This week I’ve been pondering as to how to make our Student Parliament even better. Last year was the 1st year of Parliament, and it went pretty well, we made some big changes to the Union, such as deciding upon campaigns tosupport, and even discussing the all important UPSU Sport Club kit colours….touchy subject for some!
This year, Parliament will be a grand old age of 2, and we need more students to attend…after all the whole reason we have Student Parliament is to improve democracy and make sure the Union is run how YOU want it to be run. Ah Democracy…it’s brilliant, what would we do without it? I dread to think…
So let’s get this straight:
- Student Parliament can be attended by any member of UPSU (and as a UoP student , you are automatically a member of UPSU).
- Any student can submit a motion for discussion. Sounds scary…to help you write your motion, email Tracy Priestman at tracy.priestman@su.plymouth.ac.uk (actually one of the nicest people in the world, and a LEGEND!) and she can sit down and write it with you! Excellent.
- Course reps and Faculty reps should attend Parliament so that we can help make changes. UPSU will help you with any course/faculty related problem, so come and share what’s going on with your courses.
- There are lots of positions on Parliament which you can stand for and be voted on in the UPSU elections. Most of the Parliament positions are filled, but there are still a few vacant ones which will be voted for in the October By-elections (by-elections are called so to fill any vacant positions on any Parlaiment, although in the USA they call them Special Elections!! (according to Wikipedia…note: NEVER reference Wikipedia in your essays!))
- Members of Student Parliament are part-time officers of the Union. Sounds pretty good huh?!
- We need lots of people to attend to hear everyone’s opinions on matters, after all, we are a democratic union.
- Any student can be a member of a sub-committee on Parliament. Sub-committees are chaired and organised by elected Campaign Chair positions and have meeting to discuss issues affecting their campaigns and formulate motions for Parliament to vote on.
- To see when/where the next Parliament meeting is taking place, look at the spanking new Student Parliament notice board (outside of the Hive, main entrance to UPSU, Plymouth) or find dates on www.upsu.com. However it is worth noting that, Parliament is normally held on the 1st Tuesday of the month.
Hopefully I’ll be able to get the dates for Parliament put on the Student Portal, but I need to talk to the whizz kids about that. I’m also looking in to getting fairy lights around the Parliament notice board…although there may be some Health and Safety issues!
We always go out for a few beverages after we’ve had a good ol’ Parliamentary sitting, so Parliament is a great way to meet new friends too. I would like to get a few more socials going this year too.
So come on down to Parliament, it’s interesting, fun, life-changing (seriously, it can be), and it helps everyone understand what is going on within our Union and most importantly, it can make changes to UPSU, the University and the local community.
Phew, Parliament is fantastic!
Looking forward to seeing you there. I’ll keep you posted on my blog with dates/venues for the 1st Parliament of the new year (probably October/November, after the by-elections).
For more info drop me an email deputypresident@upsu.com, and I can set you up on a date with Tracy to write motions etc!
Thanks for reading (I got a bit carried away with this blog!) and I’ll keep you posted.
July 14, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Hey Leash,
What a wonderful Blog!
I agree – parliament is indeed Lifechanging!
Everyone should go!
July 18, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Hello Aleshia Sampson.
I agree with the last sentence of your blog about parliament especially the part in bracket. Make parliament more important and take decisions that directly affect the students in the parliament. Then students will realise that if they don’t care about parliament and don’t attend, it is their own fault. Also, don’t make the training of parliament a big joke like last year based around team building. We don’t need a team on parliament. We need individuals who are ready to defend passionately the group of students that they are representing. Also remember that as a decision body, parliament is above UEC but below a referendum. Parliament CAN and WILL work if it is developed properly. Right now, there are faculty reps missing and they have been missing the whole of last year. So, where is representation for students from faculties?
Anyway, I know that most probably you know all of these and this is why we have a deputy president: to “fix it” for all student. So, good luck. Have a very good year and whatever you do in UPSU remember that there will be high and lows and if the highs are bigger than the lows at the end of April 2009, then you will know that you had a very very very good and productive year.
Ohhhhhhhh, one last thing: whatever you do as deputy president, remember this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHPOzQzk9Qo&feature=related
Bye
July 18, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Hi Norbert,
Thank you for your comment! Don’t worry, we will have election of Faculty Reps this year in Parliament so we can have Faculty representation. Also there are certainly some changes for parliamentary training. When I was on training last year, I didn’t feel that it prepard me well enough, so this time it will be more specific and relevant, but of course, still fun! So yes, there are definately some changes to come…
And thanks for the advice : )