During our Students’ Union Elections Media Day on Saturday 24th February, we chatted to the candidates who are running to be elected as your Education Officer for the 2018-19 academic year. Take a look at what they had to say.
Cassie O’Boyle
Cassie O’Boyle is the current Education Officer who is once again running for the same position.
When asked why she is running for the second time, Cassie said: “It definitely takes more than a year to complete any of the really big projects. There are some projects that I started this year, or that I continued from my predecessors that I would like to continue. And also, I just really enjoyed myself and I think there are still a lot more things that I can do whilst I am still here in Nottingham.”
“”Free graduation tickets is a big one.””
When questioned about the projects that she would like to continue, Cassie told Impact: “Free graduation tickets is a big one. I have also done some work on Wednesday afternoons being free because it appears that teaching has started to encroach on Wednesday afternoons. [Therefore], I would like to continue with that.”
She goes on to mention that she would also like to see through the Lecture Capture campaign. She said that they have now written a policy to mandate all lectures to be recorded this September.
When asked if she has any new objectives. Cassie, tells Impact that she has four new focuses.
She wants to start a campaign around hidden course costs. She goes on to explain that she doesn’t want students to be financially burdened when going on a placement, or with compulsory course materials.
Another objective is to lobby for a 24-hour break between exams.
In addition, Cassie wants to lobby for better descriptions of optional modules and would like to create a map that highlights students amenities. For example, creating a map that shows gender neutral toilets, microwaves, etc.
Sarah Lindgarde
Matthew Spurr
Matthew Spurr is an MA Public Policy student running to become the next Education Officer.
Matthew believes that his strong background in working with education policies makes him the best candidate to become the Education Officer. In the past, he wrote a report which was quoted in parliament on education standards, worked with the Council of Europe on an anti-hate crime event in higher education, and ran a local charity campaign with the former Government School’s Minister.
With these experiences, he said: “I have looked at education policies at [both] a micro and macro level.”
If he were to be elected as the Education Officer, one of Matthew’s main focus would be to ensure that the University make a transition to pure online hand-ins, and also simplifying the infrastructure within this.
“[Matthew] would like to see a better system put in place in order to better regulate student’s welfare and mental state.”
When asked if there are any policies he would like to implement, he mentions that he would like the University to move from hand-written examinations to exams being done on computers by default.
He goes on to mention that he would like to see a better system put in place in order to better regulate student’s welfare and mental state, which he would do by implementing attendance checking to enable earlier intervention.
When asked if there are any policies or plans that are already put in place by the current Education Officer that Matthew would like to continue with, he mentions that he would like to “keep the graduation costs low and expand the voice of student representatives in relation to how policies are made and implemented.”
Elisa Nevalainen
To read the manifestos for your Education candidates, head to the Student Leader Elections website.
Featured image: Poppy Anne Malby
Images courtesy of Impact Images.
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