Community Officers Referendum Results Announced

After three days of voting in the Community Officers Referendum, you said 'yes' to replacing our 'Student Collectives' and 'Collective Convenors' with 'Student Communities' and 'Community Officers'. We hope these changes will make the groups more recognisable and accessible, and give underrepresented groups the best platform possible to have their voices heard on campus and beyond.

Since our Democracy Review in 2019, we have been monitoring student engagement with Student Collectives and Executives, however, after Collectives struggled to attract student members, and elect leaders (Convenors), we decided it was time for a change.

That's why, alongside the SU Elections, we held a referendum on the Union's constitution to bring in some proposed changes to Byelaws E and I. You turned out and voted 'yes' to these changes; now we begin the task of putting things into action and making these changes a reality.

What's changing?

Our new Student Communities will be autonomous bodies that are responsible for working with the Union to secure the general interests and collective rights of the students that define into the relevant group. There will be two categories of communities, one for inclusion-based communities and one for academic-based communities.

They will also coordinate activities, events, and campaigns relevant to their agenda, which may include supporting and working across different student groups. Below we've listed the new 'Inclusion' and 'Academic' Communities. 

The Inclusion Communities

• Women Students
• LGBT+ Students
• Disabled Students
• Black & Global Majority Students
• International Students
• Students of Faith
• Mature, Parent & Carer Students

The Academic Communities

• Postgraduate Research Students
• Postgraduate Taught Students
• Commuting Students

If you're interested in becoming a member of a Community, or even campaigning to become a 'Community Officer', keep an eye out for an update on these exciting changes in the Summer Term.