{"id":256,"date":"2025-02-04T13:54:49","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T13:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/?p=256"},"modified":"2025-02-26T11:38:22","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T11:38:22","slug":"campaign-care-su-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/2025\/02\/04\/campaign-care-su-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Campaign Care- SU Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The nominations for SU Officers and Reps have closed and it won\u2019t be long before campaigning and voting gets underway.&nbsp; Last year, Student Wellbeing and Accessible Learning Drop-in spoke to many students about the challenges and impact of this endeavour.&nbsp; It was decided it would be worthwhile sharing information in the early stages of the campaigns so students can be aware and take steps to avoid potential stressors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the 2024 elections, students attended Drop-in to speak to us about disagreements within and outside campaign teams, feeling personally attacked, being the victim of rumours; and the time, pressure and energy of running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Being an election candidate is a vulnerable position.&nbsp; You are putting yourself, your face and your values on display for people to judge.&nbsp; It doesn\u2019t come without reward however.&nbsp; The opportunity to make a difference, build confidence, improve skills and gain experience are among the benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amy is the current Student Officer for Postgraduate Education.&nbsp; She spoke to us about her experience of campaigning as well as the the benefits and challenges of running.&nbsp; Her main advice was for candidates to know what to expect.&nbsp; This means attending the clinics, speaking to Officers about the reality of the roles and taking the advice of the SU Voice team.&nbsp; Amy gave us the following tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Choose a good team with a mixed skillset.&nbsp; This can be made of friends or people who you don\u2019t know but agree with your policies.&nbsp; They can cover places you can\u2019t or activities suited more to their skillsets than your own.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Expect to burn the candle at both ends, especially during voting week.&nbsp; Remember it is temporary.&nbsp; Consider what other commitments you can put on the backburner for those few days.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Know your strengths and your limitations.&nbsp; It helps to do what you are good at and you can delegate or adapt situations that cause discomfort.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When things get tough, remember why you are running.&nbsp; Usually, people want to make a difference and shape policies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Find out the needs of a diverse range of students and engage with them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You don\u2019t have to follow all the campaigning suggestions.&nbsp; Some people struggle with walking up to strangers to talk to them for example.&nbsp; Be creative with how you engage with people.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Just because there are aspects of campaigning you may not like, does not mean that you wouldn\u2019t be good at the job.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Maintain a positive relationship with the competition.&nbsp; There may be times you can help each other out.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Don\u2019t take things personally.&nbsp; If someone disagrees with your opinion, that has no bearing on your value as a person.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Follow the rules!&nbsp; There are rules for running in the SU Election and they are worth knowing.&nbsp; Speak to the SU Voice team if unsure about this.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Not everyone can win an election. &nbsp;Amy\u2019s advice if you are unsuccessful is to focus on the learning from the experience.&nbsp; This can be used to run again next year or for a position that may suit better.&nbsp; The leadership and teamwork skills involved in campaigning are valuable for CV and interviews with employers.  Students running in the full-time officer elections are also eligible for a Future Ready Award.  The confidence gained from operating outside your comfort zone can\u2019t be taken away.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tips for wellbeing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Focus on what you can control- unfortunately that does not include people\u2019s reactions to you or your policies.&nbsp; You can control your own behaviour, your message and how well you look after yourself.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Recognise the energy you are using and ensure you are allowing time for activities that recharge you, whether that be exercise, hobbies, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use your support system- family and friends.&nbsp; Talk about the challenges and the positives.&nbsp; You would do it for them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sleep.&nbsp; Make sure you prioritise your sleep routine. &nbsp;It is hard to be productive and sociable when you are exhausted.&nbsp; Your tolerance to stressors also reduces when tired.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Self compassion.&nbsp; What you are doing is not easy.&nbsp; It is not meant to be.&nbsp; Give yourself some grace for this.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, if things are not going to plan or you have concerns while running for the SU election, the SU Voice team can help or signpost you.  They can also provide a quiet space for a break and a casual chat if needed.&nbsp; See the resource section for further information, including rules and making a complaint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Breakfast Drop-in will take place from 9:30 to 10:30 AM on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in the SU Anne Maguire Room for full-time candidates on Election week.  Contact SU Voice for more information.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Good luck!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Thank you to Postgraduate Education Officer Amy for contributing to this blog.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/qubsu.org\/studentvoice\/SUElections\/\">SU Elections | QSU<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Making a complaint- <a href=\"https:\/\/home.q-su.org\/voice\/democracy\/suelections\/complaints\/\">Complaints<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/q-su.org\/studentvoice\/SUElections\/ElectionRules\/\">Election Rules | QSU<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For support for harassment, bullying or hate crime- Report and Support:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/reportandsupport.qub.ac.uk\/report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Report &#8211; Report + Support &#8211; Queen&#8217;s University Belfast (qub.ac.uk)<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stress Control NI- HSCNI Stress Control online classes\/webinars&nbsp;&#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/ni.stresscontrol.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Home &#8211; Stress Control<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Self Compassion:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/actionforhappiness.org\/self-compassion-chris-irons\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Self-Compassion | Action for Happiness<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The nominations for SU Officers and Reps have closed and it won\u2019t be long before campaigning and voting gets underway.&nbsp; Last year, Student Wellbeing and Accessible Learning Drop-in spoke to many students about the challenges and impact of this endeavour.&nbsp; It was decided it would be worthwhile sharing information in the early stages of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1328,"featured_media":258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/02\/qub-student-services-day-1-196.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1328"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":272,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions\/272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/thedropindialogues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}