Student Union to launch referendum to introduce “campus officers”

Kingston University Student Union’s full-time officers are launching a referendum next week to change the way elected officers represent students.

The referendum calls for an end to the system of remit based officers that exists now, and proposed to replace it with campus based officers instead. Should the referendum be successful students at each campus will vote for a full time officer to represent them.

KUSU’s website states that the decision to propose this change came about as a result of the Governance review (2012) and the results of their research conducted by Redbrick (2014), both of which indicated that KU students want “more representation, involvement in union decision-making and would like to be able to hold their officers to account.”

The motion for change states that: “KUSU notes… that student feedback has shown that KUSU is Penrhyn Road centric and that KUSU lacks sufficient presence on other campuses.”

The motion also mentions that students on other campuses find it difficult to engage with activities with the Student Union.

The referendum opens for voting on February 2, Monday, at 9am. KUSU’s full-time officers will be campaigning for the change around campuses during the week.

The website notes that anyone who is against the proposals can start a ‘no campaign’ by emailing Natalie Forrester, Deputy Returning Officer for the campaign.

Students can vote online by visiting kusu.co.uk.

Read the full job descriptions of the new officer roles here.