FAQs

There are endless reasons why you should stand to be a Full-time or Volunteer Officer that if we listed them all you’d be here a VERY long time. But if we had to summarise, it’s a great opportunity to be a part of something; you will be able to make real change for students by working on something you’re passionate about. You are also paid, have the opportunity to build your CV as a new graduate and get to enjoy Aberystwyth for at least one extra year! You will become a closer part of the Aber family whilst developing unique skills and enjoying new experiences that you can take with you into the future.

As long as you’re a student at Aberystwyth University you can stand to become a Full-time Officer. However please remember this is a full-time role for the 2022/2023 academic year. If you are in your first or second year of study, you could take a year out of studying to undertake the role – if this doesn’t interest you why not consider one of our Volunteer Officer Roles? If you’re in your final year, becoming a Full-time Officer could be your dream first job after graduating.

You can stand by completing our online form before 12pm Tuesday 22nd February 2023.

Standing only takes a couple of minutes and remember if you’re unsure what to put for your publicity or summary text you will be able to log-in until 12pm Friday 25th February to update this information.

12pm Tuesday 22nd February 2023.

You can get in touch with the Students’ Union by emailing union.elections@aber.ac.uk and we can schedule a Teams call for a chat with one of our staff members who will give you support and advice. If the SU building is open in line with Covid-19 guidance you can also pop to reception and ask any questions you might have – keep an eye out for anyone wearing an elections t-shirt!

Check out the Candidates Guide in our candidate hub or our other webpages which are filled with information and resources about the roles available and the elections process.

Speak to friends, tutors and family members to get some guidance.

Pop along to one of our Candidates Academy sessions to find out more.

This is up to you and the decision will depend on your experiences, interests and skills. Remember the role runs for a year, from July to June, so it’s important to think about what you will enjoy, feel you can contribute to and/or improve for students. Speak to friends, tutors and family members to see which one they think you’d be best at.

Take a look at our Full-time Roles and Volunteer Roles for more detail.

Yes, you absolutely can! International Students can apply for an extension of their Tier 4 visa for the role.

Full-Time Officers are paid at least £18,600 in accordance with the Living Wage.

AberSU also supports staff to redeem any tax-free working from home allowance where appropriate.

Any registered student should be able to take a year out of their course. If you are a part-time or Master’s student then the best thing may be to finish your dissertation during the first few months of the role (we can make arrangements and put support in place for you to do this), or to temporarily withdraw and complete your dissertation after you’ve finished.

Yes! The first couple months will be filled with lots of training about all aspects of the job so you don’t need to have any specific knowledge, skills or experiences. From ways to start a campaign to understanding your learning style you will be fully supported throughout the year. Full-time officers also have access to dedicated time to an external mentor.

You can either pop into the Students’ Union and speak to the member of staff on reception or drop us an email union.elections@aber.ac.uk

No – the standing process is quick, easy and simple. You can stand by completing our online form. Don’t worry, your publicity and summary text don’t need to be submitted until the 12pm Friday 25th February.

It is not compulsory to submit publicity and summary, but it is in your best interests to create something to tell students about the kinds of issues that interest you and what you’d like to achieve. Both are ways for candidates to put their ideas and personality forward to voters.

If you aren’t sure what to write, why not take a look at news articles highlighting what issues students currently care about or having a look to see what Ideas have recently been debated at Senedd?

The information you provide will be available on the Students’ Union website and linked to from the online voting pages. You have until 12pm Friday 25th February to complete your publicity and summary text on your candidate profile.

You will probably see messages across campus and on your course about the elections.

All candidates should plan to attend the Candidate Briefing on Tuesday 22nd February. This session will run through the process and rules relating to the election. If you are unable to attend or have access needs please email union.elections@aber.ac.uk to discuss arrangements.

The Students’ Union is here to support you through the whole process and has a dedicated team on hand for anything you may need during this time.

The names of all students standing will be kept secret until Tuesday 22nd February when numbers and names of candidates will be made available after the Candidates Briefing’s. Publicity and summary text provided by candidates will be uploaded to the Students’ Union website in the lead-up to voting on Monday 14th March.

Suggest a student encourages you to nominate a friend, peer or someone you know who you think would make a brilliant Full-time or Volunteer Officer.

All you have to do is submit basic information and the Students’ Union will contact them and inform them they’ve been suggested for this opportunity and how they can stand.

You can do this anonymously if you'd prefer!

To run as a pair, only one of you needs to fill in the standing form. Once you have filled in your own personal details you can then tick a box on the form to run as a job-share.

The standing form will expand, and you can fill in the details on behalf of the other person. Please only complete one standing form per pair.

For more information on running with a friend, check out our blog post here.

Voting opens 9am, on Monday 14th March and closes 3pm, on Friday 18th March. Voting will be via ApAber or via a unique voting link sent via email.

Any student at Aberystwyth University is eligible to vote.

This is where all students who are standing compete for the positions they are standing for. This week of voting sees those standing speaking and engaging with students in a variety of ways to get people to vote for them.

Students can vote online via www.abersu.co.uk/changeaber/elections/ .

At 7pm on Friday 17th March, there will be a results night held at the Students’ Union where winners are announced, and everyone’s contribution is celebrated.