to improve their officer reports for easy readability. The Panel also expressed concern for how the return to in-person exams may affect students and the MCF process, the officers took this into account and promised to investigate it.  

To encourage student participation in the democratic process, the Panel accepted member questions and presented them to Officers. The questions concerned promotion of inclusivity of marginalised groups (such as the LGBTQIA community) at King’s, addressing incidents of racism and Islamophobia within certain faculties and how successful the officers have been at engaging the student body through social media and online mediums. 

Specific updates:

Steven:  

• The mental health myth busting campaign will begin in March, for which Steven had created a marketing plan to be discussed with the Marketing Team.
• Attended a meeting where the purchase of a new accommodation building in Battersea Power Station was confirmed; it was decided that 30% of the rooms would be held on KAAS.  
• Supporting King’s in the establishment of a financial support tool.

Thea:  

• Spoke to sports societies about delays in invoice payments and mismanagement to take the matter to the Finance Director; improving communication between societies and management to prevent dissatisfaction among student groups.
• Supporting Liberation Networks and events (such as the Black Students’ Forum and Liberation Forum) and acting on feedback from those events (such as the possibility of lockers for trans students to be discussed with the Head of Kings Sports).
• Holding events to support student leaders’ impacts.

Janvi:  

• Mitigating Circumstances Form:  
  • KCL has agreed to speak to faculties about whether self-certification for MCFs is possible 
  • Students will no longer have to provide death certificates for bereavement MCFs  
  • MCF staff will provide faster responses if it involves mental stress.
• Working on the ‘Turn the Tables’ Priority Campaign to ensure exam timetables are released at least 8 weeks before exams and exams are not bunched on the same day. 

The next Accountability Panel Meeting is already around the corner. You can now submit questions to be put to the Officer Team at the next Accountability Panel using the link below. Please submit any questions before 12pm on Wednesday 6 March.

Read our blog post to learn more about the Accountability Panel and how it supports democracy at KCLSU.

Submit your questions here