Delegate to NUS Conference Candidate Information …s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/nusdigital/document/documents/...DELEGATE TO NUS CONFERENCE candidate information pack Every year, students

Delegate to NUS ConferenceCandidate Information Pack

DELEGATE TO NUS CONFERENCEcandidate information pack

IntroductionWhat is expected of candidates?

Campaigning and Publicity Regulations

Breaking the rules

Election Timetable

What is expected of delegates?

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Contents

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Every year, students put themselves forward to lead Brookes Union. There are a number of roles, some full time and others part time. We also elect students to attend the annual National Union of Students (NUS) conference at this time. All roles are for a fixed term of one year, with scope to run for a second term of office.

Whether you think your Union is fantastic and should keep up the good work, or there are things that you would change if you could, this is your opportunity to make your mark.

This document is all the information you will need if you decide to run to be a delegate at the NUS Conference in our elections. If you’re interested in a full or part time position, please go back to brookesunion.org.uk/elections and click on the relevant information pack.

You can find out more information about this years NUS Conference here:

www.conference.nusconnect.org.uk/

Introduction

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You will familiarise yourself with the rules.

You will keep within the election rules and guidelines and adhere to rulings made by the election supervisor.

You will complete a nomination form which you will submit online by 1.00 pm. on Friday 20th Feb. Late nominations will not be accepted.

You will include a manifesto of no more than 300 words in either PDF or Microsoft Word format and a photograph in the form of a jpeg, as it comes out of the camera (not compressed).

You will submit a completed candidate’s monitoring form.

You will attend one of the candidates’ briefing sessions. One session will be held at 1.00pm on 20th Feb, and the other at 4.00pm on 23rd Feb.

Candidates for a full time position will be expected to participate in one of the candidates debates, which will be held in the evening of the 2nd March and the 4th March. You will be informed after nominations close which debate will feature the position you are contesting.

You will hand in a completed expenses form, together with all receipts (copies are acceptable) to the Students’ Union before 12.00 on Friday 13th March.

You will be responsible for keeping in touch with the assistant election supervisors and will respond to their communications in good time. This includes checking your emails, the SU website and the candidates Facebook group at least daily.

You will take responsibility for the actions of your campaign team.

What is expected of all candidates?

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The success of the elections are dependent upon you, the candidates. It is your ability to successfully promote yourself and convince students to vote that will get them to the ballot box.

We would like to create an atmosphere where you can have a contest which is exciting and good natured, leading to a high turnout at the polls.

The following regulations are designed to help you achieve this.

PrinciplesThere are two fundamental principles which guide these regulations:

• The Union wishes to encourage the active involvement and creativity of its members inside the electoral process.

• The Union wishes and requires fairness in its elections process.

From time to time the Election Supervisor, during the course of the election, may vary or further define the regulations herein in the form of rulings. You should check your email account regularly to ensure that you are aware of any rulings that have been made. Should a ruling of the Election Supervisor appear to be in conflict with anything detailed in this document, the ruling of the Election Supervisor will take precedence.

The Rules ContextDuring the election campaign you are likely to be involved in a series of activities. It is important to remember that during the election campaign, you are still bound by sets of rules that, whilst not strictly elections rules, still have a bearing on your conduct.

Union Rules: You are expected to abide by the Union’s rules generally, its behavioural code and equal opportunities procedure. If you breach these rules, you may be subject to the Union’s disciplinary procedure. If your membership is withdrawn under these rules, then you will not be able to be a candidate in the election.

University Rules: The University operates a number of rules that relate to your membership of the student community and use of its facilities and property- for example, its bullying and harassment code, damage to University property and buildings etc. If you breach these rules you may be subject to the University’s disciplinary procedure. This could also result in your disqualification as a candidate.

Campaigning and Publicity Regulations

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The Law: The fact that you are standing in the election does not remove you from the auspices of the law of the land! The election supervisor may refer any apparent breach of the law to the appropriate authorities, which may also put your candidacy in jeopardy.

Campaign TeamsBy their nature, election campaigns are intensive. Because Oxford Brookes is large this can become very time-consuming and an exhausting period for one person to do alone. For these reasons it is useful to put together a team. However, you should bear the following in mind:

1. You will be held responsible for the actions of any member of your team.2. The name and contact details of a key campaigner on your team should be given to the

Election Supervisor and the Assistant Election Supervisor.

Election ManifestoThe election manifesto is the official statement from the candidate which sets out their experience, skills and goals and the reasons why the electorate should vote for you.

You will find a series of questions at the end of the nomination form which will form the basis of a manifesto which the Union will distribute on your behalf.

Your manifesto should be either a PDF or a Word document which we will publicise online on your behalf.

You should also produce a condensed version of your manifesto in either PDF or Word format which should be no more than a single side of A4, which we will include in a printed booklet of candidates’ manifestos.

1. No University or Union logos may be used in your manifesto, either online or in hard copy, including those of clubs and societies.

2. Your full manifesto will be displayed on the Union website.3. You must submit an electronic copy of a photograph with your manifesto. This must be

in the form of a jpeg, as it comes out of the camera (not compressed).4. If you would like a video manifesto to be shown on the Union’s web site, please provide

a link or a file in AVI, MPEG or WMA format. Video manifestos should be no more than 2 minutes in length.

Campaign AllowanceCandidates are allowed to spend up to £50 on campaign materials for the election. The Union will pay £25 of these costs for candidates.

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Campaign expenditure is defined as “any expenditure that is carried out with the purpose of promoting a candidate’s election campaign”. This includes publicity, costume hire, T Shirt production, etc. The Election Supervisor’s decision about whether any particular spending is included as campaign expenditure is final. If you are not sure, you are advised to check beforehand.

All expenditure must be reported to one of the Elections Supervisors on the form provided. Receipts for all spending must be provided to the Assistant Election Supervisor before 12.00am on Friday 13th March. If you do not complete the form and submit all receipts for expenditure you will be disqualified from the election.

If the Election Supervisor has evidence that you have spent more than you declare, then you may be disqualified from the election.

Candidates should only do what others have had the opportunity to do. This means that any “sponsorship” or “favours” that have a value but do not involve candidate expenditure must be available to all candidates in a given election. In addition any discounts or special offers used must be available to all candidates in the election. Candidates must discuss any proposed ‘sponsorship’ or ‘favours’ to the Election Supervisor before using or publicising them.

Publicity and CampaigningThe following are useful guidelines but are not exhaustive. You are strongly advised to bear in mind the University’s rules around treatment of property and the Union’s rules on equality of opportunity and harassment.

1. PostersPlease be aware that the use of posters is restricted on campus as a whole therefore we cannot guarantee that any posters will not be removed during campaigning. However you must observe the following conditions:• Posters placed on Fire doors will be removed. University staff will remove these and

they will probably be destroyed. • Posters should be placed on notice boards but should not be placed over any other

notice, poster or publication. Posters which are placed on walls of the University will usually get removed and destroyed by University staff.

• Posters should be placed on notice boards with drawing pins or blu-tac. Do not use sellotape.

• The content of the materials displayed or circulated is the responsibility of the candidate. Material which breaches the Union constitution, election rules and equal opportunity policy will be removed and action may be taken by the Election Supervisor in accordance with the election rules.

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• Material which makes allegations against individuals or which could render the Union open to legal action needs to be checked by the Election Supervisor. The Election Supervisor may instruct that such material is removed until they have taken professional advice.

• Leaflets, flyers and other similar materials should be given to individual students. They should not be left on surfaces in the University.

• Candidates and their campaign teams should not block doorways and entrances. • Candidate literature is not allowed where ladders or other equipment has to be

used to put it up or where the health and safety of campaign teams or individuals is a risk.

Breach of Regulations1. Candidates found to be in breach of any of the regulations above could be issued with

a written warning from either the Election Supervisor or Assistant Election Supervisor. If the breach is considered serious, or creates a situation where one candidate is at a serious advantage (or disadvantage), then the Election Supervisor may determine that the candidate is disqualified.

2. Failure to act on the instructions of the Election Supervisor may result in disqualification as a candidate.

3. Other sanctions may be referral to the Union Disciplinary Procedure; referral to the University Disciplinary Procedure, referral to the Police and/or removal from the election procedure for its duration.

The Election Supervisor is a staff member of the National Union of Students. Any query should be addressed in the first instance to one of the Assistant Election Supervisors.

Assistant Election Supervisors:Robin McSorley

Deputy Chief Executive 01865 484779 | [email protected]

Hilary Govier Admin and Human Resource Manager

01865 484754 | [email protected]

Matt Hayes Representation Co-ordinator

01865 484743 | [email protected]

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A possible breach of the rules may come to the attention of the Election Supervisor by way of a complaint from another candidate, a complaint from a student, observation by a member of staff or observation by the Election Supervisor themselves.

However a potential breach of the rules comes to the attention of the Election Supervisor, it will be dealt with in the same way.

The Assistant Election Supervisor will immediately investigate any suspected breach of the rules.

The Assistant Election Supervisor will notify the candidate who is suspected of breaking the rules. This notification will be no more than 24 hours after the issue has come to the attention of the election supervisor.

The Election Supervisor may judge that the alleged breach of the rules is both isolated and inconsequential. If this is the judgement of the Election Supervisor, they will inform the candidate and any complainant.

The Election Supervisor may decide that the complaint should be investigated, either because the individual issue is serious, or because there have been a number of relatively minor breaches of the rules.

If the Election Supervisor decides that an investigation is necessary, they will act with speed.

The Assistant Election Supervisor will seek an interview with any complainant, and with the candidate. These interviews will normally take place within one working day of the complaint coming to the attention of the election supervisor.

At this stage it is the responsibility of the candidate to ensure that all relevant information, including the names and contact details of relevant witnesses, are brought to the attention of the deputy election supervisor.

The Deputy Election Supervisor will then seek interviews with any other people who might have information about the allegations. They will also consider any documentary evidence which may be appropriate. This phase of the investigation will be held as quickly as possible, and will be completed no more than 3 working days after the complaint has come to the attention of the election supervisor.

The Deputy Election Supervisor will then submit a written report to the Election

Breaking the rules

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Supervisor.

The Election Supervisor will decide on one of the following courses of action as a result of the investigation:• Dismiss the allegations• Issue a written reprimand• Disqualify a candidate from the elections

If the Election Supervisor issues a written reprimand, any further breach of the rules will result in the candidate being disqualified from the election.

The Election Supervisor will inform the candidate and any complainant of the decision they have reached within one working day.

In all aspects of the above process, should the election supervisor be unavailable, then the National Union of Students will appoint a temporary substitute. Should the Deputy Election Supervisor be unavailable, then the Chief Executive of Brookes Union will appoint a temporary substitute.

The results of any complaints, and the decisions of the Election Supervisor will be made public.

Appealing against a decisionAppeals against the decision of the Election Supervisor will be heard by the Chair of the local branch of Unison.

If a candidate who has been disqualified wishes to appeal the decision of the Election Supervisor, they must do so by writing to the election supervisor within 1 working day of the decision.

The candidate must set out the detail of their appeal in writing for the consideration of an external authority. They may contest the facts of the case or the decision of the election supervisor, but may not present evidence or witness statements which have not been presented to the Election Supervisor in the original investigation.

The Election Supervisor will prepare a written report on the investigation, which will include the Deputy Election Supervisor’s notes of all interviews.

The appeal will be determined and final judgement given within 3 working days of written notification of the appeal.

There will be no further appeal after this process.

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Election Timetable

Here are some key dates for your diary. Please make sure that you understand both the role that you are standing for and the rules of the election.

Date Time ActivityFriday 20th Feb 1:00pm Nominations close

2:00pm Candidates’ BriefingMonday 23rd Feb 4:00pm Repeat of Candidates’ Briefing

(You need only attend one)Monday 2nd Mar 6:00pm Election DebateWednesday 04th Mar 6:00pm Election Debate

(You will be informed after nominations close which debate will feature the position you are contesting)(These are for the full time positions only)

Monday 9th Mar 9:00am Start of votingMorning Students receive emails with link to election module

Thursday 12th Mar 5:00pm Voting closesFriday 13th Mar 12:00pm Deadline for submitting completed expenses form

7:00pm Results Party

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You are expected to attend all sessions of the conference.

You are expected to project a positive image of the Union at all times (this includes during social and informal sessions and outside the conference).

When casting your vote you must vote in line with any existing policy or decision of the Union.

If there is no existing policy, and if the Union has not taken a view on any matter under consideration, the delegates will confer and decide how to cast their votes. In such a situation you are expected to cast your vote in the way the majority of the delegation decides.

You are expected to report back to Council and to the membership as soon as possible after the conference.

What is expected of Delegates?

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Documents

Delegate to NUS Conference Candidate Information …s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/nusdigital/document/documents/...DELEGATE TO NUS CONFERENCE candidate information pack Every year, students