My manifesto
Your Concerns, My Mission #Vote4Turaiya
Hey, I’m Turaiya (she/her), and I’m running to be your Undergraduate Education Officer for 2025/26!
I’m a third year International Development with Economics student and you may know me from my experience as:
- Charity officer and ex Treasurer for DEVSOC - leading fundraisers such as ‘Thrift4Palestine’ and ‘Thrift4Sudan’
- Role as a Student of Colour Ambassador for the School of Global Development
- Treasurer for UN Women UK
- My role as a Student Experience Partnership (SEP) Member
- Previous Academic Representative for DEV
I also work part-time as an Educational Practitioner, developing interventions for children with special needs and social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) challenges who are chronically disengaged within education.
It would be an honour to be elected, here are my plans:
Disability Inclusion
To establish a Disability Convenor to represent the disabled student community! Similarly to faculty convenors, they will advocate their concerns across multiple schools within the faculty at Faculty, Teaching, and Quality Committees (FLTQCs) and Education Committees.
Seminar Recordings
Lobby for the recording of seminars and workshops! It’s now mandatory for lectures to be recorded, but some lecturers are getting around this by labelling them as seminars on timetables. If seminars and extra contact hours are recorded too, they won’t be able to dodge this.
Student Engagement Partnership (SEP) Engagement
The new academic rep system, the Student Experience Partnership (SEP), was introduced late last year, but student engagement has been super low! I’ll push for a points-based system where members can earn rewards for their participation.
Boost Advisor Rapport
To introduce termly or annual ‘review and reflection’ dates to encourage students to reach out to their advisor and create a solid progress plan for the near future.
Student of Colour Ambassador Scheme (SOCA)
There’s a persistent attainment gap for students of colour achieving a first or 2:1. As a current student of colour ambassador, I’m committed to closing the degree awarding gap! I’d like there to be an additional focus to better reflect academia, prioritising research and gathering feedback to address this disparity, as opposed to only hosting social events and academic workshops.
Timetabling
I will conduct a research investigation into the problems students face with timetabling issues and utilise the feedback to make the system work better for students!
Room Bookings
Students are now unable to book larger rooms, I’ll lobby to make the process easier for students.
Curriculum Inclusion
I will aim to expand the inclusion of academic voices from women, ethnic minorities, trans and non-conforming gender identities within the curriculum.