Lecture contract delayed by JCRs
Oxford colleges and JCRs have delayed plans to ratify student contracts after it emerged that students had not been consulted over the controversial proposals. Last week, The Oxford Student revealed fears that students could be taken to court for breach of contract if they failed to complete tutorial essays and attend lectures. Worries were also raised over a lack of commitment from colleges about minimum standards of provision for accommodation, food and academic provision.
Some colleges have now decided to delay discussions of the contract until the Student Union has had time to consult with its lawyers. OUSU President Emma Norris and all college JCR Presidents will be meeting next to draw up a joint response to the proposals. It is expected that they will request that colleges stipulate specific standards for accommodation and academic facilities.
These may include a guarantee of college accommodation throughout the first year, or minimum qualifications for tutors. Other colleges are discussing the possibility of amalgamating the contract with their alreadyexisting student charters, which outline basic tuition and room requirements. Norris said: “Colleges have to understand that students are not innately opposed to the idea of a student contract; they were just opposed to the terms outlined in this one.
A contract which could protect students as well as colleges would be a very good thing.” In a letter accompanying the contract, sent to all colleges, Michael Beloff QC, President of Trinity and principal author of the document, said the intention was to formally codify relations between colleges and students.
“If (which is in the present climate a realistic possibility) a student seeks to allege a breach by the College of its obligations towards him/her, the College will find it easier to determine its cause of action, if it can be confident that it can locate the document in which those obligations are contained,” said the letter. At the moment, colleges operate their own agreements with students. These are often verbal, or distributed around a number of different documents.
The new contract means that students may be able to sue colleges if minimum standards are not kept, as their relationship is more formally defined. The contract was initially drawn up by the Conference of Colleges before being passed to Heads of Colleges last term. The Conference is a university- wide body, in which the heads of every college are entitled to a vote. Although its proposals are technically voluntary, traditionally colleges have obeyed Conference’s recommendations.
2nd Feb 2006