Autumn Elections 2022 Candidate Briefing
On this page you'll find the candidate briefing for all Academic Board Committee Members and Academic Rep roles in the autumn elections.
During this online candidate briefing you'll cover a series of areas and you'll need to read through the resources then answer a series of question to confirm your understanding. If you do not complete this briefing and the survey your nomination will not be complete and you will not be a candidate in this elections.
This briefing covers:
- Key Information
- Campaigning Parameters
- The Election Principles
- Complaints Procedure
- Roles and Candidate Handbooks
- Self-Care and Wellbeing
You must have completed the survey by 12pm on Wednesday 12 October for your nomination to be complete. If you have any queries contact [email protected].
Complete Survey
Key Information
- Please take a look at the election timeline here and note down deadlines.
- Your manifesto deadline is 10am on Thursday 13 October. If you have any problems with uploading your manifesto please contact [email protected] prior to the deadline. Uploading your manifesto is optional, however as this is a digital election and no in-person campaigning is allowed we would recommend using this as a tool to help spread your message.
- Polling will take place from 10am on Monday 17 October to 10am on Wednesday 19 October.
- Results will be announced from 12pm on Tuesday 25 October.
- Please complete this equality monitoring form and return to [email protected] by 5pm on Friday 21October.
- By submitting your nomination you give KCLSU permission to:
- Make your candidacy public
- Access your campaign material
- Verify candidate information with King’s College London
- Refer to King’s College London or the police if required
Campaign Parameters
- You can start campaigning as soon as you like! There are no restriction on when you can and cannot campaign but campaigning can only take place online.
- This is a completely digital election. No physical, in-person campaigning will be allowed in this election. This includes putting up posters and flyering. You can find more info about the campaign paremetres here.
- The campaign budget is £20. You must keep a copy of all receipts and keep your expenses form up to date (this can be found in the appendix of the How To Nominate Yourself in the KCLSU Elections Guide). The Returning Officer can ask to see your expense from at any time. You will not be reimbursed for any money spent on your election campaign.
- We understand that you may feel unsure on how to campaign in a completely digital format so we have pulled together a digital campaigning tips document to help you.
The Election Principles
This briefing aims to explain key components of the KCLSU Election Bye-Laws, most relevant to you as a candidate.
- The role of the Returning Officer
- The KCLSU Election Principles
We’d also encourage you to read the by-laws for yourself, which can be found here. By nominating yourself, you have already signed in agreement to these by-laws.
While this may not be the most exciting part of the candidate briefing, this information is essential for all candidates to be aware of and understand. We don’t want anyone feeling unsure about this aspect of the elections, so if having read this briefing leaves you feeling uncertain or if you require any clarification, please contact [email protected] with your queries and questions.
Click here for the election principles briefing document which you will need to read and complete the activities of to complete the briefing document.
Complaints Procedure
Any member of KCLSU may submit an election complaint if they have reason to believe that any of the KCLSU Election Principles have been breached.
Complaints can be submitted via a form available on our elections complaints page. To submit a complaint you must have evidence which you can submit via the form.
The deadline to submit a complaint is 24 hours after the close of voting (10am on Thursday 20 October). All complaints will be considered by the Deputy Returning Officer. After submitting a complaint you can expect to hear back within 1 working day but the process of the investigation may take up to 10 working days.
Please see our elections complaints page for further details.
The Roles and Handbooks
Academic Representatives exist to build a community in their course, represent their cohort to the department in order to highlight current issues, and empower students to act collectively to bring about change. They work with Academic Associations, KCLSU, fellow academic reps, other student leads and King’s departments and faculties to achieve this.
All Academic Reps at King’s work collaboratively across the institution to learn from one another and to improve the experience of all students in the university by representing and advocating for the needs of their peers.
You can find the Academic Rep Candidate Handbook here.
The Academic Board is the body with primary responsibility for maintaining and enhancing the academic quality of the College’s academic provision and the academic standards for awards. This authority is established in the College Charter.
Academic Board is collectively responsible for discharging its responsibility for providing the university’s governing body, Council, with the assurances of academic quality it needs to meet its obligations under the Charter and to the Government regulator.
As a student member, you will have full and equal responsibility with all other members and a particular remit to contribute your student member’s viewpoint and the viewpoints of members of your student electorate to the deliberations of the Board. In decision-making you will be required to act in the interests of the College and not as representatives of any part of the College, or of any interest, faction or group.
You can find the Academic Board Member Candidate Handbook here.
Self Care & Wellbeing
If you’d like to discuss how you’re doing during this election period, you can contact Victoria ([email protected]) who is your wellbeing contact to arrange a phone call or MS Teams meeting.
Your wellbeing is extraordinarily important to prioritise. Take care of yourself with our Wellbeing Passport to guide you through looking after your wellbeing during this time. The Wellbeing Passport will focus on the King’s Way to Wellbeing based on NHS guidance with rewards to encourage you to invest in your wellbeing.
Your wellbeing is extraordinarily important to prioritise. Take care of yourself with the KCLSU Wellbeing Hub, the indoor version of our well-known Take Time Out. The Wellbeing Hub In is your online wellbeing space focusing on the King’s Way to Wellbeing based on NHS guidance. Boost your wellbeing and find what’s best for you with activities, events and ideas, together with your King’s community.
We also have a support for candidates document which includes more tips on how to look after your wellbeing and how to get into contact with a Positive Peers.