You may have seen that nominations for student officers are currently open, but I just wanted to write this to remind everyone that elections for Faculty and School Conveners are also open now! 

At UEA we have lots of opportunities for you to volunteer and to represent the views of those in your school and on your course. This could include being a course rep, a School Convenor or even a Faculty Convenor. But what are the differences?  

Course reps: they represent students who are in their year group and are studying the same course.   

School Convenor: they represent the student body of your school 

Faculty Convenor: they represent the students in the school within your faculty.  

Each of these roles provide fantastic opportunities to get more involved in your course and at UEA, whilst building a wide range of skills.  

Here’s a little bit more information... 

School Conveners lead the course reps in their school and gather feedback from them. They work with an academic who is the Student Partnership Officer in their school to co-chair the Student Liaison Committee (SSLC), as well as attend the School Board and other committees on behalf of the student body. They represent and address the views of students specifically in their school.  

Faculty Convenors gather feedback from students across the wider faculty via the School Convenors and feed these into Faculty level meetings, including the Faculty Exec and Learning, Teaching and Quality Committee. There are 4 faculties at UEA including Humanities, Science, Social Science and Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. They are expected to support the School Conveners and discuss with them issues that have been raised to identify problems across the Faculty.   

Both roles also sit on the Union’s education subcommittee with the myself (the Undergraduate Education Officer) and the Postgraduate Education Officer. Here we discuss key education-related issues within the university and are able to plan and lead campaigns to make UEA better. They also sit on Union Council and so are able to propose motions and shape the wider work the SU does.    

So what can you gain from these roles?  

These roles provide great opportunities to learn and develop a wide range of skills so you can really make the most out of your time here at UEA. You’ll learn how to chair meetings, develop communication skills and much more! This is also the best opportunity to make real changes in your school and improve UEA for all students.   

So what’s next? 

Elections are happening now for the next academic year! You can nominate yourself until Midday on the Tuesday 5th of March. Interested? Click here and scroll down! Make sure you upload a photo and write a couple of lines about why you want the role in the manifesto section.

*Please note that NBS and IIH are currently not running school convenor elections. * 

Why not get involved and help us to make UEA a better place for everyone. If you have any questions about these elections, then please do contact me at [email protected].