Exec Training 2018 Covering: Democratic structures, policy, and Student Council Campaigning Responsibilities of an Exec Employability Engagement focus group

SU Representative Structures SU Execs

SU Representative Structures Part-Time Officers There are 9 Part-Time Officers; 5 Liberation Officers; 3 Diversity Officers; 1 Environment and Ethics Officer Part-Time Officers work to ensure that the voices of minority groups are heard on Campus, running campaigns and themed weeks to raise awareness of issues Warwick students face The Liberation and Diversity Officers make up the Liberation and Diversity Exec, and all sit on Student Council

SU Representative Structures Sabbatical Officers There are 7 Sabbatical Officers; President, Education Officer, Postgraduate Officer, Democracy and Development Officer, Societies Officer, Welfare and Campaigns Officer, and Sports Officer Each Officer is a Trustee of the SU, an employee of the SU, and has student status. The Officers work year round to fulfil their manifesto pledges Each Officer sits on an Exec

Decision Making Structure

Execs SU Execs Each Exec elects a Chair at their first meeting, who will be responsible for attending Student Council to report back on exec meetings Execs receive staff support throughout their time as a representative Execs can report to Student Council on their activities

Execs The responsibilities of an Exec fall into 3 main strands: Reviewing policy/ motions and advising Student Council 2) Achieving manifesto pledges and joint goals 3) Core function/ service of the Exec

Execs Democracy Exec: Receives and reviews motions received from students. Steers the motions to the relevant Execs for discussion. Promotes Democratic processes, runs campaigns to increase engagement in the SU, holds Officers to account, helps achieve policy mandates Reviews Democracy Zone policy due to lapse Development Exec: Reviews funding bids received from students and decides whether to allocate money to the bid Discusses and improves Union events and commercial activities, and runs campaigns aimed at improving Development from accommodation to transport, holds Officers to account, helps achieve policy mandates Reviews Development and Environment Zone policy due to lapse Discuss motions received from Democracy Exec (the Chair will bring any recommendations to Student Council)

Execs Education Exec: Oversees policy in the Education Zone and discusses motions received by the Democracy Exec (the Chair will bring any recommendations to Student Council) Represents students on academic related issues, Reviews issues arising from faculty board meetings and SSLC meetings, runs education campaigns, holds Officers to account, helps achieve policy mandates Postgraduate Exec: Oversees policy in the Postgraduate Zone and discusses motions received by the Democracy Exec (the Chair will bring any recommendations to Student Council) Supports and reviews Postgraduate representation, undertakes research to enhance the experience of Postgraduate experience, raise awareness of Postgraduate services, runs campaigns relating to Postgraduates, reviews issues arising from Faculty board meetings and SSLC meetings, holds Officers to account, helps achieve policy mandates

Execs Societies Exec Makes decisions regarding new society applications, society funding and constitution changes Aids in the development of existing societies and highlights new and exciting opportunities for students to engage, holds Officers to account, helps achieve policy mandates Oversees all policy in the Student Activities Zone and discusses motions sent by the Democracy Exec (the Chair will bring any recommendations to Student Council) Sports Exec Aids in the development of existing sports clubs and highlights new and exciting opportunities for students to engage, carries out campaigns relating to Student Activities, holds Officers to account, helps achieve policy mandates

Execs Welfare Exec Oversees all policy in the Welfare Zone and discusses motions received by Democracy Exec (the Chair will bring any recommendations to Student Council) Supports and reviews student wellbeing on campus and in the community, supports campaign leaders and runs own welfare campaigns, holds Officers to account, helps achieve policy mandates Liberation and Diversity Exec Made up of Liberation and Diversity Officers Oversees all policy in the Liberation and Diversity Zone and discusses motions received by the Democracy Exec (which can then be brought to Student Council) Runs campaigns relating to Liberation and Diversity, supports students within their community to run campaigns, holds Officers to account, helps achieve policy mandates

Execs: what did last years Execs do? Democracy Exec gave advice on and steered a total of 27 motions – 20 of those became Union policy Postgraduate Exec provided excellent feedback and comments to student motions If your Exec achieves a win – please let us know so we can shout about your successes! Welfare Exec worked collaboratively with other Execs to promote welfare in a variety of settings Liberation and Diversity Exec worked with each other to propose important amendments to student motions Development Exec funded all of the money in the SU projects fund and campaigns fund for the first time Societies Exec approved 11 new societies Education Exec ran a successful survey about Lecture Capture Sports Exec ran a successful Varsity campaign and won Exec of the Year in the SU Representation Awards

Responsibilities of an Exec As well as fulfilling your core functions and keeping on top of policy in your zone, there are some important things as an Exec you should do Elect a Chair of the Exec ASAP, before the first Student Council meeting Ensure meetings are scheduled for the week before each Student Council Ensure that all meetings are minuted and sent to democracy@warwicksu.com as soon as possible after a meeting Use your staff support when needed, e.g. for room booking, research, information Maintain confidentiality of student information received or discussed Declare conflicts of interest where necessary (the decision for you to leave the room will be up to the discretion of the Chair). Conflict of interest is where you stand to either benefit or not benefit from a decision being made. Adhere to the By-Laws and SU Code of Conduct at all times

Scenarios Scenario 1 It gets to January and you feel like you are not achieving anything. Scenario 2 One of your Exec members is not doing anything. Scenario 3 Something BIG happens nationally and you want to campaign on it. You are contacted by multiple media sources for comment.

Student Council Student Council is made up of; the 7 Sabbatical Officers, the 8 Liberation and Diversity Officers, the 7 Chairs of Execs, and the Chair of Council Any student can attend Student Council, but only members can vote on agenda items It is a decision making body that holds responsibility for the following (among other things); Receive Officer and Exec reports, NUS reports, and other special reports Approve amendments to SU governing documents Co-opt vacant Faculty Rep positions Renew/ review/ lapse Union policy Review motions received and refer them to the All Student Vote Agendas and papers will be sent out prior to Student Council meetings via email. Student Council is recorded and minuted.

Policy: The Journey of a Motion There are motion deadlines and Impact Assessment takes place the same day. All comments from Impact Assessment are sent back to the proposers for amendment. The motions cannot proceed without amendments from Impact Assessment being made. Proposers are given a deadline to make these changes. The motions then go to Democracy Exec, who make comments and steer the motions to the relevant Execs for discussion.

Policy: Proposing Amendments If you want to propose a formal amendment to a motion, this must be done by the amendments deadline, which is usually the day before Student Council at 12noon. It should have a proposer and seconder, and must be written like a motion, e.g. “motion to propose amendments to motion XXX” and include the exact change you would like to make. The proposal will then be discussed at Student Council and voted on by Student Council members.

By – Law Review The SU have been working with an external consultant to tidy up the By-Laws The approval of these By-Laws will be the decision of Student Council and will be on the agenda of the first meeting. Ben will be proposing the amendments.

Helpful resources There are some resources here which include minute templates, policy renewal dates and policy resolves of each officer/ zone The current policy list can be found here The Democracy timeline for Term 1 can be found here This powerpoint will be emailed to members and uploaded on the “Exec resources” page

Any Questions?