As President, your main focus will be on improving the student experience and representing the views of your peers to the University. You are also tasked with ensuring that students are at the heart of everything the University does as you sit on University Court, as well as a number of other committees.

You will Chair the Scottish Borders Campus Group and act as a key link between the two campuses. While you are primarily concerned with representing all of Heriot-Watt's students in the UK (Edinburgh, Scottish Borders Campus, Orkney) you will also be the key link between your counterparts in Dubai’s Student Council and Malaysia's Student Association to ensure their views are fully represented. At some point, you may even visit our international campuses!

As President, you will work very closely with the Vice Presidents in Edinburgh and you will be key in supporting them to success. You will also play a key role in Student Parliament, supporting Student MPs to make change, making sure Parliament runs smoothly, and regularly providing students with updates on the work you’re doing.

You will lead on improving the Postgraduate experience at Heriot-Watt University.

The President is a member of the Student Union Trustee Board and has the option to take the role of Chair when they take up Office.

You may be the nominated Union Officer on a number of University committees, including Court.

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As VP Community, you will be the lead on sustainability work as well as campaigning and representing students on issues affecting their lives such as housing and transport.

You will chair both Student Life Group & Societies Council working to ensure students have the resources to both enhance life outside lectures and to improve and grow our Societies. You will also be a Member of Parliament alongside the 2 Members of Parliament from Student Life Group & Societies Council and you will help drive positive change brought forward by its members.

In this role, you will be integral in organising not-for-profit events & activities run by the Union. You will work closely with the Activities Co-ordinator to make sure students have a wide variety of volunteering options open to them and you will help to focus the Union's charitable efforts for the year.

You may be the nominated Union Officer on a number of University committees, including Court.

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As VP Wellbeing, you are the first point of contact for student equality & diversity issues and liberation campaigns. You will chair Student Wellbeing Group and work closely with the students that attend it to advocate for positive change in issues facing students identifying as LGBT+, Women, International, Black Asian & Minority Ethnic, and Disabled.

You will also work with this group to find solutions to issues that impact the wellbeing of all students, including but not limited to mental health. As well as this, you will also work to support the Advice Hub. As a Member of Parliament alongside the 2 MPs from Student Wellbeing Group, you will help drive positive change brought forward by its members.

The VP Wellbeing also works closely with the University’s Wellbeing Services and sits on the Equality and Diversity Committee. The VP Wellbeing is also a member of the Student Union Trustee Board.

You may be the nominated Union Officer on a number of University committees, including Court.

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As VP Education your main focus will be on academic issues and representing the views of students to the University to improve the learning and teaching experience.

In your role you’ll attend a lot of academic University committees, putting forward the views and opinions of your fellow students. You will also work and collaborate with your counterparts in Dubai and Malaysia to represent global academic issues.

You will work closely with the Academic Coordinator to support and chair Academic Congress as well as regular meetings with School Officers and Class Reps. You’ll take into consideration the issues they raise, and work together to find solutions and present them to the University and other relevant stakeholders to enhance the student experience.

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There are 5 Student Members of Parliament and there is no set remit for any of these positions to work on throughout the year. It is up to you to create, change or fix anything you want. You can run on any issue or cause you feel needs to be addressed.

Candidates standing for these positions will do so based upon wanting to work on a particular issue of the student experience at Heriot-Watt that they see as important. This could be anything from wanting a 24-hour shop in the library to increasing the amount of street lighting around campus.

Student MP's will be supported by the Union Group most suited to the issue they have raised. As a Student MP, you will also support the work of Parliament through proactively listening to, and working for students as well as planning activities that meet the needs of students and increases participation in what we do. You will be expected to attend and contribute to Parliament Meetings, and take an active role in organising events or campaigns throughout the year. you will also be repsonsible for implementing motions and ideas that pass at Student Parliament.

There will be one School Member of Parliament (School MP's) elected by each School (EGIS, EPS, MACS, Soss & TEX).

As a School MP, you will support the Vice President Education and work with them to fix issues faced by students to improve academic life at Heriot-Watt. You will meet regularly with School Officers and Class Reps at Academic Congress, and you will attend School Office Meetings every other week to drive positive change and feed these issues to Parliament. You will be responsible for ensuring Academic Congress runs smoothly.

Working closely with Class Reps and School Officers will be hugely important in your role. You will work to increase the awareness of these positions within your School to make sure students are aware of these structures, how to contact them, and how to get the most out of their School Officers and Class Reps.

In this role we might need you to step up onto University Committees and Working Groups, giving you the opportunity to grow and develop as well as getting a behind-the-scenes look at University life.

As Postgrad Research Member of Parliament, you are responsible for collecting the views and needs of other Postgraduate students at Heriot-Watt. You will give a voice to these students in Parliament. and work to find solutions to their issues.

The issues raised by the PGR MP are not limited to academic issues and you will be there to improve all aspects of Postgrad life from more social events to better support and everything in between.

As the Postgrad Taught Member of Parliament, you are responsible for collecting the views and needs of other Postgraduate Taught students at Heriot-Watt. You will give a voice to these students in Parliament. and work to find solutions to their issues.

The issues raised by the PGT MP are not limited to academic issues and you will be there to improve all aspects of Postgrad life from better support to increased representation and everything in between.

Your Student Union is a member of the National Union of Students and has full voting rights in its policy and elections. NUS Scotland Conference is the main policy making body of the National Union of Students in Scotland. Delegations from all over Scotland attend, debate, pass policy and elect new student leaders.

When you are elected as part of the Delegation you will be there to attend debate and vote on issues. You will be there to represent the views of our members and so before attending we will as a Union decide how we want to vote on certain issues. After a vote on campus you will be required to vote as indicated by our students.

NUS Scotland Conference is an exciting and enjoyable event for those who attend and will take place 19th and 20th March 2020. Travel and accommodation for the conference is paid for by the Union. You will get to meet a wide range of students from across the country and get to learn more about a wide range of issues affecting students.