equal opportunities & welfare

The Union's equal ops & welfare team exists to ensure equality and diversity are at the core of the St Andrews experience, and to protect the emotional, financial, physical and medical welfare of all students. By working with the other representation volunteers, Student Services and senior members of University staff, the equal ops & welfare team aims to make St Andrews a place where anyone can afford to study and will feel welcome.

The team meets once every week, and reports to the Students' Representative Council every fortnight.

SRC Equal Opportunities & Welfare Officer

The Equal Ops and Welfare Officer is responsible for chairing meetings of the committee, which should meet every two weeks, and is responsible for directing the strategic direction of the committee. It is their responsibility to provide support and advice to other members of the committee in pursuing campaigns or projects.

The Officer is also able to direct their own campaigns which broadly aim to increase awareness amongst the student body on a variety of issues - anything from sexual health to raisin weekend.

The Officer will also meet regularly with the Association President and will work together to lobby the University on any key issues affecting equal opportunities and welfare, as well as meeting frequently with Student Services.

SRC Member for Widening Access

Widening access means ensuring that this University is committed to recruiting students from a broad spectrum of backgrounds and financial circumstances, and working together with the University on new initiatives and projects to increase students aspirations to come to St Andrews if they are from non-traditional backgrounds.

The SRC Member will focus in particular in key issues such as affordability of accommodation, outreach to schools in the local area, and will work with academic Schools within the University on their own widening access agendas. There is also scope for campaigns to be run based on the perception of St Andrews as an 'elitist' institution (particularly with future King and Queen being amongst the employment destinations of our recent graduates...) and work to be done on a national level, in coordination with the representation sabbaticals, on issues such as tuition fees and how this might negatively impact upon students from less privileged backgrounds.

SRC Member for Ethnic Minorities

In this position you will represent all students in St Andrews from all ethnic minority groups. It will be your responsibility to give these students a voice on the Students' Representative Council, and work together with the University to ensure St Andrews welcomes all of its students equally.

Key areas of responsibility can include working with senior students and wardennial teams in halls of residence to ensure there are social activities geared towards all of our students.

SRC Member for Gender Equality

This position involves campaigning for greater equality of opportunity between men and women.

You will work closely with Student Services and the Student Experience committees to ensure that the University is doing enough to treat all students equally, regardless of their gender, as well as working with student societies like the Feminist Society and supporting their activities. There is great scope to run a variety of campaigns or workshops in this role to promote awareness and understanding amongst the student body. This year events have included the first gender equality week, guest speakers, workshops with local organisations, and a survey to map the gravity of gender-based violence at St Andrews. You will also work closely with the Careers Centre to monitor differences between male and female graduate destinations and salaries.  

SRC Member for International Students

It will be your responsibility to represents all of our students who come from outside the UK - no simple task when we have an incredibly diverse student body made up of communities from all over the world. With the University consistently increasing the numbers of international students from outside the European Union, and recruiting from new areas of the globe, it will be your aim to ensure that the University is providing enough support and sufficient facilities to cater for this diversity - whether that's lobbying over increased prayer spaces for Muslim students, or liaising with residential business services about how rooms in halls are allocated to international students, in this role you can really make a difference.

You will also work closely with Student Services, and their International & Cultural Adviser, to ensure that practical and cultural differences between students' home countries and St Andrews are taken into consideration, particularly for new arrivals. Issues which you could take on could include new changes to visa and immigration rules for international students, the welcome we give to our international students during Freshers week, or organising exciting inter-cultural events such as an international food fayre.

SRC Member for Mature Students

This position represents mature students on full-time programmes at the University. It will be your responsibility to work closely with Student Services and the sabbaticals to ensure that mature students are treated equally by both the union and the University, and to recognise the different challenges which might faces mature students. 

SRC Member for Students with Disabilities

Represents students with any kind of disability, be it physical, mental, or any other disability such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism, etc. You will be a full member of the University's Disability Advisory Group, which makes decisions ranging from disabled access in the library, to the University's academic policy on dyslexia provision during examinations. With the upcoming redevelopment of the Students' Association, it will be your responsibility to ensure that all of the proposed plans cater for disabled students and are accessible to everyone.

One of your key tasks will be to organise the annual Disabilities Awareness Week, which includes a series of events and promotional campaigns to raise awareness.

If you are interested in any of the positions above, please don't hesitate to contact Amanda on dorep@st-andrews.ac.uk for a chat, or this year's member - contact details here.