ABOUT THE ROLE OF STUDENT OFFICER

Student officers are the highest level of student leader in the University. They are elected by students to represent the entire student body across important areas of student life.  

Student officers play an integral role in the continuous improvement of things on our campuses and beyond. That means changing things in the University, Students’ Union, and in our local communities, according to the wants and needs of the students they represent. 

As a student officer, you’ll be working on important policies, actively participating in meetings to change things, and campaigning about the things that matter to students. The role isn’t about organising events or giving advice to students; we have professional and student staff who do that.  

Some of the topics you could be working on include making campus more environmentally sustainable, or education and careers matters like teaching quality, assessments and placements. You could also play a vital role in establishing representation for postgraduate researchers, or setting up and supporting student media outlets. If there’s something that you know students care about, student officers can agree to pursue that. There are so many opportunities for improvement, and we'll support you to lead these projects. 

Everything the Students’ Union does is about improving things for students. Here are a few examples of previous student officer successes:

• Almost doubling the number of active student groups and societies
• Lobbying the local MP and collaborating with the National Union of Students to secure key amendments to the Renters’ Rights Bill
• Relaunching the disabled students and LGBTQ+ students community groups
• Delivering conference events to bring students together to share their opinions on proposed changes to the way courses are taught
• Sitting in high-level meetings covering everything from Academic Board to equality, diversity and inclusion
• Opening a brand-new student-run café at the Stratford campus

What’s in it for you? 

There are loads of benefits to becoming a student officer. You’ll have genuine influence over the direction of the Students’ Union, as well as at a high level in the University. This will enable you to improve the student experience for yourself and others, now and in the future. 

If you're motivated to create change, we’ll be there to support you every step of the way. East London Students’ Union has a dedicated team of staff who will help you to make a success of your role. 

Every day is genuinely different as a student officer. From meeting university leaders and running campaigns, to speaking to students about what they want, the breadth of work is impressive. You’ll also meet all kinds of people, build your understanding of the sector, and get to grips with the professional world. 

You’ll also have access to professional opportunities that very few graduates will have in the first few years of their career, like being a board member (as a trustee of the Students' Union or a governor of the University), and engaging regularly with senior leaders. This means that being a student officer can serve as a fast track to future leadership roles - what a way to kick start your journey! 

Student officers are full-time paid roles. You will be paid a salary of £27,500 for the year. You're not permitted to study or undertake a placement while you're a student officer.

What an effective student officer looks like 

To be chosen as a student officer, you don’t need any specific experience, though you do need to have a record of prior engagement in student life. (You can read more about the eligibility requirements below.) The most important thing is having the right attitude, work ethic and motivations.  

Being an effective student officer starts with having a passion for advocating for other people, a desire to improve things for students, and the get-up-and-go to make things happen. We want student officers who are motivated, inspired, and who care about making things better. 

It’ll help if you’re a good communicator, an organised person, and a fast learner. However, we’ll provide loads of training and support to help you master the skills you need. This applies to being a candidate and being a student officer.  

Student officer accountability  

To help our student officers stay on track, we’ve recently introduced a accountability panel of students who will help to make sure they’re delivering what they promised. The students on the new panel will ensure the student officer team are truly accountable to the student community that elected them, maintaining higher standards and a more effective students’ union. 

Don’t let this put you off. The panel will be trained to operate fairly, objectively, and in the best interests of our students. Student officers working to do the same won’t have any problems.

Roles and responsibilities 

We're looking for five student officers. All candidates will run in the same election to become a student officer. The successful candidates will be assigned roles by the Student Leadership Committee based on their strengths, skills and interests. 

Our existing rules mean that the five student officers must include at least two women and at least two men. We have introduced an additional requirement this year which means the five student officers must include at least two UK students and at least two international students. This is so our student leaders are more representative of the student body that they serve. 

One of our goals is to encourage, and give more confidence to, women students and UK students to participate in the election, both as candidates and voters. This change isn't about uplifting one group at the expense of another. It's about meeting the Students' Union's aims of being truly representative and led by a diverse and inclusive team, for the benefit of everybody in our student community. 

THE ROLES  

Every student officer will be working to improve things through policy and campaigning, but their areas of focus and the groups they work with will vary.  

Activities Officer  

• Representing students’ views to the University regarding student opportunities and activities matters; 
• Supporting the establishment and development of student groups;  
• (Event organisation is led by our staff team and student groups, not the activities officer.) 

Communities Officer  

• Improving connections with student communities at the University’s partner institutions;  
• Developing productive relationships with external organisations and individuals for the benefit of students, including local and national policymakers and impactful institutions like the National Health Service, National Union of Students and Transport for London. 

Education Officer  

• Engaging with University decision-makers on educational matters, ensuring student voice is at the forefront of discussions and decisions on topics like teaching, assessment and learning resources;  
• Supporting and developing the Students’ Union’s course representative system, and establishing a similar structure for postgraduate researchers.   

Inclusion Officer  

• Advocating for students on issues relating to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), including representing their views to University decision-makers; 
• Improving visibility of EDI matters amongst our students; 
• Supporting and developing the Students’ Union’s community groups such as LGBTQ+ and Disabled Students. 

Wellbeing Officer  

• Advocating for students on matters regarding wellbeing and sustainability, including representing their views to University decision-makers; 
• Developing initiatives to improve students’ sustainability efforts and wellbeing;  
• Supporting and developing the Students’ Union’s hall of residence representative system.  

TRAINING

You can find details of the training in the next section.

Think you've got what it takes? Find out how to apply.