Katie Sullivan
A group of Impact Magazine writers have looked over the candidate manifestos for this year’s Student Union Elections. Harry Chapman, Katie Sullivan, Emma Burnett, Oli Harris, and Hannah Walton-Hughes summarised and discussed each candidate’s main manifesto points, and gave their views on the manifesto overall. Voting closes on 15th March 2024 at 2pm.
Avantika Mathur:
Main Manifesto Points:
- Prioritise innovation, collaboration and inclusivity
- Addressing diverse interests and preferences
- A vibrant and inclusive campus
Avantika is driven by three core objectives in her hopes to become your next Activities Officer: amplifying student voices and representation, enhancing support for student groups, and maximising the impact of campus activities.
Open dialogue with feedback sessions
She aims to amplify student voices by establishing robust channels of communication, and taking lead of the Activities Council, and listening and engaging with students. She plans to create opportunities for open dialogue with feedback sessions, allowing students from diverse backgrounds to express their perspectives – leading to tangible changes that truly reflect the student body.
She recognises the contribution of student groups to campus life in her manifesto, and is committed to providing comprehensive support and resources by ensuring the allocation of funding is fair and transparent, while prioritising initiatives that specifically foster innovation, collaboration, and inclusivity.
A focus on Welcome Events
As Activities Officer, Avantika would work closely with the various teams within the Student Union to ensure the quality of campus activities are of their best, emphasising a focus on Welcome Events, Volunteer Opportunities, and Social Activities that cater to diverse interests.
Her end goal is to achieve a more dynamic and student-centred campus community, where every student feels within their right to thrive and contribute. She plans to champion this by being a proactive leader.
Committ[ment] to diversity and inclusion
She outlines in her manifesto that she has a diverse background in student leadership, event planning, community engagement, advocating for student needs, and fostering inclusivity. She is committed to diversity and inclusion, and focuses on wanting to create a welcoming environment for all students.
Avantika’s manifesto is promising and projects an idea of a brighter more welcoming campus; however, I would ask how exactly she plans to achieve this, such as which events she would be keen to organise, and how to ensure they leave a lasting impact on the student body.
Harry Holt:
Main Manifesto Points:
- Focused on Supporting Societies
- Keen to work with future Class-Equity Officer
- Open Door Policy
Societies significantly shape our student experience
Harry is a current member of the Activities Executive Committee, who strongly believes that societies significantly shape our student experience. As Activities Officer, their focus would be to improve the system of societies within the university, making active changes to benefit them.
They wish to look at how the SU can optimise funding for societies, by suggesting fundraising events hosted in on-campus venues, to raise money specifically for societies to use. They hope to work with the future Class-Equity Officer to explore how to maximise students’ abilities to join societies, and attend events that they may not currently be able to.
As well as revising the funding process for societies, Harry would implement a way for society committees to communicate easily, allowing collaborations to enhance member experiences and opportunities to branch out and meet new people. They also would build resources to help societies and guide them in running events.
An Open-Door Policy
They take inspiration from their ‘Nana’, and say they channel a lot of her caring qualities into their own daily life, leading them to their idea of an Open-Door Policy, meaning they would be ready and willing to engage with anyone or any society that wishes to discuss anything at all. They would continue the format of engaging with societies to collect feedback and engage students, to ensure that they are receiving the best possible support.
Harry’s previous experience in the Activities Executive Council means that they are familiar with a lot of the process regarding the complexities of the tasks faced as Activities Officer. Their focus on improving university societies is validated by their experience as various committee members of the CompSoc. Their role working at Portland Coffee Co has taught them how to work in a high-stress environment, and take leadership in large scale events and communities.
Harry’s manifesto is very comprehensive and promises a good plan for the forthcoming year, however I would be interested to hear their views on how to improve the experience for students who may not be part of a society and do not have any interest in joining one.
Iain Messore:
Main Manifesto Points:
- ‘The SU is brilliant but broken’
- Communicate, Thrive, Lobby
- Reduce the red tape
Iain has been at Nottingham for 4 years and has experienced first-hand the issues with the SU, and sets out his ways to address them in his manifesto. His core focuses are: communicate, thrive and lobby, the most prominent things which he believes require change within the SU.
As Activities Office, he would fix the communication and feedback loop between the SU and societies – allowing students to actually feel heard, by implementing weekly drop-ins, and extending community forums. In his manifesto, Iain acknowledges the ‘red tape’ that makes running a society seem difficult and unrealistic, and would reduce the issue by simplifying the complicated processes committee members have to endure, encouraging more societies to thrive and host events.
Improve problems such as improper financing and difficult practical processes
His goal from this is to allow committees to operate more freely. Iain proffers to be responsible for lobbying the university on behalf of student groups, to improve problems such as improper financing, and difficult practical processes such as room bookings. He has a key focus on ensuring course and professional skills societies receive better integration, and social societies receive access to the resources they lack.
His experience in various committee positions across various societies means that he is deeply familiar with the issues encountered by committee members on a regular basis. His role in the Activities Executive Team means that he is familiar with the processes of the SU. Having been president of the Public Speaking Society, he learned how to be a good leader and work well in a team, having made it a huge success.
Iain’s manifesto is incredibly well written and promises great change for the societies of the university, however I would be interested to learn what his approach would be to enhancing other aspects of campus activity, such as the welcome events of the university, as they are so key to university experience and volunteering opportunities.
Full officer manifestos can be read on the UoNSU website.
Katie Sullivan
Featured image courtesy of Korng Sok via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
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