It's voting week! It's important that everyone votes for who they want to represent them. But if you're not 100% sure about how it all works, we’re here to explain who it is exactly you are voting for.

Vice Presidents and President (also called the Officer Team)

The Officer Team, made up of the four Vice Presidents, with one for each faculty (Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, Business & Law, Health, Education, Medicine & Social Care, and Science and Engineering), as well as the President, are the figureheads of ARU Students’ Union. They lead multiple campaigns, attend key meetings with the university, and make sure students' ideas are acted on. They represent all students, in areas such as Academic Representation, Wellbeing and Welfare, and student activities. They gather student feedback and ensure the Union is heading in the right direction.

These guys are the big dogs, and you definitely want to get your vote in, as they basically run things around here!

Faculty Reps

Faculty Reps do what it says on the tin – they represent your faculty (Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, Business & Law, Health, Education, Medicine & Social Care, and Science and Engineering). Faculty Reps attend a Faculty Voice Committee or FVC meeting once a month with the Officer Team and the other Faculty Reps. They are responsible for drawing together any recurring issues across the faculties, and making changes and ideas happen, which ARU Students’ Union will address and make a priority.

In a nutshell, they’re pretty important because of the decisions and ideas they come up with that will affect you directly.

Campaign Reps

Campaign Reps each represent a different student group. There are the:

• Women’s Reps, which represent the self-defining female students at ARU
• Trans Reps, which represent students who identify as Trans
• LGBT+ Reps, representing our LGBT+ community
• International Reps, which represent International students
• Disabled Reps, which represent students with disabilities, wellbeing issues, and/or illness
• Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Reps, who represent BME students.

There is one of each Rep for Cambridge and Chelmsford. These Reps attend a Liberation, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committee or LEDIC meeting once a month alongside the Officer Team and other Campaign Reps. They will make sure that the campaigns, ideas and policies put forward are inclusive of all our student communities. They also will lead at least one priority campaign for the student group they represent.

If you identify with one or more of the above groups, you will want to vote for your relevant Campaign Rep(s), as they will be making sure that the Union makes policies that are inclusive of your community.

Now that you know who exactly it is you’re supposed to be voting for, go ahead and vote!