Motions & Amendments
Motions
A motion is a way of creating a formal, written position on an issue that affects the student body, which has to be debated and voted on by SRC. By using a fair and consistent process we can build consensus and have a structured debate which allows many people to feed into policy making.
Motions are an important part of building policy for Abertay SA - if the motion is accepted by SRC it becomes policy to be worked on by the Student Leadership Team, if rejected that motion is not taken forward.
The motion must be written in three sections:
This is where you lay out the problem. This section is for facts about the issue
This section lays out what you feel the Associations' position should be on the issue. It can, therefore, contain opinion on the issue rather than facts.
This section sets out the solution to the issue. You should detail exactly what the Association should be doing about the issue.
SRC Notes
SRC Notes is the section where you include indisputable facts regarding a situation or an issue. SRC Believes is where you would include what you believe the principles and stance of the organisation should be regarding this issue. SRC Resolves is where you include what you wish to be done by the officers or the organisation to tackle the issue.
If there are any amendments to the motion, these will be discussed before speaking on the original motion. The proposer of the motion will have two minutes to make their case why they believe SRC should approve the motion, and then any student present will have an opportunity to make their case against the motion. This process is repeated until the Chair feels that no further discussion is required, at which point the vote will be held.
Amendments
If you agree or disagree with part of a motion, but agree with the majority of the motion, you can submit an amendment to either remove some of the numbered parts, or add new numbered parts with your own content relevant to the principles of the motion. A template to make amendments will be circulated with the papers of any meeting of SRC which has had motions submitted to it.
The process for debating and voting for an amendment is similar to the process for motions - the writer will have two minutes to speak on why they believe SRC should vote for their amendment to the motion, and any student present at the meeting will have the opportunity to speak against including the amendment to the motion.
Once the amendment has been passed, it either changes the content of the original motion if SRC voted to accept it, or there is no change to the original motion if SRC votes to reject it. Amendments which contradict the other content of the motion will be rejected by the Chair, please try to make sure that your amendments make sense in the context of the motion.
You have up to one working day before the meeting of SRC to submit any amendments you wish to have discussed at the meeting.
Template for motion
Template for amendment
