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Shadow Councillor

Role Overview

Shadow Councillors sit on Shadow Council and hold your Officers to account. They ensure that the promises and objectives your Officers were elected to perform get done and make sure Ideas from Create Change that have been assigned to Officers happen.

They inspect, question, challenge, and disrupt in order to scrutinise the work of the Sabbatical Officers and Students' Union as a whole. They help students engage effectively with democracy, working with Create Change to form and pass new policy.

Support and Time Commitment

Union Supporters

Union Affairs Officer and Democratic Procedures Advisor (staff support)

Time Commitment

  • Shadow Council: 1½ hours every 3 weeks
  • All other duties, including student contact: 1-2 hours a week

Term of Office

  • 12 months, commencing July (if elected in Spring)
  • 12 months, commencing October (if elected in Autumn)
  • Includes handover period after Convention Council

All roles on Shadow Council conclude during Convention Council, which is held at the end of the democratic year in May. Councillors may hold one vote on Shadow Council but can pass that vote by proxy to another Councillor or Officer.

Qualification for Role

You must be a current and continuing student at the University of Wolverhampton when elected, and a member of the Students' Union. You must be available for the time commitments listed above.

A minimum of 10 students need to vote for candidacy.

Responsibilities

The key responsibilities and duties that Shadow Councillors undertakes are:

  1. To hold the Sabbatical Officers, and other Executive Officers, to account through attending and participating in Shadow Council.
  2. To uphold the democratic functions of Create Change, ensuring that actions passed to Officers are completed.
  3. To shadow Officers to familiarise themselves with their work.
  4. To talk to students face-to-face, and online, and share their concerns and issues raised.
  5. To talk to the Sabbatical Officers, Union, and University staff.
  6. To campaign for change using Create Change.
  7. To promote and bring about change based on their manifesto promises.
  8. To be professional in fulfilling their elected role and duties, abiding by the Code of Conduct.
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