Students’ Union Elections voting open from March 15 to 19
The voting for this year’s Students’ Union Leadership Race is open this week, from March 15 to 19.
Source: UCL Imagestore
Voting for the Students’ Union Leadership Race is open this week, from Monday March 15 to Friday 19, during which students have been given the opportunity to choose who they want to represent them in the Students’ Union and UCL societies.
Out of a total 2,352 nominations, students can vote on their preferred candidates for the full-time and part-time Students’ Union officer roles, as well as the committee positions for student societies and UCL’s delegates to the NUS National Conference.
At the online candidates fair, students can now view the nominees’ manifesto commitments, as well as ask questions and follow their election campaigns on social media. Some candidates have organised live Q&A sessions throughout the week on an individual basis, and there are also drop-in sessions available on Tuesday March 16 and Wednesday 17 for students to ask any questions they may have about the election process.
Students can vote here on the Students’ Union website from 10 a.m. on March 15 until 12 p.m. on Friday March 19. As part of the Single Transferable Vote system, students will be invited to rank the candidates in order of preference. If their first choice candidate does not receive enough votes to win, their vote will be transferred to their second or third choice candidate.
Students can cast their votes at any point during the week and are not required to submit all of their choices at the same time. After voting closes at 12 p.m. on Friday, the results will be announced live and the winners will take over from the previous officers and committee members in July.
There are six full-time sabbatical officer positions available and fifteen part-time officers who will work within the SU and represent various areas of the student body and university life. The full-time sabbatical officers include roles such as Education Officer and Postgraduate Officer, who have both been heavily involved in the “no detriment” policy negotiations this year.
On the Students’ Union Youtube channel, the Union has released “Question the Candidates” videos in which the candidates for each officer position answer key questions about their proposals for each role. These videos will be broadcast live on the SU Facebook page throughout the voting week, and the students can post any questions in the live chat for the candidates to respond to.
As part of the Leadership Race, students can also vote for the committee positions in UCL societies. Under each position, the candidates have provided a short description and manifesto to explain their ideas for the society’s direction in the next academic year. The full list of positions is available here.
Following a report by the consultancy firm Miragold in 2019, the Students’ Union has restructured the sabbatical officer positions this year in order to improve student representation and reduce the sabbatical officers’ individual workload. While the Women’s and Black and Minority Ethnic Students’ officer roles will now become part-time positions, a new full-time Equity Officer will be elected to “work closely with, support and be accountable to the BME Students’, Disabled Students’, LBGQ+, Trans and Women’s Officers and Networks.”
The link to vote is available here and more information on the Leadership Race is available here.