Last week we met the hotly announced candidates for Students’ Union Education Officer to get to know them better and have them explain their manifestos. They are: Jo Faire, Maria Moreno, and Eve Woodall (sorry we didn’t hear from you, Jo!).
Be sure to check online for candidates’ full manifestoes. Voting starts Monday 13th at 10am and closes Thursday 16th, and we’ll bring you the results on Friday night!
Over your time at uni, have you achieved anything you’re particularly proud of, or had any particularly relevant experience?
Maria Lourido Moreno: “Last year I was doing football but had to cut that off because I began working at the SU a bit more. I’ve also been involved with the feminist society, BAME committee, and some LGBT societies.
“As a student I created a campaign related to the strikes, called ‘Pay staff well or pay students back’; the ethos of the campaign was that students could pressure the university into agreeing to the UCU strikers’ needs by demanding compensation for the time they haven’t been studying because of cancelled or online-only classes. We’ve tried every other method, like protesting, joining the picket lines, so now we’re going to press the university financially to meet the strikes, or to pay us back for the classes we’ve been missing.
“When I was in school, I was really into how the women’s rights movements that have been going on tie into education, so I did massive protest walkouts to ensure that gender equality was achieved within it. I’m a very involved activist, I just can’t sit still.”
Eve Woodall: “I have done volunteering with an education officer; improving education is what I want to do in my life, so it would be a dream job to get the role here. I also work at New Leaf in the SU so I don’t mind the dealing-with-people side of the job because I’ve had lots of experience helping people out there, as well as some experience in front of a camera for social media there.
“Working at the SU already means that I know how some of the inner SU stuff works too and I find it all really interesting – it is experience I’m looking to put to use.”
Elaborate on your manifesto.
Jo: [directly taken from her manifesto on the SU website]
As Education Officer I pledge to: -FIGHT THE CLOSURE OF THE ARCHAEOLOGY DEPARTMENT and the cuts to the School of Languages and Culture. To support the UCU in its vital struggle for a University ran for staff & students, not profit. -CREATE A GENDER TRANSITION FUND for transgender students who need private healthcare, binders, gender-affirming clothes etc.
[Other policies are those of Solidarity Slate and not specific to the Education officer role. Check out her policies online for more.]
Maria: “I have four pillars in my manifesto. ‘Cost of living’. We deserve more financial support from the university, via scholarships, bursaries, student funds, and a rent freeze from all the accommodations in the university, for all students, including international students.
“‘Fair assessments’. I will try to ensure assessments that are diverse, inclusive and accessible for all people. Also, I will push for extenuating circumstances that require little-to-no evidence for you to actually access them, and something called a student safety net, which is formative optional assessments that you complete – so if you complete them, you can have a safety net to ensure that you don’t fail your module.
“‘Sustainability and Decolonisation’. I want a curriculum that has both of these things in mind. The environment and racial justice are two things that are very, very prominent in our society right now and it seems like not enough that the university is even thinking about not putting them into our curriculum. And also, we don’t want to be herded into a top-100 employer, I don’t want people to be herded towards working for an oil company by the university.
“‘Student Voice’. This is to ensure that more students have the chance, the help, and the money, to start student-led campaigns like the one I started. I feel like the Students’ Union has taken a more neutral stance on student campaigns when we have to be more active in ensuring that our students are able to say everything that they want to.”
Eve: “I created my manifesto through talking to students. A lot of their stuff had similar points to me, which is the overarching idea of student voice. We’re all tired of jumping through hoops just to get the experience we’ve paid for.
“I have three main policies in my manifesto: ‘Functional feedback’. When we provide course feedback we expect that it will be listened to and acted upon, but this isn’t always the case. We’re often pushed to give responses to these forms during assessment periods often before modules are complete, as Education Officer I would work to ensure this feedback is valued and validated.
“‘Easier extensions’. The request system now comes with unrealistic demands for proof, which some situations don’t come with. This shouldn’t hinder your right to an extension, so I would work closely with the uni across every department to achieve easier applications.
“Finally, ‘Simplified studying’. I want to make sure that students don’t have to go all the way to campus before they’re made aware that there are no computers available for them to use, and the uni doesn’t publicise any other spaces and resources we could use instead. I will commit to increasing awareness of the services we pay for, fighting for better accessibility.”
Why do you fit the role and why should people vote for you?
Maria: “I’m campaigning to not fix the system, but change it. I don’t want provisional measures that can be then taken down, if the powers that be need them to be taken down. I want a change that is long lasting, and can’t be switched. I’m running for Education Officer because I’ve seen the university put profits over students for two years and I’m done with it. And I think I would be a fantastic Education Officer because I already have so much knowledge about how the SU and the university works, and so I’d be really efficient at getting things started from the beginning rather than having to gain my footing in the role.”
Eve: “Doing a degree in education, you learn about modern issues with education. I have actually experienced the issues that I deal with in my manifesto. Resources like library space, quality feedback, and easier extensions should be easy for us to access. We pay so much, it’s an extortionate amount – if we are being treated as paying customers, we should get the experience we’re paying for. It makes me want to push for change.”
Anything else?
Maria: “I am mortally afraid of butterflies.”
Eve: “My campaign slogan is ‘Believe in Eve!’”