Democracy: AGMs and Elections for Student Groups
Clubs, Societies, Student-Led Services and Associations are run by students, for students. They should be run democratically, so that everyone involved in the Group can have a say in how they are run. There are two key things you need to do to make sure your members' have their say in how the Group is run – hold an AGM and run an online Committee Election.
AGMs
Each group must hold an Annual General Meeting or AGM each year. This meeting is yours and your members’ opportunity to make changes to the Group for the future and review the last year. Constitutional amendments, renaming your Group, adding new committee members and many other things must be discussed and voted on in an AGM before they can be enacted. Find out more about AGMs here.
Committee Elections
Committee members are elected by your members to lead your Group, arrange activities and represent the needs of your Group across campus. As democratic organisations, Clubs, Societies and SLSs should run their elections online – this allows all of your members the opportunity to run for a committee position and vote for who they want to lead their group. Find out more about running an Election here.
Committee Handover
New committees officially take over the Group on August 1st. However, it is a good idea to get the new committee involved in running the Group before this as part of their handover.
It is important that you also complete your handover with the Guild of Societies or AU so that new committee members can access their admin tools and receive communications from the SU.
Find out more about what you could include in Handover here.
Main Elections Guidance For Student Groups