SU Leadership Election Application Form

Essex SU Communities Election - October 2025

Candidate Application Form, 2025
ABOUT THIS ELECTION:

The SU Communities Election will see Essex students elect the new representatives of all of the communities of our diverse University.

The Student Community Officer and Council representative roles are incredibly important volunteering roles that represent 13,000 Essex student members who are part of diverse communities. These roles are essential for the Students' Union to deliver the best experience possible to all.

By completing this form, you are entering into an election, where if successful, you will become a representative of your community from October 27th 2025 and finishing on June 30th 2026.

WHY IS THIS FORM IMPORTANT?

You must complete this form to be a candidate in the SU Communities Election 2025.

Please submit this completed form by 23:59 on Sunday, 12th October 2025

If you haven't submitted the form by this deadline, you will not be able to be a candidate in this election.

HOW TO COMPLETE THIS FORM:
- This form will take approximately 10 minutes to complete, but requires additional time to prepare material in advance, including campaign information and a photo.
- You can save your responses and come back to them, so don't feel like you need to rush the form in one go.
- On page 2, we will ask you about your eligibility to be a representative of one of our communities.
- On page 6, we will ask you about the messages you want to include in your campaign for the SU Communities Election. You will have to prepare some material in advance, including campaign information and a photo.
- This campaign information, including the photo, will be used across the SU website and other promotional material, so please allow enough time to prepare these before submitting the form!
- Page 7 is about the additional information that you will get from the SU before the campaign and voting periods of the SU Communities Election.
If you have any questions regarding this form please email suelections@essex.ac.uk - we are here to help you!
Elections - Data Protection Statement
By submitting yourself as a candidate for the Students’ Union Communities Election, you are acknowledging Essex SU’s use of your personal data for this purpose. Our Privacy Notice details your rights as a data subject and outlines what Essex SU will use your personal data for.

About you
Full Name*

First NameLast Name
Phone Number*
You need to type the country code between brackets and then an 11 digits mobile number
Essex E-mail*
example@essex.ac.uk
Please type your preferred pronouns *
About the roles:

We are about to ask you which SU Communities role you will apply for. There are three roles: Student Community Officer (SCO), Council Representative, and Campus Chair. Remember: you can only choose one.

Here is a brief description of their duties and responsibilities:

SCO: They are responsible for representing issues that their communities face, engaging with them, and organising events for them. They are expected to update monthly to their campus Council on what they have been doing for their community

Rep: Must attend all SU Council meetings and contribute. They collect feedback from their community or the students regarding an issue and bring that information to the Council. They support their relevant SCO.

Campus Chair: They will chair the relevant Campus meeting and ensure that the meeting is well run, productive and participative.

You can find the whole role descriptions in our by laws
What role are you applying for?*
Please apply only for a role correspondent to the campus that you are based

Eligibility to be a SU Communities representative
To be able to run in this Election, you must be a current University of Essex student and intending to be a student throughout the academic year 2025-2026*

I confirm that I am a current University of Essex student and I intend to be a student of the University of Essex throughout the academic year 2025-2026

Which of the following applies to you? (Please tick one)*

I am a UK studentI am an International Student (eg I have come to Essex from outside of the UK)

Essential documents

You must read and sign the documents below to be part of the SU Leadership Election.
Election Rules:
These are the rules that ALL candidates must agree to follow when taking part in the SU Communities Elections.

First, download the Election Rules here: Rules of SU Communities Election

Second, read and understand the rules.

Third, confirm you have read and agree to abide by the rules by signing the rules document (both at the beginning of the document and right before the Appendix) and uploading it below:
Please upload your signed copy of the election rules here:*

Cancelof
Data Protection Statement:
The data protection statement covers how your personal data will be used and stored by the Students' Union in relation to your participation in the SU Communities Election 2025.

First, download the following document: SU Communities Election GDPR agreements

Second, read and understand the document.

Third, confirm you consent to the Data Protection Statement and the Collection and Storage of Sensitive Information by signing it and uploading the signed copy below:
Please upload your signed Data Protection statement here: *

Cancelof
Please upload your signed Collection and Storage of Sensitive Data statement here: *

Cancelof

Your campaign starts here!
This is where the fun bit starts - building your campaign!

This part of the application also requires you to prepare information in advance so please read this section carefully and give yourself enough time to get things ready.

As part of your application you will need to give us information about yourself and the messages that will be used in your election campaign.

You will also need to submit a photo.

The information you provide will be used by the SU on our website, social media and other communications channels to inform students about who you are and why students should vote for you.

So it's REALLY important to make sure you're happy with this information before you submit your final application before the deadline of 23:59 on Sunday 12th October 2025 because you will not be able to change it.
Why do you want to represent your community?*

(This information will be used to tell students about your motivations for applying to become their representative)0/150
What three words do you want to be known for?: *
(these three words will be used as a quick way of telling students about you)
How would you aim to engage with your community?*

(This section is really important in helping students to know how you can represent their interests in the SU Council - this is one of the main ways that students will decide who they want to vote for!)0/150
Please upload a photo of yourself here*

(please use a good quality photo of yourself where you are the main focus and your face is clearly recognisable!)
Cancelof

Candidate briefing
Every candidate must attend one of the in-person candidate briefings.

In the candidate briefing, you will get to know the Elections Team of the SU and will receive essential information about campaigning and the next steps after you have applied. You can also ask any questions that you might have.

The times, dates and locations of the candidate briefings are below - please tick to confirm the candidate briefing that you will attend (and don't forget to put it in your calendar!).

Choose your candidate briefing
Please confirm which of the following in-person Candidate Briefings you will attend:*

Tuesday 14th of October 2025. 14:00-15:00. Room 5A.118 (Colchester Campus)Wednesday 15th of October 2025. 13:00-14:00 OnlineThursday 16th October 2025. 14:00-15:00. Room 4SW.6.18 (Colchester Campus)
Should be Empty:

Essex SU Communities Election - October 2025

About you

Eligibility to be a SU Communities representative

Essential documents

Election Rules:

Data Protection Statement:

Your campaign starts here!

Candidate briefing