Elections Pack 2008/9

Added on 03/12/2008

Holding elections is one of the ways that unions can be member led. Although being truly democratic and giving ownership to the student body means much more than yearly elections, the fact that the members decide who will lead them is an important starting position. Students’ unions exist primarily to carry out campaigning and representation work. The process of election means that the officers have a mandate to represent those who voted for them.

Find a resource pack to help you run effective elections here.

Activist Academy

Added on 01/12/2008

Students’ union officers and staff met in Coventry for this year's Activist Academy two day national seminar. The aim of the event was to explore and encourage an active campaigning culture. Participants looked at the role of structures and people in creating and resisting change, as well as a series of practical skills based workshops. They also had time to share best practice, problem solve union specific problems, and action plan for the rest of their term. Delegates left feeling motivated and inspired.

Read more and hear about the upcoming regional academies.

Fundraising report for students' unions

Added on 11/08/2008

With many of you going through the process of registering your students' union as a charity, there are new opportunities for fundraising within the movement. As this coincides with declining income from commercial activities and the static nature of funding from higher education institutions, the time is right for you to consider fundraising as a significant element in your income stream.

NUS is committed to supporting SUs in acquiring fundraising skills in order to help them to diversify their income streams. As such, the NUS produced summary report 'Supporting fundraising by students' unions' is now available for download.

If you would like more information, or to receive a copy of the full report, please contact, Membership Development Manager Amanda Stanford at amanda.stanford@nus.org.uk.

Election of officers

Added on 11/08/2008

Democracy in unions is a legal necessity and a right of all students; a process which, as well as electing new leaders, is an important end in itself. As officers and staff, you have a responsibility to make sure that elections are run properly and that you do all you can to increase turnout.

To help you achieve this, NUS has created, alongside our existing tools, an analysis of the election of officers for the 2008/9 academic year. This represents the widest research into union democracy that NUS has produced for many years. We have asked further questions on electronic democracy and the support for candidates around issues of trusteeship in an attempt to respond to the needs of twenty-first century students’ unions and the roles of officers within them.

Downloads

Commentary
This research was carried out by NUS into students’ union elections between January and June 2008. It's based on feedback received from 80 higher and further education institutions in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Statistics (All forms are excel worksheets)
Higher education unions
Further education unions
Raw data, including information from unions whose data was not suitable.

Passionate about climate change?

Added on 14/07/2008

NUS is looking for a handful of officers who have a interest in environmental policy and practice to participate in a exciting round table discussion with Baroness Morgan on Wednesday 23 July. This is an opportunity to give direction to the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills on how it can support students to take action to reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change. NEC members Susan Nash and Elizabeth Somerville will lead the round table discussion but would like to invite student officers with a particular responsibility/mandate to attend and enrich the discussion.

We are looking for officers whose role it is to campaign or implement ethical and environmental changes in their union, however we will consider applications from those who demonstrate a strong knowledge and leadership in broader campaigns on climate change issues.

Given the short turnaround time needed please send no more than 200 words about the role of students in helping to lead the way on meeting the challenge of climate change to jean.mclean@nus.org.uk. Attendees would need to be available from 3:00pm-8:00pm, and DIUS will cover all expenses. Applications will close on Wednesday 16 July and we will inform the successful applicants on Friday 18 July.