How To Run

Step 0: To run or not to run

A year in the Student Council is a really exceptional one, we definitely recommend it and therefore encourage all of you to run! Your year will be filled with representing the student body on important decisions, like the future of UCUs curriculum, policy making and checking, and representing all students on campus!. Moreover, you will grow close to the students and teachers of UCU in addition to becoming great friends with the rest of your board.

And yes, we know that all of this can seem overwhelming, but in the end, it's really rewarding and a lot of fun! You can find the slides with information about running here. If you still have any doubts or specific questions, please feel free to contact any of us.

Step 1: Announcing your candidacy

To announce your candidacy, you will be required to write an election statement. An election statement is 1 A4 page, where you state what position you will be running for (Chair, Student Assessor, Secretary, or AAO), and why! You can find examples of our election statements here. Also, feel free to contact any of the current board members for feedback on all (or part of) your ideas and initiatives in this statement.

In addition to the election statement we would like for you to attach a video clip (can be filmed with your phone!) in which you answer the following 3 questions:

Who you are
What position you are running for
Why you are running for Student Council

Make sure the video is not much longer than 30 seconds, and that it is filmed horizontally!

If you have decided to make a Facebook page, Instagram account, or any other social media platform of your liking for the campaign, we would appreciate it if you could send a link to this page.

Lastly, please send a picture of yourself that we can use for our PR.

Please send these 4 things to ucu.studentcouncil@uu.nl before April 1st. The latest moment you can send in your election statement is 48 hours prior to the election GA, which is 20:00 on the 7th of April.

Step 2: Election campaign

As mentioned before, we will be hosting events throughout election week to give you a platform to campaign. Next to these events, we highly encourage you to run your own election campaign on social media or by organizing your own events. You're allowed to spend up to 20 euros of your own money, which you could spend on things such as printing credit for posters or snacks during events. Or anything else, you can be creative. For a full overview of all the guidelines during elections, such as the frequency of posting on the UCU Students group on Facebook please click here.

Throughout the elections, you can approach all board members whenever you have questions or when you want to talk about your experiences. Doortje will be our special elections confidential contact person, you can reach out to her if you experience a situation that made you feel uncomfortable. For more practical questions about elections, you can approach Eugenie. Above all, we hope you enjoy this experience! It may seem scary now but it is an amazing opportunity to put yourself out there and to get closer to the UCU community.

Step 3: Transition

The transition period is an essential part of your board year, you develop the skills necessary to be a member of the Student Council and we will pass on the knowledge we acquired over the year. More importantly, you grow close to your board and become a team! All candidates that run must therefore be available to attend workshops and sit in on meetings as an observer every now and then. Transitioning will start the week after the elections and will last till the end of the academic year (including summer term). Most sessions will be held on Tuesday afternoons and in the summer, but this is still subject to change. If you are not going to be available for this time period, please contact us as soon as possible. Muriel and Doortje are ready to answer all of your questions about the transition. For more information about transition check out these slides.

Still got questions?

If after reading this page you have any remaining questions, please email us at ucu.studentcouncil@uu.nl, or send us a message through Facebook/Instagram!