During your election campaign you will be involved in a series of activities. It is important to remember that you are bound by some rules, outlined below, that, in addition to elections rules, still have a bearing on your conduct.
Election Rules in Context
Students’ Union
SU’s rules are contained in the Bye Laws and Code of Conduct which can be found by clicking here. If you are in breach of these, even if the Deputy Returning Officer does not take action under the auspices of the election rules, you may still be subject to the SU’s disciplinary procedures.
University
The University has rules that relate to use of its facilities and property and to your general conduct as a Birmingham Newman University student. The Student Disciplinary Procedures can be found on the University’s website by clicking here.
If you are in breach of these and the Deputy Returning Officer does not take action in relation to the elections, you may still be referred to the University’s disciplinary procedure by the SU, if we consider your actions warrant it.
The Law
Please remember that you are always subject to the law of the land. The SU reserves the right to refer a matter to the appropriate authorities, if it deems it necessary, which may put your candidacy and student status in jeopardy.
Principles
We have always been very proud of our candidates in our elections and of how few issues we have had to address. Newman students are the best (in our view) and have always conducted very positive and supportive campaigns. Please do what you can to continue this tradition.
As a candidate you must:
- Treat all students and staff with respect.
- Always act in the interests of a fair and transparent election.
- Take responsibility for your actions and those of your campaign team.
- Undertake campaigning in a good natured and positive manner (campaigning is NOT about saying negative things about other candidates and any campaigning of this nature will be in contravention of these principles).
- Respect the SU’s core values.
- Recognise that being a Full Time Officer is a responsible post which will require you to lead by example, to represent students and to have credibility in your dealings with students, staff and external stakeholders.
- Ensure that your academic studies are not put at risk through the elections process or through taking up an officer position and be confident at the point of nomination that you are in good standing academically and are able to commit to the role for the duration of the term of office.
- Understand that the SU will contact your faculty to check your academic status and that you are progressing well. This is to ensure that running in the elections will not jeopardise your future prospects. If there are concerns, we reserve the right to discuss this with you, together with your academic lead and, if necessary, to recommend that you do not run for candidacy.
The Election Rules have been broken down into sub-categories for ease of use, these can be found in the sub navigation for this section.