NOMINATION FORM: Students' Union 2016. Once completed please return to the Students Union AG01. YOUR NAME MOBILE NUMBER EMAIL TITLE OF POSITION (you want to run for) YOUR STUDENT ID NUMBER YOUR CURRENT COURSE PLANNED COURSE FOR NEXT YEAR YOUR FACEBOOK/TWITTER NAME YOUR SIGNATURE Get 2 other students to fill this bit in NAME OF FIRST PROPOSER (ANY STUDENT) COURSE OF PROPOSER (Needed) SIGNATURE OF PROPOSER NAME OF SECONDED PROPOSER (ANY STUDENT) COURSE OF PROPOSER SIGNATURE OF PROPOSER Get Course/Personal tutor to fill this bit in (Recommended) COURSE or PERSONAL TUTOR SIGNATURE This information will be held in strictest confidence and will only be used to contact you about matters concerning the elections. SIGNATURE OF RETURNING / DEPUTY RETURNING OFFICER: 1
What do Students' Union officers do? Improve life at the college Tell the College what students think Help organise the activities and trips Talk to the local council about student issues Organise events to raise money for charity Meet all the new students at the college Issue NUS cards & freebies Help other students in the SU office Meet students from other Colleges Attend weekly SU meetings Run Union Parliament every half term Benefits for you! Have loads to say at interviews for jobs & Uni Have access to an office with PC s at college Go on one free trip a term (up to 50) Learn new skills on free training days Get an NUS Extra card All this for 4 hours of your time a week! What to do if you want to get elected: Decide what position you want to stand for. Read the job descriptions to get an idea of what you would be doing. Talk to this year s officers in the Students' Union. Get your nomination form completed. You need to get another student to nominate you. We d also like you to get one of your tutors to sign it if you can. Hand it in to the Students Union AG01. Write a manifesto and read the candidate briefing. 2
Past officer testimonials Hear why others got involved and what they got out of it Victoria Hayman, Finance Office 2011-2012 Heather Dower, PR Officer 2011-2012 I was nervous initially when I handed in my nomination to be an officer at the Students Union as I felt I didn t know very much. All I knew is that I wanted to make changes, changes for students to make College life the most enjoyable experience as possible. It has been the best year of my life being a SU officer without a doubt. You gain so many skills that are invaluable such as the ability to talk in public, time management, self-confidence, reliability, how to work with all sorts of people, the skills list really goes on. My University said the experience of being an SU officer on my personal statement made offering me the place at Kent very easy. It was so rewarding to get the student voice across, if I could go back I would do it all again. I would advise everyone to go for it, you won t regret it! Ben Gardiner, President 2012-2014 Being in the Student s Union is not just about growing as a person and helping others, I found the best part of the union was how you work within a team of other students who like yourself want to use their own time to help other people to get the best they can out of their student life at College. If you asked me the best thing to do at College apart from your course, I would say spend your spare time working for the Student s Union as I am yet to hear any past officer say it was a waste of time. Make a change for the better not just for yourself but the others you see every day at College, it one of the most rewarding things you can do. When I first got involved with my SU, I was quite an awkward guy; I remember walking into the office, feeling awkward because I was the only person not talking or the only person not stuffing their face with pizza. But it s incredible, how though working as part of the union, becoming more comfortable within it, changes more about you than you first realise. I lacked so much confidence in myself and my communication before joining the SU. I learnt so many professional and informal skills. The SU is great for making friends, or doing something more with college than having your head stuck in a book for 2+ years. It s a chance to practice life skills, and create experiences that Universities and Employers are looking for. I had no involvement with the SU what so ever before handing in my nomination. I was a completely random candidate running for the position of President. But at no point did I feel like an outsider. Since leaving the SU, it has given me ambition and drive, which I lacked before joining. It gave me the chance to try different things so I could work out what I wanted to do moving forward. To be honest, I have no idea why I joined the SU. I had never heard of it before, I hadn't any idea what I would be doing. I was told I should hand in a nomination by a group of friends, and I have never looked back since! But why is it great? Go find out for yourself! 3
Harry Fox, Events officer, President and Finance Officer 2010-2014 I got involved in the Students Union as I was a loud and boisterous argumentative young person, those qualities, my class thought would make me a good course rep. I became the rep, then came the debating instead of arguing, I then through this became the Events Officer, President and Finance Officer for the Union, which allowed me to get involved in national politics, travel up and down the country to debate with various people, mainly MPs. I ve made some friends for life and had some amazing experiences with them that I will treasure the memories, it has changed me and my life for the better forever!! I owe my; fiancée, my happiness and overall life skills to this union! Amy Phelan, Vice President 2012-2013 When I heard of the Students Union I didn t think I had the confidence to run let alone take an active role within the team. I had been class rep for a year but wasn t a confident person by far. However I decided to run for VP, and won. From then it was mostly up, it was hard work but rewarding, I got to interact with both students, managers and the general public. Working as part of the team got things done and made you feel like you were working for the same goal. My year with the SU is easily one of my fondest years within the college and would push anyone into running for election, you ll be surprised just how far you ll go. When I applied for university, my interview mostly consisted of talking about my role within the SU even though I applied for a Nursing Course, this showed how my communication and confidence was grown, and how I grew as a person. Being a part of CCSU has given me skills for life, confidence and a building block with my career for the future. Not to mention the friends for life, and the memories I ll never forget. Josh Rowlands, President 2012-2013 When I first got involved with the Students Union at Canterbury College I had no idea about the great journey I was about to embark on, and how much my life would change over the course of it. Through getting involved with the union I have grown as an individual, and gained skills that will help me in my life. I have travelled the country on training events and met many new people I never would have otherwise! In short don t think about running for a position JUST DO IT! It will be the best choice you will ever make!" 4
Candidate Briefing for Elections: You need to: Produce a Manifesto A4 Colour. This is a piece of paper which can include; who you are, why you want to join the Students' Union and what changes you want to make the college better. Put your photo on it so people know who you are. Email your manifesto to the Student Activities staff su@canterburycollege.ac.uk We will: Print these in a book for people to read before they vote they will also be able to be seen when people vote online. You need to: Get a campaign going, use your friends to get others to vote, use Facebook and Twitter. Create a group and a buzz about your campaign. Giveaways are good but make sure people vote for your issues not your freebies. You can also do anything else to get attention as long as it doesn t put anyone in harm, break the law, damage college property or involve bribery. The best way is to talk to as many people as you can, giving them a copy of your manifesto. We will: Add these to our Facebook to show all our members what is happening. Friend Canterbury Coll SU to keep up to date. You need to: Arrange a time to do a video manifesto. These can be up to 20 seconds and can just be you reading your manifesto. We will: Edit these together and put them on Facebook and play them at the voting booth and put them on all our social media channels You need to: Get people to vote for you. Voting is all done online via a link on the College Website. Only registered students can vote. Students can Vote at any time using a link from the Students Union website. We will: Set up a Booth with PC s for people to vote on. We will also have the manifestos and job roles up and the video of manifestos. You will not be allowed near the booth once it is up. There will be a line around it to show where you can stand. You need to: Campaign positively. This means no taking down opponent s posters. No slagging off opponents. Talk about what you will do not what others won t do.. We will: Make sure all candidates do this. If we find one isn t, they will be given one warning. After that they will be removed from the election. 5
UNION POSITIONS Events Officers X2 President Further Education Officer Welfare Officer Liberation Officer Campaigns Officer Finance Officer Communication Officer Higher Education Officer You can also run to be the College s Independent Student Governor. These are the positions you can run for in the elections, these 10 positions will then work together forming the Students Union executive team. We have compiled a list of the kind of tasks you could complete as each officer, decide which one best suits you and then run a campaign to win. 6
What you could achieve as an SU Officer: President Liaise with community groups and local council Tell the Governors how to improve the College Talk to the people that matter about improving travel for students Meet with the College Principal Coordinate with the other Students' Union officers Ideal for: Natural leaders who are not afraid to stand up and speak to College management. Further Education Officer Tell managers how to improve courses Get teachers to mark work on time Lead the Student Rep system Improve help for in applying for work or University. Make sure course costs are fair at College Run Student led Staff awards Ideal for: Someone who feels student voice is the top priority and has the confidence to follow the changes through. Higher Education Officer (HNC, HND and Degree students only) Make sure HE students get value for money from the College Organise events especially for HE students Make local universities treat our HE Students equally Help HE students to understand the financial support available to them Get College to provide student accommodation Ideal for: People who like to organise events and also talk to others about their experience. 7
Welfare Officer Get students to lead healthier lifestyles Get a College nurse Run student mentoring at College Work with College to get better financial support for students Work to end mental health stigma at College Ideal for: People who care about others and the environment they are in, and want to change things for the better. Finance Officer Control Students Union budget of 35,000 Get better local discounts in shops for students Help students to understand how to manage their money Ensure fair minimum wage for young people Make sure students get value for money from their course Ideal for: People who like numbers and want the experience of running finances for an organisation Events Officers (2 Posts one for Fe and one for HE) Organise trips for Students Ensure first week of College starts with a bang Organise events throughout the year to make College life fun Promote gym & sports facilities Raise thousands for a charity that students choose Run an end of year party Ideal for: People with vision and confidence to run exciting events in front of big crowds Liberation Officer Tackle bullying at College Help students who are coming out Make sure College supports students with disabilities Run events to celebrate student diversity End discrimination at College Develop and run societies for: Women, Disabled, LGBT and Black students. Ideal for: People who like to tackle hard issues and fight for small groups 8
Communications Officer Build the Students Union brand around College Help students to design a College magazine Create adverts for the events and trips at College Design website and help with content management Manage the content of the Students Union website Look at new outlets for social media opportunities Run competitions to get students engaged Ideal for: Someone who immerses themselves in the online world, confident and able to manage many profiles and dedicate the time needed Campaigns Officer Lead on making the College Green Get students to vote in things like the General or local Elections Get a real sense of what students want Meet with local council about local issues Support other officers to make real change Support NUS Campaigns Ideal for: Some who is into Politics and good at persuading others to help change the world! Student Governor (you can do this role as well as one of the others) Attend and engage in all Corporation meetings (Thursday Evenings) Attend and engage in other meetings in relating to the Corporation Bring forward the views of students in the decision making process of the Corporation To contribute to the setting of fees and finances for the College Promote the College s interest in the wider community To monitor the overall performance of the college annually ensuring the Action Plan is implemented and targets met Ideal for: Someone who thinks big and wants to go places in the business world. 9
What is a Manifesto and how do I write one? A manifesto basically tells other students who you are, what position you are running for and if elected what things you would like to do to improve the college. You should include information like: Your name Information about you such as what course you are studying, your age, where you are from etc What position are you standing for Why do you want the position Things that you like about the college and things that could be improved (remember if you are elected you will have to work alongside the college so think about your wording) What you would do if elected (it s better to make two or three election promises and keep to these rather than loads of unrealistic promises that you might not be able to deliver) A photo Guidelines for your manifesto Make sure your written information is in Arial font size 14 or Verdana font size 12 White background with black text, do not use watermarks Try to avoid written text over images Keep it simple to read Below is a template of a manifesto layout but feel free to get creative. Vote Your Name For Position standing for Hi my name is..and I am studying.. at Canterbury College. This section is for talking about yourself, what you like about the college and why you want the position. What I would do Fill in this section on what you would do if elected. Examples of past manifestos can be found on the next few pages. 10
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