candidate information guide

Candidate Information

Guide

Building a better future for students

Candidate Information Guide 2012

ContentsWhat is this guide about? 4

Benefits of Office 6

What are the roles up for election? 7

What do I do next 11

What do I need to know to be successful in the elections? 12

Voting and results night 14

Candidates Checklist 15

Appedicies for this document can be found online at www.kentunion.co.uk/elections


What is this guide about?Kent Union is led by five elected students known as Sabbatical Officers or Presidents. However the University of Kent is a big place with almost 20,000 students. Therefore to make sure everyone is properly represented we also have a number of important part-time positions that students take up alongside their studies.

For all Part-Time Officer roles you’ll be mentored by a Sabbatical Officer as well as receiving support from Kent Union staff to ensure you achieve your objectives for the year.

We go into more detail about each of the positions further in the guide but the full set of positions up for election this year are:

Student Trustees (x2)

Environment Officer

Ethics Officer

Ethnic Minorities Officer

Undergraduate Faculty Rep (Humanities/ Science / Social Science)

International Students Officer

LGBT Officer (open place)


LGBT Officer (women’s place)

Mature Students Officer

Part-Time Students Officer

Student Committees President (Darwin/ Eliot/Keynes/ Parkwood/Rutherford)

Students with Dependents Officer

Students with Disabilities Officer

RaG President

Women’s Officer

University Council Representative

University Senate Reps (x2)

Those elected will take up their new position on July 1st 2012.


Benefits of OfficeThese are part-time roles to go alongside your studies and there is a comprehensive training programme to help you carry out your role.

Level 5 Award in Volunteer Management from the Institute of Leadership and ManagementKent union is investing £30,000 over the next three years in its volunteer leaders, enabling up to 75 student volunteers per year to achieve a nationally recognised management qualification. The course is designed to help you be more effective leaders of volunteers and is very transferable for possible future roles you may hold in management after graduation.

All costs of the course will be covered by Kent Union but you will have to attend four training days, attend two mentoring sessions with a Kent Union staff member and complete two assignments.Course Dates: 13th,14th and 15th of June attending all 3 days and then one further training day on either 5th or 13th October.

Modules Promote volunteering to potential and actual volunteers

Manage the motivation of volunteers

Provide leadership and direction for own area of responsibility

Build, support and manage a team


This course is not compulsory but we would strongly advise you to attend as it will benefit you greatly.Any questions about the course email: [email protected]

What are the roles up for election?Although we would recommend looking at the full role description for each position, available at www.kentunion.co.uk/elections, we briefly summarise each of the roles below to offer you a flavour of what you might be doing if you are elected.

Student Trustees (x2)You will be legally responsible for a £10,000,000 plus turnover organisation and be an active member of the governance and strategic processes of Kent Union. As a student trustee you won’t have a political or campaigning portfolio. However this is a fantastic experience, and a highly unusual one, which will help you develop your own skills and enhance your CV. If successful you’ll be one of 13 trustees of Kent Union for the 2012/13 academic year.

Part-Time Officer RolesPlease note that all Part-Time Officers are also full Union Council members. For certain roles you’ll need to self-define as being someone who is part of that specific student group in order to either be a candidate or run in the election. For example, for the Women’s Officer position you will need to self-define as a woman.


Environment OfficerAs Environment Officer you’ll work towards raising awareness of environmental issues to students, as well as promoting the benefits to students of living in an environmentally friendly way. You’ll also create and support environmental campaigns.

Ethics OfficerAs Ethics Officer you’ll work to promote ethical living to all students at the University of Kent. You’ll also work to ensure that both Kent Union and the University of Kent follow best ethical practice.

Ethnic Minorities OfficerAs Ethnic Minorities Officer you’ll act as a voice for, as well as promote, extend and defend the rights of ethnic minority students at the University of Kent. You’ll also organise events in celebration of ethnic minority students’ rights at the University of Kent.

International Students’ OfficerAs International Students’ Officer you’ll play a key role in supporting thousands of students. International students make up almost a quarter of all students studying at the University of Kent. You’ll have financial and staff support in putting on events for international students throughout the year.

LGBT Officer (open place)As LGBT Officer (open place) you’ll act as a voice for, as well as promote, extend and defend the rights of LGBT students at the University of Kent. You’ll also organise events to help celebrate LGBT rights at the University of Kent.


LGBT Officer (women’s place)As LGBT Officer (women’s place) you’ll act as a voice for, as well as promote, extend and defend the rights of LGBT students at the University of Kent. You’ll also organise events to help celebrate LGBT rights at the University of Kent.

Mature Students OfficerAs Mature Students Officer you’ll champion the needs of mature students at the university and Kent Union. You’ll create campaigns and defend the rights of mature students.

Part-Time Students OfficerAs Part-Time Students Officer you’ll act as a voice for, as well as champion the needs of part-time students at the University of Kent.

Students with Dependents OfficerAs the Students with Dependents Officer you’ll organise events and campaign for students with dependents. You’ll champion the needs of these students to the university and Kent Union.

Students with Disabilities OfficerThe Students with Disabilities Officer will be the key voice for all students who define as having a disability. You’ll create campaigns as you see fit and work to reduce the inequality between students with disabilities and students without disabilities.

Women’s OfficerAs Women’s Officer you’ll promote, extend and defend the rights of female students at the University of Kent. You’ll also organise events which help celebrate women’s rights and aim to reduce the inequality between men and women.


RaG PresidentAs RaG President you’ll be coordinating some of the biggest charity events for students in Canterbury. Previous events have included climbing Kilimanjaro, trekking the Great Wall of China and the Snow Ball. If you like raising money for good causes whilst having a great time this is a role to consider running for!

Student Committee President (Darwin / Eliot /Keynes / Parkwood / Rutherford)At the University of Kent every student is a member of a college. You can run to be President of whichever college you belong to. If elected you’ll be coordinating your college committee, organising welcome events and other activities throughout the year. [Please note the election for the Graduate Student Association [GSA] President takes place in October.]

Faculty Rep (Humanities / Science / Social Science)Each faculty has a representative who works closely with the Vice President (Education) and School and Course Reps. Your role will be to support the School Reps in their roles, identify key issues affecting students and work with the Vice President (Education) to deliver positive wins for students. There are three roles up for election, one for each of the three faculties.

Other representative roles

University Council RepresentativeYou’ll represent students on the University Council.

University Senate Reps (x2)You’ll represent students on the University Senate.


What do I do next?You will need to complete an online nomination form at www.kentunion.co.uk/elections. You will also be able to find out more details about the elections at this website. The deadline for nominations is the Thursday 29th March 2012 at Noon [12:00].

If you would like a bit more information before submitting your nomination form, why not speak to one of the students currently doing the role you’re interested in? You can find their contact details by visiting www.kentunion.co.uk/studentvoice/officers/. Or give a member of the Elections Team a call on 01227 824200, or email [email protected].


What do I need to know to be successful in the elections?Please note that this information should be read in conjunction with the Election Regulations 2012.

1. Complete the Online Nomination FormThis form represents the first step towards being elected. Be sure to fill it in properly and to submit it online in time (Thursday 29th March 2012 at Noon [12:00]) at www.kentunion.co.uk/elections

2. Produce your publicityA successful election campaign needs effective publicity to encourage people to vote for you. There will be training available to help you with the creation of your publicity.

3. Spending money on your campaignAll candidates in the Part-Time Officer elections will be given an allowance of £20 to spend on their campaign that they can claim back from Kent Union. Candidates can then spend £20 of their own money on their campaign. All expenses for your campaign must be accounted for and you must return all receipts (see Appendix Three) by 4pm Wednesday 4th April to the Mandela reception. Failure to do so could result in you being disqualified from the election.

4. Trustee DeclarationIf you are running for the role of Student Trustee you are required to complete and sign a Trustee Declaration form (see Appendix Four). Your completed and signed Student Trustee Declaration


form must be handed into Mandela Reception by 4pm the 4th April 2012. Failure to submit this document may result in disqualification from the election.

5. Candidates Briefing & Training SessionBecause the majority of candidates will not have run in elections before we provide a training session offering support and guidance in giving you the best chance of winning your election.

This session will run twice on Friday 30th March. There will be an afternoon session from 1pm to 3pm and there will be an evening session from 6pm to 8pm. Please note you only need to attend one of these sessions.

Attendance at the Candidates Briefing & Training Session is mandatory as the meeting will cover the election rules. Members of the Kent Union Election Team will also be on hand to answer any questions you may have.

6. CampaigningCampaigning MUST NOT commence until 9am on Saturday 31st March.

This means no flyers, posters, items of clothing associated to a candidate’s campaign or other means of written publicity can be displayed before this time. Please note that conversations are not included in this definition of campaigning and communication via electronic means is deemed as conversation NOT written material and therefore is permitted e.g. conversations on Facebook or emails to friends (but not using mailing lists).


Please remember you cannot be endorsed by any part of Kent union’s democratic structures i.e. student committees, socfed, zone committees etc. Sports clubs and societies can however endorse candidates but this must be a fair process and still within the election rules.

Voting and Results NightYou can vote at any computer, on or off campus, using your university login through the Kent Union website www.kentunion.co.uk/elections

The results of the election will be announced on Wednesday 4th April at The Attic and posted online shortly afterwards.

For details of how the voting system works, see Appendix 2.

Appedicies for this document can be found online at www.kentunion.co.uk/elections


Candidates ChecklistVenues for sessions will be confirmed nearer to the time and posted on the elections website. If you are in any doubt about where a session/event is being held please email [email protected].

Milestone Date and TimeNominations Open 19th March 2011 9amNominations Close (make sure you nominate yourself before the cut-off point!)

29th March 2012 12pm

Your Online Manifesto deadline 29th March 2012 12pmCandidates Briefing & Training Ses-sion

30th March, 1pm to 3pm & 6pm to 8pm [KS15]. [Please note you only need to attend one of these sessions.]

Campaigning Opens 31st March 2012 9amVoting Opens 2nd April 2012 9am Candidates Allowance Record sub-mission deadline & Trustee Decel-eration form signed and returned to Mandela Reception (failure to submit these documents may result in dis-qualification)

4th April 2012 4pm

Voting Ends 4th April 2012 5pm Results Night 4th April 2012, The Attic -

Time TBC

Appendix One: Writing your manifestoYour manifesto is going to be crucial in explaining to voters why you are the best person for the position.

NUS Manifesto Writing Top Tips

Thinkaboutwhatwouldinfluenceyoutovoteforsomeone.Whatdoyoubelieve?Whatare theissuesofinteresttostudents?Makealistofyourbeliefs.

You need to select the ones that you think would be popular with students, but are also achievable. There are many candidates in union elections who have announced that they will make the beer cheaper, only to be given a lesson in economics by other candidates in the election.

Select around three items/issues off your list as priorities that you will concentrate on.

Outline each issue, how it affects students and what you would do about it if you got elected.

Be concise and to the point - don’t over-describe.

Think of snappy titles that you can give to your three beliefs. Voters tend to scan read election materials, so it is crucial to draw them in with a headline. For Example “Better Transport” will be noticed by those students who are regularly delayed by the bus service.

Whoareyou?It’samazinghowmanycandidatesforgettotellthevotersanythingaboutthemselves. Students will often vote for candidates who have something in common with them, so as well as outliningyourissues,brieflytellthem: - Whereyouarefrom - Whatcourseyouareon - Membershipofclubsandsocieties - Involvementinpoliticalactivities,partiesandgroups - Any other involvement in student issues/activities

Makeitclearwhichpostyou’restandingfor,anddon’tforgettoaskpeopletovoteforyou!

A Simple Manifesto TemplateBelow is a simple guideline on how to set out your manifesto; you can lay your manifesto out as you wish.

But feel free to use this template as a basic idea.

Introduction:Hello my name is....Iamrunningfor...

Iamrunningbecause...IhavetheseexperienceswhichIcouldusetobenefitstudents...IhavepreviouslybeeninvolvedwithKentUnionthrough...

Key Campaign Points:

IfelectedIwillcampaignontheFollowingthings:

1. Campaign Point 1This issue is important because...Iwillachievetheaimofthisthrough...

2. Campaign Point 2

This issue is important because...Iwillachievetheaimofthisthrough...

3. Campaign Point 3

This issue is important because...Iwillachievetheaimofthisthrough...

Closing Statement:

Please make sure you remember to go out and vote...Mynameis...andIamrunningfor...Pleaseconsidervotingformebetween…..[Also put contact details here in case students have any other questions for you.]

Appendix Two: How does voting work?ForthefiverolesinthiselectionweusetheAlternativeVotingsystem.

Example Ballot Paper -

Gary Barlow 3Tulisa Contostavlos 1

Kelly Rowland 2Louis WalshRe-Open Nominations (RON) 4

Thisvoteristhinking:

“I would like to see Tulisa elected, however, if she wasn’t elected I would then want Kelly to win. If both Tulisa and Kelly were eliminated from the election then I guess Gary would do an okay job. I definitely don’t want Louis winning as I don’t think he’s up to the job so I would then vote to re-open nominations (this means no one wins the election)” ThevotingsystemusedbyKentUnionallowseveryvotertohaveasecondchoiceiftheysowish(or third, fourth, or as many candidates are in the election). This helps avoid tactical voting, for example–I’dlikeLouistowinbuthehasn’tgotachance,IthinkeitherTulisaorKellywillwinandalthoughshe’snotmyfavouritecandidateI’mgoingtovoteforKellyasheropinionsareclosertominethanTulisa’s.WiththeAlternativeVotingsystemyouratecandidatesinorderofpreference.Ifwhenthevotesarecountedanycandidatehas50%plusoneofallvotescasttheywillwintheelection.Ifnocandidatereachesthequotaof50%plusonethenthecandidatewiththefewestvotes will be eliminated. Their ballot papers will then be recounted and the 2nd choice of each voter will be allocated to the remaining candidates. This process continues until one candidate reachesthequotaof50%ofthevotescastplusone.Thismaysoundalittleconfusingbutitreallyisverysimpleonceyou’vegotyourheadaroundit,wealsothinkit’sfairerthanthe‘firstpastthepost’ system.

Example Election -5000 votes have been cast

Inordertoachievethequotaandwintheelectionacandidatemustachieve50%ofthetotalvote,plusone.Thereforethequotais2,501.

Gary Barlow 1000Tulisa Contostavlos 1300

Kelly Rowland 1500Louis Walsh 800Re-Open Nominations (RON) 400

Valid Votes Cast: 5000Quota: 2501

Atthispointnocandidatehasreachedthequotaof2501votes.Thecandidatewiththelowestnumber of votes is therefore eliminated which in this instance is ‘Re-Open Nominations.’ Their 400votesarethendistributedtonextpreferencesofthevoters.

Gary Barlow 1000+50=1050Tulisa Contostavlos 1300+200=1500

Kelly Rowland 1500+100=1600Louis Walsh 800+50=850Re-Open Nominations (RON) Eliminated


As you can see no candidate has reached the required number of votes to win. Therefore we now eliminate the candidate with the next lowest number of votes. This is Louis Walsh. His votes are then transferred to the voters next preferences.

Gary Barlow 1050+50=1100Tulisa Contostavlos 1500+500=2000

Kelly Rowland 1600+300=1900Louis Walsh EliminatedRe-Open Nominations (RON) Eliminated


At this point there is still no winner of the election as no candidate has reached the required numberofvotes.HoweverTulisaContostavloshasovertakenKellyRowlandwhohadoriginallybeenleadingtheelection,thisgoestoshowthatwhoeveriswinninginthefirstroundofanelection is not necessarily going to be the winner.

As there is no overall winner the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated which is Gary Barlow.His1100votesarethenreallocatedtothevotersnextexpressedpreference.

Gary Barlow EliminatedTulisa Contostavlos 2000+800=2800

Kelly Rowland 1900+300=2200Louis Walsh EliminatedRe-Open Nominations (RON) Eliminated


At this point Tulisa Contostavlos is declared the winner as she has reached the quota of required votes in order to win the election.

Forthesakeofsimplicitywehaveassumedthateveryvoterhasgiveneachofthefivecandidatesin this election a voting preference. This is highly unlikely to be the case in your election. Therefore the same methods will be used in your elections but the quota will decrease in each round of the election. This is because as a candidate is eliminated the number of votes cast will decrease.

Forexample,inroundoneofanelection5000votesmaybecastwhichwillmeanthequotawillbe2501.Thecandidatewiththelowestnumberofvoteswillbeeliminated.Iftheyhad400votescastforthem,butonly200ofthesevoteswerethentransferredtoothercandidatesthenthiswouldmeantherewereonly4800validvotescastforthenextroundoftheelection.Thiswouldresultinthequotaforthiselectionbeingdecreasedto2401.

Appendix Three: Candidates Allowance Record (Two pages)Candidates Allowance Record

NamePosition

ForcertainpositionsyouhaveanallowancefromKentUnionof£30thatyoucouldspendoncampaign materials. Please note these on this sheet as well as any additional items for your campaignwhichfallwithinanyadditionalspendinglimitssetoutintheElectionRegulations.

Usethisformtorecordallexpenditureyoumakeonitemsrelatingtoyourcampaign.

Example in italics.

Receipted item Final item CostA4 Red Card Poster £1.00

TOTAL

Attach all receipts to this form and hand it in to Melanie Sharman or Mandela Reception by 4pm on the 2nd of March 2012.

NIL returns ONLY may be emailed to [email protected]

Appendix Four: Trustee Declaration(this must be submitted to Mandela Reception by 4pm on 4th April)

Trustee Declaration

All prospective Trustees must read and sign the below declaration and return the completed and signed form with their application.

Ideclarethat:

1. Iamover18yearsofage2. Ihaveneverbeenconvictedofanoffenceinvolvingdishonestyordeceptionthatisnotregarded as legally spent3. Iamnotanundischargedbankrupt4. IhaveneverbeenremovedfromofficeasacharitytrusteebyaCourtorbytheCharityCommission5. IhavenotbeendisqualifiedundertheCompanyDirectorsDisqualificationAct19866. IhavenotmadecompositionswithmycreditorsfromwhichIhavenotbeendischarged7. Iam,inthelightoftheabove,notdisqualifiedbytheCharitiesAct1993(Section72)fromacting as a charity trustee.

Signed: Date:

Name(pleaseprint):

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