Now Recruiting: Student Representative Roles!

We are excited to offer YOU the opportunity to get involved in representing your course, campus, liberation and national student movements, as well as scrutinising our democratic processes on behalf of your Union. These roles are fantastic opportunities for YOU to play an important role in getting yours and your peers voices heard and supporting positive change here at the University.

Did you know you can take on one of these roles with no prior experience or if you have been an SU Rep before, All you need is passion and commitment to listen to students and feedback to those who can help create change. Alongside each description of the roles below you will also find details of how to apply and the timeframes in which selection of individuals will be made. As these roles represent the voices of your student community, students have the final say on who they wish to see in these positions. Read on to find out more!

What’s in it for me?

Many things! First, these are all voluntary roles, which means you do it all for free. Volunteering is a fantastic way to grow your skills and enhance your CV.

We will be collaborating with the University Careers and Employability Department so that you can log the hours that you spend as an SU Rep. These hours will then build up over time and you can get a certificate at the end of the year (bonus points for the CV!).

You will learn transferrable skills like time management, effective and polite communication, problem-solving skills and much more! You will also gain valuable insight into the world of Higher Education and Students Unions.

Once recruited, all our SU Reps will be trained and fully supported by Beds SU during their tenure.

The deadline to express your interest for these roles is fast-approaching, so make sure you scroll down below to find out more! Click on the relevant title to ‘jump’ to the role(s) you are interested in:

Course Reps - representation on course-level
Campus Reps - representation on campus-level
Student Network Reps - representation of liberation groups (Disability, LGBT+, BAME)
NUS Delegates - representation on a national level
NUS Liberation Delegates - representation on a national level, focusing on liberation groups
Scrutiny Committee Members - representation on governing the SU's direction of work
Sustainability Champions - representation on sustainable initiatives within your student experience

Please note that you must be a registered student at the University of Bedfordshire throughout your term for all roles (i.e. until May 2024) in order to apply.

Course Reps

Our SU Course Reps are essential volunteers - students, the university and the Students' Union rely on them for feedback about specific courses. As a Course Rep you will sit in on core meetings where you will have the opportunity to present the views and experiences of students on your course to help bring about change. You will also learn a variety of transferrable skills along the way.

Course Reps are usually assigned to each course per year group. This means that the typical number of Course Reps for one course is three. If you'd like to become a Course Rep, send an email to help@bedssu.co.uk expressing your interest.

Why not give it a go? Take that next step! Find out more here.

Campus Reps

Our Campus Reps represent their campus of study, getting feedback from fellow students and working to improve the campus experience for all those studying there. This may be by holding more events, improving facilities, or working with other student groups, and this year's Sabbatical Officers.

Each University approved Campus will have a Rep and the positions are open to all current University of Bedfordshire students studying at that campus.

This year, we are also inviting our Campus Reps to be part of our panel of student experts that perform all-year round scrutiny of the Union’s processes. More details about this role can be found here.

Deadline to self-nominate yourself is Wednesday 11 October at 4PM. You can only nominate for the campus you are based at (e.g., London Bridge students will only be able to stand as a London Bridge Rep). Students on your campus will then be able to choose the student they wish to represent them between Thursday 12 October (12PM) and Thursday 19 October (4PM).

Why not give it a go? Take that next step! Find out more and apply for the role here.

Student Network Reps

The purpose of Student Networks is to represent the diverse characteristics of our students and exist to advance the representation of student communities that are widely acknowledged to experience or have experienced oppression, exclusion or disadvantage. Student Network Reps will lead and seek change within the University, the Union and the wider student experience for those that they represent. Our current Student Networks are:

More interestingly, each Student Network has the opportunity to elect a Student Rep/s to lead the Network, working with the SU to ensure your voice and all those who identify with the Network are heard and enjoy a positive experience at University.

Deadline to apply is Friday 20 October at 4PM. Students will then be able to choose the student they wish to represent them between Monday 23 October (12PM) and Thursday 2 November (4PM). To be eligible to nominate yourself and/or vote, you need to self-identify with and join one of our Student Networks (membership is free!). Find our list of networks here.

Why not give it a go? Take that next step! Find out more and apply for the roles here (SDN, BAME, LGBT+).

NUS Delegates

Here at Beds SU, we are proud to offer students the opportunity to get involved with student discussions on both a university focused level but also a national level, enabling our students to be part of the conversations being led by the NUS (National Union of Students). The NUS holds an annual conference, bringing together students from across their membership to debate issues from a variety of student experiences, to decide the campaigning priorities for the year ahead.

Beds SU has the opportunity to send 4 delegates to National Conference alongside one of our existing Officers. Three positions are reserved for students who self-define as women and two which are open to all students.

This year, we are also inviting our NUS Delegates to be part of our panel of student experts that perform all-year round scrutiny of the Union’s processes. More details about this role can be found here.

Please note you must also be available to attend the NUS Conference, 17 April – 18 April 2024 in Blackpool Winter Gardens, to carry out this role. You may additionally be required to travel the night before (16 April). All reasonable travel and accommodation costs will be covered by Beds SU, alongside a contribution towards meals.

Why not give it a go? Take that next step! Find out more and apply for the role here.

NUS Liberation Delegates

Similar to the above, the NUS Liberation Conference has been known to bring together Black*, Disabled, LGBT+, Trans and Women students to build communities of activists and plan its campaigning work. The NUS in the past has organised around the cost-of-living campaign, trans rights and their fight for a liberated society. It also explored new ideas to be vocal and visible on.

Beds SU has the chance to send six delegates to contribute towards the opportunities outlined above. The six spaces are reserved for delegates who self-define into the groups which are represented at the Liberation Conference. The reserved places are as follows:

One Black* Student
One additional place for a Black* Woman Student
One Trans Student
One LGBT+ Student
One Disabled Student
One Woman Student

*Black is an inclusive term the NUS uses to denote people of African, Arab, Asian and Caribbean heritage.

Deadline to self-nominate yourself is Friday 20 October at 4PM. Students will then be able to choose the student they wish to represent them between Monday 23 October (12PM) and Thursday 2 November (4PM). To be eligible to nominate yourself and/or vote, you need to self-identify with and join one of our Student Networks (membership is free!). Find our list of networks here.

Please note you must also be available to attend the NUS Liberation Conference, 15 April – 16 April 2024 in Blackpool Winter Gardens, to carry out this role. You may additionally be required to travel the night before (14 April). All reasonable travel and accommodation costs will be covered by Beds SU, alongside a contribution towards meals.

Why not give it a go? Take that next step! Find out more and apply for the role here.

Scrutiny Committee Member

New and improved for this year - our Scrutiny Committee is a group of student experts that meet monthly to determine the direction the Students’ Union takes by questioning the Sabbatical Officers, implementing policy, and overall perform a year-round scrutiny of Union’s democratic processes. This follows student feedback seeking to improve the accountability of our democratic procedures, whilst ensuring that a student-led, representative, informed, and fair forum is in place to do so.

The committee membership is currently made up of our Sabbatical Officers, Campus Reps, and NUS Delegates (bonus point - if you apply for Campus Rep and NUS Delegate, you get to do both!). The remaining places will be reserved for students appointed to ensure that we represent as many demographics of our student body as possible (e.g., ethnicity, level/mode of study, fee status, gender, liberation group/delegate, etc.) – as such, we are particularly keen to hear from student belonging to the following groups, to ensure these voices are heard:

Home/EU students
Students from >31 and 18-21 age groups
Students with placement experience
Undergraduate students
Students with disabilities
Students from the LGBT+ community

We are looking to recruit our additional volunteers that are interested in getting involved and will help make this mission a reality.

Deadline to register your interest is Thursday 19 October 4PM.

Why not give it a go? Take that next step! Find out more and register your interest for the role here.

Sustainability Champions

We are on a lookout for students to fill a brand-new voluntary role at Beds SU. Will you become one of our first ever Sustainability Champions?

This role is completely flexible, both in terms of the time you devote to it and the activities that you do! For example, you could get involved with:

Campaigns - helping us run campaigns that are relevant and useful to students, and make sure that we are having a positive impact on the world around us!
Resources - create resources to help students gain a better understanding of sustainability and encourage them to be more sustainable in their day-to-day routines.
Experiences - You can focus on any area of sustainability, or work experience that you'd like to improve on or gain more knowedlge in.

Throughout your time as a Sustainability Champion, you will be supported by a Beds SU staff member, who can also provide you with a short introduction into sustainability.

Why not give it a go? Take that next step! If interested, please email help@bedssu.co.uk.

If you would like to chat to us about these opportunities, you can still catch us on Monday 25th September on Luton Campus, between 12PM - 2PM, where we will be hosting a drop-in focusing on volunteering opportunities at the SU just outside at our very own METRO. Details attached here!

Otherwise, if you have any further questions about these roles, please do reach out to us via help@bedssu.co.uk, and a member of the Student Voice Team will get back to you.