Hannah Walton Hughes & Sophie Robinson
A team of Impact’s contributors came together to review candidate manifestos. The team, consisting of Sophie Robinson, Kit Sinclair, Olivia Hughes, Laura Scaife, Hannah Walton-Hughes, Lottie Murray, and Olivia Conroy have summarised the main manifesto points and given their opinions on the overall manifesto. Some candidates did not submit a manifesto. Voting closes on Friday 17th at 1pm.
Madeline Dinnage:
Main manifesto points:
- The UCU Strike Action
- Mental health and study
- A more diverse curriculum
Maddeline begins her manifesto by outlining her previous experience which she believes makes her suitable for this role: “I have had the opportunity to be part of many exciting projects and societies inside and outside of the university. With dreams of being a future journalist, I have written for student-run magazines such as Impact and The Mic, as well as Nottingham-based culture magazine Leftlion and online feminist publication Empoword.”
Madeline is also the “the welfare representative for the English Society, and therefore I have experience working as part of a committee to create a safe and enjoyable social space for students.”
Madeline states that she would like to use “my position as education officer to strengthen the relationship between students and the union.” She goes on to say that “through my own experience, I have felt an overwhelming sense of solidarity among students, and a keen desire to stand alongside the UCU.” Therefore, Madeline outlines that she would like to “use social media as a platform through which to direct students towards the various channels they can use to support their tutors.”
Advocating for “a diverse and intersectional educational community”
“To ensure a healthy and productive balance between studies and personal care, I would work alongside the welfare and liberation officers to organise events to educate students on the importance of looking after one’s mental health.”
Perhaps the main point in her manifesto is the analyse of her own course which is English. Madeline would attend to the criticism surrounding the English curriculum by advocating for “a diverse and intersectional educational community.” “As a student of English, reading lists are usually comprised of straight, white, cisgender writers, and hence I’m permitted access to a very narrow perspective of human experience.”
Therefore, Madeline would like to serve as the catalyst for a movement towards a more diverse curriculum.
A straight-to-the-point and clear manifesto that focuses on key, achievable goals. I particularly liked Madeline’s reference at the beginning to the impact that COVID-19 has had on learning. This immediately portrays somebody who students can relate to absolutely.
Tu Anh Do
Main manifesto points:
- Design an effective curriculum
- Increase the range of assessments in the discipline to reflect all students’ abilities
- Organise more workshops
- Ensure enough 1-1 tutorials after first draft and final submission
- Reduce the clash between course modules to have a properly arrangement timetable
- Promote diversity and inclusion
- Main diversity in career events for every school, and study chat webinars
- Work with teachers to create more new teaching strategies
- Work with Career Centre to increase support for placements
- Work with CELE Academic Language and Communication Skills (ALACS)
- Work with Immigration Support team
- Set up bursaries and scholarships
- Work with representatives to ensure all students’ voices are raised
- Ensure academic tutors and personal tutors follow up on students’ progress
- Handle complaints and provide needed resources to PHD student
- Reduce the burden of school attendance
Tu Anh Do’s vision for Education Officer is to help students to develop collaboration and critical thinking skills in a learning environment which is available to all, regardless of “age, gender, race and status”. They highlight that they already have experience as an educator, such as teaching, designing syllabuses, and being an education representative, which they believe gives them an edge.
Working with teachers to “reignite students’ interest”
A recurring theme through Tu’s manifesto is the promotion of diversity and inclusion within education, for example addressing the problems that language barriers, cultural differences, and accessibility might present to students. They also would like to work with the Immigration Support Team to support both current students and recent graduates, as well as set up bursaries to fund the education of those who need them.
Tu also makes many points about working with teaching staff and tutors to improve students’ education experience, such as working with teachers to “reignite students’ interest” particularly when it comes to online and distance learning.
They would also like to encourage personal and academic tutors’ involvement with students, for example by keeping up with their tutor group’s progress more regularly, including one-to-one tutorials. Finally, another main theme in their manifesto is a focus on updating curriculums, diversifying assessments to support all students’ abilities, and working with the careers team to make placements more accessible to students. Tu’s previous commitment to educational roles and the detail of their manifesto lends to the reliability of them as a candidate.
Hannah Walton-Hughes & Sophie Robinson
Featured image courtesy of Lottie Murray. Permission to use granted to Impact. No changes were made to this image.
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