Senate Representatives (Senate Reps) are University of Liverpool students who volunteer to represent the views of students at the University’s Senate, which is responsible for promoting research, for promoting and regulating learning and teaching, and for maintaining the quality and standards of the University’s academic provision.
Alongside Liverpool Guild of Students’ (the Guilds’) four elected Student Officers, the Guild will recruit three Senate Reps who will help to provide oversight on major academic quality assurance decisions and will have the opportunity to collaborate with other members of Senate to make decisions that affect the student experience.
The role is voluntary-based and is undertaken for the duration of one academic year. The role activity is also eligible for the Liverpool Award, providing all eligibility criteria is met.
Senate typically meets four times per academic year, with each meeting lasting around 2 hours. The dates for Senate meetings in 2025/2026 are:
- Wednesday 19 November 2025, 2pm
- Wednesday 28 January 2026, 2pm
- Wednesday 25 March 2026, 2pm
- Wednesday 24 June 2026, 2pm
It is expected that Senate Reps will be available to attend every Senate meeting.
It is estimated that the time commitment of the role will be approximately 30 hours over the course of the academic year (includes attendance at training, induction with University’s Governance Team briefings and debriefing meetings with Guild staff, meetings of Senate, and time reading papers in advance of meetings).
The full list of duties undertaken by Senate Reps and person specification is contained within the role description. The role description will be reviewed and updated by the Guild each academic year.
Senate Reps make sure that students have their say on decisions made at Senate, which is the University’s highest academic body. Senate decides on major academic quality issues it’s really important that students can input into these meetings and help to decide what changes are made.
Last year, Senate discussed topics like the University’s ongoing Curriculum Project, which aims to enhance the curriculum and address key issues, such as timetabling complexities and assessment overload, this is the best way to make sure the student voice is heard on key issues.
The other members of Senate are senior University staff and the Guild’s Student Officers. As a key member of the committee, Senate Reps can collaborate with the Student Officers and other members to make decisions that affect the student experience.
You can view the full role specification here.
Shortlisting and interview arrangements will be the responsibility of the Guild’s Student Voice Manager and a Student Officer, who will also form the interview panel.
One Senate Rep will be recruited per Faculty at the University. Therefore, applications will be scored against the person specification contained within the role description and the highest scoring applications from each Faculty will be shortlisted for an interview. Shortlisted candidates will then be scored on their responses to interview questions and the highest scoring candidate from each Faculty will be appointed to the role.
Following the interviews, three students will be appointed as Senate Rep, each representing their relevant Faculty.
The Guild will provide training and regular support to Senate Reps for the duration of their role. Training will provide reps with an understanding of the role of Senate and the responsibilities of its members, as well as develop confidence and skills required for students to be able to share their views and positively contribute to discussions.
The Guild will arrange briefings with Senate Reps and Student Officers prior to meetings of Senate, to familiarise reps with key items within committee papers and provide a forum for discussion and for members to organise their thoughts. Debriefs will be arranged following Senate for reps and Officers to feedback about the outcomes of the meeting, raise any queries and seek further support if necessary. The Guild’s Student Voice Manager will also provide support to reps with any day-to-day queries.
Support is also available from the University’s Governance Team who can provide an induction around the role of Senate, broader University governance, and the role of reps on Senate.
Senate Reps will be contacted in advance of the first meeting of Senate with information regarding training and invited to relevant meetings.