Student Forum

What is Student Forum?

Student Forum (or just Forum for short) is an open meeting, overseen by two Co-chairs, for students to come together and take part in collective decision-making through debate and discussion. The three most popular Make a Change Tool submissions on the SU website and one matter agreed upon by the Executive Committee are discussed at the Student Forum. 

The three students whose ideas are selected will be invited to speak at the Forum or arrange guest speakers. Having a dialogue with a greater diversity of views and opinions based on factual information and lived experience helps students make informed decisions. 

Student Forum members can vote to approve or deny an idea. If an idea is approved, an Executive Committee (working group consisting of Sabbatical Officers and student volunteers) is responsible for taking it forward and making change happen. If students choose to, they can volunteer with projects which interest them and fit around their other commitments. 

Why do we use a Student Forum approach?

Over 2000 student voices provided insight and feedback to improve our democratic structures and student representation in The SU Democracy Review. It was clear from the responses that student democracy needs to be easily accessible, more inclusive, and truly representative of the diverse student population.

Using this information, the SU began designing a new, engaging, open way of doing student democracy called Student Forum. Student Forum will replace the Student Council, and Assemblies will be used instead of Council meetings. That means decisions will no longer exclusively be made by members of the Student Council, as students attending the Forum have the power to make decisions about issues impacting their student experience. The first People’s Assembly on Penryn campus demonstrated the success of an assembly model, with almost 90 people attending.