WHAT IS COUNCIL?

Council (sometimes referred to as Association Council) is the core policy and decision making body at the York GSA and is made up of a group of elected and appointed officers by GSA members to represent the membership as a whole. You can make change through Council and hold your elected/appointed representatives to account.

Who is part of Council?

Sabbatical Officers

• President 
• Vice-President Academic
• Vice-President Wellbeing and Community

Elected Part-Time Officers (including elected Faculty Reps) – They are voting members of Council and are democratically elected each year by you (elections happen in the Autumn of each academic year)! They hold a vote on Council and make decisions about what the GSA campaigns on, the policy it creates, and holds Sabbatical Officers to account.

What can Council do?

• Mandate elected representatives and Officers of the GSA to express a particular view on a particular issue, or to carry out a particular function.
• Set, amend, and repeal policies or bylaws of the GSA;
• Scrutinise and hold to account the Principal Officers of the GSA and positions elected to Council
• Decide on a motion of censure or no-confidence in any of the Officers, members of Council or Trustees of the GSA;

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

There are many ways you can get involved with Council and be part of making change at your GSA!

• Standing for election
  Each academic year, we elect members to sit on our Council. They hold a vote on Council and make decisions about what the GSA campaigns on, the policy it creates, and holding Sabbatical Officers to account. In addition, our Part-Time Officers can also run their own campaigns for change.
• Attending Council meetings
  Did you know that you don’t just have to be a Council member in order to attend meetings? Feel free to come along to any of our Council meetings and contribute to the discussions (please note that for any confidential matters you may be asked to leave for those items). Your input can be part of influencing what decisions are made at Council!
• Submitting a motion
  You can make change by submitting a motion to Council! Any student may submit a motion, paper or report to Council. This could be by mandating your elected representatives to take a certain stance or carry out certain work, creating policy or holding your elected representatives to account!

SUBMIT A MOTION

How to Submit a Motion

Any student may submit a motion, paper or report to Council. This could be by mandating your elected representatives to take a certain stance or carry out certain work, creating policy or holding your elected representatives to account!

Motion template:

Creating motions is easy! All you need to do is tell us your proposed policy title and write about what your policy is!

You can find the motion template here

The Process:

Once a policy has been proposed it will be reviewed by the Student Voice and Representation Manager. The policy proposer is welcome to meet with the Student Voice and Representation Manager prior to or following submission if they require any advice on their policy submission.

The policy will then be passed to the Chair of Council for inclusion at the next GSA Council meeting.

Papers for each meeting are sent out a week before Council, so any policy proposals received in the week before a Council meeting will appear on the agenda of the subsequent meeting.

The proposer will be invited to present their proposal. It will be debated by the GSA Council, and the secretary (Student Voice and Representation Manager) may be asked factual questions relating to implementation or past practice.

The proposer will be asked to leave the room whilst the policy is voted on.

If the policy is rejected, the proposer may ask for feedback on how to improve the policy, and work with the Student Voice and Representation Manager to revise the policy.

If the Policy is approved, it will become a by-law. Council approved by-laws are reviewed by Council on an annual basis from the meeting of their approval.

OUR DEMOCRATIC POLICIES

Democratic Policies

Through decisions made by students, we have a number of policies here at the GSA that impact how we run. Our policies reflect the values of our membership and ensure that we are democratic and representative of our members.

Here you will find current GSA Policies which have been passed by our Council. Our Council is the core policy and decision making body at the York GSA and is made up of a group of elected and appointed officers by GSA members to represent the membership as a whole.

1. POLICY – For the GSA to support the Industrial Action – SUGGESTED BY – President of the GSA – REVIEW DATE – December 2022
2. POLICY – Supporting Student Sex Workers, Supporting the Decriminalisation of Sex Work Policy – SUGGESTED BY – Vice-President Wellbeing and Community – REVIEW DATE – February 2022

MINUTES, PAPERS AND PREVIOUS MOTIONS