Niamh Smith.

Candidate for VP Education

Hello! My name is Niamh (she/her) and I’m a third year English and History student. I’m running to be your VP Education, because the past year has shown that students deserve better, particularly with regards to their educational experience. If elected, I plan to work for all students, across all year groups…

For first years moving into second year, I plan to:

• Diversify the curriculum by letting students have in a say in the development of new module options
• Continue work on academic societies and ensure that every student has access to a departmental society related to their course
• Develop tools to make it easier to report academic problems to student reps
• Embed Climate and Sustainability into all modules where possible, and work towards making our Campus Carbon Neutral by 2030
• Create a Centralised Assessment page on Moodle with grades and upcoming assessments in one place

For second years going into final year, I aim to:

• Hold a weekly office hour, so that students can come with concerns, ideas and feedback
• Ensure that all materials specified as core or highly recommended are available in a digital format, and improve remote access to software
• Work with the collectives and student reps to continually improve the experience of BAME, LGBT+, International and Disabled students at Royal Holloway
• Run workshops to inform staff members (particularly personal tutors) about common mental health conditions and how to identify them

For final years graduating in 2021, I plan to:

• Set up a graduate placement scheme, similar to the micro-placements scheme for second years, to help students who have graduated within the last year to gain work experience
• Lobby the university to allow students the opportunity to resit passed assessments impacted by COVID-19 in the 2020/2021 academic year
• Ensure that all students who graduated in 2020 and 2021 receive a proper in-person graduation when it is possible to do so

For Postgraduates, I aim to:

• Ensure that PGRs appointed as visiting tutors are given adequate training and are paid fairly
• Support Postgraduates to engage with SU activities and events through creating a tailored version of the weekly SU email
• Conduct a policy inquiry into PGT students and students on the Bedford Square campus, ensuring that the provision is adequate to help them achieve their aims

Thank you for reading my manifesto and I hope I have earned your vote!