Spring Elections 2017 - Full-time Officer Positions Guide

Full-time Officer Positions Guide

Are you thinking of running for a position in the upcoming elections but not quite sure what they are or what they do?

Well, this guide has been created to answer anything you are unsure of before you take the plunge, or dive deeper, into student representation.

Let’s start with the basics As a Union we are member led but unfortunately we cannot have 23,000 students in a room making decisions; we instead elect representatives each year to attend those meetings on behalf of the student body. Four of these representatives are the fulltime officers. These are students working full-time throughout their term in office being members of both University and Union committees ensuring students have input into any decisions that will affect them during their time at the University of Wolverhampton.

Each of the four officers has different remits within the representational structures of the University of Wolverhampton Students’ Union (notice the apostrophe in

Students’ Union, this means students own and lead their union.)

The current four positions are President, Academic Vice President, Welfare Vice President, and Student Experience Vice President however it was decided by Union Council (we’ll touch on this later) that these four positions needed to change to better reflect the student body.

So what are these new positions?

The new officer roles are:

Union Affairs Officer, Community Officer,

Academic Officer, and Diversity Officer.

These four positions were chosen to give more clarity on what each officer does by restructuring the areas they are responsible for whilst reinforcing the fact that each officer has the same amount of responsibility.

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So let’s dive deeper into these roles by looking at some of their responsibilities.

All four officers are voting members on the

Executive Committee,

Union Council, and the Trustee board. Each of these meetings has a different impact on the student experience be that through a change in policy or a campaign that helps students create change.

So let’s start with the Executive Committee that is made up of both full-time and part-time officers. The group is there to lead campaigns to tackle issues or problems raised by the student population with the committee providing the formal process to approve expenditure on campaigns and projects led by the officers.

Officers talk about the issues and discuss different solutions before deciding on the best action to take.

Union Council (told you we’d get back to this) is the democratic decision making body of the Union with over 30 student representatives proposing and debating policy to help improve the experience of their peers. Any decision made here is made representationally of the student body, not on behalf of, meaning representatives are expected to talk to students about any issues before casting their vote.

Policies created at Union Council can only be overturned by referenda, another motion or by the Trustee Board, which leads us on to our next talking point.

The Trustee Board is the highest governing body of the Union which is there to scrutinise the financial and representational risks of decisions made by the Union.

Although the Union is student led, it’s governed by a lot of laws and policies set by the government and the charities commission. The trustees are there to make sure we comply with any rules or regulations to ensure the Union is able to fulfil its’ core duties in the future.

The four full-time officers sit on the board with up to: one student trustee, one university trustee and 3 external trustees.

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So what do each of the officer roles do?

Union Affairs Officer The Union Affairs Officer will be responsible for overseeing all things democracy.

They will be the leading officer for developing and delivering our democratic processes. They’ll be expected to work with staff support to enhance our models to ensure all we do is from effective and genuine engagement with the wider student body.

The Union Affairs Officer will be responsible for effective communication between the full-time and part-time officers whilst ensuring that the Executive Committee is consistently performing at a high standard to provide positive change for the student body.

As well as working internally, the Officer will also be expected to work with local government agencies and other external organisations for the benefit of University of Wolverhampton students. It’s expected that they’ll engage with relevant issues with a high level of understanding and participation to create real change locally for students.

Key Relationships: University wide and faculty staff Local government councillors and senior staff External agencies All elected and volunteer Union officers SU Chief Executive Officer Student Engagement Managers SU staff NUS and officers and other external stakeholders at a senior level.

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Academic Officer The Academic Officer’s primary role is overseeing the academic representation structure through working with relevant staff to develop and deliver a strong model to enable students to influence change.

The officer will be expected to regularly meet with key university staff and academic committees to provide input into any decisions around academia; e.g teaching and learning, assessments and feedback; whilst monitoring the impact their position has had in influencing decisions in favour of the student body’s needs.

Any successes should be communicated to the wider student through a multitude of channels to show the outcomes of their work and allow student to engage with their projects.

As well as attending University committee meetings, the officer will be a key contact for academic representatives from Course Reps to Faculty Reps. They will be expected to be able to provide support when necessary to enable representatives to carry out their roles effectively or be able to signpost them to the relevant staff member to help them.

Key Relationships: University wide and faculty staff Local government councillors and senior staff External agencies All elected and volunteer Union officers SU Chief Executive Officer Student Engagement Managers SU staff NUS and officers and other external stakeholders at a senior level.

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Diversity Officer This role has been created to improve the Unions’ effectiveness at representing our diverse student population. Their remit will prioritise engaging with several core demographics that can often feel under-represented.

These student groups include but are not limited to: International students European Union students TNE students Black, Asian, and minority ethnic students Disability and liberation groups The officer will lead on any projects or campaigns that are specifically aimed at supporting these student groups such as the BAME Summit, Black History Month, International student events and liberation events such as LGBT+ History month.

This will help encourage students who may not stereotypically engage with us to get involved in the services we offer.

Key Relationships: University wide and faculty staff Local government councillors and senior staff External agencies All elected and volunteer Union officers SU Chief Executive Officer Student Engagement Managers SU staff NUS and officers and other external stakeholders at a senior level.

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Community Officer The Community officer has been created to represent students on campus life and external issues that can affect students during their time at University.

The role will be expected to engage with students to represent their issues effectively around, but not limited to: Housing Catering Transport Health and wellbeing Environmental issues Students as residents This person will be the lead officer when it comes to engaging with students in the SU space across all campuses to understand the needs of the student body in regards to our social provisions, services and campaigns. They will be the driving factor in student campaigns to improve their communities, whether this is around litter campaigns or quality housing to name a couple of examples.

They will attend several meetings to ensure that members’ voices are heard and fed into the University’s and SU’s plans where appropriate with a particular focus on the roles remit; engaging with students when possible to truly reflect the authentic student voice.

Key Relationships: University wide and faculty staff Local government councillors and senior staff External agencies All elected and volunteer Union officers SU Chief Executive Officer Student Engagement Managers SU staff NUS and officers and other external stakeholders at a senior level.

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For more information on the elections go to:

www.wolvesunion.org/elections