Making change at the SU couldn’t be simpler. All you have to do is answer the following two questions in any way you want and these will be discussed at the Student representative Forum.
What do you want to change?
Southend and Loughton students have different needs compared to Colchester based students. Part time representation on both of these campuses is needed to ensure students’ needs are met and they are represented, as well as to push Students’ Union activity to students and become ambassadors of what we are doing on the campuses.
Stephen Brennan
How would you like to change it?
By law 2 – Forums
1. FORUMS
a) Forums are open to all Union members, except in the case of liberation and sectional forums, and exist to either represent certain groups of students, or to inform the work of the Students’ Union on a particular issue, event or campaign.
b) Liberation and Sectional Forums may adopt individual terms of reference as to which members of the Union can attend and vote in line with the safe space policy in By Law 13.
c) The Students’ Union recognises that certain groups on campus require representation and that certain parts of the work the Union does are crucial, and so there shall be these permanent forums:
· LGBT· Women’s
· Black, Minority, Ethnic
· Disabled Students
· Mature/Part-Time
· Postgraduate
· Faculty of Humanities Course representative Forum
· Faculty of Science and Health Course Representative Forum
· Loughton Forum / · Education
· Welfare
· International Students Association
· Societies Guild
· Sports Federation
· Faculty of Social Sciences Course Representative Forum
· Services Forum
· Southend Forum
d) These forums will be chaired by a member of the Students’ Union Executive Committee and will be facilitated by a clerk; a member of Students’ Union staff.
e) Permanent forums must be held a minimum of two times in each term.
f) Forums are designed to be free flowing and open meetings where discussion can be had, and students have the ability to coordinate further action, based on resolutions arrived at by the participants within the same forum.
g) In the event that a decision be taken, or a member wants the forum to make a recommendation to the Student Representative Forum, there will need to be a majority vote.
2. STUDENT LED FORUMS
a) Any Union member is permitted to create new forums with the agreement of an Executive Officer, who will then facilitate the newly created forum.
b) The Union member, in creating the forum, would be required to set its purpose, what it hopes to achieve and its time-scale.
c) Forums set up in this way will also receive the same staff support that permanent forums do.
d) In the event a Union member cannot obtain agreement from an Executive Officer to initiate a forum, this can be agreed by the Student Representative Forum through a majority vote.
By Law 3 - EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
1. Membership of the Executive Committee shall consist of:
Sabbatical Officers:
· President
· VP Education
· VP Welfare and Community
· VP International Students
· VP Activities
· VP Southend and Loughton
· VP Services and Communications
Part-Time Officers:
· Campaigns Officer
· Charity and Fundraising Officer
· Equality and Diversity Officer
· Ethics and Environment Officer
· Participation and Involvement Officer
Sectional Officers
· Mature and Part-Time Students Officer
· Postgraduate Officer
Liberation Officers
· Black and Minority, Ethnic Students Officer
· Disabled Students Officer
· LGBT Officer
· Women’s Officer
2. Southend Executive Committee
Sabbatical Officer
· VP Southend and Loughton
Part Time Officers
· Education Officer
· Events and Activities Officer
· International Students’ Officer
· Postgraduate Students’ Officer
· Welfare Officer
3. Loughton Executive
Sabbatical Officer
· VP Southend and Loughton
Part Time Officers
· Education Officer
· Events and Activities Officer
· International Students’ Officer
· Welfare Officer
4. Responsibilities
a) Each Executive Committee will oversee the day to day running of the Union. It shall take decisions it deems necessary and desirable for the interests of the Union. As it is responsible for collating and coordinating the activities of the Union, the Executive Committee must present detailed reports to the Student Representative Forum or specific Campus based Forum which shall be posted on the SU website.
b) The Executive Committee will be held to account on its decisions and work by the Union membership at the Student Representative Forum or specific Campus based Forum.
c) The exceptions to this are the Sectional and Liberation Officers, who shall be held to account for their work by their designated forums.
d) The Committee should:
i) Meet once every two weeks during term time.
ii) Two days before each meeting, an agenda should be published.
iii) Minutes shall be displayed as soon as possible afterwards.
iv) Quorum shall be half + 1of those members in office.
e) Officer trustees shall be subject to the capability and disciplinary procedures outlined in By Law 7. An exception to this is if the matter is one of a democratic or constitutional nature, at which point see By Law 11.
f) All other Executive Officers shall be subject to the procedures in By Law 12, in SRF.
g) Job descriptions are laid out in By Law 13
h) While the terms for all Officers nominally run from the 1st of July to the 30th of June each academic year, the term for the Postgraduate Students’ Officer and the Southend Postgraduate Students’ Officer shall run from the point of election till the 30th of September, the following academic year.
By Law 13, Representatives job descriptions
Full time Officer Trustee Positions (Sabbatical Officers)
President
VP Education
VP Services and Communication
VP Welfare and Community
VP Student Activities
VP Southend and Loughton
VP International Students
Part-Time Executive Officers
Equality & Diversity Officer
Charity and Fundraising Officer
Campaigns Officer
Ethics and Environment Officer
Participation and Involvement Officer
Sectional Officers
Postgraduate Students Officer
Mature and Part-Time Students Officer
Liberation Officers
Women’s Officer
LGBT Officer
Disabled Students Officer
Black & Minority Ethnic Students’ Officer
Appointed Representatives:
Faculty Convenors
Southend Executive Committee
Education Officer
Events and Activities Officer
International Students’ Officer
Postgraduate Students’ Officer
Welfare Officer
Loughton Executive Committee
Education Officer
Events and Activities Officer
International Students’ Officer
Welfare Officer
All representatives shall:
i. Carry out all duties and responsibilities in accordance with all the Union’s Articles of Governance and policies.
ii. Always behave in a manner that maintains the good reputation of the Union and the office to which they have been elected or appointed.
iii. Strive to represent fairly the opinions and issues of their constituencies and Essex students as a whole.
iv. Represent the Union and its members’ interests in a professional manner, both internally to the University and externally.
v. Attend University meetings as outlined in this By Law.
vi. Carry out any other duties as may be assigned to them from time to time by the Student Representative Forum and the Executive Committee which are reasonably consistent with that representatives position.
vi. Consider the development of the Union's provision to the student body as an integral part of their role.
vii. Act as responsible Trustees of the Union (applies only to the Officer Trustees).
viii. Attend Executive, Student Representative Forum and other Union meetings as appropriate and report to those meetings on their activities and actions.
ix. To be the delegate to relevant NUS conferences in the absence of any other democratically elected delegate.
To insert after executive positions
Southend
Education Officer
1. To liaise with the VP Southend and Loughton, VP Education and Union staff on academic issues facing Southend students.
2. To ensure the Union addresses academic issues affecting the quality of education received by the membership, and to work to raise awareness of those issues amongst the membership where appropriate.
3. To encourage students to become Course Representatives.
4. To promote the academic work the Union does including but not limited to the Students’ Choice Awards, Vital Statistics and Faculty Student Voice Reports.
Events and Activities Officer
1. To liaise with the VP Southend and Loughton, VP Activities and Union staff regarding events and activities on campus.
2. To help plan events to take place on campus.
3. To promote all events and activities taking place on campus.
4. To help organise any clubs and societies awards ceremonies taken place in Southend.
5. To take an active interest in all clubs and societies and their activities.
6. To liaise with VP Southend and Loughton, and Union staff to organise Freshers’ Fayre.
7. To work with the Student Activities and Development Team to deliver the best participation services for students.
International Students’ Officer
1. To liaise with the VP Southend and Loughton, VP International and Union staff on issues facing International Students on the Southend campus and to encourage participation of these students in the work of the Union and life of the University.
2. To ensure the Union is effective in its representation of International Students and to outside bodies and that the Union is sensitive to these students’ cultures and beliefs.
3. To communicate effectively and regularly with the International Students’ Association Committee.
4. To help plan events, alongside Events and Activities Officer, for International Students on campus.
5. To attend Winter Planning Group meetings to ensure there is sufficient activities for International Students to get involved in on campus during the winter break.
6. To ensure the academic needs of International Students are met alongside the Education Officer.
Postgraduate Students’ Officer
1. To be responsible for representing issues facing Postgraduate students on the Southend campus and to encourage the participation of these in the work of the Union and the life of the University.
2. To ensure that the Union is effective in its representation of Postgraduate students within the University and to outside bodies and that the Union is sensitive to these students’ needs and issues.
3. To be responsible for ensuring that all relevant information about the Union’s activities, facilities and services is regularly and effectively communicated to all Postgraduate students.
4. To raise awareness amongst the University community of issues affecting Postgraduate students through means of campaigns.
5. To ensure that regular Postgraduate student meetings are held during term time, and to chair that meeting.
Welfare Officer
1. To liaise with the VP Southend and Loughton, VP Welfare and Community, and Union staff to promote welfare activities and campaigns, taking place on campus, and work on issues affecting students’ welfare.
2. To take a role in the training of Advice Centre volunteers.
3. To ensure that students are aware of Union welfare and security services.
4. To be aware of issues in the community that can affect the welfare of students.
5. To get involved in the organisation of Freshers’ Fayre and Welfare related events.
Loughton
Education Officer
1. To liaise with the VP Southend and Loughton, VP Education and Union staff on academic issues facing Loughton students.
2. To ensure the Union addresses academic issues affecting the quality of education received by the membership, and to work to raise awareness of those issues amongst the membership where appropriate.
3. To encourage students to become Course Representatives.
4. To promote the academic work the Union does including but not limited to the Students’ Choice Awards, Vital Statistics and Faculty Student Voice Reports.
Events and Activities Officer
1. To liaise with the VP Southend and Loughton, VP Activities and Union staff regarding events and activities on campus.
2. To help plan events to take place on campus.
3. To promote all events and activities taking place on campus.
4. To take an active interest in all clubs and societies and their activities.
5. To encourage students to set up clubs and societies.
6. To liaise with VP Southend and Loughton, and Union staff to organise Welcome Week Activity.
7. To work with the Student Activities and Development Team to deliver the best participation services for students.
International Students’ Officer
1. To liaise with the VP Southend and Loughton, VP International and Union staff on issues facing International Students on the Loughton campus and to encourage participation of these students in the work of the Union and life of the University.
2. To ensure the Union is effective in its representation of International Students and to outside bodies and that the Union is sensitive to these students’ cultures and beliefs.
3. To communicate effectively and regularly with the International Students’ Association Committee.
4. To help plan events, alongside Events and Activities Officer, for International Students on campus.
5. To attend Winter Planning Group meetings to ensure there is sufficient activities for International Students to get involved in on campus during the winter break.
6. To ensure the academic needs of International Students are met alongside the Education Officer.
Welfare Officer
1. To liaise with the VP Southend and Loughton, VP Welfare and Community, and Union staff to promote welfare activities and campaigns, taking place on campus, and work on issues affecting students’ welfare.
2. To liaise with the Advice Centre on drop in sessions during the academic year.
3. To ensure that students are aware of Union welfare and security services.
4. To be aware of issues in the community that can affect the welfare of students.
5. To get involved in the organisation of Welcome Week Activity and Welfare related events.