How Your Students' Union is Run

Your Students’ Union (SU) exists to do 2 things, 1: to represent the views of students to committees and decision makers in the University, and 2: to provide social, safety and advice services to students. ie. Organising and funding sports & societies (including CU’s) and providing an Advice Centre, bar, shop etc. Your SU is run independently from the University and is led by and governed by elected students.

SU’s usually have their practical day to day running of services (eg. The bar) by permanent members of staff. But above these managers sits the Executive Committee, which is made up of around 4-7 elected students, depending on the size of your Uni. These students work full time in paid positions as “Sabbatical Officers” (someone in a year long position) who work to represent students, decide how the Union spends all its money, and helping sports teams and societies run and decide what they can and can’t do.

The Executive Committee (exec) holds a lot of influence on the student population in your University, so it is very beneficial to have Christians in these positions. When there are Christians on the exec it means that there is a Godly influence on the SU and that the CU can be represented, understood and helped more in the SU and with what it aims to do on campus.

After being an active member of my CU, I spent a year on the SU exec at my University and I’ve found it very helpful to be a means of communication between the CU and SU and to translate some of the misunderstood SU systems to the CU, and vice-versa. The SU is also now a lot more helpful towards the CU with a CU member on the exec. I’ve also been able to point the CU in the direction of getting extra support, better promotion and how they can use what the SU/University have to offer in ways to further spread the gospel. So as you can imagine it can be very rewarding work.

SU’s also have a “Student Council” or “Student Governing Council” or whichever variation your Union uses. This is made of up of around 15 - 35 different part-time positions who, as a whole, decide Union policies, make sure that the exec are doing their jobs and that the SU is running well. Being a part of this is a great way of finding out how the SU works, and bringing a Christian influence into decision making. Student Councils hold positions such as “culture & faith officer” “international officer”, “mature officer” etc and also positions called “ordinary members”or “union councillor” who don’t have any specific roles but sit on the monthly Student Council meeting and vote on how they think the SU should be run. Becoming an ordinary member is a great way of getting started in the SU without taking on a large responsibility.

How to get Involved

Exec positions are usually taken by students in their last year who then have it as their first full time job, but some students get elected during their course and take a year off from their course to do the job or even do it as a placement year if applicable. With the Student Council (or “non-sabbatical”) positions you won’t need to take the year off as you hold the position as well as doing your course, so there is usually a mix of all year groups on it. But any student can stand in the elections.

Here are some concerns I had before I stood for election which have since been relieved!

1. I have no experience
2. I don’t like politics/ I’m not political
3. I don’t know what the SU is or how to run in elections
4. I don’t know what positions are available

This is what I found in my Union.

1.You don’t need any, and most people don't have any. If you get elected you receive copious amounts of training about your Students’ Union and your specific roles.

2. I was worried that the job would be in a very political environment with people aggressively trying to influence each other. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this was not the case. I’ve also discovered that the best people to have in positions of power are people who aren’t “political” or have strong affiliations with a national political party, as this leaves you free to do your job independently and in the best interests of all students.

3. I found it very helpful to go to my SU and ask the current Sabbatical Officers about what they did and they were more than happy to explain it all and what the different positions were. If you ask at your SU reception, they can give you the dates for nominations/elections or point you to the person who can. This information should also be available on your SU website. Below will give you some more details about running in the elections. Also, if you’re concerned about the “campaigning” for the elections, I've found that it only really involved talking to people on the day of elections, but again the Union will give you training and advice on how to campaign once you’ve nominated yourself.

4. It varies between Universities but the exec positions are usually; President, Finance, Communications, Education, Welfare, Sports + Societies. Your SU's website should have job descriptions for each role on the exec and list the non-sabbatical roles as well.

“General Elections” are held once a year around February time for positions that are held for 12 months and run from June – June. To stand for election you will need to collect the nomination form from your SU at the correct time, fill it in and hand it in before the deadline. So it’s vital to find out when these dates are, but it’s easy to nominate yourself for election.

On election day(s) the person who wins the election is usually the person who stands around campus near the ballot boxes with the most friends on his or her election team asking people to vote for them. As the large majority of the Uni population don’t really know what the SU elections are for, they are often happy to vote for you if you ask them nicely (or bribe them with a free sweet). It's clearly not a good example of democracy in action, but does mean a good chance of success for anyone who makes an effort at election time. Therefore if you organise your friends and fellow CU members to stand with you by ballot boxes for the day and ask people to vote for you, you can have a good chance of winning.

The other important thing to know for elections is that the best way to get elected is to run with other people who are running for the other positions in the election, and therefore run as a group (aka a “slate”) So a group of 8 people can get their friends and course mates to vote for them and also for the other 7 people in the group, so you would each get 8 times the amount of votes. In my experience there is usually 1 organised group/slate and they will get elected. So it’s well worth finding other people in the CU who might want to run and then talk to other people who are running for the other positions and try and work together. Just check that your SU allows slates as a few of them have banned it because it's too effective and can make it too easy for a group to get in together.

Being part of a CU gives you an enormous advantage in elections if you can get the other members to help you. Please pray and think about running in your SU elections and bringing God’s voice and principles into your Students’ Union. It would mean only good things for the CU and its mission on campus if there are Christians at the top of the student chain to help, iron out or avoid any issues that there might occur.

Being on your SU exec can give you a great transition between student life and working life, as well as being great for your CV. It is also a superb way to continue to serve your CU.

Elections Process

• Nominations Open for one or two weeks when you’ll need to pick up a nomination form/pack from your Students’ Union, fill out the forms and get a few signatures.
• Campaigning lasts for about a week and can range from telling your friends that you're standing in the elections and forming a group of people running, to handing out flyers and putting up posters on campus. You will receive a campaign budget from your SU to support you with this.
• Elections are usually over 1 or 2 days and is the time to get your friends behind you in getting your fellow students to vote for you.

There should be more information on the positions available and the election process on our SU website under a heading such as Elections, Representation or Democracy. Alternatively you can drop into your SU and ask to speak to someone about the elections and when they will be happening. Usually your SU will be very happy to talk to you because they are always trying to increase student participation in the elections.

Also if you’re interested in student democracy on a national level your Union will also be holding elections for delegates to go to the annual NUS National Conference in Blackpool, where students decide on the NUS's national policy. These are often held at the same time as the sabbatical and non-sabbatical elections.

We're called to be “salt and light” and if we're not involved in the decision making processes how can we have that positive influence on the outcomes that affect us and those around us? The alternative is having people who don't share our beliefs and values setting the agenda and choosing what can and can't take place on our campuses. The SU elections are a opportunity for you to be proactive in your community to help shape a positive environment for people around you and to make a positive impact.