Proposing Union Policy

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Any Union member can propose a motion to Referendum, a General Meeting or Union Council. You do not have to be a member of Council to propose a motion. Once passed by one of these bodies motions become Union Policy and will be carried out by Union Officers.

The Form of Union Policy

For ease of understanding we normally expect a Union policy to take a certain form composed of three parts:

This Union Notes

This section contains factual information which is required or helpful in reading the remainder of the policy. It should generally be possible to substantiate any statements found in this section. For example, "Warwick students do not currently have a Freshers' Week free from academic commitments."

This Union Believes

This section contains statements which the proposers of the policy believe to be true. These statements can be questionable or debatable as they are beliefs and not facts. Items contained in this section generally give the Union's reasons for carrying out a specific action and act as a guide for those running the Union on a day to day basis. For example, "A Freshers' Week would be beneficial to students' wellbeing."

This Union Resolves

This section contains statements of things which should happen as a result of the passing of the policy. Such resolutions can mandate specific individuals or Union bodies to act or, alternatively, resolve that the Union as a whole will do something. For example, "To campaign for the introduction of a Freshers' Week."

To see specific examples of Union Policy you can browse through the Union's current policies here.

Submitting Policy

Motions to a General Meeting or to Union Council must have the support of two full members of the Union, identified as the proposer and seconder of the motion, and be received by 4pm, one week before the meeting at which they are to be discussed.

Motions to Referendum must be received by Monday of week 5 in either Term 1 or Term 2, and require the signatures of 80 full members of the Union in support of their submission.

To submit a motion or for more information contact the Democratic Services Office (DSO) which is upstairs in Union North and normally open during office hours. Additional information may also be obtained from the Finance, Democracy and Strategy Officer, Tom Callow.