What is the JCR?
The Junior Common Room (also known as the JCR) is a community made up of undergraduate students within Stephenson College. Each College at Durham University has a JCR or equivalent, and it is their role to represent the undergraduate students, champion their voice, and enhance their university and college experience! In essence, the JCR is a group made up of Stephenson students just like you, who want to be involved with their community and have a good time whilst doing so!
The JCR is an opt-in organisation, with a levy attached to membership, which you can find out more about in the ‘How to join the JCR’ section. However, much of the work we do and many of the activities we run are open to the whole College community, and often the wider University. Yet, there are prominent and distinct advantages to joining the JCR.
Our JCR, like most Common Rooms in Durham, is run by elected student volunteers who form the Executive Committee and Non-Executive Committee, all of whom are supported by committees of JCR members. You can find out more about this in the ‘Who’s who’ section!
We do have a physical space called the ‘Common Room’ which is shared with our MCR (Middle Common Room) and serves as a prime location for students to relax, as well as being used as a meeting place for many of our societies. However, the JCR as an organisation goes beyond this space, and impacts every part of Stephenson College! So welcome, have a look around, and find out who we are and what we do, we are sure you’ll like what you see!
Our Common Room located on the first floor of the Saltwell Building - perfect for a relaxing chat with friends or a society meeting!
Governing Documents of the JCR
As an organisation, we have two foundational documents. The DSO framework broadly dictates how we operate as a Durham Student Organisation (many other JCRs are also DSOs), whilst our Constitution and Standing Orders outline how things work specifically within Stephenson College. You are welcome to have a read, but if you take one thing away from them it should be that we are a democratic, student-led organisation, with our policies and activities decided and championed by our community and members.
The Constitution & Standing Orders as of 03/08/2023:
JCR Budget Information
You can find a summary of our JCR Budget by clicking the button below.
