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Candidate Handbook 32
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INTRODUCTION Every year we run elections to find our next Presidents and Student Governor. We elect two President positions: President Kent and President Surrey. This year, our theme is ‘Connect’. As a student representative, you would be the most important connection students have to the Students’ Union, the University, and even the local community. Presidents can turn students’ ideas and needs into real action that makes UCA life better. Being a President or Student Governor also connects you with your potential; as a President you get training, freedom to lead your own projects, and a year of professional experience. As a Governor you have a position on a senior board and the chance to input into major decisions within UCA.
key dates Mon 9 Mar
10am:
Nominations open at connect.ucasu.com
Fri 13 Mar
12-2pm:
Candidate drop-in at SU office*
Mon 16 Mar
3pm:
Nominations close
Mon 16 Mar
5pm:
Candidates announced at connect.ucasu.com
Tue 17 Mar
10am:
Campaigning officially opens
Tue 17 mar
1pm:
Candidate Briefing at SU office
Thu 19 Mar
10am:
Voting opens! Voting is conducted by paper ballot, so students must visit their campus ballot box to cast their vote
Fri 20 Mar
3pm:
Voting closes. All complaints or concerns about elections must have been submitted to the Deputy Returning Officer on elections.su@uca.ac.uk The vote count begins
Fri 20 Mar
8pm:
Results announced at connect.ucasu.com
*If you’re considering running, this is your chance to speak directly to Sophie, our Head of Membership Engagement. You can contact her any time through elections.su@uca.ac.uk, but the drop-ins will allow you to chat face-to-face, or through video call. Just pop by your SU office with any questions.
president job description Term: 15th June 2020 - 14th June 2021 Salary: £18,023 per year Job Description: Our Presidents have one year, plus funding and staff support from the Union, to make the ideas they campaigned on into a reality. There are few other jobs where you get an opportunity to be so imaginative and independent, while helping people in your community. You also get to be a voice for UCA students within our Trustee Board, University committees, and meetings with the local community. You bring your own experience and knowledge of being a UCA student, and we help you with valuable skills training, and gathering wider student feedback. As a President, you can have meaningful input into important conversations in the University and community, that can help shape UCA students’ experiences for years to come. As part of the Union team, you also help out with major events in the annual calendar such as Freshers and our end-of-year Awards. You do some activity planning and organising, as part of our free Communities programme. There are so many unique opportunities to learn and gain skills as a President. Responsibilities and Duties: Developing and leading on projects that you believe will positively affect students’ experiences at UCA - you decide these projects when you write your campaign manifesto during elections! Creating or taking part in campaigns, based on student feedback about the issues they care about Gathering and acting on student feedback by leading our regular Student Forums and having proactive conversations with students on the campuses you are responsible for Work with student Activators and help to plan activities for the Communities calendar Participating in Campus Executive Committee with Campus Executive Officers, where you present motions about student issues and discuss the progress of each other’s work Representing students on committees within the university and locally - this might mean sitting on the Board of Governors, or attending a meeting with the local council
What kind of things can I do? Here are some examples of wins from past presidents:
• • • • • • • • •
Running a ‘Not all Disabilities are Visible’ badge campaign Setting up the Book Exchange in Canterbury and Rochester Launching a Housing advice guide Fundraised for UCASU to march in Pride in London four years running Released a self-care guide for artists Secured approval and funding from Medway Council to build a safer path across Jacksons Field by campus Started a free sanitary product scheme Created and delivered LGBTQ+ inclusivity training for UCA staff Released an ally guide to help students learn about other communities and how to support one another
Am I eligible? To be one of UCASU’s next Presidents, you have to be a current UCA student (and UCASU member, which you automatically become when you register as a student). You need to have ideas about what you would change about the campus or academic experience at UCA. If you write a manifesto that resonates with students and campaign enthusiastically, you’re already on track to be elected one of the next Presidents. If you are a Canterbury or Rochester student you can run for the role of President Kent only, and if you are a Farnham or Epsom student you can run for the role of President Surrey only. This means you are primarily accountable only to the students from your county, but will still work on all-campus issues from time to time. Votes are cast by students from all campuses for both roles, not just the students from your county.
student governor job description Term: August 2020 - July 2021 What is the Board of Governors? The Board of Governors (BOG) is the most senior board within the university. They’re responsible for creating and leading on the university’s mission, as well as encouraging a positive learning environment for UCA students. The Board:
• • • • • • •
Approves UCA’s strategic plan and business plans Is “employing authority” for UCA staff, meaning they ensure employment law is followed and make top-level decisions about staffing Appoints Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and other key University roles Has responsibility for the University’s assets and properties Ensures that the University operates legally. There are 22 Board members, including two student representatives: one of those is a UCASU President and the other is Student Governor - that could be you! The Clerk to the Board will offer you support in the role, as well as UCASU’s Chief Executive and Chair of Trustees.
Responsibilities and Duties: Your role is to represent students’ perspectives during the discussions that take place at Board meetings. This could be on topics such as UCA’s financial priorities, its values or mission, how UCA should develop, and academic and support standards.
You would: Attend an initial induction and regular briefing meetings, to ensure you’re prepared for Board meetings Attend Board meetings - there are only four per year, usually booked in for 2pm with a lunch provided beforehand Take part in a Strategic Away Day (this is usually an evening and 9am-5pm the following day) Read papers ahead of the meeting and prepare any points you’d like to raise When appropriate, look for feedback from fellow students about particularly complex or potentially controversial papers Be constructive with your feedback Respect the confidentiality of confidential items Disclose conflicts of interest, should they arise Adhere to Nolan Committee standards of behaviour: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership Why should I run for Governor? If you want to make change for students at UCA, this is the most direct and active way you can do it - you get to help make decisions about finances and University work and you get to represent students’ perspectives. It only takes up about 5-7 days of your time throughout the year, and offers you an excellent opportunity to develop your communication skills and experience of working in a professional setting. Am I eligible? If you’re a continuing UCA student - meaning you’ll still be studying at UCA next academic year - you’re eligible for the role of Student Governor.
how to win your elections What you’ll need:
Ideas that grab interest Some friends to help you Creativity Enthusiasm What to do: Create a manifesto - what would you change about your campus or academic experience? Put together a manifesto that lets people know why they should vote for you. Submit your nomination - go to connect.ucasu.com to nominate yourself now! If you don’t have a bio or manifesto just yet that’s okay, you can send it to elections.su@uca.ac.uk by Friday 29 March, 3pm at the latest. Plan your campaign - what are you going to do to get your ideas out there? You could make banners, give out flyers, organise a flash mob…make yourself known to students and the votes will roll in! Tip: You can spend a maximum of £20 on your campaign. Keep your receipts for any spending you do and submit it to elections.su@uca.ac.uk when elections are over to get reimbursed! Gather a team - do you have friends who can help you to campaign? Get them to spread the word in lectures, help you make posters and banners, whatever you need to make your campaign amazing. If your ideas are good and your campaign gets people’s attention, you are in the best place to win votes and ultimately win your election. Good luck!
how to make a manifesto A manifesto is a simple as: • a campaign slogan • some key ideas of things you’d like to work on if you are elected to the role Tips:
• • •
Make it bold and interesting to look at Include a photo of yourself - people are more likely to remember you! Maintain a theme across all your campaign materials
how to campaign You’re allowed to start campaigning as soon as candidates are announced on connect. ucasu.com, the evening of Mondy 16 March. Campaigning closes when voting closes, at 3pm on Friday 5 April. You can spend maximum £20 on your campaign. Please provide receipts for your spending to elections.su@uca.ac.uk after voting closes and you will be reimbursed for the full £20! To allow you to travel between campuses, we cover the cost of travel (by car or public transport) for you. If you are travelling by car, please give 24 hours’ notice of your planned journey to Sophie Jackson on elections.su@uca.ac.uk. If you would like to travel by public transport, please also give Sophie Jackson at least 24 hours’ notice and she can book your travel for you. If you fail to give notice, you will not be compensated for your travel spending and may face a consequence in your election. Campaigning can include: • Organising a flash mob or musical performance • Giving a speech in the canteen • Organising to do lecture shout-outs about your campaign • Speaking to students around campus • Making a video about why students should vote for you • Putting information on social media, including the UCA Freshers groups and your candidate page on the UCASU website • Putting up posters • Giving out flyers • Giving out badges If possible, get some friends to back you up and campaign on your behalf. The more people helping you out, the more students will be aware of you and your campaign! Particularly if you can find students on other campuses to support you. You must comply with election rules, which can be found at the bottom of the page on ucasu.com/elections. You are responsible for the behaviour of any member of your campaign team.
Check List • • • • • • •
Plan and design your manifesto Submit your nomination to ucasu.com/elections Get together a campaigning team Attend one of our Candidate drop-ins to ask any questions you might have Keep all the receipts from your campaign spending Campaign! Submit your receipts to elections.su@uca.ac.uk when voting closes
good luck!
what is single transferable vote The election is run using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) method. STV allows the voter to rank the candidates in order of preference. Voters mark their favourite candidate number 1, their second preferred candidate number 2 and so on. Voters do not have to rank all candidates, they can just choose their favourite and leave it at that. There is also the option to vote to Re-Open Nomination (R.O.N.), which a voter can use if there is no candidate they wish to vote for. If R.O.N. ‘wins’ the election, it will be run again, with the opportunity for new candidates to put themselves forward for the role. By allowing voters to rank candidates in order of preference, STV creates a system whereby the ‘least unpopular’ candidate wins. In a system where you vote only for your top preference, if that person loses then you have had no say about your next choice - your least favourite choice could equally win as your next favourite. By allowing you to rank, there is more nuance about who is truly the most popular candidate. In order to be elected a candidate must reach the ‘quota’ (over 50% of total valid votes cast). If after the first round of the count the quota is reached, that candidate is elected. However, if no candidate reaches the quota then the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and their surplus votes (the difference between their vote and the quota) are transferred amongst the remaining candidates. We then look to see if any candidate has met the quota, if not then the candidate with the next fewest votes is excluded and the process continues until a candidate reaches the quota and is therefore elected. Using STV, fewer votes are ‘wasted’ (i.e. cast for losing candidates or unnecessarily cast for the winner), and there is no need for tactical voting - voters can choose their favourite.
Questions Sophie Jackson Head of Membership Engagement (Deputy Returning Officer) elections.su@uca.ac.uk 01227 81 7412
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