Armaan Jean-Louis is one of the candidates for the role of international and welfare officer in this year’s Student Union elections. Forge Press sat down with him to discuss his motivations for the role and why the role is important alongside his plans for the campaign and his manifesto.
Armaan sees this role as especially important this year as having “the two positions consolidated together” makes an effort “to really emphasise community”, which is one of his main goals within his campaign and manifesto.
Armaan was driven to apply for this role due to his awareness that “international students are often excluded from the welfare standard” and he is motivated to initiate change in this area to stop this.
Armaan identifies that “community, support and finances are the key branches” within his manifesto.
Within this aim of “community”, Armaan aims to make the experience for international students joining first year to be less daunting by proposing “social media group chats that anyone can opt into when they come to university”. This would provide an easy opportunity to “find their people” and also feel less alone in this intimidating process. These “group chats” are something Armaan believes international students are commonly left out of, so this will be a key area of change.
Similarly, Armaan intends to “bridge the gap between international students and home students in terms of how well we fit in”. This can be achieved through organising social events such as “an international world cup” which would be successful in “helping home students meet international students and vice versa”.
Within the “finance” category of his policies, Armaan “wants to make sure the university is open to granting mid-degree bursaries and scholarships”. This is motivated by the acknowledgement that “financial hardship can hit anyone at any time”.
Regarding “student support”, Armaan identifies the “one-size fits all” approach that many students believe is used by the welfare and mental health service and wishes to reform this. He plans to “advocate for a system that can cater to diverse and specific groups and offer tailored support”. One way he proposes this is through counselling being offered in “a variety of languages” to create a welfare service that is “accessible in different formats”.
As his final statement, Armaan reassures the student body that he is prepared to ““really advocate for a group, take their views, take their input and put it onto the university administration and ensure change can happen” during his campaign and if he were to get the role as International and Welfare Officer.
