Summer Elections 2026
The Roles
School Presidents
School Presidents act as the key academic representatives for their schools, nurturing positive relationships between the university and student representatives. In the 2025 Summer Elections we have the following School President roles available:
- Art
- Biological Sciences
- Business
- Economic, Social and Political Science
- Education
- Electronics and Computer Science
- Engineering
- Geography and Environmental Science
- Health Sciences
- Humanities
- Law
- Mathematical Sciences
- Ocean & Earth Sciences
- ORC
- Physics and Astronomy
- Psychology
Department Presidents
The Department President’s role involves leading departmental representation, organising Course Reps, and promoting collaboration between students and the department to enhance the overall student experience. In the 2025 Summer Elections, we have the following Department President roles available:
- Aeronautics and Astronautics
- Archaeology
- Cardiac Physiology
- Chemical Engineering
- Chemistry
- Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Economics
- English
- Film
- Gerontology
- History
- ISVR
- Languages, Cultures and Linguistics & ACIS
- Maritime Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Midwifery
- Music
- Nursing
- Occupational Therapy
- Philosophy
- Physiotherapy
- Podiatry
- Politics and International Relations
- Social Statistics and Demography
- Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology
Faculty Officer
Faculty Officers are the senior academic reps in their faculty, reporting in to the Union’s VP Education and Democracy. In the 2025 Summer Elections, we have the following Faculty Officer roles available:
Arts & Humanities Faculty Officer
Engineering and Physical Sciences Faculty Officer
Environmental and Life Sciences Faculty Officer
Medicine Faculty Officer
Social Sciences Faculty Officer
PGR Faculty Officers
PGR Faculty Officers are the senior academic reps in their respective Graduate Schools working closely with the Doctoral College and the Union’s VP Education and Democracy to enhance the experience of PGR Students in the University. In the 2025 Summer Elections we have the following PGR Faculty Officer roles available:
Social Sciences PGR Faculty Officer
Medicine PGR Faculty Officer
Environmental and Life Sciences PGR Faculty Officer
Engineering and Physical Sciences PGR Faculty Officer
Arts and Humanities PGR Faculty Officer
Chair of Council
Student Councillors are responsible for overseeing the policy and political direction of SUSU, and approving and monitoring the work of our Sabbatical Officer team.
The Chair of Council sits on the council alongside 10 elected officers who hold other SUSU roles; 10 directly elected Student Councillors; and the 5 Sabbatical Officers.
Student Councillors
Our Student Council is the committee that holds the Sabbatical Officers accountable to their plans for the year. The Student Council also reviews the actions of the Sabbatical Officers to ensure they are representing students effectively.
There are 5 councillor positions available in the 2026 Summer Elections. A Councillor’s focus is primarily on accountability and transparency.
Trustee
As a Trustee at SUSU, you’ll help shape our organisation’s direction and governance. Collaborating with fellow trustees, staff, and students, you’ll develop and execute strategic plans while ensuring financial responsibility and integrity. For the 2025 Summer Elections we have four trustee roles available for nominations.
Suggest a Friend
If running in our Elections isn’t for you, but you know someone who would be fantastic at one of the above roles, you can put their name forward!
All you need to do is tell us their name, university email address and which role they would be perfect for, and we’ll get in touch!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
If you’re having any problems voting please contact representation@soton.ac.uk
Voting is open from 09:00 Tuesday 13 May to 16:00 Thursday 15 May.
Nominations are open in our Summer Elections from Monday 20 April at 09:00 until Thursday 07 May at 16:00.
If you’re having any problems nominating yourself for a role please contact representation@soton.ac.uk
Yes! All the roles you can run for in our Summer Elections are part-time, volunteer roles. This means you can be a Department President, School President, Faculty Officer or Trustee alongside your studies.
There will be times throughout the year where you may be called on to help promote SUSU campaigns, and there will be key meetings you must attend.
If at any point you find that you are struggling to balance voluntary work with your studies, we understand that your degree must come first. You can always come and speak to us and we will try our best to make things easier.
Depending on which senior rep role you are going for students from all years in your department/ school / faculty will be able to vote for you, so make sure you’re talking to students in all years and in other subjects where necessary.
Finally, remember to vote for yourself – it might be the vote that makes all the difference!
No, you can only hold one role at a time, as their responsibilities overlap. If you were to run for more than one role and be successful in both elections, you would need to choose which role to take up and a by-election would need to be held for the other role.
The terms of office for all the roles in the Summer Elections will be from July 2026-June 2027. You will therefore need to be a continuing student to hold any of these roles.
