Student Senate
What is Student Senate?
Student Senate is the Students' Union's policy making body and all students are invited to take up seats as Student Senators to represent their fellow peers and help lead the Union forward.
Policies provide the framework which the Union and its Elected Officers operate within. Student Senate has the power to make and review policy, ensuring the Union works to reflect the values and ideals of the Student Body.
Student Senate is the Union's highest regular decision-making body. However, the Annual Members Meeting and Referenda have higher authority as they allow all students a vote, not just their elected representatives.
The Union has policies to ensure that the services and activities we provide are in line with student values and ideals.
How does Student Senate make decisions?
Student Senators: 25 seats are reserved for students that get elected in October. They will be Student Senators for the whole academic year, carrying out the role alongside their studies. They will elect a Chair to lead the meetings. The Chair will gain extra responsibilities but will not have a casting vote.
Randomly Selected Students: To make sure we are as representative as possible we will invite 10 randomly selected students to attend each meeting. They will be allowed to vote for that one meeting only. At the next meeting we will invite 10 new randomly selected students and so on. So keep an eye out for the invite!
Associations: The Union has nine elected Campaign Officers that each head up an association. Each Campaign Officer's association has a vote in senate. Normally the Campaign Officer, as the head of the association would attend the meeting but they can defer their vote to someone else in the association.
Officers: Between them, the Full Time Elected Officers (FTOs) have 2 seats on Senate. They will decide amongst themselves who attends which meeting.
How often does Student Senate meet?
Student Senate will meet five times per academic year. The meetings are always on a Tuesday at 6.00pm.
You’ll be able to find information on upcoming meetings (agenda, location ect) on the website, on Facebook, Twitter and in Gair Rhydd.
The Meeting
The meeting starts with a 30 minute informal discussion session. This is a chance to talk one to one, ask questions, lobby for your case etc.
All ideas will be presented on displays around the room to generate active discussion in a less formal setting.
After the informal discussion the meeting will continue in a slightly more formal manner centering around whether or not to adopt an idea.
At the end of the discussion there will be a vote which will approve, reject or put the idea to a referendum.
All students can partake in all aspects of the meeting apart from the voting. However the Chair reserves the right to remove observers that are obstructive to the meeting.
How does the vote work?
At least 21 people must be present for a vote to be valid, i.e. 50% +1 of all voting members.
Elected Officers and Senators vote as representatives of others, randomly selected students vote on their own behalf.
A voting record will be kept online of how Officers and Student Senators vote. However, since the randomly selected students are not elected and are only voting on their own behalf their vote will be counted anonymously.
What to do if you have an idea...
Cardiff Students' Union is a student-led organisation. This means that big or small, practical or political whatever the nature of your idea we want to hear about it! If you want some help or advice formulating your idea feel free to contact the Head of Student Voice.
A motion template is available Cymraeg | English
Already got an idea - click the 'Submit Your Ideas' button at the top of this page or follow this link.
We Want Your Ideas
Your Students’ Union is your voice. Give us your ideas and we’ll shout about them.
How Does It Work?
Step 1
Any student can submit their idea at any time. Simply fill in the form and click "send"! Take a look at the list of Student Senate meetings and corresponding deadlines below to make sure you get your idea in on time:
Step 2
- If your idea means setting policy for the Union then it will go to Student Senate. You are invited to come along and speak on the behalf of your idea or you could get in touch with the Student Senators to ask them to support your idea. Find out more about how Student Senate works here!
If you have any questions about how all of this works or just want someone to talk through your idea(s) with feel free to get in touch:
Email: Our Student Voice Team
Phone: 02920 781 435
Visit: Students' Union, 3rd Floor, Student Voice area
Student Senate Minutes and Agenda
Senate Voting Record
2016-2017
2015-2016
2014-2015