Council and Senate: staff elections
Posted on behalf of: Internal Communications
Last updated: Thursday, 27 April 2023

The Governance Team will be running three elections this semester for roles which commence on 1 August 2023:
- School representatives to Senate (10 representatives, one per School)
- One Professional Services representative to Senate
- One Professional Services representative to Council
Senate and Council
Senate is responsible for academic standards and the direction and regulation of academic matters of the University. This encompasses teaching, examining and research as well as oversight of quality assurance and standards of the education provided by the University. There are two academic members elected from each School of Studies (including BSMS). Academic members are elected by and from the teaching staff (Lecturers, Senior Lecturers, Readers and Professors), and serve a term of three years. Two elected Professional Services staff sit on Senate.
Council is the senior governing body of the University. Council’s role is to act in the best interests of the University as a whole, ensuring it strategically delivers its mission to high standards with the necessary financial stability and long-term sustainability. One member of Council is elected to represent Professional Services.
Election procedure
The first step is the nomination of candidates. Nominators should check that their nominee is willing and eligible to serve. Self-nomination is permissible. Nomination forms and information to check if you are eligible to nominate yourself, be nominated and vote, are available on the Governance website.
Timeline
Deadline for nominations: Tuesday 16 May 2023.
Election emails: all Professional Staff and academic staff eligible to vote will receive an email in the week commencing 29 May providing details of nominees and instructions on how to vote.
Voting: will take place between 29 May and 12 June, with results due in week commencing 19 June.
We work with the Electoral Reform Society to manage voting externally and confidentially.
Notices of all live elections and previous results are published on the Governance Team pages.
Find out more
The Governance Team are holding webinars about the elections and the roles of Senate and Council; these are open to all staff eligible for nomination. Please email Lisa Glandfield, lg476@sussex.ac.uk, if you would like to attend one of these sessions, which include:
Professional Services election to Council:
- Thurs 4 May, 4pm-5pm
- Weds 10 May, 1pm-2pm
Elections to Senate:
- Thurs 4 May, 2pm-3pm
- Weds 10 May, 10am-11am
For more information please contact Lisa Glandfield, Governance & Compliance Manager, on lg476@sussex.ac.uk.