Activities Team
Supporting, developing, and representing the hundreds of student-led activities that make St Andrews what it is.
Activities@
@YourUnionActivites
Meet your VP
TBA
Vice-President of Student Opportunities: Activities & Societies
About the Activities Team
The Activities Team is the Students’ Association’s student-led team for societies, volunteering, charitable activity, and other student-led opportunities.
The Team works to make it easier for students to start, run, join, and develop activities at St Andrews. It represents the interests of activity leaders to the Students’ Association and University, while working alongside Association staff to improve the support available to student groups.
The Team also works closely with the Student Opportunities Forum, ensuring that societies and other student-led activities have a meaningful voice in the Association's wider work on student opportunities.
The Activities Team is led by the Vice-President of Student Opportunities: Activities & Societies (VP Socs) and brings together elected student representatives and volunteers working across different areas of student activity. By working together, the Team aims to make student-led activity more connected, accessible, and sustainable.
We have Office Hours scheduled for every week during term time! Please come along for advice regarding the running of your society:
Times and locations of the office hours will be announced in the run-up to Semester One.
Your VP
Vice-President of Student Opportunities: Activities & Societies
Your VP Socs is there to represent you whether you run a society, volunteer with a student organisation, are thinking about starting something new, or simply have an idea about how student activities could be better.
You can contact the VP Socs to:
Raise an issue
Something isn't working for your society or activity? Your VP Socs can help you find the right person and make sure the issue is heard.
Share an idea
Have an idea for a new project, event, or way of doing things? The VP Socs can help turn it into something practical.
Get involved
Want to help shape the future of student activities? The VP can connect you with the Activities Team and other student representatives.
Have your voice heard
The VP Socs represents student activities at the Students' Association and University, ensuring that the experiences of activity leaders are part of decision-making.
Want to get involved?
There are loads of opportunities to join the Activities Team, either through one of the various activities we are putting on, signing up to be a General Member of the Team, or by standing for election as a Society Liaison in September or the VP Socs in March.
But you don't need to be on the Activities Team to have an idea or raise an issue.
If you're involved in a society, volunteer with a student organisation, run an activity, or simply have an idea about how student activities could be better, the Activities Team wants to hear from you.
You can raise an issue with the VP Socs, attend the Student Opportunities Forum, or speak to a member of the Activities Team.
Employability Team
Helping students develop the skills, experience, connections, and confidence they need for life beyond St Andrews.
UnionEmployability@
@YourUnionEmployability
Meet your VP Employability
Gia Karunakaran
Vice-President of Student Opportunities: Employability
About the Employability Team
The Employability Team is the Students' Association student-led team for careers, employability, skills, professional development, and work opportunities.
The Team works to make employability opportunities easier to find, access, and understand, while representing students on matters relating to careers and their future beyond university. As a Team, members work collaboratively on projects throughout the year, with members able to develop initiatives around their own interests and areas of expertise.
It works closely with the University Careers Centre, Entrepreneurship Centre, Schools, Alumni team, employers, and other partners to develop opportunities for students. The Team also works with the wider Student Opportunities Forum to connect employability with the other opportunities available to students through the Students' Association.
The Employability Team is led by the Vice-President of Student Opportunities: Employability (VP Employability) and provides a student-led route for identifying gaps in employability provision, developing new initiatives, and ensuring that students have a voice in how careers support is delivered at St Andrews.
We have Office Hours scheduled for every week during term time! Please come along for advice regarding:
Times and locations of the office hours will be announced in the run-up to Semester One.
Your VP
Vice-President of Student Opportunities: Employability
Your VP Employability is there for every student, whether you're looking for your first part-time job, planning your career, building experience through extracurricular activities, or simply wondering what opportunities are available.
You can contact the VP Employability to:
Find an opportunity
Looking for work experience, an internship, an employer event, or another way to build your skills? Your VP Employability can help you find where to look.
Share an idea
Have an idea for a careers event, partnership, or employability project? Your VP Employability can help turn it into something practical.
Raise an issue
Having difficulty accessing careers support or think something could be improved? Your VP Employability can make sure your experience is heard.
Build connections
The VP Employability works with employers, alumni, the Careers Centre, and other partners to create opportunities for students to meet people and build professional networks.
Careers & Employability Representatives
The Employability Team works closely with Careers & Employability Representatives across the University's Schools.
These representatives provide a link between students, their School, the Careers Centre, and the Students' Association.
Together, they can identify gaps in careers provision, develop School-specific events, share opportunities, and ensure that employability support reflects the different experiences and ambitions of students across St Andrews.
Want to get involved?
We would be delighted to have you join the Employability Team! Reach out today to hear about upcoming opportunities for positions on the Team!
However, you don't need to be an Employability Team member to get involved.
If you have an idea for a careers event, want to develop an employability project, have feedback about careers support, or simply want to help improve opportunities for students, the Team wants to hear from you.
You can contact the VP Employability, speak to a member of the Team, or get involved through your School's Careers & Employability Representative.
Chair of Student Opportunities
Chairing the democratic governance of Student Opportunities.
OppsChair@
The Chair of Student Opportunities is the independent chair of the Students' Association's Student Opportunities governance structure.
The Chair brings together students involved in societies, activities, volunteering, charitable activity, employability, performing arts, and other opportunities, ensuring that their voices are heard throughout the decision-making process.
The Chair leads meetings of the Student Opportunities Executive, the Societies & Activities Round Table, the Employability Round Table, and the Opportunities Forum, helping to connect discussion, decision-making, and accountability across Student Opportunities.
What does the Chair do?
The Chair:
A link between students and decision-making.
Student Opportunities is designed around a continuous feedback loop:
Groups → Liaisons → Round Tables → Strand Teams → Student Opportunities Executive → Opportunities Forum → Implementation → Reporting
The Chair helps maintain this loop.
They ensure that issues raised by students and Opportunities Groups are not simply discussed and forgotten, but are given a clear route through the governance structure and, where appropriate, result in action and reporting.
This gives students and student-led groups a predictable route into decision-making rather than relying on individual relationships or ad hoc conversations.
An independent chair
The Chair is responsible for facilitating the governance process rather than representing one particular portfolio.
While the President of Student Opportunities and Vice-Presidents lead specific areas of work, the Chair's responsibility is to ensure that the different parts of Student Opportunities can work together effectively and that all voices can be heard.
The Chair should therefore approach meetings impartially, giving members a fair opportunity to contribute and ensuring that decisions are reached through constructive discussion.
Contact the Chair
The Chair is available to any student who wants to understand or engage with the Student Opportunities governance structure.
You might contact the Chair if you:
OppsChair@
Links to OppsExec and OppsForum pages here
Include this information on the Forum page:
The Opportunities Forum is the wider democratic space for Student Opportunities.
It brings together members of the Societies & Activities Team, Employability Team, and other students involved in Opportunities Groups, alongside any student who wishes to participate.
The Forum provides a space to collaborate, discuss issues affecting student opportunities, and contribute to the development of policies and initiatives.
The Chair ensures that the Forum remains open, constructive, and genuinely connected to the students and groups it represents.
Include this information on the Exec page:
The Student Opportunities Executive provides strategic direction for Student Opportunities.
It brings together:
The Executive considers feedback from the Society and Employability Round Tables, develops priorities and proposals, and progresses appropriate matters to the Opportunities Forum.
The Chair ensures that the Executive operates effectively and that its work remains connected to the wider student voice.