The “Alternatives to NUS” conference: inaccessible to disabl

The “Alternatives to NUS” conference: inaccessible to disabled students

We feel there have been numerous mistakes in the planning and publicising of this event which have resulted in the exclusion of members of NCAFC with disabilities. We are concerned these mistakes form part of an ongoing pattern where access needs are given lip service but steamrollered in practice in NCAFC events.

The conference has not been given a clear structure. A timetable, only announced the day before conference, has been rushed through and is poorly thought-out, as illustrated by 4 caucuses running back-to-back without breaks. These caucuses have only been given 15 minutes’ time to run each, not enough time to make decisions or discuss most necessary business. Many liberation reps in NCAFC have raised objections to this short length of time, only to be steamrollered by non-self-defining members of the NC.

No information on what rooms or how far to travel between caucuses has been provided. Some members are unhappy with the possibility of having to run across the whole building in order to attend a caucus just 15 minutes long. We don’t have good information on how to get to the location of the event or where we should go when we get there.

Not enough time has been planned for lunch. If non-self-defining members are worried about having nothing to do while midday caucuses are going on, maybe they could prepare lunch for everyone?

Planning for the social has been left to the last minute and as of now nothing has been announced. At the Scotland conference, a planned social was skipped over and NCAFC members ended up going to an impromptu event which was in a grotesquely unsafe space. Without a plan for a social, and without confidence that NCAFC have learned lessons from Scotland conference, many of us are worried the same could happen again.

The way to submit motions and items for discussion is unclear. At least one motion was submitted but not put onto the agenda. Meanwhile the motions which have been successfully submitted were only published one day before conference, meaning there was no time to consider them or discuss them outside the conference. This is not only inaccessible but undemocratic. We also think a model motion should be presented to walk people through the democratic process.

As points of contact for the event are also not well publicised, we have had difficulty getting clarification on whom to contact in order to find out answers to the problems we’ve listed.

Lastly, the event is being held in London. We understand there are only some places in the UK where NCAFC has the numbers to hold a caucus, but London is poor for wheelchair access and a long distance to travel.

While there has been much discussion on the NC list about how to fit all the business into a 1-day event, we think the conference should have been planned as a 2-day event from the start. This way, people with low energy levels, or traveling from far away, can get a good night’s sleep and participate in all the events.

We have seen a policy NCAFC adopted to make sure its conferences are run more accessibly. It is disappointing NCAFC hasn’t held itself to this policy. It needs to do more, including taking on all the suggestions we’ve listed.

Signed,
Edmund Schluessel, NCAFC Disabled Rep & Safer Spaces Committee
Sarah Jones, NCAFC Scottish Committee Interim Secretary
Hannah Louise Wright, NCAFC Scotland Women’s Committee member (Disabled Place)
Adam Eagleson, Edinburgh University
Natasha Gorodnitzki, UCL
Chris Walter, NCAFC Scotland LGBTQ+ Rep (Trans* Place)
Lucy Jane Drummond, NCAFC Scotland LGBTQ Rep & Disabled Intersectional Rep