Voting is open from 00:00 Friday 22nd - 23:59 Tuesday 26th
(Just put '1' next to my name!)
About Me
Firstly, for those of you who don’t know me, a little about myself. I am currently a post-graduate student in Biochemistry having done my undergraduate degree (in Biology) at Imperial as well. During my nine years at Imperial, I have been heavily involved in all aspects of student life from club activity to accommodation. I have been a member of numerous clubs and am currently the Polo Captain for Riding and Polo Club, have sat on the Accommodation Committee as a rep for four years, sat on Council as an ordinary member, was the Post-Graduate Safety Rep for the Department of Biological Sciences, have been a sub-warden for three years and was Deputy President (Finance and Services) last year. I have always sought to serve students during my time at Imperial and have a deep commitment to student welfare and wellbeing.
This is my full manifesto for Union President, I firmly believe that I am the person with the experience, the ability and the drive to help the Union achieve great things for you, its members this year. There is no way you can elect a President on a manifesto of only 250 words so please take the time to read the sections below you think apply to you (or all of them!).
If you want to speak to me about anything, please email me on jgm99@imperial.ac.uk, speak to me around College or come to hustings in the JCR at 1200 hrs 18th February or in da Vinci’s at 1830 hrs 21st February. Voting will take place at https://www.imperialcollegeunion.org/vote from 0000 hrs 22nd February to 2359 hrs 26th February.
This is my full manifesto for Union President, I firmly believe that I am the person with the experience, the ability and the drive to help the Union achieve great things for you, its members this year. There is no way you can elect a President on a manifesto of only 250 words so please take the time to read the sections below you think apply to you (or all of them!).
If you want to speak to me about anything, please email me on jgm99@imperial.ac.uk, speak to me around College or come to hustings in the JCR at 1200 hrs 18th February or in da Vinci’s at 1830 hrs 21st February. Voting will take place at https://www.imperialcollegeunion.org/vote from 0000 hrs 22nd February to 2359 hrs 26th February.
The Coming Year
Next year is a crucial time for Imperial students and the Union. We will see the new Rector start his term; phase two of the redevelopment will be fully underway and funding for phase three (the Union’s Trading outlets) will need will need to be secured, College are unlikely to hand out money to renovate dB’s Nightclub the same way they did for disabled access and staff offices. Outside our own walls we will see the Higher Education funding debate rage on with the cap on top up fees to come under review. Now, more than ever, experience and strong leadership counts for more than anything. A bad working relationship with the new Rector will have lasting effects on students for years to come, when you vote, vote wisely.
NUS Review and Referendum
As Returning Officer of the last NUS election, it was my job to remain completely impartial and ensure the election was run in a fair and democratic way, no easy task. The vote returned was “Yes” for affiliation with a marginal majority of 53%. After one and a half years of membership, I believe it is time to review this decision. If we held a referendum tomorrow, I strongly believe it would return a no vote, £55,000 (the NUS affiliation fee for next year) is a lot of money for any Yes campaign to justify, but would it be fair? If elected I will call for a referendum halfway through the year, with two full years of NUS membership, both parties will have access to enough information to answer the question, “Is £55,000 per year worth it?”
I do not believe the President should take an active role in a campaign to disaffiliate, the decision should be taken by the students and not influenced or dictated by the President (not that I am suggesting this happened last time). If elected, my role would be to conduct the review, publish the findings and petition the referendum, after that, I would step aside to allow the campaign to be led by students. Even if we remain affiliated, I will spend my time as Union President working for Imperial students, not the NUS.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Review how we have benefited from NUS membership and publish the results.
2. Call for an independent referendum on continued membership.
3. Work for Imperial Students first and only with the NUS when it directly benefits our members.
I do not believe the President should take an active role in a campaign to disaffiliate, the decision should be taken by the students and not influenced or dictated by the President (not that I am suggesting this happened last time). If elected, my role would be to conduct the review, publish the findings and petition the referendum, after that, I would step aside to allow the campaign to be led by students. Even if we remain affiliated, I will spend my time as Union President working for Imperial students, not the NUS.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Review how we have benefited from NUS membership and publish the results.
2. Call for an independent referendum on continued membership.
3. Work for Imperial Students first and only with the NUS when it directly benefits our members.
Union Structure Review
I believe we need to consider how the Union is run at the very highest level. I believe that the Deputy President (Finance and Services) job is too big for any officer to do it effectively and it should be split to give us a DP(Finance) with the services role taken over by the Deputy President (Clubs and Societies) to create a DP(Clubs and Services), this will unify student activity and allow more control and care to be taken over Union finances, an area that is still of concern and that needs a great deal of attention. However, this is a personal belief and wide consultation is needed before any change is proposed. The governance review of last year was a great start but all involved acknowledged that whilst massive in its scope it left some things undone, now the new system has had time to bed in, it is time to tackles these last things so we can get the Union you deserve.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Commission an open review into the structure of the Union to ensure it best serves the membership.
2. Ensure that all clubs are supported equally, not prioritize one group over another.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Commission an open review into the structure of the Union to ensure it best serves the membership.
2. Ensure that all clubs are supported equally, not prioritize one group over another.
Strengthening Our Clubs and Societies
The Union’s greatest strength is its clubs and societies, we have an incredible and largely unrivalled amount of involvement from very committed people right down to casual members. We need to ensure that this remains the case and that the clubs feel supported, not hindered, by the Union. Whilst we do have occasionally have to say ‘no’ (something I learnt in my year as DPFS), we should also work to find a way how to do what the clubs want to do (something else I did a lot whilst DPFS). Training has been improved but there is still a long way to go, we cannot train officers in only one session and hand-over is critical and must be supported, the best way for a new officer to learn how to do their job is to shadow someone and learn directly from them. However, the Union needs to be there to support officers for whom handover failed. There should be a review of volunteer officer training in specific and relevant club activities, especially tour and trip training, training in how to run a successful formal dinner, bar-night and social activity training. This training should be freely available in an easy to follow form but not compulsory for those clubs who do not need it.
There are many other aspects that need addressing to strengthen our clubs and societies and make our Union better serve its members. We need to review the mark-up on drinks sold to clubs for bar-nights and social events, 35% is too high and does not represent the true cost. FUs, CSCs, Clubs and societies should profit directly from these events and the benefits should be passed on to their members. FUs should have greater freedom to create clubs where there is a demonstrable purpose such as sports teams for inter-union matches.
I will also use the Union’s buying power to the benefit of clubs and societies, many clubs hold large dinners and the Union has a lot of buying power, this power should be used to secure preferential booking rates for clubs at local hotels.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Support, not hinder clubs and societies.
2. Improve training to make it more relevant and accessible with drop-in sessions throughout the year.
3. Introduce specific training materials for events, especially tours which can lose a lot of money.
4. Review the prices charged to clubs for bar nights.
5. Use the Union’s buying power to secure preferential rates for clubs and societies.
There are many other aspects that need addressing to strengthen our clubs and societies and make our Union better serve its members. We need to review the mark-up on drinks sold to clubs for bar-nights and social events, 35% is too high and does not represent the true cost. FUs, CSCs, Clubs and societies should profit directly from these events and the benefits should be passed on to their members. FUs should have greater freedom to create clubs where there is a demonstrable purpose such as sports teams for inter-union matches.
I will also use the Union’s buying power to the benefit of clubs and societies, many clubs hold large dinners and the Union has a lot of buying power, this power should be used to secure preferential booking rates for clubs at local hotels.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Support, not hinder clubs and societies.
2. Improve training to make it more relevant and accessible with drop-in sessions throughout the year.
3. Introduce specific training materials for events, especially tours which can lose a lot of money.
4. Review the prices charged to clubs for bar nights.
5. Use the Union’s buying power to secure preferential rates for clubs and societies.
Experience
Being President is a big job, you deserve a President with real experience of both College and the Union who has the ability to get things done. I have the experience to hit the ground running and do a good job all year. Having been Deputy President (Finance and Services) last year I know how both the College and Union work and know where changes are needed. Not only was I DPFS, I have also held welfare roles within the Union (most notably on the accommodation committee) and been on Council so I know all aspects of the job. I have been involved in the Union for the past nine years and seen a lot of changes, I know when we are re-inventing the wheel and have a deep understanding of what can and can’t be done.
Elect me as President, I have the experience to get the job done.
Elect me as President, I have the experience to get the job done.
Review the Space Agreement
Club activity is increasing year on year and our space agreement with college needs to reflect our changing needs. We need to increase the amount of space freely available for clubs and societies, there is a vast amount of unused space in College especially after hours, I will fight to ensure vacant space such as Dalby Court and the College main entrance become available to students.
The amount of space available for posters was dramatically reduced last year without sufficient and suitable consultation. I will campaign to increase the amount of space available for student posters and notices, this is a University, not a business, student activity is important and it is right for it to take centre stage.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Negotiate a fair space agreement with College.
2. Campaign for more student poster space.
The amount of space available for posters was dramatically reduced last year without sufficient and suitable consultation. I will campaign to increase the amount of space available for student posters and notices, this is a University, not a business, student activity is important and it is right for it to take centre stage.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Negotiate a fair space agreement with College.
2. Campaign for more student poster space.
Officer Without Portfolio
Ever wanted to get something done in the Union but not known where to start, which committee to go to or how to structure a paper? Even if the advice is a simple as if you want the Union to help you campaign on student issues, write a paper to the Representation and Welfare Board not Council. An Officer Without Portfolio would sit on Council, Exec and other committees with no agenda. An officer who would be available to give advice to everybody and help both experienced and less experienced members of the Union cut through red tape and petty politics.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Create an Officer Without Portfolio to assist all groups and individuals in their interaction with the Union.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Create an Officer Without Portfolio to assist all groups and individuals in their interaction with the Union.
Democratic Accountability
I will remain accountable and communicate effectively with the Union throughout my term. Why are officers’ manifestos not freely available? I will ensure that my manifesto remains publicly available so progress can be monitored. It is all good and well to promise grand things but we must deliver on them and show that we are doing so. I have shown in the past that I am willing to stand up for what I believe in and that includes full democratic accountability.
The Trustee Board was a major change introduced at the end of last year but meetings are not being publicized and papers are not freely available. This board should not be meeting in secret and I will ensure this is no longer the case. Also, some people will know of the Management and Planning Group, formed of the Sabbs and the General Manager, this body meets weekly yet no details of its business are ever released. I will ensure that minutes of MPG are publically available, there is no need to keep the contents of this meeting secret and opening it can only help people understand what the most senior officers are doing with their time.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Ensure full democratic accountability.
2. Publicize dates and papers for the Trustee Board.
3. Publicize the minutes from the Management and Planning Group.
The Trustee Board was a major change introduced at the end of last year but meetings are not being publicized and papers are not freely available. This board should not be meeting in secret and I will ensure this is no longer the case. Also, some people will know of the Management and Planning Group, formed of the Sabbs and the General Manager, this body meets weekly yet no details of its business are ever released. I will ensure that minutes of MPG are publically available, there is no need to keep the contents of this meeting secret and opening it can only help people understand what the most senior officers are doing with their time.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Ensure full democratic accountability.
2. Publicize dates and papers for the Trustee Board.
3. Publicize the minutes from the Management and Planning Group.
Accessibility
The Union is not as accessible as it should be. Emails should be sent with a plain-text option and should contain important information not just advertising spam, officers should all have drop-in times when they are freely available to talk, core hours are there to ensure that an officer is available, not just for them to do their day to day work. I know from experience that it can be difficult to fit everything in and it is tempting to closet oneself away but this is not good enough, I used to work late into the night to ensure that I had windows during the day when I could drop what I was doing to help clubs and students, if elected I will continue to do this and will also spend time on campus with the students rather than tucked away in an office over the road.
A lot of students don’t want to sit through committee meetings to get things done, along with my plans to introduce an Officer Without Portfolio who can advise people on how to do things so they don’t have to be a hack to get a paper passed, I will re-invigorate the feedback system YourSay. This shouldn’t just be to give feedback on the bars but allow people to give ideas for improvements across the board from how we do things to things we should take a stand on. A man has two ears but only one mouth, therefore he should listen twice as much as he speaks.
The Union website is a fantastic and powerful tool and is used by a great number of people but it is not as easy to use as it could be. We need to get feedback from students on what they want to see on the site and then implement changes that will be of use.
The redevelopment will be another important step in maintaining a Union that is easily accessible to all. Last year, I co-proposed a paper with Eric Lai and Mark Flower to ensure that there will be more club space and also that the Union offices will be below the new Student Activities Centre to create a one-stop-shop for students, I will ensure that the ideas in this paper are enacted and that the redevelopment is of real benefit to students.
Another area of concern is disabled access through College; in the first phase of the redevelopment, a lot of work was carried out to make the Union more accessible but with the advent of turnstiles at all College entrances, disabled access to College buildings has worsened rather than improved, I will campaign to improve disabled access to all areas of College at all times, not just during working hours.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Introduce plain text emails that are not just adverts but contain useful information.
2. Introduce proper drop-in times when officers are available.
3. Ensure I and other officers are available outside the Union as well as in our offices.
4. Re-launch YourSay with a wider scope for effective feedback on all subjects.
5. Make the Union website more accessible and easier to use.
6. Keep the plans to have the Union offices under the new SAC.
7. Campaign for better disabled access in College.
A lot of students don’t want to sit through committee meetings to get things done, along with my plans to introduce an Officer Without Portfolio who can advise people on how to do things so they don’t have to be a hack to get a paper passed, I will re-invigorate the feedback system YourSay. This shouldn’t just be to give feedback on the bars but allow people to give ideas for improvements across the board from how we do things to things we should take a stand on. A man has two ears but only one mouth, therefore he should listen twice as much as he speaks.
The Union website is a fantastic and powerful tool and is used by a great number of people but it is not as easy to use as it could be. We need to get feedback from students on what they want to see on the site and then implement changes that will be of use.
The redevelopment will be another important step in maintaining a Union that is easily accessible to all. Last year, I co-proposed a paper with Eric Lai and Mark Flower to ensure that there will be more club space and also that the Union offices will be below the new Student Activities Centre to create a one-stop-shop for students, I will ensure that the ideas in this paper are enacted and that the redevelopment is of real benefit to students.
Another area of concern is disabled access through College; in the first phase of the redevelopment, a lot of work was carried out to make the Union more accessible but with the advent of turnstiles at all College entrances, disabled access to College buildings has worsened rather than improved, I will campaign to improve disabled access to all areas of College at all times, not just during working hours.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Introduce plain text emails that are not just adverts but contain useful information.
2. Introduce proper drop-in times when officers are available.
3. Ensure I and other officers are available outside the Union as well as in our offices.
4. Re-launch YourSay with a wider scope for effective feedback on all subjects.
5. Make the Union website more accessible and easier to use.
6. Keep the plans to have the Union offices under the new SAC.
7. Campaign for better disabled access in College.
Discounts
Much has been made of the NUS giving access to discounts, but why should one have to pay for these? I will ensure that discounts are freely available to Imperial students without the need to buy an NUS Extra card. So far, Imperial students can already get discounts in local shops including:
- Maxwell’s Newsagents – Gloucester Road (10%)
- Ryman (stationers) – Gloucester Road (10%)
- Giraffe (restaurant) – Kensington High Street (10%)
- Timpson (key cutters and shoe repairs) – South Kensington Station (20%)
- Blacks (outdoor equipment) – High Street Kensington (10%)
- Bite Card (food & drink discounts) – Mainline Train Stations (20%)
The Union can also use its buying power to organize contract sales with other companies especially outdoor companies. A number of clubs have their own contracts but the Union could quite easily set up a central contract
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Work to organize discounts in the local area in addition to those above and prominently publicize them.
2. Use the Union’s buying power to save clubs money on their purchases and ground hire.
Pastoral Care
Pastoral care is a major worry at Imperial. We already suffer from low student satisfaction and this is often worsened by a pastoral care system that can frequently be described as variable at best. Some aspects of pastoral care are good and I will fight to keep these. I will oppose any new moves to abolish the wardening system, I know from experience how much work wardens and sub-wardens put in to caring for students, we cannot afford to lose this. The personal tutoring system is often a cause for complaint, some people have brilliant tutors but others hardly ever hear from their tutors or worse don’t even know who they are. Tutors should be trained and there should be a feedback system to ensure that students are getting the help and support they deserve should things go wrong.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Campaign to improve pastoral care in College.
2. Oppose new moves to abolish the wardening system.
3. Campaign for training for and feedback on personal tutors.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Campaign to improve pastoral care in College.
2. Oppose new moves to abolish the wardening system.
3. Campaign for training for and feedback on personal tutors.
Teaching
I will work to ensure that College stick to the published teaching hours, there are too many occurrences of departments teaching during lunchtime or at other times when students should be free, including during Freshers’ Fayre. Quite simply, this has to stop, College has set hours and all departments should be held to them.
An issue I know that a lot of final year students have is that they do not have access to referencing programs yet are expected to produce substantial project reports and theses. Non-taught students have access to both Reference Manager and EndNote, I will campaign to get this access extended to undergraduates. There is other software that College has on a site licence but is not available to all students even though it would make their work better and easier, software of use to all students should be available to all students.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Work to ensure that departments don’t teach outside College teaching hours.
2. Improve software access for taught students.
An issue I know that a lot of final year students have is that they do not have access to referencing programs yet are expected to produce substantial project reports and theses. Non-taught students have access to both Reference Manager and EndNote, I will campaign to get this access extended to undergraduates. There is other software that College has on a site licence but is not available to all students even though it would make their work better and easier, software of use to all students should be available to all students.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Work to ensure that departments don’t teach outside College teaching hours.
2. Improve software access for taught students.
Postgraduate Freshers’ Week
The provision for post-graduates new to College is poor, they arrive at different times throughout the year and are usually thrown straight into work. I will initiate a Fresher’s Week for post-graduates not only covering what the Union can do for them but also including important factors such as what support is available from College, accommodation and so on. I have already worked with College on introducing a Post-Graduate Freshers’ Week and there is support for this, I am confident that this can be in place very quickly and help new post-graduates settle in and integrate to the College.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Work to introduce a Post-Graduate Freshers’ Week.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Work to introduce a Post-Graduate Freshers’ Week.
Fair Marking
A common complaint about courses is the ‘grading lottery’. As a post-graduate, I have had to grade a lot of work myself over the years and usually spend more than 10 times the amount of time I am paid for on it. Unfortunately, not all work is marked in a diligent manner and there can be a great deal in variation in grades. Double marking helps but not all work is double marked. Imperial should have a truly anonymous marking system to help eliminate this, there is no need for a me or any other marker to know the name of the students whose work they are marking, names should be replaced by College ID numbers to ensure that any bias is removed from the marking system. I will campaign to bring about this simple but effective change.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Campaign for fairer marking of coursework.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Campaign for fairer marking of coursework.
Faculty Unions
I believe that FU presidents should be in office over the summer, currently the Medic President is a sabbatical officer and the Guilds President has a summer sabbatical. I am already working on securing funding for the RCS President to have a summer sabbatical and would like to see this completed in a sustainable manner. If all three FU presidents are working full-time over the summer, a great deal more can be achieved for their unions.
The creation of FU clubs has been a long running issue. Some FU activity is only occasional such as inter-FU sports, does this need a club or should it be something that can be done under the aegis of the FU Executive? Why should a Physicist who plays for IC Rugby not be able to play for his FU when a Civil Engineer can? Inter-FU competition should be encouraged, we should be able to have inter-FU sports on a less formal basis: one-off matches and triangular tournaments. If sports became an Exec activity this could be done, the Exec can allocate their money for them and can still charge people a participation fee similar to a club membership.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Work for funding for all FUs to have a full-time president over the summer.
2. Allow FUs to create a sports fund as part of their Exec activity.
The creation of FU clubs has been a long running issue. Some FU activity is only occasional such as inter-FU sports, does this need a club or should it be something that can be done under the aegis of the FU Executive? Why should a Physicist who plays for IC Rugby not be able to play for his FU when a Civil Engineer can? Inter-FU competition should be encouraged, we should be able to have inter-FU sports on a less formal basis: one-off matches and triangular tournaments. If sports became an Exec activity this could be done, the Exec can allocate their money for them and can still charge people a participation fee similar to a club membership.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Work for funding for all FUs to have a full-time president over the summer.
2. Allow FUs to create a sports fund as part of their Exec activity.
The RSM
I also strongly believe that we should restore Union status to the RSM. They are not a CSC, they do not act like one either in spirit or in practice, they are not simply a management board, their members become members of the RSM automatically on joining College, not by deciding to join a club. The RSM is best placed to look after the welfare of its members, true representation starts at the small scale, the RSM can represent their members very effectively because they are small so understand the issues better. People may hold that it is not possible to give back Union status as this does not fit with College’s organization; we should not have our organization dictated to us by College, we can work round College’s organization and I am confident that I can negotiate with College and get their support for this change.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Restore Union status to the RSM.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Restore Union status to the RSM.
Commercial Services
The bars have been performing well recently and are a valuable asset but can still be improved, we have ten ale lines but are not Cask Marque accredited. Cask Marque accreditation guarantees the quality of the ale served and can increase business and is something we should strive towards. Catering still needs improvement and a lot can be done to bring this about including increasing opening hours to later in the evening with more range (such as burgers and chips readily available in the evenings). On the main South Kensington Campus, the Union shop needs to ensure that it remains relevant and of use to students.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Work to keep Commercial Services relevant to students.
2. Aim to get Cask Marque accreditation within a year.
3. Work to improve Union catering.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Work to keep Commercial Services relevant to students.
2. Aim to get Cask Marque accreditation within a year.
3. Work to improve Union catering.
Environmental Concerns
The environmental policy was an important policy to pass, but is it working? I will review our performance against the requirements of the policy and ensure that our changes have been for the better.
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Review our performance against the spirit of the Environmental Policy as well as just its rules.
2. Continue to listen to our students' environmental concerns to work for a greener and more sustainable Union.
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