Governance - establishing a core group
At some point around here you will probably have a good idea for which people will be interested in supporting your Transition initiative, and it is likely that you are well on your way to establish a Core Group holding the identity and vision of the Transition University. Some initiatives call this a steering group or coordinating group.
The benefits of having a core group can be outlined as:
• It provides a central place to contact for students, local community, staff and Estates/Facilities Management departments
• It holds responsibility for Transition in the university
• It has a holistic vision of Transition in the university; it is the place/group where people can come together to plan Transition activities
• It helps make sure that Transition projects are on track
• It provides continuity throughout the years
Often these groups have a constitution that outlines their roles and responsibilities, which is useful because it:
• Outlines the group's accountability to its members and the community it serves
• Defines whether it is independent from the university or part of the university structure
• Specifies how the membership of the group works and what power people have within it; for example if university staff representatives have other commitments than students
• Explains the process for changing the group's aims and objectives or constitution
• Defines how people join the group, how they take up certain roles and responsibilities and how this gets changed - usually at an AGM
Constitutions also have other purposes. They can be a necessary requirement for applying and securing funding. Universities have to abide by regulations concerning climate change and are under pressure to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies, so if you have a constitution that addresses similar concerns, chances are you will get more support from the university.
The vision exercise explained earlier on can be a useful tool to help shape your constitution. Here is an example of how the group at St Andrews saw their vision and mission, and how they developed it.
There can be tensions between how you want to govern your Transition University and the way universities are governed. University governance is often based on an endless growth and expansion logic, in which it may be difficult to place a Transition group. It also tends to be run in a very top-down and hierarchical manner, centralising power and responsibility for the sake of efficiency. If you choose to be within the university structure (if you even have a choice!), you may find that certain aspects of your Transition group will be compromised. On the other hand,
if you place your Transition group completely outwith the university structure you will most probably be struggling to get access to and influence over university procedures.
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