OUSU Executive Committee review 2016:
Changing the structure of OUSU to enable officers to
deliver more for students
The Executive’s official role is to: contribute to making OUSU’s policy, implement our
Policy, represent students on University committees, and campaign in students’ interests.
Current Executive

Campaigns not
at the centre of
OUSU’s structure
Proposed new Executive
6 Sabbatical Officers

Academic Affairs Campaign Officer
Graduate Academic Affairs Officer
Access and Admissions Officer
Black and Minority Ethnic Students Officer

Not enough time
for Sabbatical
Officers to
prioritise
campaigns
Lower participation in recent
elections
Michaelmas 2015 election: 12 parttime executive roles went unfilled,
and 5 were uncontested. Crosscampus elections put many great
candidates off.
Clubs and Societies Support Officer
Common Room Support Officer
Community Outreach and Charities Officer
Disabled Students Officer
Environment and Ethics Officer
Health and Welfare Officer
Graduate Welfare Officer
International Students Officer
Graduate International Students Officer
LGBTQ Officer
Graduate LGBTQ Officer
Mature Students Officer
Rent and Accommodation Officer
Student Parents and Carers Officer
Trans Officer
Women’s Campaign Officer
Graduate Womens Officer

Part Time Officer roles
unclear
Many Scrutiny Committees
have reported that Part
Time Officers are unclear
about their roles.
 Direct link to
Common
Rooms
6 Sabbatical Officers
 Campaigns
at heart of
OUSU
Co-chair, CRAE
Co-chair, LGBTQ Campaign
Co-chair, WomCam
Co-chair, Oxford Students’ Disability Community
Co-chair, International Students’ Campaign
Co-chair, STUDENTSplus
Co-chair, Mind Your Head
Co-chair, SusCam
Co-chair, It Happens Here
Co-chair, Target Schools
Co-chair, Environment and Ethics Campaign
Co-chair, On Your Doorstep
 Campaigns
Co-chair, Living Wage
able to sit
on
University
committees
RAG President
1 Undergraduate Common Room President
1 Graduate Common Room President
(Both to rotate on termly basis)
 No duplicated
roles
What about the roles that won’t be represented in the new Executive?
 Trans Officer: potential to set up a Trans Campaign, whose Co-chair would sit on the new Executive.
 Common Room Support Officer: having one JCR and one MCR president on Executive should be a great liaison. We are also
considering assigning common room support to a Student Trustee.
 Clubs and Societies Support Officer: OUSU is hoping to get a staff member to support clubs and societies and campaigns.
 Rent and Accommodation Officer: potential to set up a Housing Campaign, whose co-Chair would sit on the new Executive.
 Parents and Carers Officer: the role will become a formalised part of the Vice President (Graduates)’ portfolio, as they already handle
similar issues.
 Graduate roles: Campaign Chairs can be either undergraduates or graduates – but we will introduce a rule that Campaign committees
must contain at least one graduate student (and hopefully more!)
PROJECT INCUBATOR
One of the key functions of the PTE
is to give support to people with
new ideas for projects. This will still
happen with our project incubator,
where students with an idea that
they want to run will get the
support to do so.
This will mean that people who
have a particular idea that they
want to create will be able to do
so, at any time of year.