The Leadership Race: Staff FAQ

The Leadership Race: Info for those who work at Staffs

Whether you are an Executive Dean, part of the Campus Life team or on shift in Squeezebox, its important that you understand what the Leadership Race is, why its important and some "do's and don'ts" that are vital when working with students. The key thing is staff must be impartial.

Already up to speed on dates and basic info? Then head straight to the quickfire FAQs at the bottom of the page.

What is The Leadership Race?

The Leadership Race is our annual election for students to choose their Full-Time Officer Team; the students who pause their studies to work for a whole calendar year to represent everyone studying a Staffs Uni course.

We also elect the committees for our Student Groups, plus Subject, Site and PGR Reps for the following academic year.

This Year's Key Dates:

• Nominations: Monday 23rd March @ 10am to Sunday 19th April @ midnight​​

• Meet Your Candidates: Monday 27th April – look out for promo across campuses and content shared on Union Socials!

• Voting: Tuesday 28th April @ 10am to Thursday 30th May @ midnight​​. The only way to vote is via www.staffsunion.com/vote

• Results: Friday 1st May, live and in-person @ the We Are Staffs Awards and streamed live via the Union's YouTube channel (@StaffsUnion)

Why should students vote?

• Every vote counts: This is very cliché, but our closest election came down to less than a single vote. A single society of 10 members could be the difference between getting elected or missing out and our venues could well serve enough people in 5 minutes to set the outcome of the race!

• Indifference never changed anything: Every student has an opinion on everything at Staffs, if you don’t vote you lose that chance to have your say and select those who you feel share priorities with you.

• Everyone is different: We have a very diverse University; if students don’t vote then views of smaller groups go unheard. The University is still going through a huge transition and it’s crucial that every student has the opportunity to make their voice heard.

• Reps do great things: over the years, the impacts, or “wins” from Officers, Course Reps and Dept. Reps have shaped students’ experiences at Staffs. If students want more of this, they need to choose the best candidates to do the job! 

How to vote:

• Voting is by Single Transferable Vote (STV) this means that students can choose a list of candidates in order of preference of who they want to win. Students can choose as many preferences as they want to, if there are 20 candidates, they can choose 20 candidates (but don’t have to).

• Students can vote on any mobile device via a browser and will have instructions in their inbox on how to vote. Last year we made a quick video that explains all in this article.

• If any student changes their mind on how to vote (for example: they might want to change the order of preference they put candidates in, or realise that they forgotten to add in a candidate as their final preference), they can do this! Simply return to www.staffsunion.com/vote and your ballot can be revisited just as you did the first time via thew "Votes Cast" tab. This is also covered in the How to Vote article and video.

What to do if students can’t vote:

• If a student can’t vote, go to www.staffsunion.com/canivote and get them to type in their student number.

• If this tells them they are not eligible then they may not be able to vote in this election.

• If there any further or different problems email: studentvoice@staffs.ac.uk

Staff Impartiality

As staff members of the University (or Students' Union), it's very important that you remain impartial; any suggestion that your behaviour may have influenced voter choice means another candidate could challenge an election result.

The principles of all our elections are Fair, Safe, Legal and Constructive. Our elections rules are only one page long and are shared in a separate article.

Here's some helpful top tips:

• Don't like any posts from candidates relatin got them running on social media. Other students could see this as an  endorsement from an influencer.

• Do offer the same opportunities to all candidates (like lecture shouts or putting posters up), so that no-one can claim you've been biased

• Don't endorse specific candidates (even if you teach them or work with them and you think they'd be a great Officer), but rather encourage everyone to vote for whoever they wish to!

Quick-Fire Voting FAQs

Here's four of our more frequently occurring questions from voters:

Can students only vote for one person in each role?

Not at all - students can order the candidates for any role in an order of their preference. They can still just choose one person, but may as well order mutliple (or even all!) candidates so that the voter has some say, even if their top choice isn't successful.

Can a Candidate vote for themself?

Yes! All eligible (current) students get to vote, so if a student is also a candidate - of course they can vote for themself!

Can students go back and change their vote?

Yes! You can log in and change your vote, but this must be done during the voting period (you can't change it once voting has closed).

I've got a more complex question about the election. Who should I talk to?

You should get in touch with the Student Voice Team, who administer all Union elections

Still have questions?

If you need more information, please contact:

E | studentvoice@staffs.ac.uk

Tel | 01782 29 5840

.