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GW VOICE
GW Voice is a tool for students to petition the Student Association executive. For example, calling on the University to address gaps in sexual assault policy, asking the SA to comment on an issue important to the community, or proposing ideas to improve package services.
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If 500 signatures are collected within three months, the SA president will respond. You need to get 25 peers to sign before it will be listed on our website.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Who can use GW Voice?
Anyone who is a matriculated student at GW may create or sign petitions on the GW Voice platform by logging in using their GW login.
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Q: If a petition isn’t viewable until it reaches 25 signatures, how will people know about it?
When a petition is first created, only the petition creator will have the URL of the petition. It’s up to the petition creator to share the petition (and URL) with others who care about the issue to build support and gather more signatures. Once your petition is published, you can use the share options on the page to easily send the petition via email and your social networks. Once a petition gathers the minimum number of signatures, it will be findable on the GW Voice platform.
You can always view the current signature thresholds in the Terms of Participation.
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Q: How long will it take for the Student Association to respond?
We will do our best to respond to petitions that cross the signature threshold within two weeks, however, depending on the topic and the overall volume of petitions from GW Voice, responses may be delayed.
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Q: Will petitions ever be rejected from the GW Voice platform?
Petitions that are determined to violate the Terms of Participation will not be posted. Users who have a petition rejected are welcome to create a new petition that complies with the Terms of Participation. Petitions will only be rejected under the Terms of Participation — no petition will be rejected because of the viewpoint it expresses.
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Q: What happens to a petition if it doesn’t reach the petition signature thresholds?
Petitions that do not reach the threshold for official response will be archived and no longer publicly available on the site. They will no longer be signable once they have been archived.
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Q: Will the Student Association ever change the threshold for petitions responses?
The threshold may change. As more people use this tool to tell the Student Association about the issues that matter to them, we may find that we need to adjust the signature thresholds for petitions to appear publicly on the site or for petitions to receive an update from the Student Association. New signature thresholds may be applied to petitions created after the changes are made.
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You can always view the current signature thresholds in the Terms of Participation.
Q: What if I have a different question?
Email us at gwsa@gwu.edu.
TERMS OF PARTICIPATION
The Terms of Participation were last updated on January 22, 2018. They have been adapted from The White House's We the People platform.
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GW Voice allows students to petition the Student Association Executive branch on matters within the Student Association’s purview to take meaningful action as noted in the Student Association’s governing documents. This is a platform for petitions to the Executive branch and has no effect or requirement for action on the Student Association Senate. Only matriculated GW students are eligible to use GW Voice.
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GW Voice expands your options for contacting the GW Student Association and does not displace current official methods of communication, such as emailing student leaders or attending presidential office hours. If you are not willing to agree to GW Voice’s Terms of Participation, but want to send a message or other form of communication to the Student Association, you may do so to the Student Association Public Affairs team, whom you can get in touch with by emailing gwsa@gwu.edu.
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In order to create or sign a GW Voice petition, you must sign in with your valid and current GW student credentials. If you are having issues logging in, contact the GW Division of Information Technology. All petitions will be reviewed and posted for the public to view and students to sign within seven (7) days of submission, if found to not violate these Terms of Participation and the University's Student Code of Conduct.
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All petitions will be approved before they are posted for signature by the Student Association President or a presidential designee (the “moderator”). Petitions that the moderator determines to violate these Terms of Participation will not be posted.
Petitions must be goal-oriented, focusing on improving student life on campus, a Student Association policy, a University policy, etc.
The following is a non-exhaustive list with topics that the moderator will not approve, including petitions that:
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Expressly urge the support or opposition of candidates for elected or appointed office;
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Threaten unlawful violence or harm to any individual or group;
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Use obscene, vulgar, or lewd materials;
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Include defamatory or fraudulent statements;
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Use terms commonly understood to constitute profanity or abusive or degrading slurs or epithets;
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Relies on information that invades an individual’s privacy; or
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Violates criminal or civil laws.
In order to submit or sign a GW Voice petition, students agree to:
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Sign in with your valid and current GW student credentials;
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Only create petitions consistent with the purpose of the GW Voice platform, which is to allow students to petition the Student Association Executive branch to take action on a range of issues — to address a problem, support or oppose a proposal, or otherwise change or continue Student Association policy or actions;
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Permit your signature to be publicly listed along all other signatories on the petition page in which you signed;
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Allow the Student Association to send email updates to users related to GW Voice. This includes, but is not limited to, system-generated emails used for updates on a petition’s progress or official responses to that petition. Students can later decide to receive additional emails or unsubscribe from future emails.
Students agree to not:
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Sign the same petition more than once.
The Student Association will respond to petitions submitted through GW Voice that comply with these Terms of Participation and reach the signature threshold listed below. The Student Association may respond to petitions at any time, including those that have not crossed the signature threshold.
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Where possible, the Student Association will notify petition signatories whose content falls into any areas where it would be improper for the Student Association to answer, or where it cannot meaningfully respond.
The Student Association reserves the right to change petition time limits and signature thresholds and apply them to any and all petitions. These Terms of Participation may be interpreted by the Student Association President.
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By submitting a petition through GW Voice, students agree to comply with these Terms of Participation.
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Current thresholds
As of January 22, 2018:
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To be open for the public to view under 'Read all petitions,' a petition must reach at least twenty-five (25) signatures within three (3) months of its approval and posting.
To cross the signature threshold and require a response from the Student Association executive, a petition must reach at least five-hundred (500) signatures within three (3) months of its approval and posting.