Following the work of Southampton’s Technician Commitment Implementation Group to raise the visibility of technical representation at university-wide committees and initiatives, Senate has agreed the inclusion of a technical member of staff on this committee.
Senate has the responsibility for oversight of all academic affairs of the University. All Senate members represent the whole University community, they are not delegates or specific representatives from their Faculty, School, Professional Service or Technical and Experimental (TAE).
Senate has 67 members, of whom 42 are academic staff, drawn from across all University Faculties on Education, Research and Enterprise (ERE) contracts and elected from among their own number, and four members of staff drawn from Professional Services, also elected from among their own number.
The electoral pool for the TAE representative has been determined to ensure the widest possible representation of the TAE community. The Senate representative from TAE staff will be elected from among their own numbers across all University faculties on TAE contracts at Level 4 and above. This level of seniority will create parity with Professional Services colleagues on Senate and ensure the successful nominee has the relevant experience to be able to represent the University community at this forum. All colleagues who express such interest will be put forward to the electorate, with their brief statement (typically 100 – 150 words) which should include introduction, motivation, and intent.
If you wish to express an interest, please send your brief statement to Michael Butler, Executive Sponsor of Southampton’s Technician Commitment via email to [email protected] by Friday 30 July 2021 at the latest. An electioneering period will take place between 2 August to 6 August, and the voting period will open on Monday 9 August and close on Friday 20 August. Voting will be undertaken using Microsoft Forms, with staff being sent an email containing a link to the appropriate voting paper.
All eligible colleagues are welcome and encouraged to apply should they wish to. Please note that the Senate wishes to be representative of the University community and include members of diverse backgrounds. In practice this might mean that you support a colleague to stand who is from a usually under-represented group, rather than standing yourself.
The Returning Officer for the Senate Elections is Claire Atkins (Secretary to Senate and Academic Registrar); the deputy returning officer for this election is Nicola Pratt, Senior Marine Biologist, Ocean and Earth Sciences. If you have any queries, please contact Samantha McLaughlin either via this email: [email protected] or [email protected].
