Student representatives are an integral part of the Committee structure at the University. We elect to discipline-specific roles, which may be called to sit on or advise multiple committees. Most roles are 'mapped' to a specific Faculty Board or other formal representative body, but note that there may be other committees (like a departmental teaching committee or staff-student joint committee) on which a rep may be called to participate. Also, in some cases representatives mapped to a Faculty Board may not attend every meeting of that Board, but will be invited according to relevant business.
What does a rep do?
Subject representatives will be the voice for students within the University, representing their interests and shaping decisions at the local and central levels. Find out more about the role of the rep on the Cambridge Student Union website. Generally speaking, each level of representation feeds into the next, up to the Cambridge Students Union. The Union organises and administers the elections, and provides opportunities for support, training and networking for elected reps.
Available roles
Each year, we elect both student subject representatives, and representatives for the Council of the School. A full list of all roles is available here:
Student subject representatives
These roles are discipline-specific, and most often will feed into Faculty-level discussions about your course. Your course or department may also hold more informal elections for course or year representatives on some committees; this varies depending on local structures. Where there are local elections, you will be contacted directly by your course administrator to participate. We encourage, and try to foster, co-ordination between local and central reps.
Council of the School representatives
Each School Council will elect one undergraduate and one postgraduate member (Note that the School of Clinical Medicine does not hold separate elections; the roles are filled by clinical medicine student subject representatives, elected in the group above). Councils are generally concerned with the wider strategic goals of the Departments within their areas, and consider matters of resourcing, estates, new courses, and regulations.
More information on student elections
Nominations for the roles above will open on 7 Oct 2024 and close on 15 Oct 2024. Elections will take place across 21-24 Oct 2024.
You can find out more about the representative process, and how to make your voice heard, on the Cambridge Students' Union website. You can also email the CSU Academic Representation Co-ordinator at academic.rep@cambridgesu.co.uk,
Election results
On 25 Oct 2024, following the close of elections, the list of academic subject representatives will be published on the Cambridge Student Union website. Where roles may be unfilled, we will be holding a second round of elections on dates to be confirmed.