Student Parliament is BBKSU's largest decision-making committee where elected officers and reps come together to discuss and vote on how the Union should direct its efforts.
However, you don't have to be elected to submit a policy for consideration at Parliament; any member of BBKSU can submit items for the Parliament agenda by writing a motion which will then be heard and voted on at the next opportunity.
How to write a motion
A motion is a formal proposal that outlines your subject, how it is relevant to student interests (within the SU, on campus, in the wider world and/or politically), and how BBKSU should respond. From the model you'll see that motions are comprised of:
- A Title (make it snappy)
- A named Proposer (a current member of BBKSU)
- A named Seconder (if you cannot find a second member to support your motion you can still submit it, however, it will not be heard at Parliament unless a member there is willing to second it).
- This Parliament Believes section (this is where you outline the topic of your motion)
- This Parliament Further Believes section (this is optional, however, this is where you may want to outline how the issue is relevant to students at Birkbeck and/or our interests or to introduce the actions you intend to propose).
- This Parliament Resolves section (this is the most "important" section, as it's the actions you propose are the element that Parliament are voting on. If agreed, the resolves will become SU policy to be interpreted by our committees and working groups).
And that's all there is to it. If you have any questions or would like some support writing your motions, contact our Student Voice Team at su-voice@bbk.ac.uk.
If you need a seconder for your motion, please contact a member of the Student Parliament.
*In some rare circumstances a motion will be deemed unsuitable for Parliament - for example, if it breaches current SU Policy - or may be passed by a different decision-making body if appropriate, e.g.: the SU Executive Committee. Motions will be added to the agenda of the next meeting of Parliament, however, motions that are not heard before the meeting's guillotine will be rolled to the following meeting.