Interview by Hannah Feeney
Welfare is a broad brief. What specific issue would you prioritise?
“I want to start off by acknowledging that there are so many issues relating to welfare and picking one area is so hard. I would also like to preface that you can see all that I aim to do in my manifesto and I would really really emphasise everyone to look at that because while I am going to just talk about one issue now, there is so many more. The main thing I would like to address is the implementation of universal design across assignments, especially midterm assessments.
“At the moment, when students are doing midterm assessments, they end up having to sometimes do all essays or all group projects and I think that is not accessible. There are so many students that struggle with essay writing, or they struggle with working in groups. I think that we should have choices in our degrees. So, what I want is for there to be options about our assessment- all weighed the same obviously- but students get to choose how they are assessed. It is their degree and they deserve control in how they do their degree.”
How would you ensure that marginalised students or students from minority backgrounds are not just consulted but actually represented?
“This is really really important. I think that after consultation, the most important thing that needs to be done is to ensure that the issue that is raised is brought to the relevant area, whether that is with staff or with student services, such as the EDI department, the accommodation services, the counselling services or the Dean of Students. I also believe, of course with the student’s consent, that when I am talking to a staff member, I inform them that this issue was raised by a student and pass on their contact details so that the member of staff can follow up with them on it more thoroughly.
“This is important to me because I understand that I do not understand every issue and that everyone who has walked through this campus has had very different experiences. So, while I will fight for every student, I am aware that I don’t understand the experience of every student. I want to give students the opportunity to talk about the issues that they have on campus and be that connection to help them get there.”
What would you do if the University fails to act on welfare concerns?
“The first thing that I would do would be to have conversations. I really really value communication. However, if after communication, I feel like we aren’t getting anywhere, then I think direction action and protesting is the next step. I have been involved in the past, a few years ago, in organising climate protests and I am not scared to do that and I will do that. I think that just because the university is not listening does not mean that we stop the fight there. We continue to fight. We continue to put pressure on. At the end of the day, we are a union and we should continue to push for change to ensure that our issues are being addressed and combatted.”
How will you measure whether welfare initiatives are working rather than just looking good on paper?
“I think one way I would do this is to simply request feedback. For example, if we are running a workshop as an initiative, then simply ask for student feedback at the end. Communication is key. This is something that I feel is lacking at the moment- the communication between the Students Union and the student body itself. I love talking to people. I love a good yap! That is something that I am all about. Simply asking students for feedback at the end of an event or workshop is a quick and valuable way of assessing the student perspective.
“Similarly, I would focus on increasing our social media presence. For example, post-RAG week, polls and chat boxes could be uploaded onto our Instagram story to gauge the student’s opinion on the various event that took place throughout the week. This makes it accessible for students to respond quickly and without too much effort. Something like a poll requires just the click of a button!
“Sometimes, there might be an over-reliance on surveys. They often require a lot of reading and consideration. They can be good in some ways, but I don’t think that they are the one-way solution. There are so many other ways of gaining student feedback and I think that simply talking to students and doing Instagram polls etc is very important.”
What is one policy change that you believe will have the biggest immediate impact on student life?
“I think that the implementation of universal design across assignments will be a highly meaningful addition to the student experience that will give students more control and autonomy over their degrees and the means with which they are assessed, particularly for midterm assessments. There is a Universal design manager on campus now and working with her and with the education officer can help bring this to fruition. I think that would be something that would impact every student as every student has to face exams and assignments and this would provide greater freedom with them.”
