Faculty Representatives are part of the Student Leadership Team (SLT). You’ll make sure students in your faculty have a strong voice and a great study experience.
The SLT works together over a two-year term to:
Each Student Leader has their own portfolio, which sets their main area of focus. However, the SLT collaborates to agree on team priorities and how to achieve them.
There are four Faculty Representatives, one for each of the following:
Average number of hours: 5 hours per week on average (this can fluctuate throughout the year)
Meeting expectations: Some daytime meetings in normal business hours, with occasional evening and weekend meetings.
Attendance at face-to-face meetings: Most meetings can be delivered hybrid but there are some meetings which are best attended in person.
Location: You will need to be based in the United Kingdom.
DBS required? No
Term length: 2 years from 1 August 2026 – 31 July 2028.
What is the Student Leadership Team?
The Student Leadership Team (SLT) is a group of elected students who work together to improve the experience of Open University students. When you run in an Open SU election, you are standing to join this team. The President and Deputy President are paid full-time roles, while all other roles are voluntary.
How the Student Leadership Team work together
The Student Leadership Team (SLT) is made up of two teams: Elected Officers and Elected Representatives.
As a Faculty Representative you are part of the Representative team. The two teams have very clear remits:
The Elected Officers
- Led by the President.
- Each officer has a specific area of responsibility e.g. EDI or Student Welfare.
- Focus on projects, campaigns, and improving student life.
- Work together to support Open SU’s strategic priorities.
- Meet monthly to collaborate on priority projects and student issues.
- Submit monthly reports and updates to the student body.
- Lead development of Open SU Policy and Position Statements, seeking input from wider SLT, representatives and the student body.
- Provide content and information for social media, news articles and campaigns.
The Elected Representatives
- Led by the Deputy President.
- Each representative has a focus area e.g. Scotland/WELS.
- Focuses on Student Voice.
- Provides accountability and scrutiny to the Elected Officer team.
- Work closely with appointed Student Representatives.
- Ensures student experiences, needs, and perspectives influence decision-making.
- Meet every 4 months to understand what is going on in the University and for students.
- Comment on and contribute to development of Open SU Policy and Position Statements.
- Provide content and information for social media, news articles and campaigns.
Members of SLT meet as a whole team three times a year to collaborate, share insights, and make decisions that affect the whole organisation. Major decisions, such as changes to governing documents or Open SU position statements, must involve both teams.
Shared responsibilities of all elected Student Leaders
As a member of the Open SU Student Leadership Team (SLT), you play a vital role in representing students, building community, and supporting the mission, vision, and values of Open SU.
You’ve been elected by students to make a difference, and here’s what that involves:
- Working as a team to support Open SU’s mission, vision, and charitable objectives.
- Living our values: Welcoming, Approachable, Bold, Adaptable and Sustainable.
- Taking part in key events: onboarding sessions, SLT meetings, and Open SU’s biennial conference.
- Communicating effectively with fellow SLT members and staff, using official spaces and email regularly.
- Collaborating with other volunteers and Student Representatives who deliver activities, services, and events for students.
- Being the public face of Open SU: raise awareness, create promotional materials, deliver presentations, and host student-facing sessions.
- Sharing your impact: submit regular reports and blogs about your role.
- Engaging with students: supporting Open SU involvement in student-facing events.
- Championing equity, diversity, and inclusion in everything you do.
- Acting openly and responsibly, and be prepared to be accountable for your actions.
- All elected representatives are expected to adhere to our Values and Behaviour Policy, Volunteer Policy and sign a Volunteer Agreement on commencement of the role.
Role specific responsibilities
As a Faculty Representative, you’ll help ensure students in your faculty have a strong voice and a great experience. Here’s what your role involves:
- Be the face for students in your faculty: You’ll communicate with students through a range of platforms.
- Join key faculty meetings: You will be a member of the faculties Academic Committee for Learning, Teaching and Assessment which meet 3–4 times per year and includes University faculty staff and Associate Lecturers.
- Work with faculty members and module teams on non-governance issues that affect the student experience.
- Gather student views on learning and the overall experience in your faculty, and work with other volunteers and representatives to make sure feedback reaches both the University and students.
- Close the feedback loop by sharing updates on actions taken, using engaging and accessible content across different media.
- Be part of our Student Senate Reference Group: You will join the Student Senate Reference Group, which meets online quarterly, and provides viewpoints to help inform the Student Members of Senate.
- Be the lead Student Representative in your faculty: You will lead regular meetings with other Student Reps in your faculty, finding out the challenges they are facing and escalating issues where appropriate.
- Works closely with the Deputy President on student voice-related issues, ensuring that there is consistency in approach within discussion with the OU.
Key skills and attributes
To succeed in this role, you should have, or be ready to quickly develop, the following:
- Understanding of your faculty and the needs of students across different modules.
- Commitment to learning and developing new skills and knowledge relevant to the role.
- Awareness of Open SU and The Open University, and how they work together to support students.
- Willingness to engage in content creation for a range of media in order to feedback to and inform the student body.
Training and support will be provided by both Open SU and the University to help you.
Example of meetings attended by Faculty Representatives
The nature of our SLT roles is that there are always additional Open SU and OU meetings that they will need to attend. This can include regular meetings or one-off activities. Below are some of the meetings that Faculty Representatives are required to attend as ex-officio (mandatory) parts of their role – a full handover of current meetings will be provided by the outgoing post-holder:
- Open SU Student Leadership Team Meetings – These are formal meetings where the SLT discuss Open SU business, the issues facing students, and progress against the agreed priorities for the SLT. These take place every four months. The President chairs these meetings.
- Monthly Student Voice Forums (optional) – These meetings are an opportunity to hear about projects and initiatives taking place, providing input and feedback. They also provide an opportunity to engage with wider Student Representatives.
- Representative Forums – These are meetings where our Representation Team can hear from our Student Representatives about any issues that students are experiencing, allowing the Representation Team to feed this back into the whole SLT. These take place every four months.
- Student Senate Reference Group – This meeting allows you to provide your viewpoints on the topics being discussed at Senate, helping inform the opinions of the Student Members of Senate. These meetings take place on a Monday morning, four times per year.
- Faculty Academic Committees for Learning Teaching and Assessment – Meeting 3–5 times per year, this committee is responsible for ensuring that the standard of education within the faculty is of the highest quality. You will be responsible for ensuring that the student perspective is considered as part of any discussion or decision that affects the student experience.
Around these meetings, you will be required to prepare for the meetings by reading the papers ahead of the meeting, and being ready and willing to contribute to the discussions.
Where a meeting is scheduled to take place in person, you will be supported to attend through the provision of reasonable expenses; however, most meetings that are held in person will also have a hybrid option.
Essential role-specific information, including eligibility
To apply, you must meet the following:
Active student status
You must be a registered and active Open University student. This means you are either:
- Currently studying a module, or
- Have previously completed a module within the last two years and are registered on an OU qualification.
Eligible modules
- You must be studying Open University modules worth at least 30 credits.
- Students registered as Postgraduate Researchers or on Access modules are also eligible.
Academic progress
To support your academic success, we will not consider applications from students who have failed or not completed their three most recently started modules at the time of application. This ensures you can focus on your studies while contributing effectively to the role.
Ability to act as the public face of Open SU
Elected officers and representatives who are not charity trustees, but act as the public face of the organisation carry significant responsibility. For this reason, all candidates are expected to meet the same eligibility standards required of charity trustees, including not being disqualified from acting as a trustee. You can read the official UK Government guidance on the automatic disqualification rules for charity trustees.
What you can expect from Open SU
- A supportive onboarding and training process.
- Guidance and support from a dedicated staff team.
- Appreciation and recognition for the work you do.
- A non-discriminatory environment that celebrates diversity.
- Reimbursement for reasonable expenses in accordance with our Expense Claims Policy.
- The freedom to pause, take a break or step down from your role at any time.
Student Leadership Team dates for your diary
- Friday, 17 July – Sunday, 19 July 2026: in-person (Handover Weekend)
- Friday, 4 September – Sunday, 6 September 2026: in-person (Onboarding Weekend)
- Saturday, 7 November 2026: online
- Friday, 5 March – Sunday, 7 March 2027: hybrid
- Saturday, 17 July 2027: online
- Friday, 12 November – Sunday, 14 November 2027: hybrid
- Saturday, 4 March 2028: online
- Friday, 14 July – Sunday, 16 July 2028: in-person (Handover Weekend)
(all 10am–4pm for the Saturday meetings)