MDXSU ELECTIONS | #BESOMEBODY
CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
MDXSU is proud to be a democratic, student-led organisation, making a difference to the lives of students at Middlesex and beyond. Thank you for standing in our elections – this is your chance to play a key role in directing the work we do, and continue improving life for students. Whether you’re standing for a part-time role or a full-time paid position, this handbook will tell you everything you need to know about being a candidate, from campaigning tips to the all-important rules. Think of it as everything you need to get yourself elected, with some extra advice on top! If you have any queries about the information included in this booklet or elections in general, get in touch! You can contact the us at studentvoice@mdx.ac.uk. Alternatively, feel free to drop in and visit us – we’re downstairs in MDX House.
CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
About your Students’ Union
MDXSU is led by students for students! We are a non-profit organisation led by four full-time elected Student Officers and other voluntary student leaders. It’s our job to represent all 18,000 students studying at Middlesex, and help students make the most of their time here. As your Students’ Union, we organise events, oversee your student media, support over 70 societies, provide a confidential advice service and more. We give students access to experiences that are fun and empowering, helping you to develop skills and improve your employability. It’s our job to represent the student population of Middlesex University, championing your rights and making sure your voice is heard. In the past year, we’ve hosted more events than ever before, launched a free MDXSU app, lobbied the university on a variety of issues and successfully campaigned for Barnet to accept 50 vulnerable Syrian refugees.
#BESOME It’s an amazing time to join us, and we’re so excited that you’re eager to play a key role in continuing MDXSU’s success.
CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
WHAT POSITIONS ARE AVAILABLE? Full Time Positions • • • •
President Vice President Business & Law Vice President Health & Education and Science & Technology Vice President Art & Design and Media & Performing Arts
Part Time Positions • •
School Voice Leader x 6 (one per school) Members of Democracy and Involvement Committee x 5 NUS Delegates x 6 Student Trustees x 2
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CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
what do these roles involve? FULL TIME POSITIONS The President and Vice President positions are full time jobs for one year, for which you will be paid a salary of £21,840. If you are not a final year student you will need to take a year out of your studies to take on this role, so you will need to check with your programme leader first. The Presidents and Vice Presidents lead the Students’ Union, sitting on our Executive Committee alongside the School Voice Leaders and representing students within the Union, the university and the wider community. The full-time Student Officers campaign for positive change, deliver services, carry out work as determined by students and are responsible for the strategic oversight and direction of MDXSU. They attend University committees and meetings where they represent the student population, and, as MDXSU is a registered charity, they also sit on our Trustee Board. Helping the Student Officers are a team of MDXSU staff. Officers do not manage staff, but direct their work by developing our overall strategy.
#BESOME If elected, you will be expected to work for the Students’ Union from July 2016 until July 2017, including 25 days paid Annual Leave during this time. Before standing, please ensure you will be able to fulfill the role and it’s requirements if elected. . CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
PARttime positions There are a range of part-time, flexible, voluntary roles at MDXSU which you can fit in around your life and studies. Training will be given so no experience is necessary - just lots of ideas and a desire to get things done! If you are elected as a NUS National Conference delegate, you must be available to attend the National Conference in Brighton between 19th and 21st April. All accommodation, travel and food expenses are covered. For full descriptions of these roles please head to www.mdxsu.com/elections/positions
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CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
WHO CAN STAND? There are very few limitations on being a candidate. The criteria is simply: You must be a current student at Middlesex University at the time of the election Student Trustees must fulfil the requirements as set by the Charity Commission, which you will have agreed upon nominating yourself. Please get in touch if you have any questions. To stand for Vice President, you must be a student of one of the two schools represented by the role. So if you want to be the Vice President for Art & Design and Media & Performing Arts, you must be from one of those two schools. To be a School Voice Leader, you must be a student of that school. Any student can run for the role of President or any of the other part-time, voluntary roles.
#BESOME IDEAL CHARACTERISTICS
You do not need any prior experience or knowledge regarding any aspects of the roles to stand for election. However, canaidates with the following characteristics and interests might find them helpful: CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
A passion for influencing change A willingness to listen to students and take their views seriously, even if they conflict with your own To think and consider without judgement A willingness to experience and learn amazing things over the course of a year and have a great time doing it!
BE PREPARED
The worst thing you can do when standing for election is not be prepared. Before finalising your manifesto – more about this later in the handbook – ask other people to read it through, listening to their feedback and views. Make sure that you are not breaking the election rules, and be honest with your proposals. Always be creative, but never with the truth! When thinking about your manifesto, don’t just focus on your own ideas. Speak to students who you wouldn’t normally speak to and find out what their views and issues are. The same goes for campaigning! With online voting, students can vote even without coming onto campus, so think about how you’ll engage voters who you may not get to meet faceto-face.
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BE PREPARED AND LISTEN TO STUDENTS. CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
Fri 19th Feb Fri 24th Feb Mon 29th Feb Mon 29th Feb Wed 2nd Mar
5pm
Manifesto Deadline 4pm
Voting opens online 10am 5pm 7pm 12:30pm 2:30pm
12pm 7pm
Nominations Close
Question Time
CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
Question Time
Voting Closes
Results Night
Fri 4th Mar
Fri 4th Mar
MDX House
Hand all receipts into MDXSU by 1pm
MDX House
The Quad
Vote online, or at one of our designated polling booths
www.mdxsu.com/elections
www.mdxsu.com/elections
Mon 25th Jan
9am
Nominations Open
Place
dATE
TIME
EVENT
KEY DATES 2016
NOTES
CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
VOTING SYSTEM Our online voting system allows students to list candidates in order of preference. It is important that you understand how this works. We use preferential voting, which means that students can not only vote for their favourite candidate, but also second and third etc, if they wish. Place a ‘1’ by your favourite, ‘2’ by your second favourite and so on, so a sample ballot paper might look like this!
luke Skywalker
2
Darth Vader
1
Yoda Re-Open Nominations
3
Imagine you met this voter in MDX House. She might say:
“
…I would like Darth vader to win, so I’ll give him my first preference. However, if he gets too few votes to win and is out of the running, then I would go for Yoda. If he is also eliminated because he receives too few votes, then I don’t want anyone to win, so I’m choosing to re-open nominations instead
CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
”
Complaints The election rules and complaints procedure are available at www.mdxsu.com/elections/rules If you believe the rules have been broken and wish to make a complaint, please put your complaint in writing to studentvoice@mdx.ac.uk. All complaints must be supported by evidence for the Returning Officer to be able to make a ruling.
More info For more information about any aspect of the elections, contact the Student Voice team on studentvoice@mdx.ac.uk or pop into MDXSU downstairs in MDX House.
CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
The Rules
To make sure the elections are fair there have to be some rules in place. This page only summarises the rules - it does not list them in detail - so you must attend a compulsory candidates briefing where the rules will be explained and any questions can be answered.
Candidate Briefings: Saturday 20th February, 10:30am - 12pm, C211 Tuesday 23rd February, 10:15am - 11:45am, room W158 Thrsday, 25th Febraury, 5:15pm - 7pm, room C205 Head to www.mdxsu.com/elections/rules for the rules in full. Please make sure you know them!
The main rules Don’t break the law or the university regulations Treat other candidates, students and staff with respect Don’t do or use anything that another candidate could not do or use No campaigning in the library or in religious spaces No posters or other materials on internal walls No using your own devices to solicit votes, or any other kind of coercion You may spend no more than £40 on your campaign
#BESOME CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
Campaigning Campaign Team
There are 18,000 Middlesex students, many of whom will not be on campus, so get a campaign team together to help you get your message out. Make sure you plan with them brief them fully on your ideas and why you are running. It’s a good idea to bring them along to our candidate team training session too! Dates can be found at www.mdxsu.com/elections/dates Make sure your campaigners know the rules. If they break the rules on your behalf, it is only you who can be held to account.
Budget
You can spend up to £40 of your own money on your campaign, and MDXSU will reimburse up to £20. Full time candidates will receive a campaign pack containing t-shirts, materials to make banners and other useful stuff!
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The rest is up to you! Be creative, but stay within the rules. Follow the rules!
CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
QUESTION TIME
Candidates standing for President or Vice President will get to take part in our two Question Time events. These give you the opportunity to tell students why they should vote for you and give students an opportunity to find out more. Your Question Time involvement will include a short speech followed by answering student questions. Both your presentation and your answers can be extremely influential in who your audience decide to vote for. The events will be recorded and shared, so your audience isn’t just limited to the students in the room!
GETTING READY It is perfectly normal to feel anxious prior to taking part in Question Time, but we’re here to help as much as possible.
#BESOME Come along to one of MDXSU’s Public Speaking workshops to pick up our top tips, get a head start on writing your speech, try out your public speaking skills and ask any questions you might have.
CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
TOP TIPS YOUR SPEECH •
Practice in front of friends in order to get their feedback and time your speech
•
Speak slowly
•
Use cue cards to prompt you
•
Don’t assume that the students know who you are or what you’re talking about— use language that anyone can understand
QUESTIONS
Some questions will be submitted to MDXSU in advance, and some will be asked at the event. They may be addressed to individual candidates, but all candidates will have the opportunity to respond. When answering these questions the most important things to remember are to take your time, feel free to ask for questions to be repeated, be clear on your message, and enjoy it! You won’t believe how amazing you’ll feel afterwards!
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CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
WRITING A MANIFESTO Manifestos are a very important part of your campaign. A manifesto essentially tells students who you are, why they should vote for you and what you want to achieve if elected. Students standing for a part-time position can submit a written or a visual manifesto, while those standing for fulltime role will need to submit only a visual version. These visual manifestos can be handed out as flyers and circulated on social media, so it’s important to have one. MDXSU will also print all candidate manifestos in our manifesto guide – make sure yours stands out!
Top tips for manifesto writing! 1. Think about what would influence you to vote for someone. What are the issues of interest to students? Make a list of things you want to change. 2. Select three or four issues as priorities and concentrate on these in your campaign materials and when you’re talking to students. Make sure these issues will not only strike a chord with students, but will also be achievable!
#BESOME 3. Outline how each of these issues affects students and what you would do about it if you got elected. CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
4. Remember to tell the voters about you! Students will often vote for candidates who they have something in common with. 5. Check your spelling and ask friends to proofread it. 6. Think of snappy titles. Voters tend to scan election materials, so it is crucial to draw them in with a headline. 7. Make it fun yet informative. Remember you want people to trust you as their representative. 8. When producing a visual manifesto, make sure it’s eyecatching but legible. Feel free to ask design or computer savvy friends for help, though even simple designs can be effective. 9. Remember that even if you aren’t a voter’s first choice, students can specify a second preference—make sure that person is you! 10. Come along to the MDXSU training sessions for advice and your chance to ask any questions you may have – training dates can be found online at www.mdxsu.com/elections/dates
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DON’T FORGET! YOUR MANIFESTO NEEDS TO BE SUBMITTED BY 4PM ON WEDNESDAY 24TH FEBRUARY. PLEASE EMAIL THIS TO STUDENTVOICE@MDX.AC.uk CANDIDATE HANDBOOK
MDXSU ELECTIONS | #BESOMEBODY