Want to join the SPA team? #SPANC24 saw us elect a new executive committee, and now we have a whole host of roles up for grabs, supporting our regional work throughout the year and taking on specific projects to help the SPA serve its members throughout the year. Plus, we have the new role of membership officer which was created at our AGM in Bristol.

We value everyone’s input and aim for these roles to provide useful experience to put on your CV, connect you with industry professionals and equip you with valuable skills.

Time commitment: The baseline commitment we would expect is about 2 hours per week. This fluctuates during the year, depending on how busy the SPA is. In the run up to regional events and national conferences, it is likely to be more. We would expect all officers to join semi-regular meetings, to update on their work.

Membership Officer

This is a new role on our executive committee which will be appointed this year and included in our annual elections from next year. This role will involve focussing on maintaining and growing the SPA's significant student publication membership, which has now reached more than 200, including plenty of outreach and working with the regional officers to stay in touch with members in their regions.

Responsibilities will include:

1. Onboarding new members of the SPA
2. Processing membership applications
3. Maintaining public and private lists of SPA member publications
4. Supporting member publications which require assistance from the SPA
5. Supporting the work of the SPA’s Regional Officers.
6. Helping to develop and roll-out a members-only section of the SPA website.

Regional Officers

This team works alongside the Exec to provide support and events for publications in their regions across the UK and Republic of Ireland. You will be a dedicated point of contact for our member publications in your region, work on outreach surrounding our Regional Awards - and even lead the charge with arranging our National Conference and Awards, if SPANC finds itself in your region next year! We also relaunched our regional conferences this year with an incredible event in Ireland this year and you would be in charge of making sure we can run a similar event in your region this year.

Key responsibilities will include:

1. Serving as the first point of contact for all publications within the Regional Officer’s area, should advice be required or issues arise;

2. Act as a conduit between their area’s publications, and the Executive Committee and Trustees;

3. Promote the work of member publications within their area, within the SPA and the wider student media community;

4. Support the chosen member publication within their area, alongside the Executive Committee, to organise and host the SPA regional events and awards;

5. Assist with the organisation of the SPA National Conference, liasing with speakers from their area, and helping to market the conference to member publications;

6. Attend regular meetings with other Regional Officers and the SPA Executive Committee to report on progress and liaise with other representatives.

Project Officers

Project Officers also work alongside the Exec to spearhead outreach and support for our student publications across all our networks. We have three Project Officer positions available, so whether you're interested in getting to grips with the legal side of student media, rallying together past and present members, or designing eye-catching graphics for our socials, our Advocacy, Alumni and Digital Media roles make sure there's a place at the SPA for everyone.

Digital Media Officer

We know most of our 175 member publications interact with the SPA through digital media, and this year we want to reach more people than ever building on the momentum of our most successful SPANC.

In the past, we’ve suffered from neglecting our digital media outside of big events. We want someone with creativity and drive to change this, who is passionate about shouting about the great work student publications do all year round.

Key responsibilities will include:

1. Maintaining the SPA website, keeping information up to date and commissioning content from the rest of the team;

2. Assisting the Executive Committee with the digitisation of projects;

3. Sharing the great work from our member publications throughout the country;

4. Managing the SPA’s social media accounts - currently Instagram, Twitter and Facebook - to ensure a consistent presence. 

Alumni Officer

So many working journalists who had been involved in our charity in some way.

We have an extensive alumni network but we don’t utilise this as well as we could.

We want someone who can ignite the nostalgia of student journalism in now seasoned old hacks and bring them back into the fold. Whether that’s through offering mentoring to our members, asking them to speak at conferences, or just keeping them engaged with the organisation through a newsletter/ LinkedIn network.

Key responsibilities will include:

1. Creating a network of SPA alumni and ensuring they remain engaged with the SPA;

2. Maintaining a contact list of interested SPA alumni to assist with training materials and events;

3. Working with the DMO to create content involving alumni for our website and social media channels;

4. Working with the exec and trustees to develop the mentoring scheme.

Advocacy Officer

One of the biggest roles the SPA plays is protecting our members against censorship from universities, unions, or outside bodies and helping when they get in trouble.

Our advocacy officer will protect free student journalism and fight your corner when you need it. And when we can’t help - for example with a legal issue - we’ll point you in the direction of someone who can. 

The Advocacy Officer’s duties will include:

1. Serving as a point of contact for publications experiencing issues with students’ unions and universities;

2. Liasing with the Executive Committee to draft statements and advice regarding member publications’ disputes;

3. Monitoring emerging issues within student media;

4. Proactively reaching out to publications with difficulties;

5. Cultivating contacts who are willing to give their expert advice to student journalists.