New sabbatical officers elected to lead University Campus Suffolk Students’ Union

After a busy week of campaigning and students casing their votes, University Campus Suffolk (UCS) Students’ Union (SU) are pleased to announce the newly elected Full and Part Time Officer Team who will lead the Students’ Union in representing students for the 2016-17 academic year.

The most competitive election week for years resulted in 1,000 students making their opinion heard.

The voter turnout was 21.4%, double the national average for SU elections.

The week of campaigning saw the first ever ‘candidate question time’ and 21 candidates ran for 12 positions, which included the brand new roles for 2016-17 of Women’s, LGBT+ and Mature Part Time Officer recently approved by the Union Council as the Union aims to make a concerted effort to give underrepresented groups within the student body a voice.

BA (Hons) Events Management student Rachel Gilbey was announced as the SU President 2016-17, the first time the post has been held by a female.

Rachel will also be Course Representative and Events and Enterprise Society President.

BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies student Johnathan Dotchin was voted in as SU Vice President 2016-17.

Rachel and Johnathan will begin their roles as Full Time Sabbatical Officers in July 2016, where they will aim to put their manifestos into action.

Ten part-time officers were voted in and they will support Rachel and Johnathan. They are Paige Livings, Arts & Humanities Department Officer, Chantelle Simpson Children, Young People and Education Department Officer, John Sherman Health Studies Department Officer, Sharn Owen, Psychology, Sociology & Social Work Department Officer, Denny Omoregie, Business School Department Officer, Amelia Deuchars, Science & Technology Department Officer, Keziah Mellen LGBT+ Officer, Kimya Piper, Women’s Officer and Denise Johnson, Mature Students Officer. Amy Turlington will be representing UCS Students at the National Union of Students National Conference after being successfully elected as the NUS Delegate.

Current SU President, Jordan Bambridge, says, “This year’s elections have been a massive success. We have seen a record number of candidates running and have seen our voter turnout more than double. This is testament to our hard work this year in trying to reach and engage with more students and to have a SU that is reflective of their needs. I wish the new officers the best of luck for next year and hope they can really build on their successful campaigns to deliver a fantastic student experience here at UCS.”