Final year Accounting and Finance student Alastair Morrison wants “to make a difference and make students feel part of the education they are paying for.”
His experience is broad. As well as being captain of college and University darts, Morrison spoke about being a class delegate in school: “the role included liaising with students, teachers and the parent’s association. I attended meetings and I provided feedback from the meetings for the students. I have done this four times and I think this shows a level of getting the job done and being a voice for students.”
Firmly believing that “the most important issue is making sure students are heard,” Morrison says he can be “someone who will make their voice bigger in this establishment.”
How will he do this? “ I will make sure that I am available all terms via social media or in person,” Morrison explains, “I am an approachable person and will not mind people coming to me.” And to ensure he’s representing postgraduate students as much as undergraduates: “I will go down to Grad College and make sure the students know who I am.”
Morrison expanded on his manifesto promise to “improve course quality”, saying: “I think course quality means the improvement of assessment and feedback as people feel they do not get adequate feedback on their feedback for their coursework.”
In a view that may divide opinions, Morrison made his opposition to an NSS Boycott very clear: “The NSS Boycott I believe is not an intelligent thing to do. I do not think we should Boycott the NSS because the NSS does a lot of things.” He went on to explain: “It is an interesting ploy to organize universities into bronze, silver and gold rankings. Personally, the ranking system is a good idea to class universities in terms of all the data the NSS collects. To boycott it, could degree the class of your university, which is not good for Lancaster University.”
Morrison promises in his manifesto to listen to everyone’s concerns. “Concerns,” he explains to SCAN, “with assessment and feedback and the lack of contact with course reps. I want to make sure students know their reps and I know many people want their lectures recorded. There are also concerns with the HE Bill.”
Above all else, Morrison believes the role he is applying to is a vital one, and says he opted to run for this position because “I want to make sure I leave a lasting impact on this University. I want to make sure I have my hand in several pies. I think VP education is a very important role.”
Trivia: Morrison could not name any faculties. He was unsure of the difference between a faculty and a department.
