Thursday 11-01-2024 - 09:00

A review of Durham SU’s student leadership was undertaken in Michaelmas term 2023. The last time the structure was reviewed at Durham was back in 2017, and a lot has undoubtedly happened since then. Durham has seen the opening of a 17th college, student numbers have risen from around 18,000 in 2017-18, to over 21,500 in 2023-24, not to mention the entire HE sector had to adapt to more distance and hybrid teaching methods as a result of the global pandemic, to name a few.   

It's no surprise then, that the review found change was needed to Durham SU’s student leadership structures as well.  

 The key principles of the review were:   

• Innovation in the full-time Officer model.  
• Focus on academic representation.  
• Better contribution of Common Rooms.  
• And better representation of certain student communities.   

The review considered insight from across the sector and feedback from existing student leaders and the wider student body at Durham. A proposal was passed at November’s Assembly meeting, reflecting changes that have already been successfully implemented at other SUs nationwide.  

Join the conversation

Before we get into the detail, it’s important to note that there are still lots of opportunities to give us your thoughts and influence what we prioritise over the coming term, particularly about the way some of the new roles are elected. We need to be flexible term-to-term to respond to student need, and that might mean different approaches are used for different roles.   

We will be hosting a consultation session on Friday, 26 January from 10.30-12.00 for any student to attend and give us their thoughts (more on that below).   

The headline changes 

Durham SU should offer fewer full-time paid Officer roles and create more part-time paid Officer roles. (An Officer is a student who has been elected to work in a paid position in the Students’ Union for an academic year. Their role is to represent students on the issues that matter to them). 

What this means in practice

The existing five full-time Officer positions of President, UG Academic Officer, PG Academic Officer, Welfare and Liberation Officer and Opportunities Officer, will be reduced to three full-time Officer positions:  

• President 
• Education Officer  
• and Communities Officer 

  Additionally, there will be 12 new paid part-time Officer positions:   

• One Faculty President for each Faculty of Durham University (X4)   
• The International Students Officer (X1)   
• The Postgraduate Research Students Officer (X1)   
• The Societies Officer (X1)   
• The Welfare Officer (X1)   
• The Liberation Officer (X1)   
• The Sustainability Officer (X1)  
• One member of JCR Presidents Committee (X1)   
• One member of MCR Presidents Committee (X1)   

These Officers will be part of an Officers' Committee that will be responsible for determining the day-to-day priorities of Durham SU in relation to our strategy.   

There will be two sub-committees:   

• An Education Committee, chaired by the Education Officer, focusing on improving aspects of the academic experience at Durham such as induction and widening participation.  
• And a Communities Committee, chaired by the Communities Officer, focussing on improving aspects of the non-academic experience at Durham, such as private housing and the cost of living.   

The President, the Education Officer, and the Community Officer, will be full time paid roles for students on sabbatical during or after their programme of study. They will sit on Durham SU’s Board of Trustees.   

The part-time Officer roles are also paid but for enrolled students only (or a sabbatical Officer in a Common Room). They will sit on the Education or Community Committee but will not be Durham SU trustees.  

The new full-time positions will be elected in February 2024, following the same format used to elect Durham SU’s previous full-time officers.   

What's next?

The method and timescale for electing the new part-time positions are what we are working on this term, and we welcome thoughts from you. You can email dsu.governance@durham.ac.uk. Or come along to the Consultation session on Friday, 26 January,10.30-12.00. Where you can hear from the external consultant who carried out the review as well as discuss the methods of election for the part-time roles.  

We’ll collate all feedback received via email and in this session and then draft a proposal for the next Assembly meeting on 7 March.    

In the meantime, if you’d like more information about any of the roles or to nominate yourself for one of the full-time positions, please visit: Student Officer elections @ Durham SU