Elections are coming, but they are going to be different. Very different. 

2016 was a year that demanded change for the future! 👊

In June, The British public decided that they wanted to leave the EU and in March 2017 the government will trigger Article 50 beginning the two year process for removing the UK from the EU.

In November, the American public decided that they wanted Donald Trump to be the ‘leader of the free world’ and in January 2017 he will come into office alongside his ‘billionaire cabinet’.

And in May, Students at the University of Huddersfield called for change to our democracy here at Huddersfield Students’ Union, which starts with our election in March 2017.

What is different about this SU election?

1. The Officers roles that we recruit every year are changing: we’ll be looking for an SU President, an Education Officer, an Equalities Officer, a Community Officer and an Activities Officer. (Think it could be you? Register for more information here!) 

2. The election process is changing. This year will see the first year where teams or ‘slates’ are banned, campaigners will have to register to ensure they are following the rules and the announcement will have a 24 hour window for any complaints to be raised.

1 Officer Roles

The SU President is largely the same, but now includes taking the lead on the Big Ideas initiative, student engagement in having their say and the democratic process of the Students’ Union.

The Education Officer role has remained largely unchanged – it’s still aiding all 1,200 Course Reps across campus and sitting in a sizeable chunk of the senior committees that affect students’ education.

The Equalities Officer is a re-worked role from the previous Wellbeing position, with similar responsibilities but focusing more on ensuring equality for all students – empowering minority communities to ensure they are heard on campus.

The Community Officer will lead on our work with the local community, including our volunteering, charity fundraising, environmental work and our work within the local housing sector.

The Activities Officer will remain largely the same, only they will now be looking after our student media groups as well as the Sports and Societies they currently look after and will aim to drive student engagement and participation.

2 Election Rules

Every candidate for each of the above five positions will be running separately for their role.

No more brand names of ‘Action’, ‘Unity’ or ‘Progress’ where students are encouraged to vote for five people because they know one of them. Instead students will be encouraged to speak to individual candidates and vote for the people that they believe are the right students to run the Students’ Union.

This opens the doors to any student standing for an Officer role without fear of trying to beat a team of candidates and we want more candidates than we’ve ever had before in an election.

Beyond the change to the way candidates run for positions, all campaigners for each candidate will have to register and agree to read and follow the rules of the election. This will enable the Students’ Union to penalise candidates whose campaigners are breaking the rules, making the election cleaner and fairer for all.

Finally, the Students’ Union will close the election and wait for just over 24 hours to announce the winners, allowing for a period of time for candidates to catch up on sleep before the results night. This time will also enable any student to put forward any complaints about candidates, allowing the Returning Officer for the elections to investigate their complaints prior to any announcement of who wins the election.

Interested in earning a full time salary for running the Students’ Union for students? Register your interest for more information and we’ll be in touch!