Union Leadership: Who Runs the Place?

The Students' Association is run by students, for students.  The Students' Association Board, a thirteen-member body with a student majority, is the supreme governing body of the Association. It sets the annual budget and determines the long-term strategic direction of the Association, and holds ultimate responsibility for all of its activities.

Every year, we ask you to vote in the Students' Association elections. It's important that you do, as this is when the four student "Sabbatical Officers" are chosen-that's the President and the three 'Directors.' These four officials take a year out from-or, more often, just after- their academic studies in St Andrews to work full-time for the student body (effectively taking a "sabbatical"). As joint leaders of the Students' Association, they play a critical role in shaping the student experience here in St Andrews. They automatically become full members of the Association Board, and along with three other students, join the six external non-student members. Dr Frank Quinault is the Chairperson of the Board, and presides over all of its meetings.

The Sabbatical Officers are elected to serve for a term of one year (with the possibility of reelection), and are responsible for shaping operational policy and providing the creative direction for all of the Association's activities. As the Association's elected leaders, they can be thought of as the equivalent of government ministers: the permanent staff are analogous to the Civil Service, providing continuity, years of expertise, advising on best practice, and ensuring the smooth running of the organisation. The Association Board has appointed a General Manager (David Whitton) to oversee the Association's employees. Dave manages the permanent staff of the Association, and has immediate responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the trading arm (including the bar,café, and shop). He reports to the Students' Association Board, and is in attendance at all of its meetings.

Where Does the Money Go?

All of the revenues generated by bar, café, and shop are ultimately reinvested in the provision of student welfare, advice and representation services, or are used to support the Association's events and 150+ student societies. The Students' Association is a non-profit organisation, and we have official charitable status: you can find us on the register of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, listed as charity 'SC019883.' This means that that the Scottish Government holds the Board members responsible for ensuring that the Association is well-governed, and managed in accordance with charity law. The Board members are therefore "trustees" of the Association. 

Where the Power Lies...

A full list of the powers of the trustees, and the procedure for the selection of our Board members, can be found in the Students' Association Constitution. This is an important legal document, and is the official and definitive account of the our governance structure.

How does the Students' Representative Council fit in?

The Students' Association was formed in April 1983 following a merger of the Students' Representative Council (SRC) and the Students' Union. The Representative Council and the Union Council continue to exist as constituent parts of the Association, and fall under the overall authority of the Students' Association Board.

The Association President and the Director of Representation (DoRep) are responsible for representing student views to the University, to local, devolved and central government, and to the outside world; they act as lobbyists, campaigners and advocates. The members of the SRC help them fulfil this mission: the Association President and the Director of Representation consult them as a body on everything from the Students' Association's action on Fife Council housing and planning policy to its official response to national government decisions on tuition fees and the funding of higher education. All voting members of the SRC are directly elected along with the Sabbatical Officers in the Students’ Association’s March diet of elections.  The Association Board allocates funds to the SRC to allow its members to carry out their duties. Some SRC Officers hold specific portfolios, such Accommodation and Equal Oppportunities & Welfare, and they make representations and organise campaigns relating to those issues. The Association President and the Director of Representation manage an SRC discretionary fund, and provide support as 'line managers' of its officers. 

What is the Union Council?

The Union Council (formerly known as the 'SSC') is a gathering of the leaders of what are colloquially known as the Association’s 'student departments'-societies of which every student is automatically a member. The Association Board allocates a grant to each of the members of the Union Council to fund the operation of their respective society. These leaders meet to exchange ideas and plan their programmes of events, and discuss ideas of strategic importance- for example, they will contribute ideas to the shaping of policy on the Association's branding and marketing (as beneficiaries of the Association's revenue, they have an interest in helping generate it), and feed student opinion into the consultation on the redevelopment of the Association building. All of the members of the Union Council are directly elected along with the Sabbatical Officers in the Students’ Association’s March diet of elections.

The Director of Student Development & Activities (DoSDA) is the sabbatical officer responsible for the line management of most of the members of the Union Council, makes recomendations on the level of grant allocated to them by the Association Board, guides them in the execution of their duties, and helps them set long-term strategy. The DoSDA also approves expenditure and reports on Union Council activity to the Association Board.

The Director of Events and Services (DoServ) is the sabbatical officer responsible for student input into the management of our bar and entertainment services, and provides creative direction for our events programme. The DoServ is responsible for the organisation of Freshers' Week, the Graduation Ball, and "everything in between..."

It's All Making Sense Now...

The Association Chair is responsible for chairing the meetings of the Students' Representative Council and the Union Council, and ensuring that these meetings are pleasant, polite and productive. The Chair is always a student, also directly elected in the March diet of elections. He or she is automatically the fifth student member of the Association Board.

The other two student members of the Association Board are nominees of elected from among, and by, the membership of the Students' Representative Council and the Union Council respectively.

There is also a body known as the Students' Association Executive Committee, but it only meets on rare occasions: it is convened to mediate between the Students' Representative Council and the Union Council when called to do so (the SRC occasionally petitions the SSC to adopt certain policies, and the Union Council occasionally rejects them), and consider candidates for Honorary Life Membership.  It is effectively a troubleshooting or ad hoc working group of senior officers of the Association.

Any Questions?

We are taking every opportunity to streamline, explain and clarify the leadership and governance structure of the Students' Association, and the current sabbatical team has launched a strategic review to ensure that bureaucracy does not get in the way of delivery of the very best advocacy, events and society management services.

If you have any questions about how decisions are made in the Association, or would like to know more about what is described here, do not hesitate to contact the Association President, Owen Wilton, at pres@st-andrews.ac.uk.