With the 2016 Student Elections fast approaching, I thought I'd share a 'Day in the Life of a Student President'. The sabbatical Presidents at RGU:Union work full time to represent the views of the student population. It's an incredible opportunity where you get the responsibly to make a huge amount of decisions and make changes to the lives of hundreds of students. Any ordinary student can run to be a President or Vice President in this year's elections! If you are interested, and want to know a little more, here is a taste to what a standard day is like.
8:30am - 9:00pm - Getting Ready!
Standard morning. Wake up. Teeth. Shower. Get dressed. Breakfast. Drive to work.
9:00am - 10:00am - E-Mails and Social Media
First thing I do when I get into the office is turn my computer on, and check my e-mails and social media. The e-mails tend to pile up all day, so I like to try and get as many done as I can to stay on top of student enquires. I also start by checking my meetings for the day, and writing down a to-do list in my book, which keeps me on track for everything I need to do. Finally, as Communications President, I try and make sure I keep updating my social media including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, Vine, Instagram...that alone is a full time job!
10:00am - 11:00am - Executive Committee Meetings
Once a month, all the Presidents and Vice Presidents get together for meetings of the Executive Committee. I was elected Chair of the Committee, so my role is to prepare the agenda and papers, plan the meetings and manage the discussions. At the meetings, the team give updates, make plans for up and coming events, as well as get updates on things like finance.
11:00am - 11:30am - Travelling
Part of my role is also to work within the community and with other students' unions, so I'm often travelling to meetings or conferences around the city or country. RGU:Union represents students living in the city too, so we attend meetings with community councils, AUSA, NESCol, community strategy groups, student forums and more.
11:30am - 1:00pm - Meetings and Travelling
I also often attend conferences and meetings across the country to work with the National Union of Students, or attend training events or conferences. Unfortunatly, being from Aberdeen, we have that extra distance to travel to get down to Glasgow or Edinburgh, or even locations in England. The meetings are a great opportunity to meet other officers, learn a great amount and represent students nationally, but the travelling does often mean working on trains.
1:00pm - 4:00pm - Lunch and Committee Meetings
A big part of my job is attending committee meetings at the University. My role in these meetings is to be aware of what is being discussed and contribute students feedback to the decisions being made. This is a really rewarding experience to be able to understand how the university works, contribute to key decisions and meet weekly with senior management of the university. Most of it doesn't sound too fun, and the meetings and papers are long (hundreds of pages), but it's certainly a rewarding part of the job. There is also very often a free lunch. #Bonus
4:00pm - 5:00pm - Committee/Governors Meeting
I was also elected as Undergraduate Governor, which is a seperate role to being President (Communication and Democracy), but is another exteremly useful role. As a Governor, I also attend a number of meetings where I help make the highest level decisions of the university as a whole. It's a difficult and scary role to do, but teaches you so much, and makes you meet loads of new people.
7:00pm - 10:00pm - Board of Governors Dinner
The last perk of the job is getting invited to a wide number of events. Whether it's the free meal that entices you, or meeting new people, or how fun it is, there is no shortage of events. This week it was the Board of Governors dinner with external governors and university senior management, but there are also the countless student balls, including Student Achievement Awards Ball, Blues Awards Ball, Graduation Ball, and events such as the Boat Race and much more.
Being a student President is not always an easy job, but it is one of the most rewarding things you will ever do, whether through the CV boosts, networking, experience, or memories. Everyday is different! If you are interested in being a student President or Vice President next year, then all you have to do is go to www.rguunion.co.uk/elections after the 3rd March!
2016 Student Election Dates
Notice - Thursday 18th February 2016
Nominations Open - Thursday 3rd March 2016
Nominations Close - 2:00pm Thursday 17th March 2016
Candidate Briefing - 3:00pm Thursday 17th March 2016
Voting - Tuesday 22nd - 2:00pm on Friday 25th March 2016
Announcement - 3:00pm on Friday 25th March