Leadership Elections 2022
Nominations in our Leadership Elections are open from Tuesday 04 January at 09:00 until Wednesday 09 February at 16:00. Now more than ever, you can make a change by running to become one of our Sabbatical Officers, Faculty Officers, Senators, Trustees or our Chair of Senate.
Read the rules for our Leadership Elections 2022 here: Leadership Elections Rules (PDF).
To nominate yourself please make sure you're logged into the SUSU website, using your University of Southampton login details.
What is a Sabbatical Officer?
Our five Sabbatical Officers lead SUSU and represent all students at Southampton, ensuring their voices are heard and making positive changes happen. These roles are full-time, paid positions with a salary of £22,254 per annum. If elected you'll hold office from 01 July 2022 for a period of one year. You can run for this role in your graduating year, or you can pause your studies for a 'sabbatical' year while you're in office.
We provide full training throughout your term in office. You'll gain a wealth of experience through your role with SUSU, which you can use to improve your future employability while receiving recognition for the work you accomplish.
Union President
As Union Presisent you'll be the figurehead of SUSU and our public spokesperson. You'll lead the Sabbatical Officer team, and be our key liaison with the University and the Vice Chancellor. You'll ensure SUSU have a presence at all University campuses, and lead on all sustainability matters.
Read the full Role Description
VP Education and Democracy
As VP Education & Democracy you'll ensure students' academic interests are represented and lobby the University academic and educational issues. You'll lead on Union Democracy (including our Elections, All Student Votes, student petitions and more), and step in as Deputy President if required.
Read the full Role Description
VP Welfare and Community
As VP Welfare and Community you'll lead on student welfare, ensuring it is a consideration in all our activities and promoting support available. You'll represent, support and amplify the voices of students with protected characteristics, and lobby the University to act on feedback with regards to equality and diversity issues.
Read the full Role Description
VP Sports
As VP Sports you'll lead the Athletic Union (Team Southampton), develop sporting performance and encourage participation in sport. You'll support the running of our AU Clubs and oversee the grant allocation process, and lobby the University to make sport more accessible for all students. Plus you'll lead on Varsity and our AU Ball!
Read the full Role Description
VP Activities
As VP Activities you'll support all our affiliated societies and represent their interests, including overseeing the grant allocation process. You'll ensure society involvement and activity is as accessible as possible to all students, and work to ensure the recognition and support of student volunteers.
Read the full Role Description
Faculty Officer
As a Faculty Officer you'll be the lead representative for your University Faculty, and be the main point of contact for all the School and Department Presidents within your Faculty. You'll sit on Faculty Education meetings, and regularly review student feedback alongside the University to identify areas for improvement.
Read the full Role Description
Trustee
The Trustee Board is responsible for the overseeing the work and governance of SUSU, and is made up of 4 of the 5 elected Sabbatical Officers, 4 elected student trustees, and 4 external trustees. As an elected student Trustee you'll create and implement our strategy, be an active member of the board, and ensure SUSU is financially responsible in all areas.
Read the full Role Description
Senator
Our Union Senate is the committee that holds the Sabbatical Officers and their student officers accountable to their plans for the year. As a Senator you'll scrutinise the work of Sabbatical Officers, and make decisions on high–level or wide-reaching issues brought to Senate.
Read the full Role Description
Chair of Senate
Our Union Senate is the committee that holds the Sabbatical Officers and their student officers accountable to their plans for the year. As Chair of Senate you'll scrutinise the work of Sabbatical Officers, and make decisions on high–level or wide-reaching issues brought to Senate.
Read the full Role DescriptionFAQs
We know you might have a lot of questions about running for a full-time or volunteer role at SUSU, so we've put some of our most frequestly asked questions below. If there's anything you'd like to know that we haven't answered, or if you'd like more information about a role, please get in touch with our Elections team via representation@susu.org.
We are running Elections drop-in sessions both online and in-person so you can speak to our Representation team and ask any questions you might have about Sabbatical Officer or volunteer roles. No question is too big or small! Each session will be attended by a Sabb, so if you have questions specific to a Sabbatical Officer role, you might want to go along to a relevant drop-in. Drop-in sessions in January are all online, then in-person from 01 February.
You can look at the dates and times of our drop-in sessions on our calendar or on the timetable here: Elections Drop-in Sessions Timetable (PDF)
MS Teams links for our online sessions are available on our calendar.
Yes! As an International student you can run for any volunteer role with SUSU. You are also able to run for a Sabbatical Officer role but you must check that there are no specific restrictions on your student visa. If you have a standard student visa, you can run as a Sabbatical Officer.
Yes! If your studies continue until after 01 July 2022 we can be flexible with the start date for a Sabbatical Officer role. Please speak to our Elections team at representation@susu.org for more information.
Yes! We appreciate students may have other commitments (such as if you're a parent or carer), and we are happy to discuss any flexibility you may need for this role with you. Please speak to our Elections team at representation@susu.org for more information.
Don't worry if you're not the loudest or most confident person in the room - you can definitely still run in the Elections. All kinds of personalities can become a successful Sabbatical Officer or Academic Rep! You will need to campaign for votes in the elections and encourage students to vote for you, but this can be done in whatever way you feel comfortable.
Yes! If you're not in your final year of an Undergraduate degree you can still run to become a Sabbatical Officer. If elected, you are able to pause your studies for a 'sabbatical' year in office, then return to your studies from September 2023.
Yes! If you'll be close to your submission date when the role begins (01 July 2022) we can be flexible with requirements of the role to ensure you can finish your Masters degree or PhD.
If you're midway through your thesis, talk to your supervisor before nominating yourself to see if they agree to a year of suspension while you are in office.
If you have any concerns please speak to our Elections team via representation@susu.org.