As Colchester Campus Chair, I plan to Bring Parliament to the People.
I’ll focus on developing deeper connections between students and their community reps, whilst improving accessibility and engagement.
Who Am I?
Hey! I’m Nathan. I’m a 2nd year Computer Science student, a Student Rep and Faculty Convenor for Science and Health.
I have a passion for Excellence in Education – Getting students to get the absolute most out of their time at university.
Why Should You Vote for Me?
I started as a Student Rep before I even had my timetable – to be ready to help make things change. After a year as Lead Student Rep and Faculty Rep, I applied for a role in the SU Education team as Faculty Convenor of Science and Health. Over the last two years, I’ve been an active member of Senate, Academic Quality and Standards, Education Committee, and Faculty Education Committee, working on projects such as the ExamMode campaign, decolonising the Curriculum, Personal Tutors, The Reindorf Report, and many more.
Whilst working on these committees, I’ve amassed a wealth of experience being part of Chair-Rep meetings and the procedures within. This includes reading agenda items and committee papers and feeding back changes and corrections. Throughout my time I’ve learned how to fight for students’ interests. I have also built a substantial rapport with various student and staff groups across the University throughout my role.
Most importantly, I believe in the potential and prosperity of the democratic process in the Students’ Union. Parliament is the core way we hold our sabbatical officers accountable and set out the rules and policies by which we operate.
What Do I Plan to Do?
“Bringing Parliament to the People”
I want to bring Parliament into the spotlight – cement it at the core of our democratic process and how we operate. Students need to know more about what we do, what can we do, and how Parliament represents students.
I want to look at how Parliamentary documents are formatted, published and uploaded. Are all our papers written in a readable manner? Do students know where to find them? Is there any consistency between the format and layout?
There are currently 47 roles throughout the three campuses that are unfulfilled. Something is wrong with student engagement in Parliament; what can we do to increase our representation and understanding of Student Issues?
“Chair for Change”
A unique approach. Every chair has the opportunity to reinvent and rework the role in new ways. I plan to work with the Chairs, Reps and Officers to see how Parliament’s content, format and leadership/management structure can be adapted to best suit our commitment to democracy. Do we need more time between agenda-setting and the meeting? Do we need more official meetings between Chairs, Reps and Officers? What do YOU think we need?
I also plan to look at the Policy Book, By-Laws, Articles of Governance, and other documentation for inefficiencies or obsolete or redundant content.
Accessibility
I want to work with the Disabled Students’ Officer and Reps to see if there are any ‘barriers to entry’ when engaging with Parliament. This includes the previously mentioned review of documents as well as the format of Parliament, time given to prepare and speak as well as the time and location of meetings.
In addition, I plan to take a fresh look at Parliament communications and media posts to see if we can make any improvements to their readability, accessibility, and availability.