Bring back the SU AGM

Extra Information: Unless you run and get elected in one of the SU committees/conferences it is imposssible to attend higher level SU meetings. Therefore "normal" students cannot vote on policy, unless going through a very confusing online system that nobody knows about, or hold officers easily to account. We should bring back the AGM/SUM to give everyone a fair chance to be involved in the democratic procedures of the SU alongside the current student council so there is good representation across the student body.

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James Arrowsmith: 4:50pm on 7 Feb 17 As much as I personally enjoyed the AGM it had some big problems: 1. Attendance was generally low. 2. If the attendance wasn't too low it would be impossible for the chair to control the participants. 3. It would dominated by the most confident, the loudest, and those who knew the rules inside out. 4. It never got through the agenda, whereas the first student council got through the agenda in a reasonable time. 5. It went on for ages. 6. If a heated topic would come up the arguments would turn into personal attacks. 7. If the debate didn't descend into the previous then the vote would be delayed by those who knew how to manipulate the procedures. 8. Elected officers weren't held to account. 9. The meeting would start late to avoid clashing with lectures, however this left students with children or long commutes unrepresentated. 10. It would always be at Frenchay, leaving Glenside, Bower, Gloucester and students at other campuses at a disadvantage. Yes the new system moves away from direct democracy to a more representative means of changing the SU but you CAN attend the council meetings. As member of the audience you can watch, scrutinise the full-time elected officers and put points across at the meeting. I would encourage everyone to do so as it keeps the elected representatives (from conferences) accountable and can involve "normal" students. The SU also spent lots of time and money on a large democracy review which was referred to all three conferences and was chosen by the student council before the implementation of the new system and website.

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