Sections
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2008
(20)
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February
(20)
- Voting Open
- About Me
- The Coming Year
- NUS Review and Referendum
- Union Structure Review
- Strengthening Our Clubs and Societies
- Experience
- Review the Space Agreement
- Officer Without Portfolio
- Democratic Accountability
- Accessibility
- Discounts
- Pastoral Care
- Teaching
- Postgraduate Freshers’ Week
- Fair Marking
- Faculty Unions
- The RSM
- Commercial Services
- Environmental Concerns
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February
(20)
Voting Open
About Me
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
NUS Review and Referendum
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
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
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
Elect me as President, I have the experience to get the job done.
Review the Space Agreement
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
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
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
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
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
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
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Work to introduce a Post-Graduate Freshers’ Week.
Fair Marking
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Campaign for fairer marking of coursework.
Faculty 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 RSM
Elect me as President and I will:
1. Restore Union status to the RSM.
Commercial Services
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.