accommodation

The Union's accommodation team exists to help all students in private flats or halls of residence with any problems they might encounter during their time in St Andrews. By running the How To Rent guide and survey, the Landlord/Tenant Charter and the How To Leave guide, we give students the advice they need and  help to keep landlords in check.

The following positions are up for election on 18.03.11:

SRC Accommodation Officer

The Accommodation Officer is the main person directly responsible for accommodation activity within the Students' Association.

Your key responsibilities will include convening the accommodation team meetings every few weeks, meeting with Residential and Business Services (the University department who manage all the halls of residence) to discuss issues as diverse as hall food, to rent costs, updating and publicising key publications like the How to Rent Guide, and acting as one of the key points of contact for local estate agents and landlords, and the student body.

The position is an important one - particularly in a town where rents are high, and demand for student flats is even higher. There is huge scope for someone to do a lot with this position - whether that's lobbying the government on changes to tenancy deposit schemes, liaising with the University about hall food and how it's sourced, or working together with the Association President on promoting the accommodation survey.

It is also your responsibility to convene a meeting of all the Senior Students from halls of residences, so that they can raise any common issues or problems. As with any member of the Students' Representative Council, you will also need to come to SRC meetings every fortnight.

SRC Member for Private Accommodation

This student member will work closely with local landlords and estate agents, in particular focusing on the Landlord/Tenant Charter (a code of conduct between student tenants and their landlords) and how to promote this as best practise within the sector.

You will also work closely with our part time member of staff, Eleanor, to improve communication between students and landlords in St Andrews. Alongside the Accommodation Officer, you can help to update and advertise the How to Rent guide to the student body to ensure everyone has a better renting experience.

SRC Member for University Accommodation

This member will work closely with Accommodation Services and Residential & Business Services who manage University halls and other properties, as well as attending the Senior Student forum and liaising with them on any important issues.

There is great scope to work with the University to improve hall life for students - whether that's managing the way students are allocated into halls, how hall committees use their money, how wardens and other staff welcome students into halls, and put on social events. You can also be creative in this role, for example working on inter-hall challenges and competitions, or new ways to improve hall community spirit.

If you are interested in running for any of these positons, please don't hestitate to contact Siena on dorep@st-andrews.ac.uk for more information, or to set up an appointment to chat about it.