Equalities Officer How to run Election Training What

‘Equalities Officer - How to run’ Election Training

What the Part-time Equalities Officers? Part- time Officers are elected on a voluntary basis by the student body and are not expected to complete a certain amount of hours but are able to take the lead on various projects and events. Part-time Officers work with Sabbatical Officers to achieve the overall goals/priorities of the Union. The Equalities Officer sit within the Equalities Zone. To be run for an Equalities Officer position, you must identify with one of the following groups; Women, BAME, LGBTQ+, Disabled.

How is the election conducted? • To run for an Equalities Officer position, come to the Equalities Zone meeting on Thursday 18 th March at 5 pm via Teams. • When the election begins, we will go through each position, asking people to nominate themselves if they wish to run. • Each candidate will then be invited to make a short speech (roughly 5 minutes). • Voting will then be conducted straight away during the meeting via an online system. • Results will be announced there and then. • You do not need to campaign in any way prior to the Equalities Zone, but it can increase your chances of being elected. You can begin campaign at 5 pm on Thursday 11 th.

What do you need to do to run? • To identify with the group for which the position represents. • Code of Conduct form: You will only need to sign this if you are elected to the role • Attend the Equalities Zone meeting on March 18 via Teams. • Prepare a short speech as to why you would like to run, any key goals you would like to achieve if you were elected, and why people should elect you. Try keep it to below 5 minutes.

Ensure you adhere to Schedule 2 • ‘Schedule 2 - Elections and Referendum’ can be found on the website here https: //www. stirlingstudentsunion. com/aboutus/governancea ndplanning/ • Schedule 2 is a governing document. It outlines the rules and regulations surrounding the elections. • All candidates should familiarise themselves with the rules in Schedule 2.

What now follows is not required to run, but is information for anyone who wishes to actively campaign in the week prior to the election

What do you can do prior to running? These points are not mandatory to run for the role, but can help your candidacy in the run up to the vote at the meeting. • Manifesto: Who are you and what are the key goals you would like to achieve if elected? • A slogan: Something catchy that sums up your campaign. • Publicity: This could be poster images to share on social media, videos to promote your candidacy or even a Teams background to use when in meetings.

A Manifesto

What is a manifesto? • It is a short piece of text (about 500 words) that tells voters who you are and why they should vote for you • It sets out your pledges so that students know what to expect if you’re elected. What do you want to change, improve, reduce etc. • Helps to set your objectives for your year in office. Therefore, if you get elected, you come into the job with a list of things to get started on. • The Union staff then support your manifesto priorities.

Evidence your ideas and get feedback • Make sure to speak to students to find out what is important to them – talk to as many people as possible about your ideas. • Start with your social circle of friends to find out the changes they would like to see at Stirling. • The best manifestos show that the candidate is aware and informed of the key issues facing students.

Your Manifesto: 10 tips • Introduce yourself • List your beliefs- what do you want to change? • Ensure your ideas are achievable • Choose three / four top priorities • Describe how you will solve the issues you raise • Be concise • Use snappy titles • Use clear language and text • Grammar / spell check

Publicity

Publicity Online • Publicity is not mandatory to run for an Equalities Officer position, but it can help you as a candidate. As everything is digital/virtual for all the 2021 Elections, make the best use of various online platforms. Design your online publicity to suit the channel you’re sharing it on, i. e. Teams, Canvas, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. • We highly recommend including in your publicity your name & the position you are running for, the Student Union logo, and the date and time of the election.

Publicity guidance • All services utilised or promotion tools used to help with your elections must be cost free and available to all (with the exception of a very small amount spent on certain items which will be listed shortly). You cannot use paid promotions. • Under no circumstances candidates offer gifts to voters. • Lauren from our Comms team has created Digital Election Packs. These packs have information on how to create different publicity for your campaign, the logos and links to helpful websites. The Pack can be found here: https: //stirmy. sharepoint. com/: f: /g/personal/rv 7_stir_ac_uk/Es. ZUi. H 0 t 6 p. BAjj. Rj 1 Ds. Ku. WUB 6 K-Il. UWw 9 d 3 Yin. G 3 fp 1 vm. A? e=m. MHac. G

Campaigning

Why Do Students Vote? • I saw their publicity on social media • They align with my views • So people will stop nagging me to vote • They did a video chat • I read their manifesto • They spoke in my online lecture • They seem nice • A friend of mine asked me to vote for them

Why Do Students Vote? • The art of converting many short meaningful conversations into a votes is what wins elections! • Don’t be put off by a few bad reactions and try to focus on some of the better more positive responses you get from students. • A key skill for a campaigner is to be able to make their campaign relevant to voters, being able to pick the right campaign point to speak about that is most applicable to the situation and also engaging those students who don’t see the elections as something that is relevant to them. • You can ask about their experiences and get them fired up to tell you about their injustice (whether that be online accessibility or concerns about accommodation) and offer them your vision from your campaign and how you will change the situation if you are elected. • Be prepared to be persuasive and confident to gain votes……

Any Questions?