All motions pass in Warwick SU’s Term 1 All Student Vote

All seven motions in Term 1’s All Student Vote (ASV) have passed, according to results announced by the Students’ Union (SU) at the University of Warwick.

Results released on Friday 15 November indicate that a total of 6,681 votes were cast by 1,261 individual voters, following a debate on the motions in the SU Atrium.

The first motion on ensuring post study work visas introduced by the government earlier this year “are available equally to new and existing students” passed with a majority of 770 votes against 71.

“International students should not be put at a disadvantaged stage when seeking employment post-study purely on the basis that they are international,” the motion document read.

The second motion, on giving “students returning from a compulsory year abroad their on-campus accommodation back”, saw 822 votes in favour, 75 against, and 115 abstentions.

It encourages the SU to lobby for the University to guarantee on-campus accommodation for students returning from a compulsory year abroad by 29 November, until 2023.

Warwick SU is to communicate this to the University by 29 November. A reply from the latter – who is also expected to publish signed guarantees of this provision online – is requested by 10 January 2020.

Increasing availably study space, which consisted the third motion, had the most votes at 1,021. The motion passed with a majority of 871.

The SU cites this issue as a serious concern for undergraduates, 47% of which saying that “lack of study space” was their main concern in 2017. The motion seeks to increase available spaces by Term 3 of this year.

A total of 6,681 votes were cast by 1,261 individual voters, following a debate on the motions in the SU Atrium

Ecosia will also be made the “default search engine on all campus computers”, as 605 to 251 votes were submitted for this motion.

The search engine “uses over 80% of their benefits toward reforestation” and has planted “more than 70 million trees”.

The motion also mandates “the Democracy and Development Officer and Environment and Ethics Officer to ensure that the SU is actively partaking in initiatives aimed at resolving the climate crisis, and lobby the University to follow suit.”

The fifth motion, “Warwick SU for Climate Justice”, had a majority vote of 639 and was carried, calling for the University to “bring its direct and indirect emissions to zero by at least 2030” and “remove the BP archive”.

The SU will also take up the proposal made by the University and College Union (UCU) to create a “shared governance platform with UCU, Unite, Unison, the SU, and other representative bodies on campus”.

The motion also compels President Ben Newsham and Democracy and Development Officer (DDO) Milly Last to “promote and circulate” student support for the upcoming Climate Strike on 29 November.

With 660 votes in favour and 116 against the motion “Warwick SU for Fair Pay and Pensions”, the SU will support the upcoming UCU strikes and “any future industrial action UCU may take in defence of pay, pensions or conditions”.

The last motion on the SU’s affiliations for 2019, which passed with 503 votes and 278 abstentions, reaffirmed the SU’s connections with the following organisations:

• NUS (National Union of Students)
• BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport)
• AdviceUK
• CPAG (Child Poverty Action Group)
• NCVO (National Council of Voluntary Organisations)
• UKCISA (UK Council for International Student Affairs)
• Coventry and Warwick Chamber of Commerce