Date embedded: March 2022
Proposed by: Talhah Atcha (President)
Seconded by: Megan Annetts (VP Barts and The London); Shamima Akter (VP Welfare)
Ongoing
What do you want?
To set indicative dates for Student Council every year and the master calendar for the Union can then be set for March/April of the previous academic year with a calendar invite sent to all staff for all 6 meetings. In tandem at least 2 out of 5 of the meetings should be held in Whitechapel. Ideally dates would be:
- Student Council #1 - Mid-Late October (Last 3 weeks)
- Annual Members Meeting – November (Anytime)
- Student Council #2 – Early December (First 2 weeks)
- Student Council #3 – Late January (Last week/First week of February)
- Student Council #4 – Mid-March (Middle 2 weeks)
The dates set would also ideally avoid as many exams for Barts students as possible as they don’t have a fixed period for their exams. Allowing the dates to be over a period allows some room for flexibility. Staff should then set dates for the sub-committees by no later than the 1st of September. If the Student Council or AMM date needs to be changed then this needs to be agreed by the Chair of Student Council and the President first.
Why do you want it?
Sending calendar invites to all staff for all 6 will prevent the staff from booking other meetings and sub-committees at those times. Having at least a third of the meetings in Whitechapel will allow Barts students to attend the meetings as well.
Dates:
- Mid-Late October allows for bye-elections to happen and for students and Councillors time to settle in
- AMM in November allows it to be early enough for motions submitted by students to be completed throughout the rest of the year whilst giving enough time for students to figure out what issues they’re having that they’re finding difficult to solve
- 2 Student Councils per term allows for an even spread
- Late January is early enough in the elections cycle but late enough to avoid January exams
- Mid-March allows for post-elections but pre-merger and awards. Note it would need to avoid reading week too though.
What impact will this have?
Student Council dates will stop having to constantly being moved around at the last minute to accommodate for other meetings (which shouldn’t be taking precedence anyway). It will also increase the accessibility of Student Council if it is held on different campuses.