Yes! International students are able to run for positions, but must ensure they are within all eligibility criteria, and have right to work for the role.

For information regarding visas, please see the following from the Candidate Guidance pack:

Whilst we fund Visa Application fees as well as the Health Charge, Your SU will cover the cost for time-in-office only any additional months would be self-funded. The NUS has confirmed that visa application reimbursements are legally taxable benefits, and as such are part of the P11D as below HMRC guidance:

"If the applicant is already in the UK, amounts paid or reimbursed by the employer will be subject to income tax and NICs, usually through the payroll or year-end benefit (P11D) reporting".

The Nominations form has three questions which form your Candidate Statement. It’s easy to overthink the questions and try to think of a “correct” answer. There is no such thing as a right or wrong answer! Here are some tips:

• Make sure the answer is personal and from you! Talk about yourself and personality, and what you care about – quotes from other people and answers that could be written by any person or website don’t inform voters and ensure that they are voting for you!
• Make sure to stay within the word limit. This is so that you can hold the reader’s attention and don’t digress.
• Try drafting answers in a Word document or on your phone’s Notes app so that you can keep an eye on word count and properly consider your answer.
• If you are thinking about things you would change, consider how you would change them, and make sure not to make promises that you aren’t absolutely sure you can deliver on.
• You are allowed to add links to other pages such as social media pages, digital leaflets or videos.
• Consider ending answers with a snappy tagline or hashtag.
• Proofread your answer and check with a friend if it makes sense to them.

On Thursday 21st November, a Reconvened Members Meeting took place and students present voted on a set of recommendations put forward by Your SU’s Democracy and Governance Review. This was approved, and we have begun working to implement the proposals. This has started with implementing the change in Presidential structures, meaning that we are accepting nominations for full-time Presidential roles only. If you were hoping to apply for the equivalent of a Part Time Officer role, keep up to date on Your SU’s website to find out when we are recruiting for those in the future.

You can nominate yourself in three steps:

1. Read the Candidate Guidance document
2. Check that you are eligible for the role you are nominating for
3. Fill in the Nomination Form for either Sunderland or London, depending on which role you are nominating yourself for

You can only nominate yourself. But if you know someone who you think would be great for one of the President roles, make sure to let them know and encourage them to check out the opportunity on our website if they’re interested!

Feel free to get in touch with Your SU at su.elections@sunderland.ac.uk – we are here to help! Please ensure you get in contact as soon as possible so that we can help you before the end of the Nominations period.