Officer Roles

Aston Students' Union is a student-led democratic organisation that represents, supports and provides opportunities to its members: all Aston students. We're led by a team of Officers who are democratically elected Aston students. Elections take place during Term 2 (usually March), and these decide who will run the Students' Union for the following academic year.

There are loads of reasons why you should think about becoming an SU Officer. Here are some of the best ones.

BECAUSE YOU ARE A LEADER.

Full-Time SU Officers are leaders of the Students’ Union in a very real way. As an Officer, you'd be a trustee and director of the Union. You'd oversee the daily running of the Union, to ensure it’s working in the interests of Aston students, and make real decisions that can change the whole direction of the organisation. In most placements and grad jobs, you start at the bottom: not as an SU Officer. You start right at the top. This is a truly unique opportunity.

Image of Previous Officers Annas Mazhar and Pawan Kumar Neglur

BECAUSE YOU INSPIRE CHANGE.

You understand students, and you know what needs to change to make the Aston experience better. Being an SU Officer is the most effective way to make change on campus. Think the library could be better? Be our next VP Education. Think mental health services could be improved? Be our next VP Welfare. Think you could run the best events in town? Become our VP Student Activities.

BECAUSE YOU STRIVE TO GAIN UNPARALLELED EXPERIENCE.

A year as an SU Officer is potentially the best thing you could do for your CV. You’ll gain experience in:

Project Management
Campaigning
Event Management
Governence and Policy
Research
Public Speaking
Attending High-Level Meetings

Stategic Planning
People Management
Partnership Work with Diverse Stakeholders
Diplomacy
Negotiation
Finance

And more!

You’ll benefit from extensive training, networking opportunities with university leadership, politicians, and business leaders, and the complete support of Union staff. Your opportunities after this are practically limitless. It’s a springboard to fantastic careers in business, charity, politics, or education – or pretty much anything else you set your mind to.

Image of Previous Officer Danielle Gallagher

BECAUSE YOU DESERVE A PLACEMENT LIKE NO OTHER.

Although people often think of Officer positions as something people do after finishing university, a lot of Officers get the idea of running in the election when they’re looking for a placement. It’s a great opportunity – the gross annual salary is over £18.5k, and offers a huge amount of options for ways to develop your professional skills. The elections are also all over by mid March – so if it doesn’t go to plan there’s still plenty of options to continue your placement search.

What do the officers do?

The Officer team is made up of 15 Officers: four Full-Time (or Sabbatical) Officers, and eleven Part-Time Officers. The Full-Time Officers work in the Students' Union as a full-time, paid job. They're also trustees (external link) of the Students' Union, meaning they contribute to managing the Students' Union in accordance with Charity Law.

Part-Time Officers undertake their role alongside their studies. They're not paid, but they have access to a budget, and to SU staff and resources to help them plan and deliver their projects. As they need to be a student during their year in office, this means that you must be a student during the 2020-21 academic year to be able to run for one of these roles.

Sabbatical Officers

Voluntary Officers

NUS Delegate

PRESIDENT

The President is the figurehead of the Students' Union. They lead & manage the Officer team and chair the Students' Union's Board of Trustees. They represent the student body in meetings with the University, to ensure that students' opinions are taken into account when important decisions are made, and they engage with students from all demographic groups. Alongside the CEO, the President oversees the day-to-day running of the SU. Just like all other officers, the President will also work on the pledges they made in their election manifesto.

VP EDUCATION

The Vice President Education is the Union's leader on all things related to the academic experience. They attend - and often chair - key meetings within the University that affect how teaching & learning works at Aston and are a key point of contact for Student Representatives of all kinds across the University. The VP Education also runs campaigns & projects that have the goal of improving students' academic experience at Aston - whether that's to do with learning resources, study space, assessment and feedback, or something else. As with all the other Officers, the VP Education also works on the pledges that they included in their manifesto when they were standing for election.

VP WELFARE

The Vice President Welfare's main job is to promote wellbeing among Aston students. With exam stress, the difficulty of balancing work, study and social life, and worries about your future life and career, being a student can be tough. The VP Welfare works hard to alleviate these issues for students.

They run projects and campaigns aimed at promoting mental and sexual health, healthy living, and community, to ensure that the Aston experience is as positive as possible for students. They also make sure that students' welfare is considered in Union & University decision-making.

VP STUDENT ACTIVITIES

Your time at University is about more than just getting a degree; it's a time for making new friends, new experiences and finding new passions. The Vice President Student Activities aims to promote the extracurricular activities that the Students' Union has to offer - including Societies, Sports Clubs, social events and more. The VP Student Activities also runs projects and campaigns to promote sports and an active lifestyle and ensures that our extracurricular activities are accessible to all groups of students.

President Role Information, Organising Events, Running Campaigns, Lead and manage the officer team, working with stakeholders in the University, Represent the student body to the University, Representing students on a national level

Vice-President Student Activities Information, organising events and ceremonies, running campaigns, representing students at a national level, working with stakeholders in the university.

Vice-president Education role information, organising events & ceremonies, running campaigns and projects, attend and chair key meetings, working with stakeholders in the university, key point of contact for student representatives, representing students on a national level

Vice-president welfare role information, organising events & ceremonies throughout the year, running campaigns and projects, representing students on a national level, working with stakeholders in the university.

Postgraduate Officer

Represents Postgrad Students at Aston, read the job description here

> Learn More

International Students' Officer

Represents Aston's International Community, read the job description here

> Learn More

Disabled Students' Officer

Ensures that students with disabilities have a voice in the Union, read the job description here

> Learn More

LGBTQ+ Students' Officer

Represents the interests of students who identify as LGBTQ+, read the job description here

> Learn More

Women's Officer

Promotes Women's issues at Aston, read the job description here

> Learn More

BAME (Black & Minority Ethnic) Officer

Represents BAME students at Aston, read the job description here

> Learn More

RAG (Raise & Give) Officer

Runs charitable activities at Aston SU

> Learn More

Commuter Students' Officer

Represents the interests of students who commute to Uni, read the job description here

> Learn More

Union Chairperson

Runs Union Council, and the Union Executive Committee

> Learn More

Sustainability Officer

Runs sustainability projects on campus, read the job description here

> Learn More

Mature Students' Officer

Represents the interests of older students during their education, read the job description here

> Learn More

What is the NUS?

The National Union of Students, known as the NUS, is the national voice of 7 million students across the United Kingdom. It exists to promote, extend, and defend student rights, which it does so through the 600 student unions, associations and guilds across the country.

Take a look at the NUS website to find out a bit more about the NUS.

What is the role?

We elect a number of conference delegates to attend the NUS National Annual Conference, alongside the SU President.

NUS Conference Delegates are super important because they represent Aston University students at a national level. As an NUS Delegate, you will discuss and debate issues that matter to students; you can submit motions to change things for the better and ensure the views of Aston students are heard loud and clear on a national scale.

The role of an NUS Delegate is three-fold; they vote on policy, elections and reports. For more information about being a delegate at NUS National Conference go to the NUS Connect website.

What happens at NUS Conference?

The NUS National Conference is a key decision-making body within the NUS. It brings together delegates from students' unions affiliated to the NUS UK to discuss, debate and vote on motions.

As the sovereign policy-making body of the NUS, National Conference brings together nearly a thousand delegates from students' unions across the country. As well as discussing and voting on motions; they also elect the political leadership of the NUS for the year ahead.

What are the dates of NUS Conference?

The next National Conference will take place in 2021. Candidates must be able to attend the conference.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, National Conference may take place virtually. This will depend on how the situation develops closer to the time as well as the restrictions in place in April, and the decision to run a physical or virtual event is up to the NUS. If you have specific concerns about attending a physical conference next year, please get in touch with us at union.voice@aston.ac.uk

NUS Conference	Date	Location	Delegation
NUS National Conference	12/04/21 – 13/04/21	The Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool	SU President 2020/21 (ex officio) 3 "Open Place" Elected Delegates

STILL NOT SURE?

Get in contact with the SU if you'd like to have a chat with a current officer, or to find out more. Email union.voice@aston.ac.uk.

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Officer Roles