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Thanks for showing an interest in becoming a Students’ Union officer and running in the Bye-election!Elections are an incredibly exciting and vibrant time for our Union. They allow you to get involved with your Union. Throughout the Bye-election & campaigns period you will have the chance to show how much you care about your union, what you want to see done differently and outline how you will go about this. This pack will outline the two vacant Part-time Officer positions available, provide you with information you need to run in the election and key dates and important contact details. There are two vacant ‘Part-time Officer’ positions. The two Part-time Student Officer positions are:•International Students Officer; and•Postgraduate and Part-time Students Officer;

-IMPORTANT (1): Please note that only International students (those who pay overseas fees) are eligible to stand and vote for the position of ‘International Students Officer’.

-IMPORTANT (2): Please note that only postgraduate and/or Part-time students are eligible to stand and vote for the position of ‘Postgraduate and Part-time Students Officer’.

-IMPORTANT (3): Please note that students at Partner or Link colleges are not eligible to vote or run.

In addition, there is an all-important nomination form that you will need to fill in, in order to nominate yourself and run in the election. This pack is a companion to the candidates’ meeting which will take place on Friday, Nov 15 at 2pm at Students’ Union, Cooper Building, Activities Room, Greenwich Campus. Attendance for the candidates’ meeting is mandatory.

Best wishes and happy campaigning,

Gary Naylor Al GhaffDeputy Returning Officer Deputy Returning Officer

If you have any further questions about any of the positions or anything that is not clear in this information pack then please e-mail us at elections@gre.ac.uk

More information may also be posted at www.suug.co.uk/elections2013 and candidates are advised to check this page regularly throughout the nominations and election periods.

Please note that you can obtain a paper copy of the nominations pack from the reception at Cooper Building on Greenwich Campus.

WELCOME

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FAQs ...............................................................Page 4

Key Dates .....................................................Page 5 So you want to be a... .............................Page 6 • International Students Officer • Postgraduate and Part-time Students Officer

Winning Votes – Campaigning .............Page 7

The Voting System .....................................Page 8

Promote your Candidacy – Publicity...Page 9 Expenses......................................................Page 10

CONTENTS

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Why do we hold Elections?The Students’ Union is a democratic organisation run by students for students. Cross-campus elections are held every academic year so the students can choose their representatives for the coming academic year.

Why is this important?The Students’ Union is your Union. Elected officers play a big part in ensuring that the Union operates in the way you want it to. The Union receives a significant subvention grant from the University every year so it’s important that this money is spent properly and on services that you, the students, want and need.

Why should I run?Being part of the leadership of a rapidly improving and growing organisation is not something that many people get to do. It’ll offer you new skills, experience, friends and contacts. It’ll be fun, challenging and rewarding. It’ll look fantastic on your CV and you’ll be playing a part in improving the University experience for over 28,000 students. As well as giving you great experience, becoming an elected officer would allow you to take a role at the forefront of the Student Movement. Recent student protests have shown that students are willing to stand up and make their voices heard. Your Union needs people like you to lead the movement, as an elected officer of the Union you will be able to represent students locally, nationally and internationally as well as to the University.

What position should I run for?Overall there are two vacant Part-time Officer positions being contested during the Bye-Elections in December 2013, these positions are outlined elsewhere on this website, the available positions are listed below to give you a basic idea of the positions that are being contested: •International Students Officer•Postgraduate and Part-time Students Officer

Please note:Only International students (those who pay overseas fees) are eligible to stand and vote for the position of ‘International Students Officer’.Only Postgraduate and/or Part-time students are eligible to stand and vote for the position of ‘Postgraduate and Part-time Students Officer’.

When am I allowed to start campaigning? All candidates should officially start campaigning after the Candidates’ meeting on Friday 15th November 2013. No campaigning should take place before that. Any campaigning that takes place before the Candidates’ meeting on Friday 15th November 2013 will be investigated by the Returning Officer and may lead to disqualification.

FAQs

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Full details of events and any additional dates will be posted on www.suug.co.uk/elections2013

• Open Nominations on Friday, 25 October at midday. • Close of Nomination on Friday Nov, 15 at midday. • Deadline for submitting Manifestos Monday Nov, 18 at midday. • Mandatory Candidates’ Meeting Friday, Nov 15 at 2pm. • Campaigning to start after the Candidates’ Meeting Friday, Nov 15 at 3pm.

• Deadline for submitting the publicity materials is on Monday, Nov 18 at midday. • Polling Week – Monday 2, Dec to Friday 6, Dec, 8am – 8pm (online voting).

• Deadline for Complaints – Midnight on Friday 6, Dec.

• Count – Monday 9, Dec at 11 am. • Results to be announced after the approval of the Returning Officer on Monday 9, Dec.

KEY DATES

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Vacant Part-time Officer Positions available: In December 2013 the Students’ Union will be holding online Bye-Elections for two vacant Part-time Officer positions. You can find more information about the posts available below.

Part-time OfficersThe Part-time Officers represent students alongside the team of full-time Sabbatical Officers. They each take on specific student-led campaigns and help the Sabbatical team run the team. They are a big part of the wider Students’ Union family.

Please note, to run for this post, you must registered on a course that continues into the 2013-14 academic year or be otherwise committed to register as a University of Greenwich student in 2013-14.

The two vacant Part-time Student Officer positions are:• International Students Officer • Postgraduate and Part-time Students Officer

POSITIONS

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Polling runs Monday 2, December and Friday 6, December 2013. Voting is online between 10am and 8pm during the voting period. The Union reserves the right to alter polling times if necessary to increase participation or any other good reason.

Please note the following important notes.

• IMPORTANT (1): Only International students (those who pay overseas fees) are eligible to stand and vote for the position of ‘International Students Officer’.

• IMPORTANT (2): Only Postgraduate and/or Part-time students are eligible to stand and vote for the position of ‘Postgraduate and Part-time Students Officer’.

• IMPORTANT (3): Candidates may, upon written notification to and approval from the Returning Officer or her nominees, use the internet for the purpose of publicising their candidacy. Therefore, if you are intending to use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc to publicise your campaign, please e-mail elections@gre.ac.uk informing us about it. Once, your request is approved you can start campaigning.

• IMPORTANT (4): Candidates and their campaigners can post messages to Club and Society Facebook groups/profiles/pages provided all candidates are able to do so (e.g. not a private access group where only some people are let in, and no deleting only certain candidates/campaigners posts).

• IMPORTANT (5): Clubs and Societies cannot use the Club/Society social media group/page/profile/account to endorse or show preference to certain candidates – this could be through posting a message or inviting to a group/page/etc.

• IMPORTANT (6): Clubs and Societies can use Club/Society social media groups/pages/profiles/accounts to endorse the idea of voting, and to encourage all members to do so.

WINNING VOTES - CAMPAIGNING

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In all officer elections, Voters mark candidates in order of preference with the numbers 1, 2, 3, etc. For the Part-time Officer positions, the winner is decided by the following method:

In the first round, votes are counted by tallying first preferences, if no candidate has over 50% of the votes cast, the candidate with the fewest number of votes is eliminated and that candidate’s votes are transferred to the remaining candidates according to the next preference on each ballot. This process repeats until one candidate obtains a majority of votes.

An understanding of this system is important as it means you, as a candidate, should aim to get votes from everyone, even those already committed to supporting another candidate, as second, third (etc.). Preference votes will have a big impact on who is elected.

Re-Open Nominations (RON)All elections will include RON or Re-open Nominations, which will allow voters to choose none of the candidates and vote for the election to Re-open.

THE VOTING SYSTEM

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How to submit publicityCandidates should send all publicity materials to elections@gre.ac.uk in accordance with the following instructions; otherwise, the Returning Officer cannot guarantee their submission on time.

• 1 x 500 word manifesto in plain text (no formatting) in Microsoft Word format by Monday, Nov 18 at midday for the SU website.

• 1 x A4 sized (no more than 1 MB) and 1x A3 sized (no more than 2 MB) poster in PDF format by Monday, Nov 18 at 5pm, in order to be available by Wednesday, Nov 20.

What is provided?According to the SUUG Elections Rulebook 2013 (amended and approved by the Union Council on Tuesday 18th Dec 2012):

• Each candidate shall be allowed up to 400 sheets of A4 paper (printed in colour or black & white) and 40 sheets of A3 paper (printed in colour or black & white) for the purpose of publicising their candidacy.

• If standing as a slate or team (defined as two or more candidates sharing a slogan or name and campaigning together), the slate’s or team’s allocation is also limited to 400 A4 and 40 A3 sheets divided equally amongst all the candidates comprising the slate or team.

• Should candidates wish to use any other size of paper, this must first be agreed by the Returning Officer or his/her nominee.

• A manifesto page (as above) on suug.co.uk/elections2013.

PROMOTE YOUR CANDIDACY - PUBLICITY

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EXPENSESIMPORTANT (1): Candidates should not spend any money on additional printed materials or photocopying as only SUUG provided printed materials may be used for campaigning.

IMPORTANT (2): Use of SUUG facilities (including photocopying, computers, phones, accommodation or staff time during contracted hours) is strictly forbidden and may lead to disqualification.

IMPORTANT CONTACTS Queries elections@gre.ac.uk

Al Ghaff, Deputy Returning Officer a.ghaff@greenwich.ac.uk Gary Naylor, Deputy Returning Officer g.naylor@gre.ac.uk