7 Reasons to Encourage Your Students to Stand in SU Elections

It is that time of the year - the Students' Unions election period! I am sure you will soon be seeing banners, posters, promotional videos, and graffiti of students campaigning across campus to be voted for. Guess what? I was one of those students two years ago when I nominated myself for one of the five Elected Officer positions at the University of Portsmouth Students' Union (UPSU). It was a big decision, but the experience that I gained from the role certainly changed things around for me and my peers. Here are seven reasons to encourage your students to stand in for an SU officer/Exec roles:

1.? Just by campaigning, they are developing a huge set of skills. A lot goes into running an election, like crafting a manifesto, speaking at public forums, managing finances and a campaign team, adapting to challenges, and effectively communicating their great ideas with other students. These skills are highly transferable to professional settings and can lay the foundation for their leadership journey and future endeavours.

2. It is an opportunity to shape the student’s experience. Being an elected officer provides an opportunity to make a difference in the current and future students’ experience. Through the role, they will have a stronger voice at various institutional levels to ensure that the student’s needs and opinions are considered, and promises are acted upon. They will also receive training across the year to support their work within and outside the university.

3. It is a graduate job like no other. The SU is a perfect place for students to kick-start their careers. Only a handful of graduate schemes will offer the kind of organisational leadership experience that SU provides, such as attending high-level committee meetings and contributing to decision-making within the university. During my role, I gained regular experience in public speaking, chairing meetings, and campaign planning, as well as access to opportunities such as conferences, which enhanced my CV.

4. They get to give the Union a direction. Once elected, SU officers become part of the Trustee Board and may also chair the Board of Trustees, with ample support from the SU staff team. This means that whether it’s directing the charitable affairs of the union or ensuring that support and inclusive opportunities are made available to students and societies, they get to lead both strategically (as a trustee) and operationally (as an officer).

5.? Student Officers get paid decently. The role is a full-time job with a salary on par with many graduate jobs while still enjoying the benefits of student life. Generally, SU officers are paid around ￡18k to ￡30k, depending on the Union, and still have access to student services, support, and, of course, discounts!

6.? It is an avenue to create local and national impact: Being an SU officer transcends beyond just making changes within the university. It also involves making a positive change in the wider community - whether it is climate change or cost of living, racial inequalities, safer streets, or student wellbeing, student officers have the chance to have their say. For example, my previous officer colleague, Dom Owen , made a significant impact on local housing policy within the Portsmouth area and nationally through his Accommodation Ally campaign, which resulted in a parliamentary paper submitted in support of national renters’ rights.?

7.? Connection, Connection, Connection: The best part of the role, at least for me, was the connections I made within the role and being able to meet some great people. From meeting lots of students and staff to networking with university executives and local MPs, all these experiences built my confidence and interpersonal skills and naturally enhanced my ability to network, influence, and exchange knowledge.

Overall, running in an SU election is a massive commitment, but the experience of the role is fun and rewarding. You can encourage your students to start thinking about what position they would like to run for, what they would like to change, and how they would do it before campaigning starts. I would encourage them to run if there’s something they are passionate about seeing happen or change, no matter how minor – a small seed of an idea can become a huge tree of change, as it certainly did for me!

Thank you for getting this far. To reward you, here’s the old campaign poster that I used during my campaign, thanks to Canva, asking students to join me and “Let’s make history together” - and we certainly did!

If you found this useful and interesting and want to learn more about your university’s Student Union election, then I thoroughly recommend checking their website for election timelines, and how students can vote or nominate themselves to be voted for.