Everything you need to know about the upcoming SU elections

The Students Union 2022 election votes open today, and here is everything you need to know in order to make an informed vote. The Union will be selecting six full time officers, which play an integral role in the way that the University is run, working alongside groups to represent the interests and concerns most important to the students. Voting for the candidates that reflect your values and wishes is vital because the elected candidates are the most effective method of getting your voice heard.

The officer roles explained:

1. International Students officer

The role of this officer is to ensure that all the needs, hopes and worries of all international students at the university are listened to and met with appropriate action. To give some examples, they will help with adjustments to moving to a new country, accommodation, celebrating cultural events and academic issues that international students have to deal with.

The candidates for this role are Maheem Khambatta, Riko Kunisue, Manuel Mas and Lucy Xu.

2. Education and Employability Officer

This officer will be responsible for any concerns regarding the current education and learning experience provided at the University. They will be involved in the alteration of vital decisions that effect this ecperience to all undergraduates and post graduates.

The Candidate for this role is Rose Linehan.

3. Wellbeing officer

This officer will be a port of call for any issues regarding the physical and mental wellbeing of students, as well as the parts of university life that can cause alterations to their state of wellbeing. They will work to support and represent all wellbeing issues that students face.

The candidates for this role are Alessandra Giuliani, Camille Bowers, Reuben Akitt-Sharp, Liam Pem, Alice Gudmunds and Giovanni Rizzo.

4. Sport, Societies and Events Officer

This officer will be responsible for all student-led sport and society based affairs. This includes ensuring that all students involved in societies and sporting can have fair opportunities amongst their peers and that they withhold positive and equal environments.

The candidates for this role are Conor Gray, Henry Wenham, Iona Scobie and Nera Cornell.

5. Diversity, Access and Participation Officer

As quoted from the Students Union website, this officer will be the spokesperson for all marginalised groups at the university, “such as BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) students, students of faith, LGBTQ+ students, women students, trans students, non-binary students, students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds and students with disabilities.”. They will therefore have to be understanding and knowledgable of the disadvantages to education and student life that each of these groups face and take steps to lessen these to continue to make the university a place of equality.

The candidates for this role are Rohini Singh and Aaron Williams.

6. Student Living and Sustainability Officer

This officer will mostly be involved in any environmental and ethical issues surrounding the university, as well as other key day to day issues faced by students, such as  transport, housing, finances and the facilities offered on campus. Sustainability will be a key focus of theirs, considering how the university can contribute as little to the climate crisis as possible.

The candidates for this role are Niamh Tickner and Harry Jenkinson.

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Manifestos for each individual candidate can be found here. This is where you can read about each candidates key beliefs and hopes of what they achieve if they are elected.

Voting opens on Thursday 17^th March and closes a week later on Friday 25^th March, voting can be done online via the Sussex student website. Voting works by ranking candidates in preference order for all roles that you wish to vote for, and the results will be announced at 6pm on the last open voting day. Sussex SU has also just announced via their Instagram page that every voter will be in for a chance of winning Land Beyond festival tickets on May 1st. More information can be found on the @sussexsu Instagram.

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