A NEW constitution will be presented to students next month in an attempt to make Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA) more transparent, accessible, and representative.The proposals would see a fundamental change in how students engage in student politics, and it is hoped that opening up the decision making process will encourage increased engagement from Edinburgh students, with the stated goal of the review being, “[maximising] opportunities for direct involvement by as many students as possible,” and making it easier “for students to get involved in discussion and decision-making about the issues that matter”.

The proposals would see online referenda replacing the current system of general meetings, with three new councils being created to tackle academic, welfare, and external issues, along with smaller "task groups" to tackle individual problems that may arise.

Details were released outlining the proposed restructure late last August, and EUSA has since invited students to give their opinion on the draft constitution, with open meetings held on Monday and Wednesday last week reportedly proving productive.

Matt McPherson, EUSA president, quoted "We want the new EUSA to better represent what students want, and there is no better way of ensuring this than asking students how EUSA should be run.“We want to make sure that as many students as possible get a chance to have their say on how the association is run.”

However, despite the drive to improve the experience of student democracy with EUSA, there remains a distinct sense of disinterest among many members of the student body.

One second year student, who asked not to be named, told The Student, “I’m not really interested. If people want to go into politics in the future then EUSA is good practice, I guess, but it doesn’t affect me that much, so to be honest I don’t see why I’d get involved.”
Fully aware that this sentiment is shared by much of the student body, EUSA hope that the changes will mean that, “[students] can get involved, be better represented, and . . . EUSA can better meet the needs of Edinburgh students.”

The review comes 18 months after a much-debated motion was passed at the 2010 Annual General Meeting which enabled voting on referenda to take place online, a move that was very much in the same vein of encouraging broader participation in student democracy.
At the time, the then Vice President for Services elect, Sam Hansford, labelled the motion a “real, historic, change” and even drew comparisons with U.S. President Barack Obama’s campaign for healthcare reform.

The referendum will take place on the 12, 13, and 14 October.