More Roles Than Candidates: Low Turnout in DUSA Elections

17 out of 27 roles up for student election either have just one candidate running uncontested or no candidates at all.

A brief breakdown of the record-low engagement:

• Of the 7 DUSA Executive roles, 5 have either have just one candidate running uncontested or no candidates at all. The top role, that of DUSA President, has only one contender.
• Of the 13 Division President roles, 2 have just one candidate running uncontested, and 5 have no candidates at all
• All 5 Students’ Representative Council (SRC) roles either have just one candidate running uncontested or no candidates at all*

*(DUSA Executive and Division Presidents also attend the SRC)

Perhaps one consolation is that two key roles, the Independent Member of Court and SRC Chair, have 3 candidates each. They will contribute to meetings of the University Court and the SRC.

For the roles currently contended, voters have the option of “RON” (re-open nominations).

As for the roles with no candidates, DUSA have posted on social media that by-elections will be held “soon.”

All University of Dundee students were eligible to nominate themselves as candidates and may vote in the election.

Voting closes today at 23:59.

Announcement of the results will be held on Friday from 17:30 at the Liar.

Students paying particular attention to the elections (and the 20 emails that have been sent to all students since March) may have noticed that the nomination period was extended on 16th March by a week.

Class representatives have reported that staff in their division were flummoxed to find that the nomination process had closed on 23rd March only after the fact.

In prior years, the divisions and schools handled nominations for their own Vice Presidents between late March and early June, independent of DUSA.

Nevertheless, DUSA, SRC, and the current student leadership have been busy promoting the election on social media.

Even the Chair of Court, Esther Roberton, sent an email stressing the importance of student leadership on 19th March in an effort to encourage more students to step forward.

After nomination comes the voting; one naturally fears the turnout.

Voting opened last Friday, the 27th, and from Monday the 30th, DUSA have been offering free pizzas, coffee at the Liar, hotdogs and university merchandise at the Premier, and GradBall tickets via a prize draw for students who have voted.

According to DUSA, 80% of students did not vote at the last election.

One naturally wonders why student engagement has dropped so low.

It seems that the university not only has a funding crisis but a crisis of engagement.

Is this indicative of something lacking in student experience?