Monday 26 February - Charlotte Lee
Education Officer
On Monday evening, the candidates for Education Officer kicked off the first of the candidate spotlights.
The first question asked the candidates to expand upon their views regarding inconsistencies within assessment feedback Jonathan Lee started the discussion off by reiterating one of his key manifesto points: the standardisation of feedback; Lee told the audience that to tackle these inconsistencies, he would standardise how feedback is delivered to all students. Jasmine Banks expanded further on this point by reiterating why it is also necessary to streamline how assessments are conducted to encourage better progress - this point was picked up on by Jonathan Lee later in the debate where Banks clarified that this standardisation would be within schools and degree programmes.
During the debate part of the evening candidates were asked “How would you promote students to get involved with the Student Voice and School Rep system within the Union”. Devika Bhave affirmed that she would like to reassure course reps that by taking up a position of responsibility you will not receive negative attention from lecturers. Candidate Alina Ghazal conclusively agreed with her point. She stated that: “speaking to students in person gets a lot more visibility from what they want and they open up to you rather than surveys”. Overall, the spotlight was a proactive evening where all candidates equally challenged each other's manifestos and strongly put forward their own.
Postgraduate Officer
The evening then promptly shifted towards the candidates for the post-graduate officer where only two out of five candidates took their spots: Akash 'Sky' Bandal and Saier Huang.
One of the most relevant questions of the evening asked what ideas each candidate had to improve the employability of postgraduate students. Saier Huang explored how she would like to liaise with the careers services to create a graduate careers program where workshops can be held to relay professional industry advice. Sky Bandal then detailed a similar approach, stating that he would like to bring students together to help form connections later in their careers, particularly within the UK business industry.
Notably, the debate part of the evening, covered how the candidates would accommodate and understand the needs of postgraduate research students. Sky reflected upon his experience within the business and reiterated that “there needs to be more resources for both research and teaching students” and the experience they need to get jobs after their degrees. Similarly, Saier expressed how she believes that in the second year of a PGR student, we should be encouraging them to publish some more essays and do some more experiments as well as hold activities to improve their mental health.
Tuesday 27 February - Poppy Bedford
Student Media Officer
Tuesday night’s debates started strong with the candidates for Student Media Officer taking the stage - with candidate Harshvardhan Rathore absent. In a congenial and friendly manner, the debate travelled through manifestos, editorial integrity and the ‘Courier Centric’ narrative of student media.
Sam Norman, Lucy Bower and Jess McKeown took to the debate sofas with the main topic of conversation being the digitalisation of print media and the expanding of the student media community, all neatly wrapped into a cool 45 minutes.
Noticeable moments for each candidate included Sam Norman’s manifesto pledge of ‘cyclical media’ in order to “share skills around all branches of student media” in an attempt at digital expansion and putting Student Media in line with other professional media businesses. Lucy Bower’s joint pledges to expand the society spotlight into other branches (NSR, NUTV) to complete her “open door opportunity” pledge was also a topic of the debate. Jess McKeown discussed her pledge looking to expand volunteers “skills development with social media editing/digital workshops” in another attempt to address the digitisation of print media.
President
In Tuesdays second fixture, the potential presidents took to the debating stage and discussed everything from financial constraints, snakes and, a key theme for the night, how to raise awareness.
Leo David and Atika Bawari started the evening with questions on the cost of living crisis, disability, inclusivity and diversity in the students union. Both candidates answered with thoughtfulness and tact, making similar points but with Atika taking a stance that focused more on international students.
The conversation then moved to academic barriers and the integration of AI into university settings with ideas from both candidates including using “AI as a support system” and addressing the re-cap system.
A question from the audience was asked about students affected by foreign conflict with Leo emphasising the importance of the issue, acknowledging improvements to being "reactive and adaptive." Atika affirmed her agreement following Leo's response.
The candidates moved to the debate portion of the evening, discussing balancing working for stakeholders and for the student body. It was a unanimous answer from both candidates regarding ‘student led work’ and “demystifying” the processes by which the university (and students union) works.
Wednesday 28 February - Zahra Hanif
Activities Officer
The 28th of February saw the third night of debates between prospective candidates for the 2024-25 Sabbatical Officer roles at Newcastle University Students’ Union. The first debate of the night was for the role of Activities Officer, attended by sole candidate Swati Subramaniam.
Through her answers to a series of student submitted questions, Subramaniam affirmed her goals, consistent with the promises of her manifesto: increasing awareness of the Students’ Union within the student population, implementing in-person EDI and Bystander training, and running events that celebrate the diversity of our student body. She also went on to detail her experience as committee member, across multiple societies, and as a Communications student, that makes her well-equipped for an Activities Officer role.
Subramaniam also took the opportunity to address concerns about the affordability of societies in light of the cost of living crisis, and stated that she will work to ensure that activities remain affordable, and that aid such as the Participation Bursary is well advertised.
Athletic Union Officer
The second half of the evening saw the debates for the role of Athletic Union Officer ensue. The two candidates for the role, Alex Duggan, President of Newcastle University’s Women’s Rugby Club, and Jack Schofield, President of Newcastle University’s Wheelchair Basketball Club answered questions from the student body and partook in a lively debate following this.
Schofield stressed the importance of implementing recruitment videos for students wishing to join sports clubs, in order to alleviate the uncertainty of joining an unknown community. He also asserted the importance of collaboration, in consulting other clubs for their input in what needs improving. He also validated his manifesto points regarding the gym when they were brought into question, stating that the gym was an essential element in improving athletes’ performances.
Duggan re-affirmed her key manifesto points through her answers, of establishing a more positive and inclusive sporting environment for all, but particularly under-represented groups, and fostering transparency in the Athletic Union Officer’s decision-making processes, all while creating a community for sporting committee members. She also spoke on increasing visibility for sports both through monthly flagship events and effective utilisation of the AU Officer’s social media accounts.
Thursday 29 February - Imogen Smillie
Liberation Officers
Thursday night brought us the fourth and final Candidate Spotlight. First up we met some of the candidates running for the Liberation Officer and Union Chair roles. Three out eight candidates running for these roles attended, including Rhys Elson for Disability Officer, and Bee Balfourth and Jadenn Sivakumar for Ethnic Diversity Officer.
Elson spoke mainly about their plan to implement stronger communication between students with disabilities and their lecturers to improve accessibility for their overall learning experience.
Balfourth expressed their dedication to promote inclusivity, hoping to host events in Venue at the SU for students to learn about other cultures.
Sivakumar also suggested events, as well as social media sites to create “a cobweb” of different ethnic groups and promote inclusivity.
All candidates expressed the need to communicate with all other Liberation Officers, Union Chairs and Sabbatical Officers to create the best opportunities to help students and improve inclusivity for everyone, from all backgrounds.
Welfare and Equality Officer
The final Candidates’ Spotlight was for the Welfare and Equality Officer role. The candidates here are Hisham Salamathullah, Srushti Shimoga Jayaswamy and Smile Vij, who all attended the event.
Salamathullah focussed his attention on the responsibility of this officer role in supporting all students, given his past experience in seeking welfare and equality needs.
Jayaswamy spoke about the education of welfare, and the more students know, the more accessible this role and system will be.
Vij aims to support all students whether they have visible disabilities or otherwise.
All candidates agreed that their main focus is that the student body is a family, and they will be a friend to anyone who seeks welfare or equality support.
