As President, your main focus will be on academic issues 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 and Senate, as well as a number of other committees such as Learning and Teaching Board.

While you are primarily concerned with representing all of Heriot-Watt's students in the UK (Edinburgh, SBC, Orkney) you will need to have the ability to communicate effectively and collaborate with your counterparts in Dubai and Malaysia's Student Associations 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 both in Edinburgh and at Galashiels and you will be key in supporting them to success.

You will regularly attend Academic Congress where you will work to find solutions to the issues raised by the attending School MPs, School Officers, Class Reps, and Postgrad Teaching Reps. You will also Chair Parliament to help drive positive change brought forward by its members.

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.

For more specific information, you can find the Union’s Bye-Laws here, which sets out more specific duties the President holds.

As VP Community, you will be integral in organising events & activities run by the Union. You will have a large role in organising Freshers Week, drawing on help from the Student Life Group and various staff members to help run both day and night-time events. You will also work with the Commercial Manager and Bar Manager to run regular events or promotions through our commercial venues.

Working closely with the Activities Co-ordinator you will ensure that 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.

As VP Community, you will chair both Student Life Group & Societies Council and you will work to ensure the students involved in both groups 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.

You may be the nominated Union Officer on a number of University committees, including University Senate and Court. For more specific information, you can find the Union’s Bye-Laws here, which sets out more specific duties the VP Community holds.

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, Disabled.

You will also work with this group to solve 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 on welfare 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 University Senate and Court.

For more specific information, you can find the Union’s Bye-Laws here, which sets out more specific duties the VP Wellbeing holds.

As VP Scottish Borders Campus, you will be the first point of contact for all SBC-related issues and you will be responsible for the majority of campaigns and events run at the campus. You will host a week of events during Freshers Week, and make sure that students feel at home Galashiels.

You will chair the SBC Group and empower the students that attend to improve all aspects of life at Galashiels. From organising more events, improved support for societies, to help with Academic issues and everything in between. You will also represent SBC and its students as a Member of Parliament alongside the SBC Group MP and help drive positive change brought forward by its members.

Staff support is available from all the Edinburgh based staff when you need it, and regular catch-ups will be arranged to support your work.

The VP SBC is a member of the Student Union's Trustee Board You may be the nominated Union Officer on a number of University committees, including University Senate and Court.

For more specific information, you can find the Union's Bye-Laws here, which sets out more specific duties the SBC holds.

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.

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 President 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 to drive positive change and feed these issues to Parliament.

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.

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.

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.