About the Student Leadership Team
At the Students Association, we have a Student Leadership Team who are elected every two years to represent students, and to influence all levels of decision-making within The Open University. They exist to promote your interests and to ensure the OU is more than just a place of learning – it’s a student community.
The Student Leadership Team lead the Association’s strategic direction, run events and activities, and talk to The Open University on your behalf about decisions that affect students. They represent the collective, rather than individual needs of the student body.
The SLT meet at least four times a year, with some members of the Student Leadership Team meeting more frequently.
Any student can stand for election to be a member of the Student Leadership Team, and every student has the opportunity to vote for who they believe will best represent them.
Student Leadership Team priorities
The SLT has four main priority areas:
- Student support
- Student wellbeing
- The academic experience
- The neurodivergent experience
Overview of the Student Leadership Team priorities
Ways that the Student Leadership Team represent you:
The Student Leadership Team take part in (and in some cases are full members of) committees and working groups, to ensure that the student voice has an input into the decisions made at the OU.
The Student Leadership Team meet with students at events, local activities and national meet-ups, to understand the student experience.
Members of the Student Leadership Team speak to parliament and MPs about the part-time/distance learning student experience, and contribute to government-led consultations to ensure that OU students’ perspectives are part of a particular narrative or campaign.
Our Student Leadership Team members:
Our President, Natalie Baker, leads the Student Leadership Team and is a member of the Board of Trustees.
The Deputy President, Andrew Wilson, supports the President and is a member of the Board of Trustees.
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Student Member of Council
The Student Member of Council, Andrew Kolapo, joins the President as one of our two representatives on the OU Council.
Our Vice Presidents have wide-ranging remits and responsibilities, and are also involved in a number of ongoing projects and initiatives.
There are four Faculty Representatives, a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Representative, a Disabled Students Representative, an LGBTQIA+ Representative, and a Sustainability Representative. These elected students play a vital role in making sure learners within their faculty or remit have a voice in central decision-making, and, in turn, get information about what is happening within individual faculties and sections of the OU.
Area Representatives play a vital role in making sure students from across the four UK nations, the Republic of Ireland and internationally get a voice in all central decision-making, and, in turn, get direct information back on what's going on in the Students Association centrally.