As we get closer and closer to the voting period, I spoke to some of our current Sabbs about their takeaways from their advice to anyone running for their positions. They have given us some great answers, so I will get straight into them.
What is a golden rule that Sabb candidates should follow?
Teddy Bland, Equality and Inclusion Officer: “After watching a load of past SU elections and debates on YouTube, I think a golden rule for candidates is to make sure you can relate to students but sometimes the best way to do this is just to be yourself!
“You don’t need to be incredibly serious, professional or politically theoretical (especially as being too theoretical might lose your human appeal), but you should have some solid ideas that you are confident about and show that you take yourself and the campaign seriously. Politeness and respect are always important, too!
“Also, it’s okay to have fun but try not to err on the side of silliness. Equally, enjoy the campaign if you can and realize that regardless of what happens, you showed your bravery and passion.”
“It’s okay to have fun but try not to err on the side of silliness. Equally, enjoy the campaign if you can and realize that regardless of what happens, you showed your bravery and passion.”
Teddy Bland, Equality and Inclusion Officer
Fenella Johnson, Academic Officer: “Be open and transparent with students – it’s okay to not know everything, no one expects you to!”
Freddy Johnson, Community and Wellbeing Officer: “Be yourself and don’t compromise an inch of your own personality. That way you can enjoy whatever the campaign throws at you because you don’t have to worry about being someone else.”
Gen Andrews, Union Development Officer: “Spend a good amount of time on writing a manifesto that you are genuinely proud of. Often people rush their nominations at the last minute, but your manifesto is one of the most important parts of our campaign.
“You’ll spend so much time reading it, speaking about it, and advocating for it, so it’s incredibly important that you feel passionate about what you have written.”
Lewis Parrey, Union Affairs Officer: “Make sure you’re running for the right reasons and be authentic in everything you do.”
Kailtyn Beattie-Zarb, Activities Officer: “My Golden Rule is to just enjoy the experience. It’s an incredibly unique thing running in an election… have fun with it! A lot of people put a ton of pressure on it, and while it’s, of course, an important process, sometimes an abundance of pressure is more harmful than helpful. Engage in whatever way is feasible for you – there is no RIGHT way to run an election – just be yourself, be honest and kind, and have fun.”
What is one thing you would have changed about your own campaign?
Teddy: “I was lucky in that my by-election took only a week so my campaign was relatively short and sweet and I didn’t have the time to embarrass myself too badly, as I tend to do that naturally.
“One thing I would have changed is I wish I had been more eloquent during the debate, though this is a skill that has to develop with time.”
Fenella: “Use spell check on my posters and do not let other people’s opinions get to you.”
Freddy: “I would have gotten all of my promotional materials together a lot quicker. It’s a big help to be prepared!”
Gen: “I would have balanced the campaign better with my studies. I essentially put my degree on hold for two weeks while running to be an officer, which seemed like a good idea at the time but caused me a lot of pain later on when I actually had to write my dissertation – I would not recommend it!”
Lewis: “I think I would have tried to enjoy the experience more. It’s very fun to run a campaign and take part in events but that can often be overshadowed by how stressful it can be at times.”
Kaitlyn: “I’m not sure I would change much about my campaign. I ran a very low-key campaign because I had a number of personal commitments that week. I found it more important to remain focused on my work and uni life (particularly in the face of dissertation deadlines), and had a very ‘what will be, will be’ attitude about it. This helped me handle the various pressures well, and my mental health benefited from this approach hugely. If I had had more capacity, I would have liked to engage more with voters across different networks. A lot of my fellow candidates had a lot of fun going to lectures and dining rooms, so this creativity of a campaign is one thing I did miss out on. But also, that low- key campaign got me to where I am today, and I’m incredibly grateful for it.”
What would you like to see prioritised in the next term of your role?
Teddy: “Of course, the things I promised to work on during my own term, especially trauma-informed education, have always felt meaningful to me, so, selfishly, I’d love to see work in those areas continue.
“Something I overlooked which since coming into the role I’ve learned a lot about is the lack of accessibility on campus; there is still a lot of information lacking in the SU and University’s online resources, and there have been some challenges with accessible entries to important spaces (say, lifts) being closed down for long periods of time with no alternative provisions. It would be great to see the next Equality and Inclusion Officer have a larger focus on campus accessibility.”
Fenella: “To continue trying to engage post-graduate students and making sure their voices are heard.”
Freddy: “I think greater communication and clarity in support services is going to be so important in the future.”
Gen: “Sustainability at the Union is incredibly close to my heart, so I would love to see this remain a priority within the Union Development Officer portfolio.”
“Sustainability is a rapidly developing area, and it’s super important that York SU remains at the forefront of these conversations, especially as the University’s self-imposed deadline to become net zero-carbon creeps ever closer…”
Gen Andrews – Union Development Officer
Lewis: “I think the biggest problems for students in York continue to be around the cost of living, housing, and supporting and representing students locally and nationally.”
Kaitlyn: “Ultimately, the shadow being cast over SU work at the moment is the immense financial threat of the university sector. So any activities officer is going to have to deal with an increasingly tight budget for societies. The long-term work to maintain such activities is ongoing and will need prioritising above any specific new ideas. Any future activities officers will need to consider the complexity of balancing supply and demand nuances (including restrictions on finances and space) for over 300 groups – it’s not going to be an easy job. But hopefully this pressure to be more efficient with our money and processes will leave societies more stable and resilient in the long term!”
Is there anything you set out to achieve that you have not yet been able to accomplish?
Teddy: “I am still relatively new to the role but if I must admit to my failures I would say I’m struggling most with implementing meaningful ways of combating classism on campus. However, in my next meeting with Careers and Placements, we will discuss class-based barriers to employability and look at ways we could work together in this area.”
Fenella: “I am on track to accomplish most things, although my Roses extensions manifesto for sports teams was blocked.
Instead we’re trying to encourage academic departments to get involved and show that Roses is for everyone.”
Fenella Johnson, Academic Officer
Freddy: “I wanted to match the university’s cost of living funding relatively to the cost of living in York, but due to the current financial situation this has been a very difficult ask. This is another thing that I think can be worked on more in the future!”
Gen: “Some things that I’ve wanted to achieve have definitely proven to take much longer than I initially expected. For instance, I’m incredibly keen for York SU to publish its carbon emissions in an accessible way, but I hadn’t anticipated the length of time it would take to even collect the raw figures in the first place.
“We’re already making progress to that goal (see Klimato!), but it will certainly take more than one term to achieve.”
Lewis: “There are quite a few projects that have taken longer than expected, such as part-time jobs, international student support, and maintenance loans, as my plans around these have got even bigger and better and so they need enough time dedicated to them.
“The only thing I have not been able to achieve was to increase returners’ accommodation numbers due to the fact that the University already has limited accommodation facilities.”
Teddy also added that candidates should “know that being a Sabb is always a different experience to what you might have in mind when you run your campaign, and sometimes you don’t know what you can/can’t, should/shouldn’t do until you’re elected!
Kaitlyn: “There’s always going to be things that sabbatical officers have yet to achieve. At this point we’ve only been doing the job for about 6 months, and the working world really doesn’t move that quickly. One primary thing I wanted to look at was a better offering of employability events for society leaders, to better imbed connections with society-specific alumni and job opportunities as a way of dealing with an increasingly stressful grad market. But it’s just one of those things that I haven’t had the time or resources yet to get off the ground.”
“For this reason, I recommend going into the experience with a balance of ambition and open-mindedness, and focus on being respectable, realistic and polite! You will receive lots of support in doing the job well once you are here.”