Elections Candidate Guide 2017 by JMSU

ELECTIONS CANDIDATE GUIDE 2017

Welcome, we’re really excited that you want to be part of making the student experience in Liverpool better by running to become an elected Student Officer for Liverpool John Moores University Students’ Union (LiverpoolSU). Every student at university is automatically a member of their students’ union. These organisations represent their members, help them to make friends, develop new skills, earn money, access support, provide services and generally make sure students love their time studying. They’re democratic organisations, run by students for students, which make a real difference. This brief guide is for anybody thinking about standing in the spring elections. It includes information on the following: • • • • • • •

The roles available Key dates for the diary The election rules How to stand in the elections Where to access training and support The elections process Advice on how to run a successful campaign

If you have any questions that are not covered in this guide, please contact: elections@ljmu.ac.uk We really hope that you consider making a difference for thousands of students in Liverpool by running in these elections. Good luck. Liverpool Students’ Union

Positions Available Four Student Officers are elected to lead LiverpoolSU every year, each with different portfolios:

President

Vice President Academic Quality

The main Officer responsible for our strategies, public profile and communication with university leaders and external organisations. The President will be a member of the university’s Board of Governors and Campaigner-in-Chief for all our aims. They will be the Delegation Leader at, and have automatic right to attend the National Union of Students (NUS) National Conference. The President leads our Officer team and is the head of LiverpoolSU. The President will also be Chair of our Trustee Board.

Works to make teaching, resources and learning at LJMU better for students. They lead on initiatives like the Course Representation system and attend lots of university committees to ensure that LJMU know what students want and need from their education.

Vice President Community Engagement

Vice President Activities

Leads efforts to give students opportunities to participate in, and shape their local communities. This Officer is the face of LJMU students for the local community and other organisations including local councils. They are the lead representative on improving accommodation, safety and transport across Liverpool.

Decides on the direction of LiverpoolSU’s activities department work and promotes the value of participation. This Officer is the students’ union’s public face for sports clubs and societies, supporting and promoting social, cultural, educational, religious and political activities and opportunities to gain employability skills.

The Details These are full-time, senior level one-year positions with a £18,595 salary and are open to every LJMU student. In the role, you will represent the university’s diverse population of 20,000 students, shaping and improving the student experience at LJMU. They can be taken either as a placement (taking a year out from your course) or a graduate role (starting straight after you finish your final year). They are 12 month posts but you can re-run for a second year if you choose. Liverpool Students’ Union team provide a comprehensive training and induction programme for new Officers. This starts part-way through June and continues through July and August. 2

The Elections Timeline – Key Dates 10th March ‘17 31st January + 1st February ‘17 6th December ‘16

Results night

Stand to Win - Student Officer Elections info session

Informal sessions to give anyone interested in running more information about what the roles involve, how the election process works and tips about campaigning.

This is a chance for students to register their interest or recommend other students they think would make a good Student Officer.

10th February ‘17 Candidate registration closes All applications must have been received + approved by this date.

23rd January ‘17

10th February ‘17

6th-10th March ‘17

Candidate registration opens

Candidate planning and preparation for voting begins

Voting opens, candidate campaigning begins

Anyone wishing to stand must sign-up as a candidate online and write a short statement about what they wish to achieve as an Officer. More information about how to register and write your manifesto is available on page 5.

Candidate can start planning their campaigns as soon as they know they are going to be running for a position. More information on tips for campaigning can be found on page 8.

The event will bring together candidates from Liverpool John Moores, University of Liverpool and Liverpool Hope University. Winners are declared at the results night and it is an opportunity for all campaigners, candidates and friends to relax after voting closes.

Voting is done online. There will be impartial Students’ Union voting stations with laptops across campus and in halls to encourage students to vote, and candidates will be expected to be out campaigning throughout this week. Voting opens at 9am on Monday 6th March and closes at 2pm on Friday 10th March.

Election Rules We hope that candidates, their supporters, and the wider student body have a positive experience of participating in our elections. We believe that restrictive rules relating to candidate behaviour do little to help engage students in the election or encourage them to vote. Instead, we have chosen to focus on principles, and as such our rules are deliberately minimal. We expect candidates to ensure that they, and their campaign teams, support this.

General Philosophy Candidates are expected to conduct themselves in a way that is fair and reasonable and engage in a positive campaigning experience that helps students to vote. If you would like to see what our Constitution says about the elections then please email and ask for details: elections@ljmu.ac.uk

Complaints Whilst complaints are rare, we are aware that sometimes things can go wrong during a campaign. If you have concerns about the conduct of campaigns during the election you should collect evidence that demonstrate that the actions of a candidate, a candidateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s campaign team, or otherwise will impact on the outcome of the vote. In order to raise a complaint, you must use the complaints procedure (see appendix, page 17)

How to become a candidate How to apply:

Your application:

To stand as a candidate, you must submit an application through www.liverpoolsu.com. This is the only way to submit an application. You will need to log in to your account, hover over your name in the top right hand corner of the screen and on the drop down click “Your Account/ Profile.” Then click on “My Nominations” on the menu on the left hand side. Click “Submit” on the relevant election. Here you can see how long you have to submit your nomination, the responsibilities of the position you are nominating yourself for and additional information from us as well as the space to submit your application.

You need to provide your name as you would like it to appear on the ballot paper, a photo of yourself and your manifesto. You will not be able to submit your application without providing this information. For your manifesto, we ask that you give up to three commitments of what you would work on if you were elected. For each commitment, give a headline, and then any explanatory text you would like to add. (Please note - we will use your name, photo and headline(s) for our impartial candidate promotion around campus and online).The word limit is 250 words.

Example Manifesto VP Activities: Nisha Wright I will make LJMU students more employable: I will create links with local organisations and World of Work to give LJMU students opportunities to meet employers in the industries they want to work in. I will make Varsity bigger and better than ever before: I want to increase the number of spectators and activities at Varsity to make it the best it has ever been. I will help develop smaller clubs and societies. I will focus on growing student groups with smaller memberships by working with them in the areas they need support with.

How this will look promoted around campus: Nisha Wright - I will make LJMU students more employable. - I will make Varsity bigger and better than ever before. - I will help develop smaller clubs/societies.

The deadline: 4pm, 10th February 2017 Any applications received after this time will not be accepted.

If you wish to modify your manifesto or photo, you will need to ask us to do this for you. You can do this up until 12pm on Friday 3rd March. Once we have verified that you are a student at the university, and therefore eligible to stand, we will email you to confirm that you have become a candidate and post your details – along with all other accepted candidates - on our website. You should also attend a candidate briefing to run through what is expected of you as a candidate. These briefings are detailed on page 7, Training for Candidates. If you have any further questions, please email elections@ljmu.ac.uk

Publicity support from LiverpoolSU The students’ union will be producing publicity to promote candidates to voters. Candidates’ official manifestos (which we’ll create from the information on the nomination form, as detailed above) will be available online and in printed copies as a ‘Voter’s Guide’, which will be available at ballot stations. Candidates are, of course, able to create whatever extra publicity they like. Candidates will be supported with a £30 contribution towards campaigning costs. Please see the campaigning section for advice on how you could utilise this money (page 12). We’ll be regularly sharing the official manifestos with students by email, on our website and through our social media channels. We are impartial so we will only be pointing students towards manifestos and encouraging them to vote, but you are welcome to use our channels to campaign by posting on our Facebook wall (facebook.com/liverpoolsu) and using the #soelections hashtag on twitter.

Training For Candidates Info Sessions We’re holding two free, informal sessions to give anyone interested more of an idea of what the roles involve and how the election process works. This session will cover essential information including the roles, timeline, top tips and information on how to stand and how to win votes during the election week. This is a taster to find out more, with any and all questions welcome.

Book onto a session here: www.liverpoolsu.com/events

Event Details IM Marsh, Room M209 31st January 2017 – 5:30pm - 7:00pm Redmonds, Room 137 1st February 2017 – 5:30pm - 7:00pm

Compulsory Candidate Briefing Students who have submitted a nomination and have been accepted as candidates in the elections will be invited to a candidate briefing session. This is a compulsory meeting and all candidates must attend or send a representative from their team. The Deputy Returning Officer (who is responsible for overseeing the election) will brief candidates on the rules, latest news and expectations that everybody can have over the elections process.

Candidates will learn about: - Election rules and regulations - The voting method and how to vote - The support offered by the Students’ Union during the campaigning period - How we will declare the result

Event Details:

Thursday 16th February 2017, 5.30pm All details of election training can be found on our website: bit.do/so-process

The Election Process Top Tips from LiverpoolSU’s current President, Aisling Davis 1. Be innovative and think about what’s going to capture student’s attentions.

2. Don’t be shy - a big part of this role

requires you to talk to students from all different levels, subject areas and backgrounds. The more you do it, the easier it gets! Think of your “elevator pitch” – imagine you’re in an elevator and you have 2 minutes to convince the other person in with you to vote for you before they get to their floor.

3. Don’t be the Donald Trump of the election!

Nobody likes a mean person and it will get you the wrong type of publicity.

Prepare for the most exciting/tiring week of your life. Make the most of it and give it your all - you won’t get another chance!

5. Finally, be yourself.

Campaigning Before voting starts on the 6th March you will need to take time to plan your campaign. Evidence strongly suggests that the number of students voting in an election is heavily influenced by how candidates talk to voters and encourage them to vote. Candidates are therefore expected to campaign in person, along with their campaign teams, across campus during voting week. We actively encourage you to be creative and do your own electronic campaigning but you should remember that nothing convinces students to vote more than face-to-face contact. For more tips and advice on how to run a successful campaign check out page 10.

The Voting Process Voting Stations

The Voting Method

Voting is done online with an electronic ballot. There will be voting stations with laptops around each campus and in a few larger halls on a couple of evenings to help candidates guide students to vote. Voting stations will be supervised by election officials (Students’ Union staff). Elections officials will always ask campaigners to leave students well alone as they vote, and will require them to stay a distance away from the voting station.

In all elections, we use a method known as the Single Transferrable Vote (STV). This means that each voter gets the opportunity to rank candidates in the order they wish to see them elected – they will select numbers rather than just put a mark next to a single name. A winning candidate must receive a certain number of votes (also known as a quota) to be elected, which will change depending on the number of votes cast overall and the number of candidates in the election. We believe this method is most suited to students’ unions as it means candidates must have wide support to win.

Online voting Voting will take place through our website (www. liverpoolsu.com). Students will have been sent an email to their LJMU email inbox with a link to vote. If there are any issues with students not being able to find their email or vote, please let us know and we will respond as soon as we can. (There will be a page on our website where you can submit issues.) Students must vote themselves – it is not acceptable for students to vote on behalf of other students (and is actually against university rules).

More information about this method of electing candidates can be found at: bit.do/electoralreform At LiverpoolSU, students are voting for individuals in specific positions. This means that there are four simultaneous elections (one for each officer position), and students cast a ballot for each one individually. Students can vote for just one position, or they can vote for all four!

Results Night Voting Opens: 9am, Monday 6th March

Voting Closes: 2pm, Friday 10th March

The winners are declared at our Results Night, a high profile event where all three students’ unions in Liverpool come together to celebrate. It will take place on Friday 10th March 2016 and is an opportunity for campaign teams to eat, drink and relax after the voting closes at 2pm. Results Night is free to all students – candidates, campaigners and friends and is a chance to say thank you for all of your hard work over the elections process. We’ll talk to you more about this as the elections period continues, with more information closer to the time, but book the date in your diaries now.

Campaigning Planning Advice Each year during elections, we see candidates come up with some amazing ideas of how to campaign and communicate with students. This guide is based on advice from former candidates and Officers, and will give you some great tips on how to build the most effective campaign possible. Election campaigns are great fun, and you’ll meet people you would never normally come into contact with – so make sure you enjoy it, and good luck!

Why Are You Standing? The first thing you should do is to set aside a few hours to think about why you want to run, what you would do for students and how do you plan on conveying that message. These ideas and what you want to change should then be fleshed out into your manifesto. Your next step should be to contact a couple of close friends to run your ideas by them, and to try and develop a clear message and brand for your campaign. In the early planning stages, try to keep these meetings to just a few people as you don’t want to over complicate your ideas.

Who Are You Representing? Most importantly you should consider the students you hope to represent – after all this is why you are running for election. Remember, people’s experiences at University can vary because of social, cultural and other differences. So think about issues that will be common to everyone regardless of their background. A great way of doing this is to go along to student group meetings, and ask them directly about what they’d like to change.

What Are Your Key Policies? Having thought about the different types of students you will be representing, and the issues that affect them most, you should try and shape these into your key policies for your campaign. These policies should be what you put on your promotional materials and will form talking points when you’re out on campus speaking to students. We recommend you aim for three main policies that you think are the most important, and most appealing to students. The more original or creative these are, the more you’ll set yourself apart from the other candidates, and therefore the more recognisable your campaign will be. You need to tread the line between populism (what students want) and what is achievable in a year. Remember, you do have your full manifesto online where you can develop these ideas further, so try and keep them short and snappy. Finally, if you’re in doubt about whether you are able to campaign on something, ask yourself two questions: a) Does it affect the students I’m running to represent? b) Have I got an idea how to solve or improve it? 10

Your Campaign Message A key element to any successful campaign is the publicity behind it – how you tell students about your ideas and persuade them to vote for you.

Campaign Slogan(s)/Theme Many students decide that they want to have a slogan or theme that students can remember them by. Think about slogans used by political parties and political figures, such as Obama’s 2008 ‘yes we can’. This was effective as it made a clear link to what people wanted, and was simple enough to be repeated time and again. Another popular choice is to link your slogan to your name, which will help with recognition when students vote. If you think hard enough, almost any name can be made into a slogan.

Here are some examples: • Nisha Wright: Wright Here, Wright Now • Minnie Zhou: Vote Mini, Get Max • Ruth Brewer: No Guild Should be Ruthless • Stuart Beaumont: Only Stu Will Do

Campaign Colour This sounds like a simple decision, but you want to choose something that will really stand out and draw people’s attention to your campaign. In the past, people have picked colours that link with their name or campaign ideas and items of clothing they already own. If you decide to run in a slate (team) then you may want to all agree on a colour.

Translated Literature Universities are becoming increasingly international in their student make up. An option you might therefore consider is having your publicity translated to ensure your message reaches these students effectively.

Campaign Publicity It’s important to point out that you don’t need to use absolutely all of the publicity tips in this guide to win and that money is not the most important thing in an election. Each year students with small budgets are successful because they focus on the most effective methods – namely being creative and going out and talking to as many students as possible. Below are some ways you can get your message out to students:

Banners These can be very effective for placing outside and attaching to railings and lamp posts – again make sure you ask permission to avoid getting them taken down. You don’t need to spend lots of money buying banners - you can easily make them.

Posters/Leaflets Look at ideas from famous advertising campaigns, magazines and the television for some inspiration. Try and make yours stand out – through comedy, colour, shape or size. Your posters should have your name, a photo, your key policies, details of how to vote, and any slogans you’re using on them. You need to think about where you put your posters up to have the maximum impact on students. On campus, the university has a no poster policy and so you will need to put these up using the designated poster boards (details of the locations of these will be made available before the voting week). Remember posters and flyers are the least effective form of publicity, face-to-face communication is by far the best way of convincing students to vote in the elections.

Stickers Stickers are not allowed on campus as they end up stuck on floors and walls, and are a real pain to remove. They can, however, be really effective when out campaigning during student nights in the city. Keep them as simple as possible, with something as basic as “I’m voting for...”, and shop around to make sure you get the best value for money.

T-shirts T-shirts are an excellent way of having your supporters promote your campaign even when they are not actually out campaigning, and they will make your campaign easily identifiable. A cheap way to do this is to buy plain t-shirts and iron on transfer paper.

Video Making a video can be a great way of interacting with students who may not be on campus very often or who wouldn’t read a leaflet. You can make your video serious with you talking about your policies, or you can make a spoof video that you think will appeal to students and could go viral. Previously, students have chosen to act out scenes from films, sing songs or change the words of rap songs to make them relevant to their campaign. Upload them to Youtube or Vimeo and share as much as possible.

Facebook Setting up a Facebook group or page can be an excellent way to get your supporters to show their support for you, and to help raise the profile of your campaign online. You can publish your full manifesto, post updates on what you are doing and encourage people to vote for you.

Twitter Using the relevant hash tags when tweeting about the elections and posting photos, video, gifs and other engaging content is a great way of getting students interested. The official hashtag for the elections is #soelections.

Website It’s relatively easy to purchase a domain name specific to your campaign, and then have someone host the site. If you are using a blog as the template for your website you will also easily be able to see the traffic your website has each day. Continued on next page...

Email Address It is advisable to set up an email address specifically for the election that students are able to contact you on. This way you can keep your personal accounts separate, and can easily contact those voters with questions or queries.

Songs In the past, some candidates have also looked to music to help support their campaign â&#x20AC;&#x201C; ranging from re writing song lyrics of popular tunes, to original composed pieces.

How to campaign Recruit a Campaign Team

Election week timetable

Far greater success rates are usually associated with having a good group of campaigners who will help you spread the word about your campaign and encourage students to vote for you. Good people to ask to campaign for you are friends from your halls or accommodation, your course or society.

Get one of these written up, prior to the start of the elections, for you and your campaign team. This gives everyone an idea of what they should be doing and ensures that the key places, like ballot stations, are covered.

Managing your Campaign Team If you can, try and hold a training session where you familiarise them with your policies, tell them how you would like them to campaign, and go through the rules that all candidates and campaigners must abide by. This is also a great opportunity to talk about some of the benefits they’ll get from participating, particularly related to employability after graduation. The best way of ensuring students vote for you is to talk to them, not just hand them a flyer, so really emphasise this as much as possible. Take some time in putting together a rota if possible, so you know how much to expect from friends in terms of time commitment. Remember though, these people are doing this voluntarily, so don’t take it personally if they can’t give as much time as you’d like. It’s also worth setting aside some of your campaign budget for food and drink – a little gesture like this goes a long way. Have regular meetings keeping people updated on what’s happened, and spread people out around campus rather than just outside main buildings. It’s also worth stressing the importance of them not grouping together and simply talking to each other – you want them interacting with students. Appointing a close friend to act as a campaign ‘manager’ is an extremely useful technique to reduce some of the pressure during the election, and will allow you to focus on talking to as many students as possible yourself. Choose a good organiser, a people person, and someone who’s committed to helping you win.

Talking to Students When talking to students, try and be brief and to the point - but make sure you tell them something they will remember. A good icebreaker is to introduce yourself, and then ask them a couple of questions before you start to talk about yourself and your ideas. Focus on the changes you are proposing that are relevant to them – remember elections are about the voters.

Lecture Shout Outs For a minute or two you have access to up to 400 students, all in one place, ready to listen to you. Ask permission from the lecturer, and try and keep your pitch down to a minute – audience participation is great when it works, but can be tricky at 9am.

Freebies Many candidates choose to give out sweets or other freebies during election time to encourage students to talk to them.

Flash mob Some candidates have chosen to do a flash mob on campus to attract attention during a busy period of voting. In the past there has been singing, dancing and acting.

Campaign Launch Party Having a launch party can often be a very good idea. Invite your friends, their friends and get people along to celebrate the launch of your campaign.

Where to Campaign Voting Stations It’s really important that you and your campaign team are at voting stations encouraging students to vote, however you must make sure you give them some space when they are casting their vote.

Halls of Residences Outside of teaching hours this is a great way to get in contact with students, but do be mindful that these are students’ homes.

Bus queues The perfect place to catch students with a few minutes free to talk. Fliers are also useful here as they’ll have time to read them during their journey

Student events/societies In the run up to the election many candidates will choose to attend student events to try and gain support from the society and its members. Societies don’t usually mind this, however, you should speak to the President of the society before to check it is ok to do this.

Nights out This can be effective at raising the profile of your campaign, especially if you get your campaign team dressed up to attract attention. Be careful not to annoy students who may be taking a break from their studies though.

LJMU Campus coffee shops & café’s LJMU have confirmed that the peak times in their coffee shops and cafés are 10am to 11am and 12.30pm to 1.30pm Monday to Friday. Please do remember, though, that students in these areas are generally taking a break and may not appreciate being interrupted by Student Officer Elections campaign teams, even if you’re handing out free sweets! You may find it easier to encourage students to stop and talk with you on their way to or from the café, rather than while they’re sitting to eat their lunch.

Our Student Union spaces & other busy locations around campus In general, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday are the busiest days at and around our MiniSU locations. Here’s a summary of when/where you may find groups of students for your campaign activities:

Byrom Street This campus is usually busy all day from 8.45am until 2pm; students come in waves during the day and can be found at lecture theatres (Peter Jost, Cherie Booth, James Parsons upper and lower), waiting for lifts in the main foyer, outside the James Parsons Building main entrance and LiverpoolSU shop, as well as in Starbucks and the new social zone.

Redmonds Building Generally busiest from 11am – 1.30pm; the main entrance area at the bottom of the stairs has large footfall, also look for students coming out of the large lecture theatres (check timetables at the School Office). The Starbucks café at lunchtime is busy too.

Tithebarn Street (Avril Robarts Library) The café social space is busy between 11am and 1.30pm. You will also find groups of students at the main entrance to the building by the superlambanana and foyer area as students are leaving the library.

IM Marsh While the café social space is busiest between 11.30am and 1pm, you’ll also find some students here before 9am. Most students approach the IM Marsh campus via Barkhill Road, so you will tend to have crowds arriving by this campus entrance at the back of the car park. Groups of students also congregate outside the library and large lecture theatre. Continued on next page...

John Foster Building The social zone (ground floor opposite G06) is busy at lunchtime. You may also find groups of students leaving the large lecture theatre (check timetables at the School Office opposite G06) and MOOT room has potential, so worth paying a visit to the first floor to check if it’s busy around here. Pathways between John Foster Building and Aldham Robarts Library (and the grassy area in warm weather) are good spots to find students on their way from/to Lectures or the Library, as well as groups of students taking a break outside the library entrance.

Poster Board Locations – March ‘17 LJMU has a no poster policy so candidates are only authorised to put posters up in designated University locations. Pin boards will be provided by LiverpoolSU in agreement with LJMU for display of candidates’ election posters. We will release details of these locations before voting opens.

Appendix Complaints Procedure A complaint must be raised as soon as possible after the event which has caused the complaint to arise. Complaints can only be accepted before the close of the ballot, unless the complaint concerns the conduct of the count. Complaint forms are available from: bit.do/so-process This completed form should be emailed to: elections@ljmu.ac.uk In your complaint, you must tell us: • Your name and university you attend • Your contact details and Student ID • If you are a member of a campaign team • Date and time of complaint • Details of complaint • Evidence that a rule has been broken • What you believe the impact of breaking this rule has been in this instance • What you would like to see as an outcome

The Deputy Returning Officer (DRO) will consider the complaint and respond in writing (via email) within 48 hours of the complaint being received. We will endeavour to address all complaints prior to the announcement of results. Please note no complaint will be accepted if it is not on the official complaints form. Where a complaint has been made against a specific candidate, the individual will be informed in writing and they will be given an opportunity to respond. Where appropriate, candidates may be invited to come in and discuss the complaint in person. Following the decision of the Deputy Returning Officer, if either party believes that there is new evidence, or if they disagree with the outcome of the complaint, they can appeal to the Returning Officer (RO). The RO will investigate the appeal and will notify the relevant parties in writing. The decision of the Returning Officer is final. Appeals to the RO can be emailed to: elections@ljmu.ac.uk Returning Officer: Peter Robertson Deputy Returning Officer: Jane Whalen

Glossary of key terms Accountability – put most simply, this means making sure the organisation is doing its job properly. Activist - an especially active, vigorous advocate of a cause, especially a political cause.

Returning Officer – the person who has the final say over election disputes and problems with the elections process. They are the first person to receive and confirm the winners of the elections. They are from NUS (National Union of Students).

Ballot Station – this is an official point where students can vote, set up by the Students Union, however candidates can set up their own.

Slate – a group of candidates running together for different elected positions, they usually have the same or share similar policies.

Campaigning – this is what you need to do in order to persuade students to vote for you.

Slogan – a short sentence/phrase that you might use to brand you campaign, such as Choose Cheryl or Select Susan.

Candidate – someone who puts themselves forward to run in the elections. Democracy – this means being run by our members. Deputy Returning Officer – they are a member of staff from the Students’ Union and they consider all complaints about the elections, deliver candidate briefs and generally oversee the elections process. Elections – the process by which students choose their elected officers. Electorate – the name for the group eligible to vote in an election. Lobby – this is the process of using skills and persuasion to convince a group or organisation, such as the university, to change or introduce something. Manifesto – this is a public declaration of intentions, opinions or motives and is the document that each candidate produces for students to read to help them decide who to vote for.

SO Elections – this is the name and branding for the Student Officer elections we hold. STV – stands for Single Transferable Vote. This is the voting method used in this election. Sabbatical/Student Officer – a full-time officer elected by the members of the Students’ Union to run the organisation and represent their fellow students locally and nationally. Suspending Studies – this is something you are entitled to do if you get elected as a Sabbatical/ Student Officer during you time at university. Once you have finished your year in the role you can return to your studies. Trustee - a person, usually one of a body of persons, appointed to oversee the affairs of a company, institution, etc. Voting Period – this is the period of time that students are eligible to vote.

Nomination – you must submit a nomination in order to be a registered candidate in the elections. Policies – a set of ideas that reflects the opinions and beliefs of your campaign, which you use to try and persuade people to vote for you. Publicity – this is what you use to get students to know about your campaign. This could be anything from tweeting to banners. 18