elections handbook
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CONTENTS 3 WELCOME KEY DATES 4 THE POSITIONS 6 HOW DOES IT ALL FIT TOGETHER? 7 YOUR QUESTIONS… ANSWERED 8 NEW THIS YEAR 9 CHECKLIST 9 CONTACT DETAILS 10 ELECTION GUIDELINES 13 MANIFESTO & PUBLICITY
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Goldsmiths Students’ Union Elections Handbook 2013
Dear Students Goldsmiths Students’ Union is a diverse, vibrant, award-winning organisation, providing a range of services for the students of Goldsmiths. By deciding to become an elected representative you can be a big part of it. Being an elected officer of the Union is an excellent experience and I would recommend it to everyone. It puts you at the heart of the organisation and provides you with a position that can truly make a positive difference. The elections process is apart of being a representative and regardless of the outcome you would learn greatly from it. This handbook aims to provide you with an insight of what the elections process involves, but if you would like to speak to some one about it, feel free to contact Ibby Mehmet Representation and Democracy Coordinator on ibby@goldsmithssu. org and he would be glad to help you.
Yours Sincerely, Samson Osun Union President
KEY DATES & TIMES Event
Time & Place
Date
Nominations Open
10:00 -
07/01/2013
Manifesto Open Sessions
11:00 - 16:00 ADR 11:00 - 16:00 ADR 11:00 - 16:00 ADR 11:00 - 16:00 ADR
22/01/2013 23/01/2013 28/01/2013 01/02/2013
Nominations Close
16:00 -
04/02/2013
Candidates Briefing
18:00 RHB 143
04/02/2013
Publicity Collection
09:00 - 16:00
19/02/2013
Question time night 1
18:00 CR
21/02/2013
Question time night 2
18:00 CR
22/02/2013
Polling Starts
10:00
25/02/2013
Polling Closes
17:00
28/02/2013
Results Night
20:00
28/02/2013
ADR - Angela Davis Meeting Room / RHB Richard Hogard Building / CR- Common Room
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WELCOME
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THE POSITIONS Full TIme Officer (Trustee):
Vacancies: 4 Positions: Union President, Campaigns Officer, Educations Officer, Welfare & Diversity Officer Role: Representative, Campaigner and Charity Trustee Hours: Full Time, 1 year Status: Remunerated (c. £22k) Duties: You will represent all Goldsmiths’ students at individual, College, local and national level full time for one year
Assembly Members:
Vacancies: 15 Positions: Black & Ethnic Students Officer, Campaigns Coordination Officer, Campus Officer, Disabled Students Officer, Ethical and Environmental Students Officer, International Students Officer, LGBT Students Officer, Mature Students Officer, Palestine Twinning Officer, Part-time students Officer, Postgraduate Students Officer, Societies Officer, Sports Officer, Student Parent Officer, Women’s Officer. Hours: Part time, 1 year Status: Voluntary Duties: You will be responsible for developing and delivering the Unions Key campaigns and policies, and responding to issues as they arise. Sitting on the ‘Student Assembly’, you are representing all Goldsmith Students.
Assembly Chair:
Vacancies: 1 Hours: Part time, 1 year Status: Voluntary Duties: Primarily, you will chair the Student Assembly, a body of over 25 students.You will ensure the meetings are outcome focused and make effective decision.You will also be involved in delivering the Union key proactive campaigns and policies.
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Goldsmiths Students’ Union Elections Handbook 2013
Vacancies: 3 Hours: The hours PT Status: Voluntary Duties: You will represent Goldsmiths Students at NUS regional meetings, national conference and attend NUS composition.You will act as the voice of Goldsmiths Students at a national level.You will also be expected to report back to Student Assembly on all NUS related experiences.
Student Trustees:
Vacancies: 4 Role: Charity Trustee Hours: An average of 3 hours per month plus training. Status: Voluntary Duties: You will sit on the Unions Trustee Board and be making key decisions about the Union’s long term strategy and finance.
Student Media:
Vacancies: 4 Role: Smiths Magazine Editor, Leopard Newspaper Editor,Wired Radio Station Manager, Made In Goldsmiths Director Hours: An average of 25 hours per month on a one year part time basis. Status: Voluntary Duties: You will be responsible for student media, handling a budget of up to several thousand pounds and creating publications and media that can be contributed to and accessed by all students.
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NUS Delegate
Your ideas, opinions and input are completely central to the governance structure of the Union. This diagram show’s how you could get involved at all the different stages of decision making within the Union. You should now have a better idea of the roles and remits each of the positions as well as how they all fit together. If you still have questions we’ve put together a list of the most frequently asked questions, and then answered them.
Liberation Groups Access Groups Student Media
Student Assembly
Student Activities Part Time Officers
Student Elections
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Goldsmiths Students’ Union Elections Handbook 2013
Trustee Board (Including Full TIme Officers & Student Trustees)
Annual General Meetings (AGM)
Students
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HOW DOES IT ALL FIT TOGETHER?
Who can run in elections? Any registered student (this includes international students) except for visiting students can stand for election. In order to run for a departmental representative’s position you will need to be a student in the department that you would run for. Likewise, if you want to be the Mature Students Officer, you will need to be a mature student. If you are an international student and wish to run for a sabbatical position, please consult the colleges Advice team you can contact them on advice@gold.ac.uk. What if I am already a member of student staff in the Union? That is not a problem.You can still run, however you won’t be able to campaign while working in your position. Where can I find out more about the roles? You can go to the Unions website and follow the links to the elections page or if you can contact Ibby Mehmet, the Representation and Democracy Coordinator. Ibby’s details are located on the back. What is Question Time? Question is where the candidates will be given a set amount of time to verbally inform students on why to vote for them. Additionally, students are given the opportunity to ask candidates questions. Please note that the two Question Time events are recorded. Video Manifesto’s a new introduction. Each candidate will be given the opportunity to have a 1 minute video manifesto, which will be recorded and edited by the Union’s Communication team. The recorded manifesto will go up on the Union’s website as well as being made viewable on the Electronic Ballot Sheet (so all students that vote, could find out more about the candidates). The video is not compulsory, but is highly recommended. Where can I find out more about writing a manifesto and publicity? During the elections nomination open period, Ibby Mehmet and Samson Osun will be hosting manifesto open sessions to aid and offer practical support to candidates on the creation of their manifestos and publicity. It is recognised that some candidates would prefer their standing for a post to be private until the end of nominations, which is respected and therefore can request a one to one session confidentially. Times and dates are as follows: 11:00 - 16:00 in the Angela Davis Room on the following days, 22/01/2013, 23/01/2013, 28/01/2013 and 01/02/2013. If elected, do I need to do anything before I start? We try to keep demand on time to a minimum before you start your role. However, we will be running a training session that will be compulsory for you to attend. What are the time commitments? Sabbatical Officers: are required to work as full time representatives thus working a minimum of 35hours a week. In addition to this Sabbatical Officers are required to attend respective college committee and sit on internal committee of the Union ranging from the Trustee Board to the Staffing Committee. Student Trustees: are required to attend all trustee board meetings of the Union? Assembly members are required to attend all the student assembly meetings for the coming year. In addition to this they will need to make sure that they fulfil their role either by representing their cohorts to the student assembly or by fulfilling the pledges highlighted on their manifestos.
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YOUR QUESTIONS... ANSWERED
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NEW THIS YEAR The Pool of mentors. The pool of mentors comprise of various full time staff members of the Students’ Union and are volunteers to guide and offer support to sabbatical candidates throughout the elections. The list of mentors will be made available to candidates at the candidates briefing with further explanation on how to contact them and what to contact them about. Please note the elections procedures regarding mentors found in the Elections Handbook. Manifesto open session and one to ones. During the elections nomination open period, Ibby Mehmet, Representation & Democracy Coordinator and Samson Osun, President will be hosting manifesto open sessions to aid and offer practical support to candidates on the creation of their manifestos and publicity. It is recognised that some candidates would prefer their standing for a post to be private until the end of nominations, which is respected and therefore can request a one to one session confidentially. Question Time All candidates will be giving a statement and answering questions at the two Question Time Events. Candidates will make a brief statement on why they are best suited to the position and then asked questions by the Union and by Students at the event. This event will be recorded and streamed live for those who have friends and family distant and would like them to view the proceedings. Creative budget. The creative budget is a self funded amount of money, which will be £30 in this election. The creative budget is only for sabbatical officers. This is to assist the candidate in their campaign and all purchased items must be available to be purchased by all candidates and receipts must be given to the deputy returning officer. No merchandise is to be used, which does not hold the stamp of the elections committee. Results Nights Beers, tears and cheers. This is when the results of the elections will be announced. It is always a fun and emotional evening and it is recommended that as many of your friends and supporters attend. Winning with a large audience of supporters is always an amazing feeling!
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CHECKLIST
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ELECTION GUIDELINES 1. Nominations (i) All candidates must be proposed and seconded by a full member of the Union. (ii) No candidate may propose or second any candidate running in the election. (iii) Individuals may only propose one candidate and only second one candidate in the election. (iv) You can only nominate yourself for one position, bar NUS Delegate and Trustee positions. (v) Elections committee will meet to review the nominations after the close of the nomination period. The committee will ensure all forms are valid and that the candidate may progress to run in the election.
more candidates having the same proposer or seconder in an election for a single position, the Returning Officer or nominee may allow up to 24 hours for the candidate(s) to find fresh proposers or seconders. (xi) When the Returning Officer is satisfied all valid nominations will be confirmed with the candidates. 2. Campaigning (i) Campaigning is defined as, ‘a series of coordinated activities, including but not limited to, public speaking, social media and demonstrating, designed to achieve a social, political, or commercial goal’.
(vi) All full members of the Union are eligible to stand for any Union Office.
(ii) No campaign material may be distributed in advance of the time and date of the start of campaigning.
(vii) Candidates shall run independently and shall not have joint and/ or shared publicity.
(iii) Candidates will not move/alter/remove any publicity of any other candidate.
(viii) It is mandatory that all candidates attend the Candidates Briefing, which is organised on the same day as nominations close. Candidates must attend and only exceptional circumstances may be given in order not to attend. If the candidate is unable to attend, they should send a delegate.
(iv) There can be no campaigning whilst engaged in paid employment at the Union or while involved with any Union committees. In this case candidates must take holiday or step aside from their position for the duration of campaigning.
(ix) Failure to attend shall result, at the discretion of the Returning Officer, in the candidate being deemed to have withdrawn from the election.
(v) During the period of nominations and during the media week candidates may declare their intent to run but may not engage in any campaigning. (vi) No candidate or campaign team member will sabotage another candidate’s campaign.
(x) The Returning Officer or nominee shall have the sole responsibility of declaring a submitted nomination form valid. In the event of two or
(vii) No candidates are allowed to be spon-
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sored in any way, including but not limited to, by any organisations and companies. (viii) All publicity shall be approved by the Elections committee or the designated person. The amount and type of publicity will be explained at the Candidates Briefing. (ix) There will be a creative budget, which is self funded, to the amount of £30. How and what the creative budget may be used for is to be outlined at the candidates briefing. This is limited to the elections of the Sabbatical Officer Candidates. (x) All spending must be recorded in the form of receipts and submitted to Elections Committee before voting opens. If no receipt is available Elections Committee will find the average price of such items and use it as a point of reference. (xi) During the Candidates Briefing, all candidates and campaigners will be advised as to where you can and cannot campaign and canvas. (xii) Promotion by a candidate, be it through online, social media, video etc, shall be made in a process accessible to all candidates in a fair manner, adhering to budgeting guidelines. (xiii) Whilst campaigning, candidates must be wearing their assigned lanyard identification card.
12 font. All the manifestos will appear on Goldsmiths Students’ Union website for all voters to read prior to them casting their votes, in the same size and type of font. This shall be accompanied by a photograph taken at the Candidates Briefing Meeting. (ii) Manifestos must be submitted to Returning Officer, or their nominee, at a time and in a form determined by the Returning officer. (iii) Manifestos shall be displayed in appropriate areas as decided. 4. Mentors. (i) The Union will have a pool of mentors, whereby all candidates are able to contact these mentors for advice and guidance on; (a) Guidelines and Regulations of the elections. (b) Strategic advice on campaigning (c ) Manifesto creation and development (ii) The mentors will be open for guidance to all Sabbatical Candidates running in the elections. (iii) The mentors will meet and advise candidates at their convenience and are to be contacted in advance. (iv) All mentors must have signed a Goldsmiths Students’ Union Election Staffing Declaration.
3. Manifestos (i) All candidates, before the Close of Nominations, are allowed to have an official manifesto stating what they wish to achieve in their year of office, if elected. The manifesto is only plain text and of not more than 300 words of size
(v) Advice and guidance from mentors is to be used and taken at the risk of the candidate, the role of the mentor is to offer a prospective and guidance. They are not bound by their advice and are not accountable to consequences of their advice.
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ELECTION GUIDELINES
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ELECTION GUIDELINES (vi) Mentors will be appointed by the Deputy Returning Officer and approved by the Returning Officer. GSU Elections Guidance (i) The document GSU Amended Elections Referendum Guidance v4 is the overruling guidance for the elections. The above guidelines shall be adhered to but further guidance shall be sought from GSU Amended Elections Referendum Guidance. This document can be found on the Goldsmiths Students’ Union website and also can be requested from the Goldsmiths Students’ Union Clerk, Ibrahim Mehmet.
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Manifestos and Publicity. Please note: If Publicity and Manifestos are not submitted by the close of nominations, candidates maybe removed from elections and will not be able to run. Publicity and Manifestos should be sent to Ibby@goldsmithssu.org before 04/02/2013.
be approved by the elections committee with a stamp, otherwise the candidate will be held accountable. Creative budget. This will be explained in further detail at the compulsory candidates briefing.
Manifesto. Candidates should submit a manifesto no longer than 300 words outlining why they are standing and what they plan to do if elected. It is important that you make clear what your intentions are as a candidate, this is to encourage students to vote for you and inspire people to support you during your campaign. These manifestos will be published online and also put into a hard copy brochure which will be distributed to the student body. With your manifesto, a passport photo will be required. Publicity.
To offer candidates support during the nominations open period on manifestos and publicity, the following sessions for support are open to all candidates. These are on the following days and times: 11:00 - 16:00 on all the following dates. 22/01/2013, 23/02/2013, 28/12/2013, 01/12/2013 These will be held in the Angela Davis Room, found near the Students’ Union Reception. If you would like private consultation for whichever reason, please contact Ibby Mehmet on ibby@goldsmithssu.org to book a one to one session.
This is your chance to design a leaflet or poster which will be printed by the Union for you to use during your campaign. All posters need to
WHO TO CONTACT Ibby Mehmet Samson Osun Doreen Duffin
Deputy Returning Officer Students’ Union President Office Manager
Ibby@goldsmithssu.org samson.osun@goldsmithssu.org doreen.duffin@goldsmithssu.org
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MANIFESTOS & PUBLICITY
www.goldsmithssu.org Goldsmiths Students’ Union Dixon Road New Cross London SE14 6NW