Can We Select / Recruit Positions, Rather Than Elect?

In very limited and exceptional cases, groups may be granted permission by the SU staff team to select committee members for specific roles—but only where it can be clearly demonstrated that the position requires niche technical skills, specialist knowledge or experience that cannot reasonably be developed through training or SU support. Requests of this nature are rarely approved, as most roles can be effectively fulfilled with the right support, guidance and commitment from volunteers.

If applying to select for a role, your group must provide a strong and specific rationale explaining why the role cannot be effectively carried out without pre-existing expertise, and why this cannot be developed by a democratically elected student (e.g. claiming that a secretary must be “organised” would not justify selection).

Unless your group has been explicitly granted permission to select for a position, all committee roles must be filled through a democratic election.

If you’re unsure whether your group has permission to select any of your exec roles, or you would like to request permission to select positions, then please get in touch with the ASK Team (remember to include your rationale if applying to select roles).

For any issues relating to accessing the links above, please get in touch here.