AberSU held its first All Student Vote ending this week on whether or not it should be Union policy to call for the University to allow students to opt-out of receiving a Bible or other religious texts that have been placed in their halls room by an outside body such as the Gideons.
AberSU held its first All Student Vote ending this week on whether or not it should be Union policy to call for the University to allow students to opt-out of receiving a Bible or other religious texts that have been placed in their halls room by an outside body such as the Gideons.
We received 475 total votes, almost double the minimum requirement as set out in our new democratic structure. We designed this structure over the summer hoping it would increase engagement and allow a higher proportion of students to participate in deciding the policies of our member-led organisation. 475 students voting is a higher number than any attendance at a democratic meeting and so we are delighted that we have managed to open up democratically to this extent.
AberSU is now mandated to lobby the University to do the following:
1. To discuss with the University changing the current system so that an option is given in the accommodation application process to allow students to opt out of spiritual texts. All of these changes should be in place for the next academic year beginning September 2015 if possible.
2. To conduct a wide-ranging survey with the co-operation of the University on this issue.
We have met with the proposers of the original motion (available here: http://www.abersu.co.uk/changeaber/documents/) and will now set about lobbying. We will keep the student body updated with our progress through social media, blogs and reports to Union Council.
Any feedback on the way the All Student Vote was run is welcome and you can direct comments to Andrew Morwood at anm56@aber.ac.uk.