University of Warwick Students' Union

Infobox Students Union
name = Warwick
Students' Union


established = 1965
institution = University of Warwick
president = Stuart 'Tommo' Thomson
other_sabbs = Mohammed Surve (Education Officer and Deputy President)
Andy Glyde (Governance and Finance Officer)
Steph Jones (Welfare Officer)
Mike Pidgeon (Communications Officer)
Terry Marshall (Sports Officer)
Lucy Reynolds (Societies Officer)
location = Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry, England
members = c. 20,000
affiliated = National Union of Students, Aldwych Group, WMANUS, National Postgraduate Committee, British Universities Sports Association
free =
homepage = [http://www.warwicksu.com www.warwicksu.com]

Warwick Students' Union is the students' union for the University of Warwick, in Coventry, England.

History

The Students' Union developed in tandem with the University and has existed since 1965. In its first few decades of life, it was heavily involved with the protests, rent strikes, and occupations which earned the University the nickname of 'Red Warwick.' In 1974 one Warwick student Kevin Gately was killed during the Red Lion Square disorders.

One of its on-campus successes was its campaign for its own building, which finally succeeded in 1975 after lengthy opposition from large parts of the University establishment. Some of its early activism was carried out in partnership with sympathetic elements of the academic staff of the university, with one incident being chronicled in the book "Warwick University Ltd.", edited by the eminent historian E. P. Thompson.

Former Presidents

Governance

The Union's basis of existence is its Constitution, which sets out the Union's mission statement, legal basis, and democratic structures. In addition to this, there are currently 8 Appendices to the Constitution, 5 sets of regulations, and 70 policies; all of which govern specific areas of Union activity.

The Union has three main methods of policy-making:

#Referendums - Conducted by The Elections Group
#General Meetings - open to all full members and have a quorum of 200.
#Union Council

These decision-making bodies form a hierarchy, with referendums at the top and Union Council at the bottom. Any decision made by one of these bodies may be over-ridden by the same body or a higher one. [http://www.warwickboar.co.uk/boar/news/student_outcry_over_last_minute_rejection_of_union_smoking_ban/]

Referenda

Referenda are held twice yearly and are the only method by which the Union's Constitution or affiliation to the NUS may be changed. Motions may be sent to referendum if they are submitted with a petition of 80 signatures of Union members (with amendments possible with a petition of 20 signatures); in addition to this, up to four motions may be referred to referendum by Union General Meetings or Union Council in each referendum period. Referenda are subject to a quorum of 7.5% of full Union members, but shall also be considered to have reached quorum if 5% of full Union members vote for or against. Should the referendum fail to reach quorum, the result is not binding upon the Union, and any constitutional change proposed will not take effect. If a constitutional change is passed, it is then subject to approval by the University Senate and Council.

General Meetings

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is open to all full members of the Union both to speak and vote. It approves the Union's accounts and appoints an auditor. It also takes reports from the Union's Executive Committee, Union Council, services groups, and Elections Group, of which is approves the membership. The Union must have at least one General Meeting in each year. It is sometimes necessary for there to be an Emergency General Meeting (EGM), which can be called by any member who collects a petition of 150 signatures in order to discuss a specific issue of the member's choice; in other respects, however, an EGM behaves in the same way as a UGM. If a General Meeting fails to reach the quorum of 200, it may still discuss the motions submitted, but the decisions will not be binding and the motions will be submitted to the next meeting of Union Council without any s which may have been made at the General Meeting.

Union Council

Union Council is a group of about 120 Councillors and Officers elected from the student population and has the power to amend Appendices to the Constitution. Council normally meets eight times per year in weeks 3, 6, and 9 of terms 1 and 2 and in weeks 3 and 9 of term 3. The meeting is run by the Chair of Council and the Deputy Chair of Council who do not normally vote (although the Chair will vote to break a tie). The quorum for Council is 50% of its current members. Council also conducts co-options for vacancies for various Union positions throughout the year (although not Sabbatical Officers).

Executive Committee

The financial well-being of the Union is primarily the responsibility of the Executive Committee, which is a standing committee with 16 members. It consists of the seven Sabbatical Officers, the chairs of the Union's seven standing committees, and two non-portfolio Executive Officers. Executive members are the trustees of the Union Charity and are responsible for holding the Sabbatical Officers, as the Board of Directors of the Union companies, to account. In addition to this, the Executive has sole responsibility for finances and the sole power to pass Union regulations governing subjects such as finance, elections, sports clubs, and societies, as well as disciplinary regulations. The Executive Committee can also take the powers of Council in three exceptional situations: in an emergency when Council cannot meet, when the last two meetings of Council were inquorate for all of their length, or when Council or a General Meeting mandates the Executive to carry out a specific action.

On a day to day basis the Union is run by seven Sabbatical Officers elected by cross campus ballot.

Current Sabbatical Union Officers

*President: Stuart 'Tommo' Thomson
*Education Officer and Deputy President: Mohammed Surve
*Governance and Finance Officer: Andy Glyde
*Welfare Officer: Steph Jones
*Communications Officer: Mike Pidgeon
*Sports Officer: Terry Marshall
*Societies Officer: Lucy Reynolds

Current Part-time Union Officers

*Campaigns Forum Coordinator: Michael Jones
*Academic Representation Forum Coordinator: Vacant
*International Forum Coordinator: Tushar Gambhir
*Democracy Committee Chair: Andy Perkins
*Student Sports Committee Chair: Jon Dwyer
*Societies Committee Chair: Andy White
*Welfare Committee Chair: Puneet Dhaliwal
*Chair of Union Council: Asen Geshakov
*Deputy Chair of Council: Samantha Raoult
*Undergraduate Arts Faculty Representative: Jamiesha Majevadia
*Undergraduate Social Studies Representative: TBC
*Medical Faculty Representative: Vacant
*Second Council Representative: Andy Glyde
*Second Senate Representative: Mohammed Surve
*Third Member of Senate: Dawn Foster

Affiliations

The Union is a constituent member of:

* Aldwych Group
* Association for Managers in Students' Unions (AMSU)
* British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS)
* National Postgraduate Committee (NPC)
* National Union of Students (NUS)
* West Midlands Area National Union of Students (WMANUS)
* Skill: National Bureau for Students With Disabilities

The Union is also a shareholder in the NUS Services Ltd (NUSSL).

Students' Union building

The Union - apparently the largest in Europe - consists of Union South (largely food, drink and entertainment) and Union North (mostly administration, offices and meeting rooms).

The Students' Union got its first building, Union South, in 1975, after a long struggle with the University under Vice-Chancellor Jack Butterworth, who said to Will Fitzgerald (President of the Union in 1970-1): "the Students' Union will never have its own building." Union North was added in the 1990s and is linked to Union South by the 'link corridor.'

Union South Rebuild

The Union South building is currently undergoing a complete rebuild which is due to be completed in time for Freshers' 2009 but will almost certainly be atleast a year late. During this time, the building, rebranded as simply the SU, remains open for business and still offers a nightclub venue and various food and drink outlets. This has been made possible by the phasing of the building works, which have allowed for facilities to be made available to members throughout the rebuild. The SU also has access to a large temorary structure on Tocil field, referred to by the SU as the TES, for larger entertainment offerings such as Top Banana, Score and Skool Dayz. This structure boasts a sweatfest and a poxy sound system. To satify the needs of the most hardcore party goers the union has extended the licence til the twilight hours of midnight. During the second phase of the rebuild, the newly completed venue in the SU will open for events.

The University's budgets passed during the 2005-06 academic year included a provision of around £6 million over the next two years to completely rebuild Union South. Such a rebuild should allow a big improvement in the Union's ability to utilise the venue for the benefit of its members. It is hoped that the rebuild will both allow for increased capacity and improved flexibility - something that should in turn allow an improved service outside of undergraduate term times. The rebuild commenced Spring 2008 and is expected to continue for 20 months.

Societies

The Union runs more Clubs and Societies than any other in the vicinity; currently there are [http://www.sunion.warwick.ac.uk/portal/societies/soclist/ 240 societies] and [http://www.warwicksport.co.uk/clubs 74 sports clubs] including a student newspaper ( [http://www.warwickboar.co.uk The Boar] ) , radio station ( [http://radio.warwick.ac.uk RaW] ), television station ( [http://www.warwicktv.co.uk WTV] ), and Student Record Label ( [http://www.werlonline.co.uk WERL] ).

Union Companies

The Union has four subsidiary companies:

* Student Union Services Warwick Limited
* Membership Solutions Limited
* Warwick Students Union Services Limited, (mostly dormant and retained due to contracts held in its name)
* Student Union Warwick Events Limited

Trivia

The Tory MP David Davis stood for the position of President during his attendance at Warwick, but failed to win. He also founded RaW, the student radio station.

External links

* [http://www.warwicksu.com/ Official Website]