It’s that time of year again, where the Student Union welcomes a new President and Vice President (VP) into office. As you may already be aware, each new President and VP brings with them a new manifesto, detailing all the changes they would like to action during their time in office.
This year, we would like to welcome your new SU President, Emily Brown, and your new SU Vice President, Emily Wallace. Here is a little bit of information about our new team members and their plans for the SU moving forward. They are here to represent you, support you and listen to you!
So, let's find out a little bit more about our new SU members...
SU President – Emily Brown
What made you want to run for the role of President?
I love helping people and I also want to give back to the University. I was a house captain at school and I loved that role, so it’s an opportunity to take this to the next level and be able to represent a greater number of students and help to provide the students with what they want.
What are the long-term goals you wish to achieve this year?
Having a full social calendar for students, including more events on weekends, such as showing more sport in the bar at weekends. Also, helping to be more inclusive of all students from different backgrounds.
How will you look to rebuild the SU as we slowly adjust to life before Covid-19?
One of the main things will be helping to educate current first years on how to run socials. It will also be about making Harper more of a hub where students can feel safe and put more events on to get students on campus more often and making use of all the benches purchased by the SU.
How do you plan to work with the Vice President on campaigns and issues relating to the university?
Get to know each other and discuss our strengths and weaknesses to find out how we can work most effectively. I enjoy working in a team as well as on my own, so I am looking forward to being able to discuss what we both want to achieve and work to the best of our abilities.
What do you think students want to see from the Students' Union next Academic year?
A busy social calendar with a variety of events and activities for all.
SU Vice President - Emily Wallace
What made you want to run for the role of Vice President?
I felt as though I had many ideas and changes that would help the Student Union progress and get a wider student engagement both in social aspects and with their academics. I felt as though I am an approachable person that I feel students would want to engage with and that I would be able to encourage students to speak up about their experiences academically and socially and improve the SU from student feedback as well as my personal experience.
What are the long-term goals you wish to achieve this year?
My long-term plans are to continue the work that the previous Vice President, Lauren, had started in regards to the academic side of the SU. I am hoping to achieve a more financially friendly SU that many more students want to engage with. I want to be able to run activities that will encourage a wider range of students to get involved in.
How will you look to rebuild the SU as we slowly adjust to life before Covid-19?
As an SU we already have many ideas on how we can slowly rebuild the SU back to some normality. We have some exciting plans that will bring back the ‘true blue’ spirit and many ideas on activities and events to encourage a more diverse and wider engagement with students. By continuing feedback from students on course committees, we will be able to ensure that students are heard and any improvements, changes, or recommendations are considered appropriately.
How do you plan to work with the President on campaigns and issues relating to the university?
I and Emily have many similar ideas and we are going to work together effectively to ensure all campaigns and issues are worked on appropriately and received positively by the university. We have both encouraged supporting each other’s workload and helping in times where one of us may be busier than the other. I feel that we both can work as a team with the other members of the SU to better improve the SU.
What do you think students want to see from the Students' Union next Academic year?
Covid-19 has played a massive part in the running of the Student Union in the year 2020/21 so I know many students are hoping that we are able to run more activities and events to bring back the excitement after such a difficult year. If Covid-19 was still about I think students would hope that we as an SU would be encouraging more outdoor socially distanced activities and events and that they hope that their academics will also not be affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
We’re looking forward to seeing the new President and Vice President in action this year! If you have any questions we're sure they'd love to hear them!
Emily Brown: 00768030@harper-adams.ac.uk
Emily Wallace: 00754990@harper-adams.ac.uk