Join us in getting the best for students this year!
As a University of Sheffield student, you are automatically a member of your Students’ Union. Your SU is here to support and empower our members to create positive changes in the student community.
When you think of the SU, you probably think of our building where students meet, eat, drink and shop. You might also think of your society, or of an event you’ve attended here. But the Students’ Union is made up of so much more than this, it’s so much more than a building and above all, it’s run by students. In the past two years we have felt this more than ever.
In the 1900s the SU was run by a mass student assembly, the Union General Meeting, which was attended by hundreds, if not thousands, of students. Today Sheffield students make their views heard through referenda, votes of all students on an issue, through their Academic Reps, and through their representatives on Students’ Union Council and the SU Officer team.
Ali Youssef, an SU President in the 1930s, campaigned for and secured free health checks for all students, many years before the establishment of the NHS.The SU also led the campaign in the 1990s for all exams to be marked anonymously, a policy which was implemented universally by the university as a result.
SU Council is a group of student volunteers who are elected from across departments and representative groups. SU Councillors are elected every year to be a key part of the SU, joining campaigns alongside the SU Officer team, Representative Committees and Academic Reps, and working with them to affect real change on your campus. They spend a few hours each week speaking up for students and overseeing what the SU does.
Today SU Councillors are still focussing on the issues important to students, from working towards Wednesday afternoons free from teaching, to calling for better student housing standards, to leading the SU’s response to the blended learning and lecturer strikes
The structure of your SU Officer team was updated last year to match the changing needs of our students, including through the creation of our Part Time Officer positions. Your new Officers are so excited to work with you, and we need passionate, opinionated and driven students to speak up for students this year as SU Councillors — We want to mobilise our students to be active citizens, break down barriers for liberation groups and take action on the climate crisis, and we need you to join us on the journey!
We need passionate and committed student changemakers to join us in getting the best for students.
Nominate yourself from Monday 27th September to Friday 8th October. Voting from Monday 18th to Wednesday 20th October.
You can find out more about the elections, including how to write an election statement, on the SU website: sheffieldsu.com/elections
Be the voice of Sheffield students.
Taylor, International & Community Officer 2021/22
