Manifesto Points:
1. Secure value for money for students
2. . Fostering positive learning environments
3.. Improving assessment and feedback
Hi all,
I am James Driver, a third year Politics and International relations student and have been the Politics and IR department representative since the start of the academic year. My experience as a department rep has shown me first hand how much the university’s broken systems are failing students and not allowing us to get the most of the academic experience.
Throughout my time as a department rep I have led a campaign to increase seminar time to secure students more value for money and ensure they have as much time with experts in their field as possible. I have also led on a SU initiatives within the department such as the EDI in politics project which started as a result of fellow students raising concerns about seminar spaces and the need for academic environments to be welcoming to all. However, wins in a single department alone can never be enough to substantially improve the student experience as a whole.
That’s why I am standing to be your next academic officer- to take on the big fights and Drive our unioun forward together forward togther
If elected I pledge to:
1. Secure value for money for students
For too long students have not been considered in how their tuition fees are spent this to be changed to make sure students money is spent in students intresents
- Launch a campaign to have the library open 24/7 permanently, not just during the common assessment period so that you have access to resources and study space whenever it suits you!
- Set up a ‘resources grant’ to support students who need to support purchasing resources for their academic needs in very difficult economic times. It simply is not right that students have to choose between degree resources and eating!
- Work with all stakeholders across the university to increase university wide contact times with the increase in tuition fees as of the upcoming academic year it is vital that students’ money is spent on what has the most direct positive impact
2. . Fostering positive learning environments
- Ring Fencing funding within the union to allow each department representative to run aimed at fostering community in departments and helping departments to achieve their EDI objectives
- Working to ensure that Check-in no longer acts as a punitive system against students in it’s current form acting in a way that puts international students at risk and is also discriminatory agains disabled students whose circumstances can adversely impact on their attendance
3.. Improving assessment and feedback
- For too long the university’s commitment to ‘timely feedback’ has not being worth the paper it’s written on with many students not receiving feedback in the 25 day window creating unnecessary uncertainty- I will fight for standardised ‘timely feedback’ that students must receive within the window
- Extra feedback and guidance hours should be put on in all departments in the weeks immediately following the release of marks to ensure that students are all able to receive bespoke detailed advice.
- In the age of growing AI it is vital that the university works with all student communities at the university to ensure that they are both aware of what constitutes academic misconduct in terms of AI use and that the university works proactively not punitively with students around this.
Thank you for taking the time to read my manfestio I hope I have shown that I have the ideas and exprience to get the best deal for students and I hope you will join me as we Drive our unioun forward together
#ignite, include innovate
The manifestos appear here exactly as they were submitted to us. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of York Vision.
Don’t get us wrong, the York SU elections are very important. But so much of the election process is formal and serious…which means it can also (at times) be a little bit dull.
But we don’t think it has to be like this. So alongside their manifesto, Vision asked each candidate a series of light-hearted, get-to-know-you type questions. This should give you a little dive into the individual personalities of the candidates:
What would be the theme song for your campaign?
Ready to go- Republica
If your campaign had a mascot, what would it be?
Lion
* Hypothetically * if you could create a new degree at York what would it be and why?
Long boi Studies- we at York understand the importance of honouring out history and keeping alive the history of people who are important to our communities. Long boi fits this description perfectly.
We gave the candidate a word, and asked them to think of what the question would be:
Answer: Chat GPT
The most useful tool ever invented to bail students out having to admit they had ‘forgotten to do the readings’.