Only half of the positions due to be elected in the Student Representative Council (SRC) autumn elections are contested, the newly-released list of nominations has shown. Of the 24 roles which will be elected this month, 12 have fewer nominees than necessary for an election to take place.
As well as many roles being under-contested, seven roles failed to receive any nominations at all and are expected to remain vacant. Unfortunately, all but one of the Postgraduate College Convenor positions available and three of the School Representative positions remain vacant.
Of the positions which received nominees, General Representative is looking to be one of the most interesting races, with four spots available between a total of 10 nominees. Additionally: Undergraduate College Convenor Science & Engineering, Postgraduate College Convenor Social Sciences, Gender Equality Officer, Business School Representative, School of Computing Science Representative, School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing Representative, School of Psychology & Neuroscience Representative all have three nominees and one vacancy respectively – making them the most competitive positions contested in this election.
Lack of engagement in student elections is an issue that has been present at all four of Glasgow’s student unions.
A similar issue was notable at last year’s Autumn SRC elections, which demonstrated an even smaller showing, with only three elections remaining competitive and eight positions vacant. Moreover, in this year’s Spring SRC elections 40 percent of the student council remained vacant while two out of four sabbatical positions were elected unopposed.
However, lack of engagement in student elections is an issue that has been present at all four of Glasgow’s student unions. At the Glasgow University Union’s annual elections in March only four out of 11 positions on the Board of Management were competitive.
Hustings in the SRC’s Spring elections are scheduled to be held on Wednesday 16 October at 6pm, with polls opening on the morning of Thursday 17 October via the UofG Life app.
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