The two Student representatives on the DSA Council, Zechariahs Benapugha Owutuamor and Sheila Ronoh will be stepping down at the DSA AGM in July 2026, as their impactful terms on Council come to an end. Many thanks Sheila and Zax!

We are now looking for two new student representatives on the DSA Council. The call for nominations to these positions is now open and we invite DSA student members to stand for election. The call is open until 14 June 2026. Student representatives are full members of the DSA Council and are tasked with representing the DSA student membership within the DSA and liaising with the student reps of the DSA’s institutional members. The DSA is a charity and student representatives on Council are charity trustees, please see the Charity Commission website for the responsibilities this entails.

Student representatives usually serve one 3-year term on Council. However, on this occasion, to avoid in future both representatives stepping down from Council at the same time and to support continuity for student representation, the DSA intends to stagger terms on Council. For this year only, one representative’s term will be for one year on Council while the other will be for the full 3-year term. In future years, both reps will serve 3-year terms.

The successful candidates from among the eligible nominees received by 14 June will be elected via an anonymous online election held from 15-29 June 2026, only open to the DSA student members. The successful candidates will be announced at the DSA AGM to be held on 10 July at the annual DSA conference in Dublin.

Criteria:
Candidates must be paid-up DSA members in 2026 at the time of nomination and must be registered students based in the UK for the duration of their planned time on Council. The one year position is most suitable to Masters’ students or PhD students at least one year prior to submitting their thesis. The three year position is more suitable to an early stage PhD student. Each nomination must state if they are standing for the one year or the three year position.

Nominations:
Candidates or nominators should email the following to membershipadmin(at)devstud.org.uk:

All nominations must be seconded by another paid-up DSA Student member (ensure this information is included in the completed nomination form).

All eligible nominations will then enter an online election with Student members being asked to elect one candidate for each of the two positions.

Deadline:
Nomination forms must be received by midnight BST on 14 June 2026. The online election platform will open for voting on 15th June and close at midnight BST on 29 June 2026. All DSA student members will be emailed with a unique link when the election opens to cast their vote.

Obligations/role:
Attendance at the DSA Council meetings where reps report on their DSA-related activities since the previous meeting. Council meets twice a year (usually February and November) as well as just before or at the annual conference (late June/ early July). Between meetings, Student representatives will liaise at regular intervals with student members and the student representatives at the DSA’s institutional members via online meetings and other activities. The Feb and Nov Council meetings are held online and Student representatives on Council participate remotely. The June (pre-conference Council meeting) is hybrid (in person and online) and the DSA is able to fully fund each Student rep on Council to attend the June Council meeting (and the annual conference) once during their three year term. The other two years, the Student rep will attend the June/ July meeting remotely if they are unable to access other funds to attend in person.

Please note that all DSA Council positions are voluntary and no payments are made for work done by Council members on behalf of the DSA.

Before nominating yourself or someone else, please read the DSA Council Student representative ToRs to understand what is required from the role.