Bringing your club and society
elections to life
Fiona Ellison & Rosie Hunnam
NUS Student Opportunities team
Learning objectives
Learning objectives
• Develop your understanding of the importance of club
and society elections in driving quality in student
opportunities
• Identify ways to improve different elements of the
elections process
• Improve your confidence in technical terminology relating
to democratic procedures
• Reflect on good ideas from other students’ union
Bringing your club and society
elections to life
Why is this important?
• NUS work on democracy
• SU developments with club & society elections
• Increase engagement with elections
• Quality
-
Staff & officer involvement
Providing a great experience
Before the election
Before the election: procedures
• Students’ union election procedures - useful
• Use the club/society constitution
• Make it watertight
• When will club & society elections take place?
Before the election: rules to consider
• Who can be on committee?
Leeds University Union: club/soc membership must be at least
70% current Leeds Uni students. ‘Top three’ committee positions
must be current students.
• Quorum
The number of voters required to make the election representative
of the membership and therefore valid
• New members
• What are the committee positions?
• Appointment vs. election
Before the election: people
Who is responsible for club & society elections?
Vote now!
Who is responsible for club & society
elections?
• Society/club staff
• SU democracy team
• Sabbatical officers
• SU senior managers
• Club/society committee
Who is responsible for club & society
elections?
Returning Officer
Responsible for the election, ensuring that it is fair
How much do you manage your club & society
elections?
• Staff/officer capacity
• SU priorities
• Students’ needs
Before the election: training
Training on how to run elections
Training for election candidates
How is training delivered?
• Face to face (individuals, groups/committees)
• Online
• Handout (written information)
Before the election: promotion
What do you need to promote?
• Election rules & procedures
• Open of nominations
• Election/AGM date
Before the election: promotion
Election rules & procedures
• Explain to committees multiple times
• Combine printed materials, online, & in-person
• Don’t forget to tell the club/society members
Before the election: promotion
Open of nominations
• Make it easy
• Combine with officer elections?
Before the election: promotion
Open of nominations
• Make it easy
• Combine with officer elections?
• Talk about skills and experience
• Talk about being on committee all year
• Liberation & elections
Before the election: insight
Emma Green
NUS Development, Training & Events Officer
(Liberation)
Before the election: promotion
Election/AGM date
• Election dates
• AGM?
The election
The election: how to
Different ways to conduct an election:
• Online
• Paper
• ‘hands-up’
How do your clubs and societies conduct their
elections?
Vote now!
The election: ATV/STV
NUS recommend ATV (Alternative Transferable
Voting) or STV (Single Transferable Voting)
Why?
• Fair method
• Used in your officer elections and in NUS
elections
How to do it?
Watch this video!
ATV elections video
The election: event
Online elections – why do an event?
• Sense of occasion
• Opportunity for discussion about club/society
• Start of outgoing/incoming committee handover
The election: event
Top tips for good election/AGM events:
• Welcome
• Sign-in sheets/register
• Returning Officer
• Timely
• Fun!
After the election
After the election: paperwork
Paperwork
• Important
• Annoying!
So make it…
…easy
…quick to complete
…accessible
& give them a deadline
After the election: handover,
induction, & training
Student Opportunities Resource Hub guidance on:
- handover & training
- development planning
Essential part of elections process
Crucial for improving quality of clubs and societies
Questions?
What next?
Get in touch:
fiona.ellison@nus.org.uk - @Fiona_Ellison
Rosie.hunnam@nus.org.uk - @RosieHunnam
Sign up to the next webinar –
“Developing your recreational sport provision”
20th March, 12-1pm
Explore the student opportunities resource hub:
studentopportunities.nus.org.uk
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