AGM Motion Tracker

The President (Education and Welfare), has been working closely with estates to understand options available. Estates are considering various options available and is in the process of investigating these options. 

The Sabbatical Presidents have also been working closely with estates and First Bus to ensure that there is a safe and socially distanced queuing system in place as students begin to return to campus in Semester One, ensuring that this does not result in a decrease in passing space between the bus stop and IGB. 

The President (Education and Welfare) and Vice President (Societies) have held meetings in April with the University’s Estates department to initiate discussions on this initiative.  

The discussions were only preliminary, but nevertheless it was a productive meeting evaluating possible adjustments. Following this, the University’s Estates department are set to produce a paper on the matter which will be circulated to those in attendance at the meeting, and then the President (Education and Welfare) and Vice President (Societies) are to consider the next steps. 
 

The President (Education & Welfare) is taking lead on this motion with assistance from Vice President (Societies) and relevant Union Staff. If you have any questions about the motion or would like some more information on its progress, click here to send an email to the President (Education & Welfare).

The Motion "Bus Stop Accessibility Problem" was passed, with no amendments, at the Annual General Meeting of RGU:Union on Tuesday the 18th of February 2020.

The President (Education and Welfare) and Vice President (Welfare) have met with the University’s Library team to discuss the feasibility of implementing this motion. Whilst these discussions were only preliminary, the University’s Library team have explained that implementation of this motion may be difficult for a multitude of reasons

The University’s Library department has considered data from previous academic sessions which reflect that student utilisation of the Library during the winter-break period has been very limited. The University’s Library department also confirmed that throughout the last winter-break period, the Library was indeed open for some days to support those students who may have had the need to do so, and noted that whilst it did so, the number of students was relatively low. 

In addition, the discussion highlighted the difficulty Library services face in relation to staffing over the winter-break period due to the fact that staff may need to take a certain amount of annual leave throughout this period. 

The President (Education and Welfare) is considering that the implementation of this motions may not be possible but noted that discussions are only at a preliminary stage and that talks are set to continue. In addition, the President (Education and Welfare) wants to take this opportunity to remind the student body that there remains a 24/7 study space initiative; this initiative concerns a smaller study area, in which staffing costs are already covered, and that this initiative could easily service the needs of students during times such as a winter-break period and such could serve as a suitable substitute to this motion. The President (Education and Welfare) is making recommendations that the Union continues working in partnership with the University to ensure the 24/7 study space service is taken forward.
 

The President (Education & Welfare) is taking lead on this motion with assistance from Vice President (Welfare) and relevant Union Staff. If you have any questions about the motion or would like some more information on its progress, click here to send an email to the President (Education & Welfare).

The Motion "Library Opening-Hours during Christmas Break" was passed, with no amendments, at the Annual General Meeting of RGU:Union on Tuesday the 18th of February 2020.

The next step in addressing this motion has been undertaken in conjunction with a review of the Union Regulations. The motion highlighted that there may be a lack of transparency regarding how and why AGM motions to be brought forward at an AGM are selected by the Executive Committee, and noted there may be a lack of guidelines or framework in place to ensure that best practice is followed. The fear being that the Union could disregard motions without due process.

Therefore, the Union regulations are being reviewed to consider the possibility of the inclusion of a a framework for selecting motions, which includes guidelines for selecting motions based on the motion's viability, whether it is reasonable and sensible, and the overall positive impact the achievement of the motion would have on the student community, this is in line with the motion itself

Recommendations have now been submitted to the Sabbatical Executive Committee for review.

The AGM section of the Union website is the first step towards achieving this motion.

This page, the AGM Motion Tracker, details all motions on which the Union and the Executive Committee are currently working. This includes: full motion details proposed at an AGM; the Executive Committee member(s) assigned to lead on the motion; dedicated live-feeds reporting key decisions and important activity around each motion. This page enables students to see exactly how their Union and elected officers are working towards implementing and achieving motions, making it easier to track progress and hold the Union to account.

The second page, AGM Motion Archive, details the outcomes of any motions passed at Union AGMs and will aim to retain outcomes of motions for a minimum of four academic years. Each individual motion will detail whether the Executive Committee deem the motion to be achieved or not achieved, with a summary outlining the outcome and the reasoning behind the Executive Committee’s decision. This page enables students to clearly see the outcomes to motions raised at Union AGMs, how this outcome came to fruition, and the reasons why the Executive Committee deem motions to be achieved or not achieved.

The final page, AGM Motion Summaries, will house the published Union news items relating to AGM motion results so that students can always see whether a motion was passed or not a Union AGM, and whether any amendments were made to any proposed motions.

This is in line with the motion brief which highlighted "the way progress on existing motions is monitored and reported is lacking" and asked for "[regular] reporting on [motion] progress that is accessible to all students" and to “have a system in place to hold the Executive Committee accountable to continuously working on … motions”.

The President (Communication & Democracy) is taking lead on this motion with assistance from relevant Union Staff. If you have any questions about the motion or would like some more information on its progress, click here to send an email to the President (Communication & Democracy).

The Amended Motion "Change the AGM Motion System and to digitise the AGM Motion voting system" was passed, from the original motion "Change the AGM Motion System", at the Annual General Meeting of RGU:Union on Tuesday the 18th of February 2020.

The President (Education and Welfare) and Vice President (Education) have contacted the Head of School (The Law School) to set up a meeting with Student School Officers to initiate discussions on this motion. The meeting will be held in early May and an update on discussions will be provided here following this meeting.  

The President (Education & Welfare) is taking lead on this motion with assistance from Vice President (Education) and relevant Union Staff. If you have any questions about the motion or would like some more information on its progress, click here to send an email to the President (Education & Welfare).

The Motion "Access to Success" was passed, with no amendments, at the Annual General Meeting of RGU:Union on Tuesday the 18th of February 2020.

Throughout the period of lockdown, the Vice President (Welfare) had the opportunity to volunteer for the local community by aiding in the delivery of food parcels to both students and non-students alike and who found themselves in need of assistance due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Vice President (Welfare) as part of this AGM motion has striven to maintain the relationship with this community in order to facilitate a conversation on the establishment of the RGU:Union food bank. Discussions are at an early stage, however the Vice President (Welfare) believes that this is a promising avenue to explore.

The Vice President (Welfare) has also been in communication with C-fine, a charitable organisation, regarding a possible RGU:Union food bank.

The Vice President (Welfare) has handed over the continuation of these discussion to the President (Education and Welfare).

The President (Education and Welfare) and Union Finance Officer have held meetings in April to discuss the implementation of the fruit bowl that was mandated at the AGM. Discussions have led to an estimated cost of £600 per annum to have the fruit bowl available during term time. 

Following this, the Executive Committee shall meet to discuss this potential cost and to evaluate the Union’s options here, and the meeting will be utilised to gather feedback on the implementation of the fruit bowl and hear the opinions and ideas of the Committee on the best approach to generate the necessary revenue needed to support this initiative and the best approach to use this initiative to in turn support the Union. 
 

The President (Education & Welfare) is taking lead on this motion with assistance from Vice President (Welfare) and relevant Union Staff. If you have any questions about the motion or would like some more information on its progress, click here to send an email to the President (Education & Welfare).

The Amended Motion "Eliminate Student Hunger and by extension Anxiety, Stress and Shame and for the RGU:Union fruit bowl to be available all year-round" was passed, from the original motion "Eliminate Student Hunger and by extension Anxiety, Stress and Shame", at the Annual General Meeting of RGU:Union on Tuesday the 18th of February 2020.

The President (Education & Welfare) is taking lead on this motion with assistance from President (Communication & Democracy) and relevant Union Staff. If you have any questions about the motion or would like some more information on its progress, click here to send an email to the President (Education & Welfare).

The Motion "Install Reverse Vending Machines on Campus" was passed, with no amendments, at the Annual General Meeting of RGU:Union on Tuesday the 18th of February 2020.

The motion proposer has circulated a report concerning proposed improvements that should be implemented to better facilitate cycling to and from the RGU campus. The report contains three main phases: Phase 1 concerns construction of a cycling path connecting Deeside way to the RGU campus; Phase 2 looks to improve and build upon current infrastructure to cater for more demand generated by the Phase 1; Phase 3 looks to connect Crathie Student Village to Deeside Way to provide a more pleasurable cycling experience and sustainable alternative commuting method to the campus from the halls.

The report can be viewed here.

The report was circulated to the Union's sabbatical officers and, in line with the motion proposal which called for contact to be made with "the main authorities that control and influence city planning", was also circulated to the following: Sustrans; Cycling Scotland; Nestrans; Grampian Cycle Partnership; Aberdeen Councillor Sandra MacMillian; Aberdeen Cycling Forum; MSP Maureen Watt; Aberdeen Transport; RGU Principal John Harper; RGU Estates; RGU Transport.

The President (Communication & Democracy) is taking lead on this motion with assistance from President (Sport & Physical Activity) and relevant Union Staff. If you have any questions about the motion or would like some more information on its progress, click here to send an email to the President (Communication & Democracy).

The Motion "Take Action on Road Infrastructure" was passed, with no amendments, at the Annual General Meeting of RGU:Union on Tuesday the 18th of February 2020.

The President (Education and Welfare) and Vice President (Welfare) have set up a meeting for early May with the University’s Estates department to initiate discussions on this motion. The meeting will be held on the 4th of May and an update on discussions will be provided here following this meeting.   

The President (Education & Welfare) is taking lead on this motion with assistance from Vice President (Welfare) and relevant Union Staff. If you have any questions about the motion or would like some more information on its progress, click here to send an email to the President (Education & Welfare).

The Amended Motion "Multi-Faith Prayer Room in the Sir Ian Wood Building" was passed, from the original motion "Prayer Room in the Sir Ian Wood Building", at the Annual General Meeting of RGU:Union on Tuesday the 18th of February 2020.

The Union is currently trialling Microsoft Teams throughout the Union structure so as to familiarise both the Union's Executive Committee and staff with the system and tools before introducing the software to Societies.

The President (Communication & Democracy) is taking lead on this motion with assistance from Vice President (Societies) and relevant Union Staff. If you have any questions about the motion or would like some more information on its progress, click here to send an email to the President (Communication & Democracy).

The Motion "Society Productivity Suite Upgrade" was passed, with no amendments, at the Annual General Meeting of RGU:Union on Tuesday the 18th of February 2020.

The President (Communication & Democracy) is taking lead on this motion with assistance from President (Education & Welfare), President (Sport & Physical Activity) and relevant Union Staff. If you have any questions about the motion or would like some more information on its progress, click here to send an email to the President (Communication & Democracy).

The Amended Motion "Bring Back RGU’s Social Spaces and a Bar" was passed, from the original motion "Bring Back RGU’s Social Spaces", at the Annual General Meeting of RGU:Union on Tuesday the 18th of February 2020.