Democracy

Your Say - Your Union - Your Way

In this Section

Aston Students' Union is a democratic organisation that is run by its members.

That means that you have a masssive say in how the Students' Union works. Aston Students' Union's Officers are Aston students, elected by other Aston students, and they lead the direction of the Union. But it's important that all students are able to contribute to the Union's success.

To ensure that every Aston student has the opportunity to influence the Union, Union Council meetings are held throughout the year, where any member can attend to raise ideas, debate policy and vote on what they want their leaders and Union to do. The Union Council is the main decision making body in the Students' Union and it has the power to make decisions about policy and oversee the work of the student officers.

Up to 200 Aston students may attend each Student Council meeting, which usually take place in the evening at Aston Students' Union.
Please find our upcoming Union Council meetings below

We're sorry, there are no current events yet.

Submit a motion to Union Council

Any Aston student can submit a motion to Union Council. The documents below explain more about how you can submit a motion, and what it could look like.

Council Motion - Tips & Examples

An outline of how to submit a motion to Union Council, and what it could look like.

Blank Council Motion Template

A blank template for you to use to submit a motion.

Union Council Minutes & Agendas

Minutes are taken at each Union Council so that current and future students have a record of what was discussed and decided at each meeting. These minutes are always provisional until they are approved at the next council meeting. Below you will be able to access the approved minutes from our Union Council meetings.

06 / 05 / 2025

18 / 02 / 2025

18 / 11 / 2024

AGM/AMM Minutes & Agendas

Minutes are taken at each AGM/AMM so that current and future students have a record of what was discussed and decided at each meeting. These minutes are always provisional until they are approved at the next council meeting. Below you will be able to access the approved minutes from the last AGM/AMM meetings.

There are no minutes to display.

If you have any questions about these documents, or would like to view older council minutes, then please contact the Student Voice team by emailing voice@union.aston.ac.uk.

Policy Manual

Welcome to your Unions Policy area

This area contains any motions that were passed into policy through your Students' Union Democratic process. This area does not contain any company policies of Aston Students' Union which can be found through the 'Your SU' section.

Please Note: that any motions passed that resolve to change any of the Unions other governing documents, such as the Bye-laws, will not appear in this area but rather the relevant governing documents area of the website.

Using this Area

Below you will find a list of all active democratic policies. When you click on a policy is will drop down to provide you with the following informaiton; Motion Pass Date, Lapse Date, Proposer(s) and the content of the motion itself. There will also be a link to a downloadable PDF version for each motion.

If you have any questions about any policy contained in this area then please contact the Student Voice team by emailing union.voice@aston.ac.uk.

Previously Active Policies

Aston Graduate Email Addresses 7.12.21

Policy Information

Motion Proposer(s): Muzafar Iqbal 170092128

Edited by: Ryan Narewal

Union Council Notes

Currently students lose access to their Aston email address soon after graduating.
Other universities (including the University Of Birmingham) offer graduate email addresses.
A format similar to firstname.secondname@alumni.aston.ac.uk would allow students to stay in touch after graduation.

Union Council Believes

The Aston Students’ Union is there to benefit Aston students and this motion would benefit Aston students and graduates.
That Aston graduate email addresses would be beneficial to students and would help graduates to stay in touch.

Union Council Resolves

To mandate the sabbatical officers to lobby the university to introduce this change.
To mandate the sabbatical officers to advertise this to students if it is introduced.

Printable Version of this Policy

COVID19 Club/Society Membership Refunds 2020/21 UC2021.03.1b

Policy Information

Motion Proposer(s): Balraj Purewal – Vice President of Student Activities

Edited by: Ryan Narewal

Union Council Notes

COVID19, local tiers, national lockdown and changing measures has impacted service delivery for clubs and societies.
Due to these unforeseen changes, the membership fee that was paid is not necessarily reflective of the activity level able to be provided.
The Athletic Union (AU) Membership is £15 and must be purchased by all club members. The £15 membership is a small contribution towards the following costs: insurance, transport to and from training and BUCS matches, kit laundry, affiliation fees to National Governing Bodies and first aid training.
Not all costs that the AU Membership contributes towards have been incurred.
The minimum number of Members for clubs is 20 and for societies it is 10.
A club/society needs a minimum of 3 Committee Members to exist as an affiliated club/society. Your respective committee membership role appears as an activity on your HEAR Report. If a committee member quits or has a refund part-way through the year, the role will no longer be eligible to appear on your HEAR report.

Union Council Believes

Mental Health and Wellbeing is of paramount importance. Therefore, the minimum numbers needed for clubs and societies should be paused to help facilitate student engagement at any level.
There are resource and bank fee implications for the processing of refunds. Therefore, a minimum threshold for refund payments in the amount of £2.00 is to be applied.
A refund of £10 of the AU Membership should be applied to all students who purchased a club membership.
If you do not have the 3 paid committee members, then your club/society will be frozen for this academic year. The club/society can then resume as usual in the summer pending the election of at least 3 committee members for the next academic year 2021-22.
Club and Society committees should take into consideration the amount of money in their account and calculate refunds as a pro rata amount unless this amount falls below the basement refund amount of £2.01 in line with point 2.
In respect of the club and society direct membership fees and in line with point 5, we suggest the following criteria for establishing a Refund Policy for your club/society.
1. If lockdown and national governing body measures has limited provision for your club/society, whereby no activity could be scheduled we advise that a full refund be given.
2. If some activity has been able to take place, (for example virtual socials) but no face-to-face physical activity has been able to take place, then we advise a partial refund, considering the costs incurred for the activities that have been delivered. This will be at the club/society’s discretion subject to confirmation from the Students’ Union.
3. If the club/society has amended their membership fee, and delivered activities we recommend that no refund be applicable.

Union Council Resolves

To Mandate the VPSA to work with the Student Activities and Voice team to oversee the delivery of the Covid19 Refund policy.

Printable Version of this Policy

Decolonising the curriculum to be in line with the SU’s core values. UC2021.01.1a

Policy Information

Motion Proposer(s): Jawad Ahmad

Edited by: Ryan Narewal

Union Council Notes

Due to the current climate and racial prejudice in society. Students across the nation are calling for their respective university course reading lists to be more diverse by including more black and ethnic minority writers.
There is a lack of diversity in the curricula delivered by Aston University. This will stifle academic freedom, presenting to Aston students a western history and does not allow them to gain better knowledge from the many other intellectual giants of other cultures.
Curricula that derive from Eurocentric material will narrow the student’s worldview to be Europe focused will not enable Aston students to broaden their view of the world.
Aston University has a very diverse campus with most students coming from BAME backgrounds. However, this is not represented in the delivery of subjects and modules.
BAME staff are also poorly represented in both senior academic and university leadership roles: of 19,000 employed as professors in the UK, only 400 are BAME women.
Recent data shows, 80.9% of White students received a first/2:1 compared with 67.7% BAME students – this will represent a BAME attainment gap of 13.2% nationally. At Aston the attainment gap is 3-5% with the Bangladeshi students showing the largest gap of 5% compared to white students in 2018 – 2019.

Union Council Believes

Aston University should be an inclusive teaching and learning environment. It is worth noting that inclusivity and diversity are a factor in decolonisation, but not the only factors.
By decolonising the curriculum it will enable us to call for deeper thinking about the content of our courses and how we teach them.
Through decolonisation, Aston University will become more open and more racially and culturally aware which will help to make the university safer for all.
Academic schools and disciplines must be more inclusive and represent the student.
The burden of tackling systematic changes should not solely fall on the responsibilities of the minority but by all.
The University staff should be representative of the student.

Union Council Resolves

To ensure that the Students’ union updates the Byelaws so that the union will continue its work with the university to decolonise Aston.
To lobby that the university must improve diversity among academic staff and representation of the minority.
To lobby for the colleges to ensure that their curricula is a reflection of all.

Printable Version of this Policy

Disabled Students at Aston University UC2021.02.1b

Policy Information

Motion Proposer(s): Annas Mazhar

Edited by: Ryan Narewal

Preamble

The union supports disabled students to achieve full accessibility on the Aston University campus and in the wider community.

Union Council Notes

The union acknowledges that successive Disabled Students Officers (DSOs) have worked extensively to raise awareness of ableism present in the University, and have, lobbied the University to improve accessibility.
The University buildings remain architecturally inaccessible in many areas to disabled people. For example, much of the Main Building is still without automatic doors.
The Union recognises that disability covers a wide range of conditions and that the existence of this diversity within the disability community means that there are a wide range of issues to be covered.
The Union recognises that the Disabled Students’ Officer has the responsibility to represent all disabled students within the Aston Community.
The Union recognises that there is a diverse range of disability experiences, from physical, mental, intellectual, visual and more. The creation of a Disability Committee would help the Union better understand the needs of, and represent/advocate on behalf of, all disabled students.

Union Council Believes

That at the Union level,to advocate for people with varied and different disabilities effectively, disabled student representation must be cross-disability and self-advocating in nature.

The Union recognises that this means the participation of people with physical, mental, and sensory disabilities who want their voices heard.
That the University has a legal obligation to provide parity of experience for disabled students.
That the University must do more to achieve full parity of experience for able and disabled people.

Union Council Resolves

To create a Disabilities Committee.
1. The Disabilities Committee shall be appointed via self-nomination and ratification by Students’ Union Council so different disability experiences can raise awareness of issues from and not limited to a physical, psychological, or sensory disability perspective.
2. The Disabilities Committee shall be chaired by the Disabled Students’ Officer.
3. The Disabled Students’ officer shall be accountable to Students’ Union Council for the work and conduct of the Disabilities Committee.
4. The Disabled Students’ Officer can choose to delegate chairing responsibility to another member of the committee.
5. The Disabilities Committee shall work to promote the rights of disabled students, reasonable adjustments, and the correct ways of thinking about disability to educate and support everyone through Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion training.
6. Together with the Disabled Students’ Officer the Disabilities Committee shall be responsible for:
  1. Internal communication with the wider Students’ Union on Union disability-related issues.
  2. Liaison with the University on disability related issues.
  3. Providing support to Students’ Union members regarding disability issues.
Any full member of the Union who self identifies as disabled shall be able to nominate themselves as a member of the committee. The committee members shall be ratified by Students’ Union Council and subject to accountability via the Disabled Students’ Officer and Students’ Union Council.

Printable Version of this Policy

In solidarity with Disabled Students at Aston UC2021.02.1a

Policy Information

Motion Proposer(s): Paddy Crosby, Belle Linford, Kate Ranson, Daniel Everitt, Lizzie Iles

Sponsored by the following Alumni: Rebecca Boot, Emma Dobson, Lucia Mellado, Lucie Bissierier, Lydia Harper

Edited by: Ryan Narewal

Preamble

The union supports disabled students in their ongoing struggle to achieve full accessibility justice.

The union remains committed to the policy of believing victims and in keeping with this, accepts the testimonies and evidence given today.

Union Council Notes

The union acknowledges that successive Disabled Students Officers (DSOs) have worked extensively to raise awareness of ableism present in the University, and have, over the years, lobbied the University executive body for rectification.
The union notes that, despite explicit requests made repeatedly by successive DSOs, the University buildings remain architecturally hostile to disabled people. For example, despite significant efforts made by last year’s DSO, Emma Dobson, much of the Main Building is still without more than roughly two automatic doors.
The Union recognises that, consequently, not one disabled student possesses the experience necessary to understand the needs of, and therefore represent or advocate on behalf of, all disabled students.

Union Council Believes

That at the Union level, to advocate for people with varied and different disabilities effectively, disabled student representation must be cross-disability and self-advocating in nature. The Union recognises that this means the participation of people with physical, mental, and sensory disabilities who want their voices heard.
That the University has a legal obligation to provide parity of experience for disabled students.
That the University has so far failed to fulfil this obligation.

Union Council Resolves

At this session: To declare that the University is institutionally ableist.
To commission the creation of a Disabilities Committee.
1. The Disabilities Committee shall be the foremost advisor to the Union on issues regarding disability, including but not limited to the rights of disabled students, reasonable adjustments, and the correct ways of thinking about disability.
2. The Disabilities Committee shall be responsible for:
  1. Liaising with the Union and University on all disability-related issues.
  2. Providing support to all members regarding disability-related issues.
3. The Disabilities Committee shall elect committee members at a time to allow elected members to undergo a handover period during the summer term before approval at the next meeting of Union Council.
4. The democratic nature, duties and constitution of this committee will be in keeping with other liberation committees.
That the DSO shall be charged with the responsibility of carrying out this commission; however, they should enlist interested disabled students as co- founders.
That an election shall be held as soon as possible to elect members of this committee including but not limited to a co-chair.
1. The franchise for this election shall be exclusively limited to disabled students. A student will be recognised as disabled in the event of self- identification.
That the current DSO shall have the opportunity to accept the position of appointed co-chair of this committee and shall have bestowed upon them the relevant duties and the power to execute these duties. If the DSO does not wish to accept the position of co-chair, the Committee shall be considered an independent advisory board, and whilst there will be no official obligation to collaborate, the DSO will be highly encouraged to work in partnership with the Committee. The DSO will be encouraged to consult the committee on any issues which a member or members of the committee have experienced or on which a member or members are likely to be more knowledgeable.
The Commission shall be considered finished when the following tasks are completed:
1. The writing of a constitution in keeping with union by-laws
  1. The adoption of said constitution through a vote of disabled students (this will need to be remote and be maximally accessible - e.g., have multiple methods of voting - on the day via message in the video call if it’s a remote meeting, voting before the meeting for those who know their view but cannot physically attend, vote by proxy (for those who wanted to attend but have flaring conditions and thus cannot on the day).
2. The election of a committee
These tasks and the conditions of their execution shall be written out in greater detail in a commission document.

Printable Version of this Policy

Introduction of a Mature Students’ Officer UC2021.02.1c

Policy Information

Motion Proposer(s): Safa-Atiya Ahmed (Vice President Welfare)

Edited by: Ryan Narewal

Union Council Notes

A mature student is used to refer to someone aged 21+ going to university after a hiatus from full-time education. This means anyone who is over 21+ at the beginning of their undergraduate studies or over 25 years of age at the beginning of their postgraduate studies.
Mature students often balance their studies alongside work, childcare, and or other caring responsibilities.
We have a Mature Students’ Common room upstairs in the Students’ Union building, but no specific officer representation to represent the voices and views of mature students.

Union Council Believes

The Mature Students’ Officer shall be a mature student.
The Mature Students’ Officer will be elected in the Students’ Union elections.
The Officer would communicate their work in whatever format they feel appropriate whether that is in person and/or online.

Union Council Resolves

The Officer will represent Aston mature students’ community and be their voice on the issues they face at university.
The Officer will be expected to listen and address all issues and concerns surrounding their academic experience.
The elected Officer shall engage with the University, Union, and other relevant organisations to achieve improvements for mature students on the issues they face as students at university.

Printable Version of this Policy