Arts Students’ Union belongs to its students. It comes down to you to show what the Union believes and what it does. If you want to shape the view on the Union on any issue, the best way to do this is to submit a motion. The motion that you will propose will be debated at a democratic meeting. This meeting is called the Student council.

What is a student council?

The student council is:

• The largest decision making committee at Arts SU
• A place where the committee votes on motions
• Consist out of sabbatical officers, part-time officers and liberation officers plus student representatives. But any current student at UAL is allowed to join these meetings.
• A forum for all students at UALto discuss relevant and important subjects
• A forum where students can come together to discuss the current state of the Union

What is a motion?

A motion is a document that proposes a change to be made in the Union’s policy. Motions can be submitted on anything ranging from decisions the University or Union has taken, to wider national and even international concerns.

If a motion is accepted the Union might be committing itself to campaign for change or might be stating where it stands on relating to this motion. This will result in officers or representatives being assigned to a particular task to make this motion a reality.

How do I get a motion passed?

Motions must be submitted 24 hours before a council meeting. Each motion will go onto the agenda. Motions will need a student proposer and another student to be the seconder of the motion. The student who will be creating the motion is called a student proposer: The student proposer is the one who proposes the motion and the change they would like to make.

The role of a proposer

The proposer of a motion will be invited at the Student Council to make a speech in favour of the Student Council voting to pass the motion. After the proposer has given a speech to ask for a vote to pass the motion, members of the Student Council or other students attending Student Council will be invited to make a speech against the motion or ask any questions regarding the motion.

A motion can be amended at the Student Council by submitting an amendment request which can be done by any student who attends Student council or a member of the Student Council.

Once the motion has been debated it will be put to a vote. A simple majority is required for the motion to be passed into policy.

Important notes on writing your motion

The title for a motion must be a statement, not a question, and must clearly set-out what you want the Union to do. All motions must have a proposer and a seconder.

All motion should be written in third person (no "I believe" or "I think")

Dates Student Council 18-19

10th June, 2019