Deputy Editor-in-Chief
Austen Waite is running for SRC Vice President for Education, a contested position. This role will (among other things) leave him in charge of the academic reps on council, and to deal with all things learning and teaching at the University. He is currently the SRC’s School of Humanities Representative.
In his manifesto, he pledges to make the library open for 24 hours of the day during term time. He wants to create more placement opportunities for students and would like to make teaching more inclusive through schemes such as Decolonising the Curriculum and fixing LGBTQ+ equality as a key part of education. Overall, it is a manifesto with specific goals which Waite believes are all achievable in his potential term.
He spoke about his key proposals, arguing for work placements to be integrated into courses, so to give students the experience they need for the world of work. He discussed his policy about library opening hours, saying that it would not be achievable for the library to be open every hour of the year, but that he is fighting for it to be open 24 hours a day during term time as it is feasible. Unlike the other two candidates, Waite did not mention ensuring that the opt-out lecture recording policy is implemented, as he believes this is an issue which will be resolved by the current SRC Vice President for Education. His main argument is that his goals are realistic. He has researched how they can be implemented, and firmly contends that they will be realised.
Read Austen’s manifesto here.
