About the election process:

• Why do reps have to be elected?
• Why do student rep elections take place at the start of the academic year?
• Why doesn’t a student rep get elected for the whole three/four years of the degree?
• Why do I have to register my email address to nominate/vote?
• I am having technical problems registering/nominating/voting – what should I do?

About being a student rep:

• Who are student reps?
• What do student reps do?
• What time commitment is involved in being a Rep?
• What support will I get to be a Rep?
• How do I become a student rep?
• How long will I be a student rep for?
• What’s in it for me?
• What if I don’t want to stand in the elections?
• Any further questions?

Why do reps have to be elected?

Elections are held to ensure that there is a transparent and democratic process to decide upon who will represent students. This means that both students and staff can feel confident that student reps have been fairly chosen.

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Why do student rep elections take place at the start of the academic year?

The post of student rep lasts from Nov to end of Oct (to allow time for the elections to take place and for elected reps to receive training). This means that there are always student reps in place - 1st and 2nd year reps from one academic year attend the first few meetings of the new academic year.

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Why doesn’t a student rep get elected for the whole three/four years of the degree?

Holding elections each year means that new students have the chance to get involved each year.

Also - some students may not want to commit themselves to be a rep for three/four years.

However - student reps are allowed to re-stand each year, and subject to being re-elected may continue in position year after year.

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Why do I have to register my email address to nominate/vote?

The elections take place online. Both to nominate and to vote, students need to register by providing their University of Sussex email address. This is to ensure: (a) only University of Sussex students take part; (b) that the correct contact address is entered for nominees, so that they can be informed of the results; (c) one vote per student.

Once you have registered to nominate/vote you will receive an email with a link to the nomination/voting web page. The email and the web page will give you full instructions on what you need to do.

As you can only vote and nominate yourself once the link will only work once.

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I am having technical problems registering/nominating/voting – what should I do?

Contact Andy Spratley (a.j.spratley@sussex.ac.uk) who will be able to deal with your query.

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Who are student reps?

Student reps (‘reps’) are fellow students elected to represent the student perspective within their department year to the University and Students Union (USSU).

There is one undergraduate rep per department per year group. There are also postgraduate taught and research reps.

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What do student reps do?

Reps ensure that student concerns, views and opinions are heard and acted upon by the University and the Students Union. By consulting students about their teaching and learning experience and taking these views to the University, reps ensure that good things get emulated in other courses/departments/schools and the bad things get changed. Essentially this means that reps:

• find out if students in their department year have any concerns or issues relating to their course or student experience at Sussex;
• relay these issues to the University’s academic departments, senior management, and Students’ Union and make suggestions for change; 
• relay the outcome of any meetings with the University or Students Union back to the students they represent.

By doing this, reps play a key part in reviewing and improving the student experience at Sussex.

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What time commitment is involved in being a rep?

At a minimum Reps should expect to spend 10-hours per term on Rep duties (this equates to an hour a week). This means attending:

• Student Staff Consultative Committees: run by the department, usually once per term for up to an hour
• Department meetings: twice-termly in which Rep-specific issues are timetabled to the first part of the meeting (so Reps can leave when the meeting moves onto unrelated issues) 
• School Forums: up to once per term
• Student Union Rep Meetings: twice-termly informal meetings attended by other Reps, the place to network, share experience and get ideas.

Some reps opt to take on additional responsibility and (subject to availability of places) sit on higher-level University committees and/or working groups (these include Senate, School Teaching and Learning Committees and IT consultative group, to name but a few.

Between meetings reps are required to be as available as possible to students in their department year. By doing so reps are well placed to have an up to date knowledge of student issues or concerns in their department in order that they effectively represent the student voice. This means additional time as a rep is spent:

• finding out what students think
• feeding back to students outcomes of meetings attended

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What support will I get to be a rep?

Training: the Students Union runs training for all elected reps (reps have a choice of dates). The 2½ hour session covers all the essential skills you need to be a rep.

Department Support: there are staff members within each School and Department who are able to assist reps with department/school specific queries.

Ongoing support from the Student Reps staff team: The Students’ Union arranges meetings to allow reps to discuss issues of common concern with other reps (see contact details at bottom of this e-mail for who we are).

Student reps Website: All reps are encouraged to use the student reps website: www.studentreps.co.uk. The website provides reps with ongoing support and lots of guidance materials as well as links to committee papers.

Handbook: Reps receive a handbook containing lots of useful information and resources.

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How do I become a student rep?

Great, You will need to nominate yourself by logging onto www.studentreps.co.uk from Monday 29th September to Friday 17th October midday. Voting will take place from 21-23 October.

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How long will I be a student rep for?

If you are successful you will receive training and start a 12-month term, which runs from (November to October – unless you are a finalist in which case you will finish your Rep duties at the end of the summer term).

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What’s in it for me?

As well as playing a crucial role in the student experience of Sussex there are benefits to you personally:

Skills & Experience:

You will gain the following experience and skills, which will look great on your curriculum vitae (CV):

Socialising and informal networking:

The Students’ Union staff team will organise student rep social events (a calendar of which will be available on the student reps website).

What if I don’t want to be a rep?

That’s fine you can still get involved by voting (21st to 23rd October).

Don’t forget to contact your student rep at any point during the year if you have a question or issue relating to your teaching, learning or wider student experience at Sussex. If you want to know who your rep is take a look at ussu.info/studentreps

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Any further questions?

If you have any questions, please check the website studentreps.co.uk or get in in touch:

Thank you for your interest in the scheme, if you have any questions about the scheme and/or the elections please do not hesitate to contact one of us.

Student Rep Support Team

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