Meet the candidates running to be your next Postgraduate Education Officer

By Emilie Robinson, Digital News Editor

The Postgraduate Education Officer makes sure postgraduate students are fairly represented in all aspects of university life.

With voting now open in the Bristol SU elections, students have the chance to elect their new full-time officers, including their Postgraduate Education Officer. Two candidates are in the race to take over from Leah Martindale, who has held the post for the last year.

Voting takes places using a ranked-choice system, meaning students can rank all the candidates in order. Voting will be open between 9am Tuesday 9 March and 9pm on Thursday 11 March. Results will be announced by Bristol SU via Instagram Live at 6pm on Friday 12 March. For more information on voting visit this link.

Here are the candidates running to be your next Postgraduate Education Officer (in alphabetical order):

Bakhtawar Rahupoto

A Master of Science (MSc) student who has experience in taking a leading role in managing, co-ordinating and representing in group work. Bakhtawar also demonstrates further leadership and communication skills through her previous role as a course representative. She urges you to support her for a better and improved postgraduate experience.

Speaking to Epigram, Bakhtawar said she decided to run after facing difficulties moving to the UK as an international postgraduate student during a pandemic and that her campaign’s main focus would be ‘lending a helping hand to those postgraduates who are facing troubles and try to solve them’ and creating a space where they could ‘share their problems, queries or be vocal if they require any support.’

Lu Macey

Lu understands first-hand the issues facing all postgraduate students due to her experience studying for an MPhil. She wants to make the university experience safer, happier and easier, which she hopes will also benefit undergraduate students. She lists three main policy priorities for her candidacy, including wellbeing and community, accessibility and attainment, and equality and equity in learning and teaching.

Some of her policies include: working alongside the Wellbeing Services to increase and raise awareness of support for postgraduates, ensuring every postgraduate is equipped for future employment once leaving university. She also wants to create online Job Boards for postgraduates to find teaching positions within each Faculty.

Speaking to Epigram Lu said: ‘After being a Department Rep and Faculty Rep, running for Postgraduate Education Officer feels like the natural next step.’ She has ‘loved meeting with students, hearing their views, and working collaboratively to help implement positive change’ and ‘the opportunity to continue doing this, but in a full-time role where I can completely dedicate my time to helping improve the university experience for postgraduates is incredibly exciting.’

Featured Image: Epigram / Siavash Minoukadeh / Patrick Sullivan