Make your vote count :: Wessex Scene Online

Make your vote count

1st February 2006

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SUSU Elections Website

Mar 07 - The Lost Election
Mar 08 - Election Fever
Mar 07 - SUSU wanted Moore
Mar 04 - Editorial - March 2004: Elections
Oct 03 - Elections? Not interested.

Elections-fever will soon grip the Students’ Union as the battle for leadership begins in earnest. For a week, the concourse and the sites will come alive with candidates vying for your vote at the ballot boxes. But what is it all about and how can you get involved?

Southampton University Students’ Union exists to represent students studying at Southampton University. It is run by students for students; a number of elected student officers guide SUSU for the duration of their elected term in office - one year - and are responsible for its strategic direction, budgets and services to students. They do this with the support of permanent staff members.

There are eleven officer positions in total, six of which are full time, paid Sabbatical Officers and the remaining five are volunteer, part time Executive Officers. Each post gives you great skills, such as team working, communications, IT literacy and budgeting. Many students choose to run for an Exec Officer post for a year before running for sabbatical.

Any Union member can stand for election to any of the Officer positions and all current members can have their say in who is elected to office by voting in the Union elections, which occur once a year, usually in mid-March. Ten UCOMS (reps without portfolio) will also be elected. This year, the decision has been taken to move the dates of campaigning and voting to earlier in the year, so that voting will take place on 27 and 28 February and 1 March. Results will be announced on the evening of 1 March. Andy Wilson, the SUSU President, hopes that this will encourage more students to consider running in the elections as in past years many candidates have been unable to spare the time with their coursework and dissertation deadlines looming.

The current team have come from a variety of backgrounds and stress to anyone thinking of standing for election that it doesn’t matter how you get involved with the Union: if you are passionate about an area and have the interests of your fellow students at heart, you are a prime candidate so go for it!

Nominations open on Monday 30 January (forms can be obtained from the SU General Office). Nomination forms and manifestos must be in by Friday 10 February.
http://elections.susu.org