How We're Run
Officer Trustees
Elected students who take a year out of their studies to work full time for ICU.
The President
The President of ICU is elected to represent the voice of all Imperial students for a year. The postholder must either be taking a year out of their studies or have just completed their course. They are a full-time staff member of ICU for their year in office and do the following:
- Represent all students as a member of College Council, the University's executive governing body. This is where strategy is set, appointments are made, along with important decisions about the direction of Imperial.
- Sit on Union Council, the democratic student body which sets policy on issues and keeps the President accountable through reports, debates, and questions.
- Sit on the Board of Trustees of ICU and ensures the union is being run in the interest of students, sets the strategic direction of the union, and ensures it's financially responsible.
The President for 2024/25 is Camille Boutrolle.
The Deputy Presidents
The Union President is supported by four full-time Deputy Presidents. These Deputies are also students, elected to work full-time in the union for a year. There is a Deputy President for each of the following areas:
- Education (DPE) - Emina Hogas
- Clubs and Societies (DPCS) - Christian Cooper
- Welfare (DPW) - Nico Henry
- Finance & Services (DPFS) - Stephanie Yeung
They do everything listed above for the President, except they don't sit on College Council. Each one has a specific university committee or staff member/s that they engage with regularly in the interest of students.
Staff Team
The Managing Director
The Managing Director is the permanent staff lead of ICU.
The post-holder is a professional who is responsible for executing the strategic direction set by the Board of Trustees in the daily operation of the ICU. They are supported by four professional strategic senior managers who head individual directorates in which 50+ professional staff members function. These staff members are appointed through open recruitment.
They provide professional guidance and support to the elected leaders of the union, while also being guided by the democratic mandates of the elected leaders. The directorates are organised as follows:
Membership Services Team: Advice Team, Activities Team, Representation Team
Commercial Directorate: Retail Team, Venues Team, Events Team
Support Services Directorate: Facilities, Health and Safety Team, Finance Team, Digital and Marketing Team, People Team
Board of Trustees
As a membership-led organisation everything we do is for students (our members). Members enjoy the right to elect a majority of the Board of Trustees, who are legally responsible for the organisation on behalf of members.
It provides the strategic direction and vision of the organisation by ensuring that we are working towards our strategy, and verifies that our staff and student leaders are conducting their activities safely and legally. The Board of Trustees approves our annual budget and examines its financial performance, issuing our annual reports.
The membership of the Board of Trustees is a mix of elected students (including Officer Trustees), appointed students, and trustees drawn from outside of our student body. These 'lay trustees' are selected from industry and academia, for their expertise, experience and external perspective.
The Board of Trustees meet five times a year and has three subcommittees: Finance, Audit & Risk Committee, Governance & Membership Committee, and the Management Committee.
Board of Trustees times and dates
2024/25 Trustees
Chair, Board of Trustees: Stephen Richardson
Union Council Chair: Anthea MacIntosh-LaRocque
Union President: Camille Boutrolle
Deputy Presidents: Christian Cooper, Emina Hogas, Stephanie Yeung, and Nico Henry
Student Trustees: Amandine Beaugé, Ed Bird, Monica Jin Yang, and Yi Yang
Lay Trustees: Dorothy Griffiths, Genevieve Landricombe, Jane Coulson, Nick Marley, and Phil Power
Union Council
In Union Council, Officer Trustees come together with the leaders of our Constituent Unions, Academic & Wellbeing Representation Networks, Management Group Chairs and Liberation Teams, as well as elected Undergraduate and Postgraduate representatives of students from every faculty of Imperial.
Union Council's role is to provide political leadership and to support and scrutinise the Officer Trustees. It does this by passing policies, mandating student leaders to carry out certain actions or campaigns, and holding student leaders accountable. Union Council has three subcommittees to support specific discussion and decision-making. These are the Clubs, Societies and Projects Board, Education and Representation Board, and Community and Welfare Board.
Union Council meets monthly during term time, and any student of Imperial can attend and propose a topic for discussion.
If you have any questions, ideas or concerns for Imperial students, you can contact the Union Council Chair at chairman@imperial.ac.uk.
Representatives to Council
Union Council has over 50 members, the majority of which are senior student volunteers. In addition, there are several Representatives to Council, directly elected to Union Council every year.
Reps in these roles are the only Council members elected directly to Council rather than receiving their place automatically through their role (eg: Officer Trustees or Constituent Union Presidents).
To represent our membership, positions are proportionately divided by faculty and study type, plus an additional place for our members who are not in a Faculty - such as the Business School and Centre for Languages, Culture & Communication.
While any student of Imperial can attend Student Council or bring a paper to it for approval, Representatives to Council are there to give a voice to students who may not otherwise attend.
2024/25 Representatives to Council
Council Representative (PG Business): Laotan Faji
Council Representative (PG Business): Akanksha Kumari
Council Representative (PG Engineering): Deniz Etit
Council Representative (PG Engineering): Hanqing Zhang
Council Representative (PG Medicine): Thea Jakobi
Council Representative (PG Medicine): VACANT
Council Representative (PG Non-Faculty): Jordon Millward
Council Representative (PG Science): Alex Auyang
Council Representative (UG Business): Sofia Hueffer
Council Representative (UG Engineering): Huaihou Yang
Council Representative (UG Engineering): Salman Khalaf
Council Representative (UG Engineering): Alvaro Vicente Tarrago
Council Representative (UG Medicine): Haider Nazerali
Council Representative (UG Medicine): Rohan Boyapati
Council Representative (UG Science): Chloe Huang
Council Representative (UG Science): Elias Fink
Governing Documents
Committees and Forums
Finance, Audit, and Risk Committee
Exists to monitor and challenge where necessary the financial statements of ICU.
Governance and Membership Committee
An advisory committee to the Board of Trustees. The committee offers opinions on any dispute over constitutional interpretation and proposed amendments to the Constitution and Bye-Laws.
The administration of ICU Elections is overseen by this committee on behalf of the Trustee Board in accordance with Bye-Laws.
Clubs, Societies, and Projects Board
Oversees all student-run activities including Clubs, Societies and Projects (CSPs). It reports to Union Council through its Chair, the Deputy President (Clubs & Societies).
A forum for issues relating to community and welfare policy to be presented to the Union Council for debate. It also campaigns to promote communities and welfare policy passed by the Union Council.
Taught Academic Representation Forum (TARF) and Research Academic Representation Forum (RARF)
These forums are for all UG and PG Academic Representatives to attend. Forums are chaired by the Deputy President (Education) and are attended by select members of the Representation Team and Imperial staff members where applicable.
Postgraduate Representation Committee
A body of student representatives from Postgraduate Taught and Postgraduate Research programs. They meet with ICU and Imperial to discuss all things affecting Postgraduates across academic and welfare issues.
Environment and Sustainability Forum
The Environment and Sustainability Forum is a monthly forum hosted by your Deputy President (Finance & Services) throughout the year. All students are welcome to attend and join the conversation.
Events Forum
More info coming soon.
Funding
As a charity organisation, ICU is not-for-profit.We aim for a financial surplus each year to build healthy reserves. This ensures we always have enough cushion to preserve the quality of our services and staffing, and that we can weather periods of instability.
Everything earned by ICU is recycled back into the services we provide.
We are funded in the following key ways:
- Imperial block grant: We get a lump sum from the university annually to run our services
- Commercial operations: We run venues, bars, and retail stores and hire out some of our physical spaces to external clients
- Advertising and partnerships: We develop partnerships with external organisations who pay to reach our students through advertising or enriching experiences
Our Trustee Board are responsible for our finances. They do this through regular reporting and an annual financial audit conducted by external auditors which are then submitted to the Charity Commission and Imperial.
Membership
Every year, thousands of alumni continue to take part in the activities that meant the most to them during their time at Imperial - whether it was sport, theatre, motor clubs, mascotry, dance or simply just socialising in our bars and spaces.
We offer three membership types to fit the needs of our community of students and alumni: Members, Life Members and Associate Members.
Members
All Imperial students are automatically members of ICU. Members can participate in all activities and services offered by ICU. Only members are entitled to participate in our democracy, eg: standing or voting in elections.
Life Members
After leaving Imperial you can remain part of the union by becoming a Life Member. Alumni who were members of the union for at least one year are eligible for Life Membership. Associate Members of at least two years are also eligible.
Buy your Life Membership today
Associate Members
Students over 18 studying at other higher education institutions around the world and Imperial staff may become Associate Members.
Associate Membership can be purchased for £5 per month in person from the union helpdesk. You will need to present a valid student ID card or Imperial Staff card to purchase Associate Membership.
Why become a member?
Becoming a member of ICU enables you to remain a part of the Imperial community long after you've completed your studies.
Members can join any of our 340+ CSPs. Fees may differ between clubs and member status.
New Life Members can allocate up to £30 of their fee to a CSP of their choice. This means that you can continue to support and fund your favourite extracurricular activities from when you were a student, and you can maintain a close relationship with current student leaders and representatives.
Please be advised, that there are some restrictions placed on Associate Members competing on behalf of Imperial College via BUCS. There are no restrictions on any recreational activities.
Using our website as an Associate Member
To access your life or associate membership or to purchase life membership as alumni, use our Create or Recover Account form.