Election of Student Members of Committees

3.1    Regulations for the Procedure for the Election of the Second Student Member of the Council and of the Second and Third Student Members of the Senate

(1)    All registered students of the University shall be eligible to vote in and stand at the election of the second student member of the Council and of the second and third student members of the Senate.

(2)    Nominations must be made with the written consent of the nominee and must be sent to the Returning Officer appointed for the election who will forward a list of nominations including proposers and seconders to the Registrar immediately upon the close of nominations. Candidates may be proposed and seconded only by registered students of the University.

(3)    The election shall be held in the Spring term and the person or persons elected shall hold office for a period of one year commencing on the first day of August following the election.

(4)    Notice of elections shall be given at least fourteen days before the elections shall be held.

(5)    The second student member of the Council and the second and third student members of the Senate may resign by writing both to the Registrar and to the President of the Union of Students.

(6)    A vacancy caused by resignation shall be filled by by-election for the unexpired period of office. The by-election shall take place during term-time as soon as possible after the resignation and shall follow these Regulations where applicable.

(7)    The election shall be conducted as follows:

(a)    If only one nomination is received for one office, the person nominated shall be deemed elected to that office.

(b)    Where there are only two candidates standing for one office, each elector shall have one vote and the candidate who polls the most votes shall be elected.

(c)    Where there are more than two candidates standing for one office, the election shall be conducted by means of an eliminating vote in a single ballot as set out below:

(i)    Each elector shall number the candidates in order of preference, indicating their first choice with the number l and so on. A vote shall be deemed valid even if an order of preference has not been indicated for all the candidates.

(ii)    The number of first preferences cast for each candidate shall be counted and if any candidate polls over 50 per cent of the votes cast he/she shall be elected.

(iii)    If no candidate polls over 50 per cent of the votes cast the candidate with the least number of votes shall be eliminated and their votes shall be distributed amongst the remaining candidates according to the second preferences expressed on these ballots.

(iv)    If any candidate then polls 50 per cent of the votes cast he/she shall be elected. If no candidate polls over 50 per cent of the votes cast the candidate with the least number of votes shall be eliminated and their votes distributed amongst the remaining candidates according to the next available preferences expressed on these ballots.

(v)    This process of elimination shall continue until a candidate receives over 50 per cent of the votes cast, or until only one name remains, when the candidate shall be declared elected. In the process of elimination the candidate with the least

number of votes shall be eliminated after each count and his/her votes distributed amongst the remaining candidates allowing for the next available preference expressed in these ballots.

(d)    The Returning Officer shall be appointed by the Executive Committee of the Union of Students and he/she shall not have an ordinary vote. In the event of a tie between the last two remaining candidates he/she may order a re-election to take place if either candidate so requests or, if both candidates agree, he/she may exercise a casting vote to decide the result. In the event of a tie during the earlier stage of the process of elimination the candidate to be eliminated shall be decided by lot.

(e)    The Registrar or his/her representative shall be present if he/she so desires throughout polling at the election and counting of the votes.

(f)    At least 5 per cent of the electorate must vote if the election to either office is to be valid.

3.2    Regulations Governing the Procedure for the Election of Student Members and Observers on the Boards of the Faculties and Sub-Faculties

(A)    General Provisions

(1)    The purpose of these Regulations is to define the procedures for the representation of students on Faculty Boards, Sub-Faculties and Undergraduate Studies Committees and to implement those provisions of the Ordinance on the Constitution of the Faculty Boards which concern student membership of the Faculty Boards.

(2)    A student elected as a member of a Board of a Faculty shall also serve as a member of any Sub-Faculty under the Board of the Faculty concerned.

(3)    There shall be up to three elected student observers on each of the Boards of the Faculties of Arts and Social Sciences. No more than one of the elected observers on each Faculty Board may be a postgraduate student.

(4)    The students elected as the observers on the Board of the Faculty of Arts shall also serve as the student observers on the Undergraduate Studies Committee of the Board of the Faculty of Arts.

(5)    The postgraduate student elected as the representative of the Board of the Faculty of Arts to serve on the Board of Graduate Studies shall also serve as the student observer on the Graduate Studies Committee of the Board of the Faculty of Arts.

(6)    In the case of a Faculty where there is no Sub-Faculty, the Board of the Faculty concerned shall recommend to the Senate on which of the Board’s sub-committees, if any, and in what numbers, the elected student member and student observers shall sit.

(7)    No student member or observer on a Faculty Board or Sub-Faculty or any other sub-committee of a Faculty Board shall participate in, or receive papers for, any business affecting the appointment, promotion or personal affairs of individual members of staff of the University or affecting the admission, academic assessment or personal affairs of individual students.

(B)    Election of Student Members

(1)    All registered (i.e. fee-paying) students of the University shall be eligible to vote in the election of the student member of the Board of the Faculty of which they are members.

(2)    No student shall serve as a member of a Faculty Board who is not a registered student of the University in the Faculty concerned.

(3)    Any registered student of the University in a particular Faculty of the University shall be eligible to stand at the election of the student member of the Board of the Faculty of which he/she is a member, provided that he/she expects to be a registered student in that Faculty during the year in which he/she will hold office if elected.

(4)    The Returning Officer, who shall be a registered student of the University appointed by the Union of Students, shall be responsible for checking the eligibility of students to vote in particular constituencies and for checking with the Registrar concerning the status of any student who is nominated as a candidate for election but about whose future as a registered student any doubt might arise.

(5)    Nominations must be made with the written consent of the nominee and must be sent to the Returning Officer appointed for the election, who will forward a list of nominations including proposers and seconders to the Registrar immediately upon the close of nominations. Candidates may be proposed and seconded only by registered students of the University.

(6)    The election shall be held in the Spring term and the person or persons elected shall hold office for a period of one year commencing on the first day of October following the election.

(7)    Notice of elections shall be given by the Returning Officer at least fourteen days before the elections shall be held.

(8)    Student members of the Boards of the Faculties may resign by writing both to the Registrar and to the President of the Union of Students.

(9)    A vacancy caused by resignation shall be filled by by-election for the unexpired period of office. The by-election shall take place during term-time as soon as possible after the resignation and shall follow these Regulations where applicable.

(10)    The election shall be conducted as follows:

(a)    If only one nomination is received for one office, the person nominated shall be deemed elected to that office.

(b)    Where there are only two candidates standing for one office, each elector shall have one vote and the candidate who polls the most votes shall be elected.

(c)    Where there are more than two candidates standing for one office, the election shall be conducted by means of an eliminating vote in a single ballot as set out below:

(i)    Each elector shall number the candidates in order of preference, indicating their first choice with the number l and so on. A vote shall be deemed valid even if an order of preference has not been indicated for all the candidates.

(ii)    The number of first preferences cast for each candidate shall be counted and if any candidate polls over 50 per cent of the votes cast he/she shall be elected.

iii)    If no candidate polls over 50 per cent of the votes cast the candidate with the least number of first preference votes shall be eliminated and their votes shall be distributed amongst the remaining candidates according to the second preference expressed on these ballots.

(iv)    If any candidate then polls 50 per cent of the votes cast he/she shall be elected. If no candidate polls over 50 per cent of the votes cast the candidate with the least number of votes shall be eliminated and his/her votes distributed amongst the remaining candidates according to the next available preference expressed on these ballots.

(v)    This process of elimination shall continue until a candidate receives over 50 per cent of the votes cast, or until only one name remains, when the candidate shall be declared elected. In the process of elimination the candidate with the least number of votes shall be eliminated after each count and their votes distributed amongst the remaining candidates allowing for the next available preference expressed in these ballots.

(d)    The Returning Officer of the Union of Students shall have an ordinary vote in the election of the student member of the Board of the Faculty of which he/she is a member. In the event of a tie between the last two remaining candidates he/she may order a re-election to take place if either candidate so requests, or if both candidates agree the result will be decided by lot.

(e)    The Registrar or his/her representative shall be present if he/she so desires throughout polling at the election and counting of the votes.

(f)    At least 5 per cent of the electorate for any office must vote if the election to any office is to be valid.

(C)    Election of Student Observers

(1)    The student observers in each Faculty shall be elected by and from a Faculty Student Assembly, which shall be composed of an equal number of student representatives appointed by and from each Staff/Student Liaison Committee within the Faculty. Subject to any relevant Regulations in (A) above, the number of these representatives and the method of election of the student observers shall be matters for the Union of Students to decide in consultation with the Chairs of the Staff/Student Liaison Committees in each Faculty.

(2)    No student shall serve as an observer on a Faculty Board or Sub-Faculty who is not a registered student of the University in the Faculty concerned.

(3)    The election of student observers shall be held in October following the election of the student members referred to in (B) above, and the person or persons elected shall hold office from the date of the election until 30th September following.

(4)    Notice of elections shall be given at least fourteen days before the elections shall be held.

(5)    Student observers on the Boards of the Faculties, Sub-Faculty and Undergraduate Studies Committees may resign by writing both to the Registrar and to the President of the Union of Students.

(6)    A vacancy caused by resignation shall be filled by by-election for the unexpired period of office. The by-election shall take place during term-time as soon as possible after the resignation and shall follow these Regulations where applicable.