In the Middlesex Student Union, there is a structure of representatives that ensure your voice is heard as well as that, they also organise different events and campaigns to better your life in uni. The three important representative institutions are the Student Office, the Union Council and the Student Voice Leaders. The Student office is comprised of a President and three Vice Presidents.
The President
The current President is Gagandeep Kaur, she was democratically elected by the students through the Student Union Elections, these elections happen each spring (make sure to hand your vote and voice your opinion!). Her obligations are to ensure communication between the Union and MDX students. She is also your first point of contact for campus-wide issues. As well as that she also is a chair MDXSU’s Trustee Board. The Trustee Board’s role is to oversee that the Student Union is meeting it’s aims and that it is acting in accordance to a legal and constitutional framework. Back to the President, she represents the students in the University’s Board of Governors, the highest decision-making body in the university. As you can see the President plays an important and a vital role as the main figurehead of all the students, of course she can’t manage the job alone. That’s why she can rely on the Vice Presidents, as well that they have their own obligations of course.
You can contact her on her email: GG531@live.mdx.ac.uk
The Vice Presidents
The Vice Presidents are elected the same way as the President and they very much serve the same purpose of representing the students in much the same capacity. They have a chair in the Trustee board, but they don’t serve in the University’s Board of Governors (the only student there is the President). They with the Student Voice Leaders to ensure proper representation of the needs and ideas of students in her department.
VP of Professional and Social Sciences
Vice President of Professional and Social Sciences: The current role is occupied by Tahmina Choudhery. She represents the students within the Business School, School of Law and School of Health & Education at Middlesex.
You can contact her on her email: t.choudhery@mdx.ac.uk
VP of Art & Creative Industries
Vice President of Art & Creative Industries: The position is held by Nishtha Relan and she represents the students in Art, Design, Media and Performing Arts.
You can contact her on her email: n.relan@mdx.ac.uk
VP of Science and Technology
Vice President of Science and Technology: The current VP is Khalid Abumaye and represents the students in the (you guessed it) Science and Technology departments.
You can contact him on his email: k.abumaye@mdx.ac.uk
Student Voice Leaders
A crucial part of the Student Union are the Student Voice Leaders. Each year one or several SVLs are elected by each course and they serve as representatives of the that course. They work closely with the Program Leader and meet twice a year with the Student Voice Leaders and academic representatives of the whole department to vote and propose meaningful change in the department and in MDX. If you apply for a Student Voice Leader you will have to inform yourselves on the problems that other students face and that they would like to be solved. You can create the change they would want to see implemented. This position is a great opportunity for you to build your connections with your fellow students and it would also look good on your CV. Nominations will open Monday 7th September and will close at 5pm Thursday 15th October, so be hasty!
You can learn more here: https://www.mdxsu.com/studentvoiceleaders
Union Council
Other important body you should know about is the Union Council. The Council is the key student committee, with responsibility for determining MDXSU policy and deciding action on student ideas for change. You can also submit ideas that you feel can benefit students in Middlesex by using the Ideas for Change process on the SU website. It can be something about campus, your course and even a political stance you want MDXSU to adopt. Students are also permitted in the meetings of the Union Council which happen three times a year, but only elected Union Council members can vote. This leads us to the question who is in this council exactly.
There are total of 40 people in the Council: 29 student representatives (Student Liberation Group leaders, students from our comities group and Society leaders), 18 academic representatives, the SU President and the three Vice Presidents.
You can see the current events and active policies on the MDX SU website: https://www.mdxsu.com/union-council
Author: Nikola Kalchev Contact: nk839@live.mdx.ac.uk