By Ariella Greenfield, News Reporter
Your vote determines who will champion your academic and personal interests at the university level. Who best represents you? Make sure your voice is heard.
You can vote here until 9 pm Thursday 12 March. Find candidate manifestos here.
Cara Hene
The Undergraduate (UG) Education Officer is responsible for leading and empowering Course, School and Faculty Reps. They work to represent the interests of the undergraduate student body, in particular under-represented and minority groups, through conversations with the Vice Chancellor and within University Committees. The role also entails ensuring there is sufficient advice and information for undergraduates regarding their academic welfare.
The UG Education Officer presents at an academic conference about National Student Survey Data and attends Trustee Board meetings of the Student Union. They may also work with Study Skills and the Bristol Institute of Learning and Teaching (BILT).
The twice-elected current UG Education Officer, Mia Stevens, has spent her time in the role pushing for overall accessibility in terms of financial factors, clarity of marking criteria and quality of assessment feedback.
This year's candidates are: Anthonia Daikpor, Charlotte Kerby, Eryel Sayuno, Sanjana Sundararama, Soha Adour and Jordan Fung.
*If a candidate did not attend our interview panel, nor respond to our questions over email, they have not been profiled in this article.*
Anthonia Daikpor
‘Choose Access. Choose Action. Choose Anthonia.’
Daikpor, a current Feedback Engagement Fellow with BILT and the SU, is focusing her campaign on ‘triple A: Action, Access, Anthonia.’
She is pushing for visible welfare support for students to cope with their workload and ensuring access to clear feedback, with an emphasis on listening to student voices and implementing their ideas. Daikpor wants to make further use of digital tools to hear from students within the course rep system, and to upload sufficient course materials online so that students in part-time work are not disadvantaged if they cannot make classes.
Charlotte Kerby
‘An equal and engaging academic experience for all’
The priority of Kerby’s campaign is to ‘make your investment in undergraduate education worth it’ by ensuring students receive equal educational experiences. Her plans include supporting course communities by introducing more social events and field trips, which she believes would improve academic engagement and the social experience of studying. Kerby would also signpost relevant student societies that can develop transferable skills to courses and create more on-campus job opportunities which would fit around students’ academic schedules.
Eryel Sayuno
‘From first year fears to thriving careers – Sayuno is here’
Currently undertaking her second undergraduate degree, Sayuno has ‘more than eight years of leadership experience’. Sayuno was the 2022 president of the Bristol Filipino society, and is the founder and current president of the Mature Student society.
Her campaign involves community, culture and careers, as she aims to maintain an inclusive and diverse student community, reframe the feedback culture by strengthening student-staff engagement, and provide tailored career guidance and program-specific networking sessions. She plans to set up a job fair for local independent businesses so that students know which cafes or pubs are hiring for part time work. Sayuno would set up workshops for Course reps, an impact board to hold them accountable for their projects, and create links to information and feedback forms for them on the UoB app.
Sanjana Sundararama
‘Here to listen. Represent real change.’
As a BILT committee member and student quality reviewer, Sundararama has ‘looked at the education system from both sides’.
There are three main aspects of her campaign: support, academics and opportunities. She plans to implement a buddy programme to connect mentors and mentees, improve the feedback and marking system, and expand part time job opportunities. Sundararama would collaborate with the careers service to invite more companies to the university to promote part-time job offers, and would also create a system where course reps can contact their predecessors for guidance and support.
Soha Adour
‘WITH SOHA, WE S.O.A.R’
Adour’s campaign tagline stands for ‘student centered, open, accessible results.
She will be pushing for transparent marking criteria by setting up a re-mark system, which she says will allow students to gain control of their success, and keep markers accountable for the results they’re giving out. She will also prioritise lobbying the uni to increase well-being and disability support for mentally ill and chronically ill students. Another one of her initiatives is working with nationality-based societies to create translated information packs for international students. To improve the course rep role, Adour would introduce a reward system to incentivize reps to engage with their duties.
Jordan Fung
‘FROM SWEET EATTS TO ACADEMIC FEATS!’
Fung, a course rep throughout his studies and two-time faculty rep, wants to work on EATTS: Employability, Assessment, Timetabling, Teaching and Study space.
His plan involves promoting transferable skills and pairing each faculty with at least one company in their industry in order to help develop student employability. To assist with busy student schedules and those in part-time work, Fung would create more flexibility in timetables and expand the role of personal tutors to provide more support. He would also maximise the use of the digital rep system by expanding the functions and establishing a course rep handbook.
Featured image: Epigram / Suzanne Célérier
Who will you be voting for as Undergraduate Education Officer?
