Union Constitution
The way the Students' Union is established and operates in law, is set out in its Constitution, It was approved by the Unions' Trustee Board, the Student body (through an All Student Meeting), the University, and the Charity Commission.
You can download the up to date Union Constitution here.
Bye Laws
The Bye Laws are the ‘instruction manual’ for how the Students’ Union should work, they are also the rules that govern how the Union does business. The Bye Laws cover rules and regulations for everything from who can be a member of the SU to how Clubs, Societies and Student Networks are run to Elections.
Each Bye Law includes a set of 'Key Terms' to help you understand them, however, if you any need any support interpreting or understanding the text each Bye Law will also tell you who to contact at the top. You can find the Officers' contact details here and to contact staff please email studentsunion@worc.ac.uk.
In line with our commitment to work in a sustainable way, each Bye Law is aligned to one or more of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. More information can be found here and on our Sustainability pages.
| Bye Law Title |
What is it about? |
| Bye Law 1 Membership |
This Bye Law outlines the different types of membership of the Students’ Union, the benefits associated with membership, and the process of opting out of membership.
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| Bye Law 2 Elected Officers and the Trustee Board |
This Bye Law outlines regulations for the full-time elected Officer Trustees of the Union and its Trustee Board, in addition to those that can be found in the Constitution of Worcester Students’ Union in Clauses 37-70 and 75-93.
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| Bye Law 3 Elections and Referenda |
This Bye Law applies to all elections by ballot for all campus elections including Officer Trustees and NUS Conference Delegates. The Elections for Network and Student Groups committees are covered in their respective Bye Laws although these elections are subject to the principles laid out in this Bye Law. This Bye Laws also sets out the rules for Referenda
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| Bye Law 4 Governance, Decision Making and Academic Representation |
This Bye Law outlines the rules and regulations for the Unions representative governance structures including Executive Committee, Student Council, general meetings and making changes through the online Ideas Forum. It also outlines to Union’s provision for Academic Representation. Detailed Guidance on the Academic Representation Scheme can be found in the Joint Union-University Code of Practice.
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| Bye Law 5 Student Networks |
This Bye Law outlines regulations for student-led Networks. Networks are student groups that have a representative function within the Union’s governance structure. Each Network represents a particular group of students (e.g. LGBTQ+) or an issue (e.g. Sustainability) within the Union.
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Bye Law 6: Societies, Sports Clubs and Student-Led Services
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This Bye Law outlines the rules and regulations of all societies, sports clubs and student-led services (e.g. RAG) affiliated to the Students’ Union.
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Worcester Students’ Union aims to foster a community that has an atmosphere of trust, harmony and respect. The Students’ Union’s has a duty to ensure that it provides a safe environment of its members on our premises and at events and activities facilitated by us, both on and off campus. This document sets out the standards to which we expect individual members and our affiliated societies, sports clubs, student networks and student-led services to abide by, as well as our complaints and disciplinary procedures.
You can download the up to date Code of Conduct here.
Opting out of membership
Every student has the right to opt-out of membership of the Students' Union by writing to the SU President or the University Academic Registrar in accordance with Clause 13.3 of our constitution.
A student who has opted out of Union membership will remain opted out for the duration of their enrolment at the University, or until they request to re-join the Union in writing to the President/University Academic Registrar.
Full information on opting out of Union membership can be seen in Bye Law 1 – Membership.