Each year in February, students put themselves forward to run for a full-time, paid position as a Student Leader. They campaign for votes and every Essex student will have an equal chance to 'vote like a student' and choose who they want to be elected into each of the 6 roles. This is the SU Leadership Election.

Manifesto

Candidate for the position of VP Education

Image for Angela Kokic Brnicevic

Angela Kokic Brnicevic

I'm gonna put edYOUcation first!

 

As a 3rd year Psychology student, I have been actively involved in improving the educational experience of my peers since my first year. I was a Student Representative, Peer Mentor, and Peer Tutor. I engaged in various focus groups, departmental meetings, and reviews.  ⇒ But that is not why you should vote for me.

You should vote for me because I am not afraid to speak up. I refuse to be silent about the issues around me and I sincerely believe that our problems can be solved with persistence and communication. I don’t want to be the person who just talks about change. I want to cause it. I will aim to fight for you to gain:

 

More financial help opportunities

  • Given the amount of our tuition fees, the University should provide more financial help opportunities to both home and international low-income students for basic living expenses.
  • The best performing students across all Departments should be offered a financial award for their efforts along with the inclusion on Dean’s List of Excellence. This would be a significant motivator for students to achieve their best.
  • We need more scholarships and postgraduate funding for people of colour, women, and minority groups to increase the diversity in higher education.

 

Better and faster feedback

  • A problem across the majority of the Departments is the insufficient feedback for coursework and exams, and a lack of guidance for future improvement. The University staff should clarify our marking criteria better and we should not wait for 4 (+) weeks to get our marks.

 

Decolonisation of the curriculum

  • The University keeps talking about this issue, but we are missing any actions. We need a student committee body that will directly control whether the Departments are doing their best to diversity our curriculum each term.
  • Minority groups, people of colour,  and women have been silenced for too long. It is time for them to be heard in our lectures and our reading materials.

 

 

Finally, I will leave you with a quote from Angela Davis – the woman who inspired my mum so much that she named me after her :)

              

 

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