Union General Meeting (UGM)
The Union General Meeting is a weekly meeting that determines the policy of the students union. Any student at the LSE may attend. LSE is the only University in the UK with a weekly General Meeting.

The weekly General Meeting is a long-established tradition of engaging debate and irreverance

What is covered?

Students can propose any motion they like, within the limits of the Students' Union Constitution. Good topics include:

    * Ideas for improving facilities

    * Improving the quality of feedback and assessment at LSE

    * Running a more efficient and sustainable Union

Examples - students have voted to:

    * Pressure the LSE to sell its shares in weapons-manufacturing companies

    * Lobby for a fully wheelchair-accessible campus

    * Successfully campaign for a minimum wage for LSE employees

    * Allocate funds to Union societies

    * Run a campaign to keep Wednesday afternoons free for recreation

    * Save the LSE nursery when it was threatened with closure

What happens?

The UGM Chairperson is a student elected every year. The Chairperson runs the meeting.

Elected students union and media officers give reports of what they are up to. Students then ask them questions.

Policy is then discussed, debated, and voted on.

There are special UGM events throughout the term, such as:

•    Candidate hustings, where students running for election try to win your vote

•    Guests – Howard Davies, LSE’s Director, attends one UGM every term for the opportunity for students to grill or praise him.

Why should I come?

The LSE and the UGM have a long history of political debate. Many alumni have achieved fame and notoriety in the political world.

This is the only weekly UGM in the UK. The atmosphere has an element of entertainment as well as hearty debate, and is well-known outside the LSE…students from other universities and around the world watch footage of the UGM online.

What is a motion?

Everyone who proposes a policy change must write a motion. A motion takes the following form:

Union Notes: [states only identifiable facts]

Union Believes: [states the judgment of the Union on the issue]

Union Resolves: [states what actions should happen]

Motions can be amended at the UGM. If a motion is approved by a majority of the UGM, it becomes policy.

THURSDAYS 1PM