I want to nominate myself
What is a School President?
A School President is a new initiative from the Students’ Association this year. They will be student leaders, and responsible for representing all of the students in their academic School. They will have the opportunity to shape University policy both in their own School and at the highest levels.
What will I have to do as School President?
The role is not one which should be considered lightly. Being School President is a major undertaking, and will not only involve a lot of time and effort but also considerable responsibility in representing every student in your School. As this year is the launch of the School President system, it will be your job to shape the role within your School and to make the position of School President prestigious and well known throughout the student body.
Your key responsibilities will include:
Management of your class reps
This will involve holding and chairing class rep forums within your School, ensuring all the class reps are communicating effectively with their classmates, and raising any issues with the appropriate members of staff.
Communication with the student body
By sending out an e-bulletin every semester updating the students in your School on the outcome of any complaints or problems they have raised, major changes and decisions at University-wide level, and updates from within your School. You could even set up an online forum or a Facebook group for students in your School to discuss relevant issues.
Representation
You will be one of the main points of contact within your School to give help, advice and support to all of its students. This may involve students who are having difficulties with their tutors, who feel that their module isn’t going well or who want more library resources. It will be your job to make sure that their voice is heard by raising these issues in meetings with staff.
Chair of the Student Staff Consultative Committee (SSCC)
This will be one of the main forums for you to raise issues and discuss changes and innovations with the staff in your School. The SSCC (or “Student Staff Consultative Committee”) is usually held once or twice every semester. It will be part of your responsibility to chair the meeting, and to make sure that all of your class reps contribute to the discussion. You yourself will need to provide constructive criticism and feed back issues and concerns raised by other students.
School President forums
Twice a semester you will be invited to attend a University wide forum alongside other Presidents from every School. This will be a chance to discuss major issues and influence major decisions on University policy. The forums will be attended by the Deans of the Faculties, the Vice-Principal for Learning and Teaching, the Proctor and the Rector. This give you the opportunity to represent your School’s views on important matters such as semester reform, changes to the advising system, and library redevelopment.
Social responsibilities
The role of School President can be as much as you make it. Our hope is that many School Presidents will take their responsibilities even further, and become the focal point for their School in encouraging community spirit. This could be in the form of organising guest speakers, freshers garden parties, graduation events or encouraging friendly inter-School competition. We hope that you would work together with the relevant academic societies which are already in existence.
The 600th
School Presidents can also play a key role in the fundraising effort celebrating the 600th anniversary of our University. By engaging with alumni from their own School they can make a difference in raising money for scholarships and redevelopment.
What will I get out of it?
In one word? Employability. In your role as School President there is great scope for making the position into a diverse, productive and important role. By working with senior members of staff, learning how to put your opinion across in a large group of people, managing the class reps, and communicating your role to the student body you will learn key leadership skills.
Your position at the head of a significant number of students is vital, and the role comes with great responsibility. In chairing the SSCC, and attending School President forums you will have the opportunity to shape and develop University policy for the future, as well as within your own School. This will give you the chance to use your own experiences in St Andrews to change things for the better.
Who can run for School President?
Any undergraduate student at Honours level can run to be President of their School. For example if you are a third year taking Mediaeval History you would only be eligible to run for President of the School of History. If you are taking Joint Honours, you are eligible to run for either School.
Your term as School President will run from the day after the election, 23 October 2010, until 31 May 2011. This means that if you are graduating this year, you can still run for election.
You do not have to have been a class rep before, or have held any position within the SRC or on student societies, although these experiences are always very helpful in explaining to the student body why you have the necessary skills and experience to be the best School President.
Potential confusions
- Modern Languages: This will be a School in itself; therefore there will be a President of the School of Modern Languages rather than a President of French for example.
- Geography and Geoscience: This will be one School and will only have one President.
- Medicine: We know its a faculty in itself, but it will still only have one School President.
I want to find out more
We will be holding an information talk for anyone who is considering running for School President on Friday 8 October at 6pm in Venue 2. We will be able to answer any questions you have. Otherwise you should contact Siena Parker, Director of Representation on dorep@st-andrews.ac.uk.
How do I nominate myself?
You will need to provide a short statement, no more than 100 words, and a photo of yourself which everyone voting will be able to see. You should include a bit about yourself, why you want to be President and what you hope to achieve in your year in office.
You can nominate yourself between 11 October and 15 October. Nominations will close at midnight on 15 October.
Nomination is done through the School Presidents election system.
Rules and campaigning
You can start campaigning as soon as you have nominated yourself online. You can be as creative as you want with your campaign in designing posters and online websites for example. However, to avoid causing annoyance to local residents and students, we won’t be allowing candidates to hand out flyers or leaflets on the streets, to put up banners on private property, to chalk the pavements, or to put up posters outside of University buildings. We will be encouraging Directors of Teaching to set up hustings or debates within their Schools.