Brighton SU Wellbeing's Blog: March 2012

Hi peeps, a quick warning, I'm about to get my geek on!

Over the past couple of years I have become quite irritated around policy in the Union. The fact that Brighton students and the Union has been creating policy laying down what as a student body we believe and things that we think need to be changed, and yet sometimes this isn't always clear in the actions of the Union.

Therefore I decided it was about time to look at the way in which policy was created, where it can be created, what it looks like and what is done to ensure it happens!

This was achieved by passing 2 separate policies at Union council in the last 2 months! Now don't get me wrong I really do understand that it seems very silly to be talking about policy policies! However needs must and as much as I can I have tried to construct and will be implementing the new policies under the system proposed.

At this stage I think it's best that I share the two policies that make up the new system:

Let's Understand What We Believe

How We Create Policy

Now that the policies have been laid out here is a timeline that outlines how a policy is created, what it looks like and how it is implemented.

So the new system starts with an idea, this idea could be about anything. But what ever it is will fit into one of 3 categories; a belief, a change or a discussion. These are the titles for the new types of papers that can be submitted to Union Council, 2 types of policy and a discussions paper. All these types however have 2 things in common, firstly that the idea is the key point, and secondly they will all be written in plain English, so that as many people can understand them as possible, as for far too long the SU has rapped itself in an attempt at legal language that does more harm than good and doesn't engage with students the way the Union should be.

A belief policy sets out what the Union and therefore the student body believes. This should set out an issue, explain why it is important and explain what should be done about it. This usually consists of something that either is an overriding idea about what the Union should be doing that will either always strive towards or be taken into consideration about the way in which the union works. Belief policies should also be used where the Union does not have the control to change something, for example, where the University should change something, the Union should believe that the change is important. From here the section entitled what should be done, outlines how to go about trying to make that belief a reality.

A change policy sets out in the same format, an issue that needs to be changed is described, why it is important is outlined and the change that should be made is outlined under what should be done about it. Change policies relate to areas where the Union can implement immediate change.

Discussion papers just talk about the issue at hand and pose questions about the best way to handle that issue.

There will in time (in the next couple of weeks) be templates for each of these types of paper that can be filled in.

Now we know what policy looks like and what types there are. But I hear you say what about how long it lasts! And what currently exists!

Well this is covered by the 'Lets Understand What We Believe' policy. Firstly as I mentioned at the start we have had policy for many years without a policy lapse, and also without a list of current policy. Therefore under the new system policy will only ever last for 3 years, and after this time the policy must be reviewed and decided by Union council if it is still relevant to the students at that time.

In researching for a new system and an introduction of a policy lapse it was important to know what had come before, this still is of importance so the system has built into it a policy register that outlines the policy of the Union. However the issue is that having trawled through the records many of the policies that were created in the past have not been adequately stored and therefore there is no record of what these policies are. Therefore under the new policy everything older than 3 years old has been wiped, and this leaves the Union in a fantastic position to write all the policy that matters to the student body of today, and not be hung up on what might have come before!

The next question is who can make policy, and I fundamentally believe that any student should be able to have an idea that would improve the Union, University or Community and and therefore be able to put it into policy.

So using this as a baseline, the mechanisms for creating policy also need to be changed and opened up to ensure that as many people as possible can create policy and they can be debated upon and passed by the greatest amount of representation possible.

Therefore the first stage was to remove the outdated method of policy making that exists in the Union, the AGM. The AGM requires students of all types to turns up to a specific room at a specific time to discuss things that are important, however this system has not been working for years, without having to strong-arm people into the room. For example, how can it be fair to the mature student with children to turn up to a meeting to discuss what is Important to them when they have to be at home taking care of what matters to them the most!

There is a legal requirement for the Union to hold an AGM but this does not require the Union to pass policy here, so in the future the AGM will take much more of a celebratory feeling where we can look back at the successes from the last year.

However, it is important that any student can submit an idea for discussion, and this discussion should be wide reaching and encompass as many students as they want to discuss this item. Therefore the ideas would come to Union Council, which has always been an open meeting. The meetings should be heavily publicised to the student body so any can turn up and be part of the discussions. To submit a policy, all a student would need is to have it supported by 3 other students. The votes on each of these policies should be taken by those elected to hold office within the union, and therefore have a mandate from the student body to vote on behalf of all students.

This should empower Union Council to make the decisions based upon the arguments raised within the debate on each topic. There are then many different options for Council, the first is to passé the policy as it is submitted, second is to make small amendments and pass the policy, it could be that Council ask for the policy to go to a Zone Committee for further discussion and for it to be brought back to Council for decision, Council could also decide to dismiss the policy completely. The final option for council is to use the other form of making policy, referendum.

Referendum should be a fantastic way of passing policy that should engage as many students as possible to the policy making process, and ensure much better numbers of participation. The new policy system however ensures that the referendum system is also fit for purpose, it moves referendums to the same time period of the voting in the elections, either the bye elections or the general elections. There is also a clause that allows for time sensitive issues to be out of the cycle.

So let's recap, we now have a new system that allows any student to make policy and either have it voted on by the democratically elected officers, or the entire student body. We have a system that will produce a list of all the policy of the Union each year, and have a system that ensures policy is reviewed regularly. Therefore we know what this policy looks like and the remit each type has. The final part of the jigsaw of policy making is around how we turn these words into action.

This is where the new structure that was put in place 2 years ago needs to come into play. The creation of the executive committee 2 years ago, at the time seemed to have no direction. It's remit is to implement policy of the union and is made up from the 5 sabbatical officers and 6 part time officers. However to implement policy it is important to understand the resource implications and therefore should have staff support to determine this. It is then the executives job to prioritise the different policies to see them enacted over time.

So the first stage was to create a small working group who would be able to put figures, in times of monetary resource and staff time to achieving objectives laid out within the policies. This working group consists of the president, the chief executive and the student experience manager. This group will come up with different options for how theology is implemented, asking for support where needed.

This will then go on to an executive committee that decides upon the priorities, based upon the outcomes possible and the resources required to achieve this. From here the recommendations selected are implemented and a report should go from the executive back to council to be held to account for the decisions made.

So there we have it, Brighton SUs new policy system. Much of it is not ground breaking, and in fact not new! But by outlining it in this fashion and having the ability to start again, with new structures and processes in place it will really allow the policy of the Union to come alive and mean something to all students

As a a final note I wanted to apologise once again for getting my massive geek on, but hey it's my blog so I'll geek if I want to!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Brighton SU Wellbeing's Blog

Wednesday, 28 March 2012

Brighton SU's new policy system!!

Monday, 5 March 2012

Green Week starts today – an opportunity to learn, think and act