An Introduction to Student Council 

 

The Student Council is the main representative body of the Students’ Union. It is made up of Student Councillors who represent students from across the University. It is primarily responsible for serving as a discussion and debate forum for students to discuss relevant issues and propose policy proposals to the Students' Union. Motions passed at the Student Council direct the SU's work and Student Councillors play a key role in holding our five Elected Student Officers into account.

The Student Council discusses issues and concerns of the student community locally and nationally, voting on all decisions. The Council sets the policy direction of the Students’ Union. It also provides an opportunity for students to share information about their course, school, student group, or forums with fellow students. The Student Council is also an excellent way for students to develop their skills such as confidence, communication, interpersonal, and public speaking skills.

If you would like further information or have any questions about the Student Council, you can get in touch via ausareps@abdn.ac.uk.

 

Student Council Meetings

 

The Student Council has agreed to meet on the following dates: 

 

Meeting Date	Motion Deadline
14th December	30th November
30th January	16th January
27th February	13th February
26th March	12th March
23rd April	9th April
14th May	30th April

 

Dates for Student Council meetings to be held in March, April, and May will be agreed upon at a future Student Council meeting. 

Meetings are held in KCG7 and are open to all students to observe.

For further information, please contact ausareps@abdn.ac.uk. The papers and minutes of previous meetings can be found below.

 

Student Council Reading Materials

 

Student Council reading materials are papers that are presented to Student Councillors ahead of each meeting. These include the agenda for the meeting, the minutes of the previous meeting, Sabbatical Officer Work Reports, motions, and any other information on the topics being discussed at each meeting. You can download the papers for each meeting below and if you have any questions about them, you can email ausareps@abdn.ac.uk.

 

Chair of Student Council

 

The elected Chair of the Student Council regulates the discussion and makes sure that everyone gets a fair chance to speak and is being respected. The Chair and Vice-Chair also compile the Agenda and the reading documents before each Council meeting. The Chair of the Student Council is Nirvan Abedi and the Vice-Chair is Mathla Al Salmi.

 

Membership of Council 

 

Student Council is comprised of the five Elected Student Officers, the Chairs (where this role is not performed by an Elected Student Officer) and Vice-Chairs of each standing committee, the School Conveners, and three Postgraduate Representatives. In addition, there are two representatives from each liberation or section forum and one representative from each formally recognised Student Group. The current Elected members of the Student Council are listed below. Details of our Student Groups can be found here (select filter 'Student Group'. Details of our Liberation and Section Forums can be found here. 

Name	Position
Nirvan Abedi	Chair of Council
Mathla Al Salmi	Vice-Chair of Student Council
Elena Bolotina	Vice-Chair Sport
Vadym Kapliuk	Vice-Chair Societies
Christina Schmid	Vice-Chair Communities
Harmony Wopara	Vice-Chair Environment & Ethics
Kaitlin Agius	Vice-Chair Welfare
Tomas Pizarro-Escuti	Vice-Chair Raising and Giving
Akhil Anchamparathy	Qatar Chair
Sadia Naveed	Vice-Chair Qatar
Adam Lambert	Foresterhill Chair
Robert Thomas	Foresterhill Vice-Chair
Miles Rothoerl	Vice-Chair Undergraduate Education
Fred Byrne	School of Divinity, History, Philosophy & Art History Convener
Finn Abou El Magd	School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture Convener
Khalifa Muhammad	School of Law Convener
Shane Painter	School of Social Science Convener
Ankita Sinha	School of Business Convener
Niels Imrie	School of Biological Sciences Convener
Aarushi Chakraborty	School of Medical Sciences Convener
André Justin Carpio	School of Medicine Convener
Emily Mckay	School of Psychology Convener
Kate Kostick	School of Engineering Convener
Mark Kurz	School of Natural and Computing Sciences Convener
S. Syed Sulaiman	School of Geosciences Convener
Muhammad Faraaz Dheen Mohamed	Vice-Chair Postgraduate Education
Kevhvan Graham	Postgraduate Education Rep
Sanaa Al-Azawi	Postgraduate Education Rep
Vanessa Mabonso Nzolo	Student President
Ainhoa Burgos Aguilera	Vice President for Communities
Rhiannon Ledwell	Vice President for Education
Sai Shraddha S. Viswanathan	Vice President for Welfare
Tõnis Tilk	Vice President for Activities