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.

Senate 2019 / 2020 dates

Tuesday 19th November 4J - 6pm

Tuesday 10th December 4J - 6pm

Tuesday 28th January 4J - 6pm

Tuesday 17th March 4J - 6pm

Tuesday 21st April 4J - 6pm

How often does Senate meet?

Student Senate will meet five times per academic year. The meetings are always on a Tuesday at 6.00pm.

For 2019/2020 dates take a look at the left-hand corner of this page.

You’ll be able to find information on upcoming meetings (agenda, location ect) on the website, on Facebook, Twitter and in Gair Rhydd.

Information about 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, abstain or put the idea to a referendum (if appropriate).

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 voting 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.

How does it work?

Head to our ideas hub to submit an idea or vote on existing ones. This platform allows students to 'up vote' or 'down vote' your idea. If a 'down vote' is received, that means the total number will go down i.e. if you have 0 votes and someone 'down votes' it will become -1 votes.

Student Senate will then debate the idea and vote as to whether or not it will become students' union policy. If your idea has an operational component (for example, "the students' union should serve more vegan-friendly options") we can probably look at that without you having to pass it through this system, by providing feedback directly to our Sales and Customer Services team. So what are you waiting for?