Leacsaidh Marlow
A group of Impact Magazine writers have looked over the candidate manifestos for this year’s Student Union Elections. Our team of elections reporters interviewed every candidate who attended Media Day, discussing their motivations for running and their manifestos. Editor-in-Chief Leacsaidh Marlow has summarised and discussed each candidate’s main manifesto points, and given her views on the manifesto. Voting opens on Monday 10th March at 9am and closes on Thursday 13th March 2025 at 5pm.
Aanchal Chaudary
Aanchal’s key manifesto points are as follows:
- Equal representation
- Cultural connections
- Inclusive community building
- Housing support
- Help with part-time jobs
Aanchal identifies that her experience as a postgraduate international student has given her knowledge of the key issues that these student groups face, and intends to develop and implement policy to tackles these challenges. She specifically cites the struggles of adjusting to academic research and coping with spoken and written language difficulties, stating that she will start specialised student support centres specifically to target the language barrier that international students face in the academic environment here. She has been a representative for the School of Business and thus understands the importance of student feedback, and social and cultural events within faculties.
She also speaks about the importance of equal representation, recognising that the voices of postgraduate and international students are often less present in academic spheres and feedback systems, and that in order to enact positive change this must be improved.
Aanchal’s manifesto is comprehensive, identifying a range of issues facing the postgraduate and international student communities, and is unique in its mention of how adjusting the healthcare system in the UK can be difficult for international students. Her wish to establish language support centres aims to both reduce language barrier that causes international students to struggle with their academics, but also fostering a stronger social community between these students. Her manifesto is otherwise not very far-reaching, and while she identifies many issues or areas to target, these aren’t largely expanded upon and not many specific ideas for solutions are presented.
Abdulmujeeb Muhammad-Olodo
Abdulmujeeb summarised his manifesto for Impact, saying: “I intend to be that bridge that connects students, that connects the diverse cultures and values that we have on this campus and leveraging upon that cultural heritage that each and every single student brings and creating this community of inclusion for both postgraduate and international students into this vibrant university that we have, that is what’s my manifesto is going to be”.
He also told Impact that the manifesto point he is most passionate about is bridging the academic and professional parts of the job. He is running to be VP Postgraduate & International to gain a deep understanding of the complexities of academic systems here at UoN and use this to better the integration for international and postgraduate students. He wishes to establish branches between as many departments and services within the university as possible to foster better communication between campuses and ensure that faculties are able to best support students.
Key manifesto points:
- Focus on establishing effective support systems targeted towards the integration of international students
- Increase collaboration between international and domestic students to encourage cultural exchange and deeper engrained appreciation of diversity
- Advocate for improved visa support services
- Enhance mental health support specifically for international students
Abdulmujeep has a wealth of experience in leading and managing projects, demonstrating attention to detail and strong organisational skills, which he believes makes him a good candidate for VP Postgraduate & International. His manifesto is detailed and covers an extensive range of important areas he wishes to target, offering specific initiatives and interventions such as research symposiums and academic support workshops. His manifesto might, however, be made stronger by a more detailed focus on postgraduate students to match the breadth of issues he discussed surrounding integration and support of international students.
Ezinne Chukwu
Ezinne summarised her campaign into the sentence: “Getting informed, not deformed”, telling Impact that this was the manifesto point she was most passionate about. Ezinne was inspired to run for the role of VP Postgraduate & International to “break barriers” that her predecessors faced.
Ezinne’s key manifesto points are as follows:
- Focus on orientation of international and postgraduate students to help them find their feet
- Sharing more teaching and research opportunities targeted towards international PhD students and researchers
- Foster a stronger academic community, encouraging academic collaboration and cultural collaboration in academic departments
- Improvement in technical support and lab support for research students
- Improve funding/offer interest-free loans to international students
Ezinne has substantial experience and knowledge of the postgraduate student landscape at UoN, being a representative for postgrad students in the School of Medicine and seeing firsthand the kind of feedback that the school receives from its postgraduate and international students. Ezinne shows a good understanding of how Student Staff Forums (SSFs) are utilised as a feedback system, and how feedback might be better enhanced to support postgraduate and international student communities.
Ezinne’s manifesto is clearly set out in different section targeting distinct areas, and is easy to follow. It is not massively wide-reaching, however, and her campaign might be made more advantageous by provisioning specific solutions for how to tackle issues, and suggesting some wider-reaching initiatives. The manifesto would also benefit from details of how the mentioned funding opportunities are intended to be secured for students.
Mechthild Ogechi
Mechthild’s key points detailed in her manifesto are as follows:
- Continue the Postgraduate Pulse newsletter, allowing postgraduate students to stay up to date on events and access resources easily
- Introduce a similar newsletter for international students, consistently sharing relevant and important information and opportunities to the international student community
- Collaborate with cultural societies to better the resources we provide and events we run for international students
- Raise awareness around key issues international students face, such as financial struggles, isolation and homesickness
- Work directly with academic departments to guarantee that educational staff are better informed on the struggles faced by international students, and how changes might be made to make the academic side of the university experience easier for students integrating from different cultures
In her time at UoN, Mechthild has been on two committees, East African Society and Bar Society. Both roles have developed her skills in teamwork and taking collaborative approaches to solve problems. She believes in a proactive approach to student communication, as portrayed in her manifesto points around specific targeted newsletters. She also details multiple other roles and experiences which have led to her gaining the leadership skills necessary to be a strong candidate for VP Postgraduate & International.
Her manifesto is clear in its intentions, identifying key target issues and laying out direct strategies to aim to tackle and reduce these issues to better the student experience for international and postgraduate students. There is a stronger focus on the difficulties faced by international students, so her campaign might benefit from a deeper dive into specific postgraduate issues, and how these might be reduced in academic and social contexts.
Meredith Qin
Key manifesto points:
- Improve visa and employment support
- Ensuring clearer career guidance and better funding opportunities for international students
- Improve inclusivity on campus by fostering community through cultural exchange
- Professional networking events for career advancements
- Advocate for wellbeing by improving mental health services
Meredith told Impact that the manifesto point which she was most passionate about is tackling the issue of academic language barriers for international students, explaining that language barriers are not exclusively a source of academic struggles, but also impact confidence and social integration for international students. She wants to launch an international cultural community program to match students with mentors who can help to build their language confidence.
Meredith has a strong understanding of how difficult it can be to navigate bilingual environments and integrate into culturally different communities, and has experience in relevant leadership roles which have developed her communication and understanding of the importance of belonging in academic environments. She displays clear dedication to improving the university experience for underrepresented academic groups.
The strength of Meredith’s manifesto is in its range of key target areas, identifying both academic and social issues that international students face. It is lacking in specific initiatives or solutions for these problems, and is also more focused on international student representation than postgraduate student representation, so would thus benefit from more detail of the struggles that this group faces and how they might be tackled.
Head to the UoNSU website to check out all of the candidates and their original manifestos. Cast your votes from Monday 10th March at 9am.
Leacsaidh Marlow
Featured image courtesy of UoNSU, no changes have been made to this image.
In-text logo image courtesy of Joseph Banks, no changes have been made to this image.
