Credit: GUSRC
Reporter and Deputy Theatre Editor
The SRC 2020 Spring Elections open at 9am on Wednesday 4 March and close at 5pm on Thursday 5 March. Here’s what went down at the non-sabbatical hustings, as well as the links you need to find candidate manifestos and where you can vote.
Yesterday the SRC held their “Spring Elections Hustings”, allowing candidates to briefly introduce themselves in person and take questions from the audience and live Twitter stream. 28 out of 37 non-sabbatical positions have candidates: 11 are contested and 17 are uncontested. You can still vote against uncontested candidates.
We have provided a quick run-down of who showed up yesterday to the hustings, to help you decide during this week’s vote. For the uncontested candidates we have simply provided you with a link to their online manifesto. Similarly, the second half of the hustings was live-streamed and you can watch the footage back here.
Undergraduate College Convener – Arts
Emma Lindquist
Uncontested – Manifesto can be viewed here.
Undergraduate College Convener – Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences:
Dominika Bylinka:
(Absent from hustings)
Lewis O’Connor:
Increase cooperation between the SRC and schools in his college as well as host more events, including a ball. Push for dedicated room spaces and a new life sciences building. Greater mental health support and better eduroam access campus-wide. Advocate different representatives for the disparate schools in his college.
Manifestos can be viewed here.
Undergraduate College Convener – Science/Engineering:
Damien Ealey:
Worked on consultations with student accommodations about security. Address feedback issues in the college and ensure all software for subjects is available on all computers campus-wide. Push for a formalised and adhered-to 15 working day rule for marking.
Jenny Newton:
Investigate the biggest concerns from college students so they can be addressed directly. Focus on consistency in assessment feedback between different schools and expand assessments beyond the exam-focused situation currently.
Manifestos can be viewed here.
Undergraduate College Convener – Social Sciences:
Duncan Henderson
Uncontested – Manifesto can be viewed here.
Postgraduate College Convenor – MVLS:
Hannah Baer
Uncontested – Manifesto can be viewed here.
Postgraduate College Convenor – Science and Engineering:
Hao Xu:
(Absent from hustings)
Ibrahim Ansari:
Focus on the student experience, with an emphasis on connecting students with industry professionals for access to opportunities and knowledge they wouldn’t otherwise have. Work with the university to create more postgraduate events such as conferences.
Manifestos can be viewed here.
Postgraduate College Convenor – Social Sciences:
Ketong Zhang
Uncontested -Manifesto can be viewed here.
Welfare and Equality Officer – LGBTQ+:
Indigo Korres Nte Paoula
Uncontested – Manifesto can be viewed here.
Welfare and Equality Officer – Race Equality:
Moni Serneabat Ungar
Uncontested – Manifesto can be viewed here.
Welfare and Equality Officer – Gender Equality:
Julia Hegele:
Continue offering drop-in sexual health clinics and promoting International Women’s Day. Gender-based violence and harassment workshops for societies, lecturers and students. A zero-tolerance policy for trans-exclusionary-feminists and the LGB group adhering to that philosophy.
Rinna Väre:
Focus on student safety on campus, sexual harassment training, and a pronoun pledge. De-stigmatise reproductive health and establish an anonymous suggestions page. Work with the relevant societies for women and trans individuals to make university a safe and inclusive space.
Manifestos can be viewed here.
Welfare and Equality Officer – Age Equality:
Charlotte Sleith-Green
Uncontested – Manifesto can be viewed here.
Welfare and Equality Officer – Disability Equality:
Hailie Pentleton
Uncontested – Manifesto can be viewed here.
Welfare and Equality Officer – Environmental Officer:
Alvaro Perez Guardiola:
Students need to lead on the Climate Emergency; goals of carbon neutrality by 2035 aren’t good enough. Big-picture approach, focus on divestment rather than single-use plastics etc. A student assembly to tackle the issue rather than any referendums. Better suitability in syllabus and move away from red meats on campus.
Jure Zgubic:
(Absent from hustings)
Rebecca Scott:
Improve policy framework of University to meet its climate targets, fight directly on campus for immediate change such as banning single-use plastics and planting trees on the university campus. Work with campus environmental societies, paperless hand-ins, and push for awareness around the COP26 this year.
Manifestos can be viewed here.
Welfare and Equality Officer – Mental Health Equality:
Lu Byrne:
Has experience with his own mental health issues and would draw on his own experiences. 62% of people in UK universities are survivors of sexual violence, and 70% of these are women. Will continue to build on Mind Your Mate workshops. Reducing waiting times is a priority.
Abigail Whelan:
University is a big change, so freshers’ packs need to have mental health signposting and not just energy drinks. We need to teach people to recognise the signs of mental and physical ill health in their peers.
Manifestos can be viewed here.
School of Critical Studies Representative:
Bethany Woodhead
Uncontested – Manifesto can be viewed here.
School of Culture and Creative Arts Representative:
Ananya Venkatesan
Uncontested – Manifesto can be viewed here.
School of Humanities Representative:
Lauren Campbell
(Absent from hustings)
Manifesto can be viewed here.
School of Veterinary Medicine Representative:
Luke McBain
Uncontested – Manifesto can be viewed here.
School of Chemistry Representative:
Katie Fish
Could not attend but gave her speech via pre-recorded video format.
Manifesto can be viewed here.
Business School Representative:
Zeyun Li
(Absent from hustings)
Manifesto can be viewed here.
School of Engineering Representative:
Tomasz Kleczkowski:
Students need access to good advisers, and lecturers need support in using lecture recordings. There has to be support for engineering societies. Gender diversity is an important issue within engineering. Promises to deal with student concerns in a proper manner.
Ahmad Zia:
His ideas all come from other people. Finished his speech singing “I’ll be there for you” to the Friends theme tune, which was popular with the audience. Aims to have a CV course up and running in the coming year. Acknowledges the issue of race and gender diversity within the school.
Temisan Atsegoh:
(Absent from hustings)
Manifestos can be viewed here.
School of Computing Science Representative:
Scott Wilson:
There are issues with broken plugs in the building. Will tackle the smaller issues first. There is a problem with lack of opportunities to socialise, but there is not a lot that can be done to deal with this problem.
Zoltan Kiss:
Has experience dealing with academic staff. Says that some students want group projects to be removed entirely. Talks about whether it is right to give financial awards to top-performing students; says this is a “sticky issue”.
Manifestos can be viewed here.
School of Geography and Earth Sciences Representative:
Sam Malis
Uncontested – Manifesto can be viewed here.
School of Mathematics and Statistics Representative:
Michalis Stavrou:
Promises to interact with students by organising regular meetings with class representatives. Would like to see better communication between the faculty and class representatives. Describes himself as friendly and approachable.
Chloe Hashimoto-Cullen:
Could not attend but gave her speech via pre-recorded video format.
Manifestos can be viewed here.
School of Physics and Astronomy Representative:
Holly Hourston:
Would like to publish an E-letter across the school which contains all the names and contacts of school and class representatives, and relevant course convenors and administrators, along with volunteering information and options, links to societies such as WiSTEM and STEM Ambassadors UK. She’d also like to use her links across campus to collaborate with PhysSoc and AstroSoc to provide more CV-boosting opportunities.
Jamie McKay
(Absent from hustings)
Manifestos can be viewed here.
School of Psychology Representative:
Leonie Schorrlepp
Uncontested – Manifesto can be viewed here.
School of Social and Political Sciences Representative:
Sam Bunker:
Physical hand-ins are “literally rubbish”. Will rectify issues by putting pressure on the SRC. Would like to make exam marking criteria more consistent so that students can understand what is required of them.
Matilda Franz:
Better exam feedback and quicker release of grades is needed. Would like to have better mental health provisions. Understands that lecturers might know what is best. Communicating and “talking to people” are her main skills that she will bring to the role.
Manifestos can be viewed here.
School of Law Representative:
Heather McSwan
Uncontested – Manifesto can be viewed here.
