General 

What are these elections?

First Year Representative Elections are for all clubs and societies to elect a first year student to represent all first years and first year issues in the club or society. After the election has finished and the votes have been counted, we announce the winners of the election who will be the group’s committee members in the 2024/25 academic year.

What is a First Year Representative?

• First-year reps are elected members of a club or society committee, meaning they are an equal committee member to the pre-existing committee members.
• First year reps are there to represent the views of students in your club or society that are in their first year of study and to represent the views of students in other years of study that are joining your club or society for the first time.
• First year reps are there for continuity, to ‘learn the ropes’ from other committee members to try and ensure the club or society will continue in the following years.
• First year reps are there to support committee members and make change within the student group.
• First year reps are there to try and achieve goals they included on their manifesto.

Who can run to be a First Year Representative?

• Any student in their first year of study at UEA. 
• Only individuals who have paid to join the club or society are eligible to run for the first year representative position.

Why should I run to be a first year representative?

• It can contribute and add to your CV. For example, some skills you can get are communication, team-work and leadership.
• You can develop your networking skills and meet new people.  
• You can make new friends.  
• Increases proficiency of working for committees in the future.
• You are volunteer for the student union- which you can use for the UEA award. 

When are these elections taking place?

The Timeline for these elections are as followed:

Nominations Open: 14th Oct, 10 am

Nominations Close: 20th Oct, 10 pm

Voting Opens: 22nd Oct, 10 am

Voting Closes: 24rd Oct, 10 pm

Count: 25th Oct, 9am

Results released: 25th Oct, by 3pm

Where is the election? 

You can find the election at the bottom of your club or society page, and the top of this page. 

Why do we have to run our elections through the SU website? 

Running the elections through the SU website is an accessible and democratic way to ensure everyone who wants to run for the first year represenative position can run, and all members of the club or society are able to vote in the election. We highly recommend you run your election through the SU website, however, if you are looking to run your election independently, please contact union.opportunities@uea.ac.uk.  Please note, to ensure all elections are handled democratically, elections and specific committee roles included in the election cannot be removed from the website once a member has nominated themselves for a role. 

How can we engage our members to nominate themselves and vote?

 Here are some things you can do:

• Post about the elections on your social media. 
• Email members at each stage of the election to keep people up to date and prevent members missing deadlines for  nominations and voting
• Talk directly to first years in your club or society and encourage them to nominate themselves. Knowing that current committee believe them may make individuals feel more confident in their abilities and encourage them to nominate themselves
• Remind members of why being a committee is a great thing to do because it is fun, you gain skills, you can get experience in specific areas of interest, and you can make change.

Nominations

Can I nominate myself for a committee position?

Any current student at UEA that is in their first year of study can nominate themselves for a first year rep position within any club or society they are a paid member of. 

You cannot nominate someone else for a committee position.

Can I nominate myself for multiple roles across different clubs and societies?

Yes, you can nominate yourself for as many roles as you wish across any number of clubs or societies that you are a member of. However, you can only be elected into a maximum of three roles, which can include one presidency across both clubs and societies.

How do I nominate myself for a committee position?

Please follow these instructions to nominate yourself:

• Log into the ueasu.org website
• Head to your club or society page and scroll to the bottom of the page
• Click on the election
• Locate the role you want to nominate yourself for and click 'nominate yourself'
• Fill in the boxes with your information and upload a photo of yourself. Click on ‘review your nomination’
• You also have the option of adding a typed manifesto either in manifesto box
• You will receive an email after you have nominated yourself. Your name will appear under the committee role once the voting begins.

Make sure you nominate yourself for the role before the nomination period ends.

Can I run as a pair for a role?

Yes - if you would like to nominate yourself with a friend for a role, all you need to do is start the process as an individual, then when putting in your name make sure to put your name as the pair. Then also submit a joint manifesto. If the pair wins the election, both individuals will be listed into the role and will proceed to share this committee role for the academic year.

Both individuals need to be a first year student when running as a pair.

I’m trying to nominate myself, but it isn’t working. What now?

• Make sure you are logged in to the SU website using your student account. To see how to log-in to the SU website, click here.
• Make sure you have purchased membership to your club or society as only paid members of a club or society can nominate themselves for a committee role. Current committee members must have paid for a membership to the club or society to re-run in these committee elections.
• If you have done both of these things, please contact union.opportunities@uea.ac.uk for further assistance.

I nominated myself but can’t see my name next to the position I am running for?

Don’t worry, names will only appear next to the position you are running for once voting opens. You will receive an email once we have submitted your nomination, so you know that we have received your nomination. If you did not get an email notification and think you have nominated yourself, please contact union.opportunities@uea.ac.uk for further assistance.

Manifestos

What is a manifesto?

 A manifesto is a statement about who you are, what you want to do if elected and why students should vote for you. You do not have to submit a manifesto, although it is recommended you do.

Why do I need a manifesto?

Manifestos are an important part of the election as they help voters make a judgement on your potential as a committee member. In the 2017 Office Elections, 33% of student voters said they voted for a candidate because they agreed with their manifesto (compared to 9% who voted for them because they spoke to them in person), showing how influential a manifesto can be!

What should my manifesto look like?

This year, to ensure fairness, all manifestos submitted on the SU website must be typed into the manifesto box. If you wish to create additional designed assets you can post these on social media.  
 

Where do I upload my manifesto?

You will be asked to submit your manifesto during the nomination process. Just look for the manifesto button!

Voting

Can I vote in the election? 

Paid members of a society or club can vote in the election of that society or club. Eligible students will be able to vote on the candidate(s) that have put themselves forward during the voting window. 

How do I vote in the committee elections?

• Log into the SU website
• Go to the election at the bottom of your club or society page, or the election at the top of this page.
• You will see all the roles you are eligible to vote for. For the roles you can vote on, you will be asked to pick your choices in order of preference (or RON if you don’t think any are suitable)

Where can I find the election?

You can find the election at the bottom of your club or society page on the SU website and also at the top of this page.

Results

When will I find out the election results?

The list of election winners will be uploaded onto this page of the website. 

Winners will be announced by November 3rd, 5pm.

What if there was a tie in votes?

If there is a tie in the votes, the SU will flip a coin to decide which candidate is appointed into the position. We will not re-open the vote.

Nobody voted in our election, what now?

If nobody voted in the election but people nominated themselves for positions, then we can run the election again for you. It is important that you keep you members engaged during this time and let them know the importance of voting. 

Training

Is training provided for new committee members?

Yes! We provide committee members with full training to ensure you can do your role properly, know the support available to you, and understand what we expect of you. 

When is training? and How do I book onto it?

We will email all winners with a date for first year rep training.

Where is training taking place?

All training will be delivered online via Microsoft Teams.

What is covered in the training?

The information covered in training differs depending on which training session you are attending. However, all training sessions include:

• The roles and responsibilies of your committee role
• Specialised information relevant to that committee role
• Guidance and contact information of SU staff

For more information on what is included in training, please see this page of the website.