During my first year at university I came across many challenges that I was not prepared for. Like many other students, I found the transition to university to be more challenging than I expected. I have come to love the university, the city and take great pride in being part of what it represents. The reason why I am running for Guild president is because I believe that what I have learned from my experience at the university could be used to improve the support available for all those who are part of this great institution. I put together a focus group to find out what other students see as pressing issues. From this I was able to identify four key policies which I believe will help me make the experience of students better during their time at the university. The policies are as follow:
- 100% Transparency and Accountability Challenge:
This policy will consist on making the Guild of students and all of its operations ‘crystal clear’. The first part of the policy is about bringing accountability to the full time officer team. Full time officer team members will be required to make a statement every term to explain what they have done during the term and what progress they have made with regards to the manifesto they were elected upon. The second part of the policy is about bringing transparency to the Guild. This means that every time a significant decision is made, the president and the relevant VP should make a joint statement in which they outline the purpose for such action.
This policy serves to develop and maintain a new relationship between the full time officer team, societies, representation groups and the university student newspaper (RedBrick). A relationship that puts more power and opportunities in determining the way that the guild rules that affect those groups are set.
- For societies: this means giving them the opportunity to contribute more during the early stages of the policy process.
- For representation groups: this means finding new ways in which they can properly and effectively represent their members without red tape.
- For RedBrick: it means finding new ways to allow the editors to have more control over the content that they publish.
- Campaign to introduce 24 hours study places for all students during term time:
Either finding a way to make any of the current study places for all students to be opened 24 hours or giving all students access to the medical school after 10pm.
- Work with other student unions and different sections of society to create a coalition of activist to campaign for the government to change their policy on maintenance grant