Before we start, it’s important to note the changes happening to the Full-Time-Officers (FTO) in our Students’ Union. The structure of the team has changed since the passing of the new structure by the Union Assembly and Trustee Board on 12th January 2024. The four positions in this election cycle are:
- President
- Education Officer
- Wellbeing Officer
- Activities Officer
The candidates for this year’s Full-Time Officer have been announced today. But who is running and why? Here is a quick summary of the candidates. If you want to read them in their entirety, check out their manifestos on LUSU’s website. Over the next week, SCAN will be conducting interviews with the candidates to gain insight on their campaigns.
President
Owen Coppack
Owen (he/him) is the previous President of Furness College. His manifesto points focus on:
“Champion Colleges and JCR executives”
- Organise meetings with sugarhouse, college bar management, and LUSU events to give college presidents exciting new event opportunities.
- Help college execs with the planning of welcome week earlier on.
- Establish a better working relationship with college execs and the LUSU finance department.
“Continue Cost of Living Support”
- Lobby the university to reinstate the money for the Where the Food events that gave students access to a free hot meal.
- Continue to run LUSU supper club every Thursday.
- Continue to challenge the unsustainable rent structure that exists on campus.
- Regular meetings with the local MP to ensure your hardship is heard nationally.
“Voter Turnout”
- Run a campaign on social media in the buildup to the general election to ensure that students vote.
- Encourage colleges to develop creative ‘question time’ events for JCR and PG board elections.
“Change Student Experience with Lancaster University’s Students’ Union”
- Engage with student voice through story takeovers, talking to you at events, and proactively fight for you in everything I do.
- Regular updates of what I am doing to champion your interests.
- Weekly president office hour.
Cerys Evans
Cerys (she/her) is the current Students’ Union President. Her manifesto points are:
“Welcome Week”
- Work in collaboration with College execs.
- Put on the best Welcome Week in the North West.
“Reward and Recognition”
- Create a better reward and recognition for student leaders and volunteers.
“Digital Systems”
- Improve digital systems to make student life easier.
Her manifesto discusses how she wants to continue the work she is currently doing and has already done for the Students’ Union this year. For example, the redesign of the structure of LUSU’s FTOs and the rent freeze.
Shlok Sagar
Shlok (he/him) is Grizedale College’s current president. His manifesto points are:
“Affordable Campus Life”
- Advocate for reduced prices of essential items, especially food within university establishments.
“Advocate for Improved Transportation”
- Engage in reformation meetings with Stagecoach.
- Ensure not only more cost-effective transportation options but also safer and more reliable services for our student community.
“Strengthen the Connection between the LUSU, Individual Colleges, and Societies”
- Increase collaboration and support for these entities.
- Engage in regular dialogue, resource-sharing, and facilitating events that celebrate the unique contributions of each college and society.
Nathan Mooney
Nathan (he/him) has been Lonsdale JCR President and a Trustee on the board of the Students’ Union. His manifesto points are:
“Cheaper and More Accessible”
- Freeze campus rent.
- Work with local MP’s to increase maintenance loans.
- Better and more affordable transport options.
- Ensure Sugar is a venue with students at the forefront.
“A Union that Is Proactive, Not Reactive”
- Create a University strike plan.
- Create a wellbeing centred drug and sexual health induction.
- Provide Career/internship positions within LUSU.
- Have a Student led climate committee.
“A Union that Gives Back”
- Empower student leaders.
- Improve accessibility for access and opportunity funds.
- Create a Sugar reward scheme.
- Have dedicated Union social space(s).
- Have a JCR & LCO review.
Matthew Lamb
Matthew is the current Vice-President Media for Pendle College and a Union Assembly delegate. Their manifesto points are:
“Common Sense Approach”
- Challenge the prevailing progressive ideology.
- Oppose education-based strikes.
- Push for tuition rebates for affected classes from previous year’s strikes.
“Empower JCRs”
- Empower JCRs with control over intercollegiate sports and end of year extravs.
“The NUS”
- Propose to leave the system to save £22,000 a year.
- Implement austerity measures, cutting unnecessary spending to balance the budget.
“Free Speech”
- Promote free speech, common sense and patriotic values, including the right to protest in Alexandra Square.
- Oppose the current harm reduction drug policy.
- Advocate for a drug-free campus.
- Embrace all viewpoints.
- Challenge the current progressive consensus that has become regressive.
Education Officer
Joshua Chooyin
Josh (he/him) says he has been every kind of voluntary Academic Rep. His manifesto points are:
“Transparency”
- Ensure that students do not feel like they are “studying the university” due to “poor publicity and complex systems that slow work down”.
“Fairness”
- Wants to end significant hidden costs of studying seen on some courses at Lancaster.
- Fund on campus food banks.
- Ensure Wednesday afternoons are free.
“Empowered Students”
- Ensure that every student knows their rights, know who their Academic Rep is and feel in control of their future.
- Advocate for better support of Academic Reps by LUSU.
Tom Cross
Tom (they/them) is the current LGBTQ+ Forum Officer and has been an academic rep and student trustee. Their manifesto points are:
“Cost-of-Living Support”
- Continue Supper Club.
- Push the university for more student support funding.
- Improve Lancaster buses.
“Bring back Wednesday Afternoons”
- Free up Wednesday afternoons so students can choose to do activities.
“Improve the Academic Rep System”
- Introduce international student reps.
- Better training.
- Rep awards.
- Better support for faculty forums.
“Campaign against Discrimination”
- Run campaigns against transphobia & discrimination in higher education.
“Accessibility”
- Push the university to record lectures.
- Make study hours fairer.
- Make extensions easier.
- Reform ILSPs.
“Campaign for Postgraduate Students”
- Join national campaigns to improve their funding and treatment.
Huseyn Guliyev
Huseyn is the faculty representative of the Management School. Their manifesto points are:
“Generative AI”
- Prioritise the issue of the advantage that students who can afford to pay to get access to tools like ChatGPT Plus have.
- Open University access to GPT-4 and other advanced Generative AI tools.
“Coursework Extensions”
- Campaign to change the current policy on Academic Extensions.
- Continue the strong push for a limited number of evidence-free assignment extensions.
- Propose up to three no-questions-asked extensions for students throughout the year.
Harrison Stewart
Harrison (he/him) is a current FTO of LUSU, being VP Union Development. His manifesto points are:
“The Big Three”
- Free Wednesday Afternoons to ensure the free time for BUCS Sport.
- Cut the Timetabled Day to 9-5.
- Climate & Sustainability Education Embedded into Curriculum.
“Other Priorities”
- Fight for more Impactful and Long-Term Cost of Living Support from the University.
- Attractive Sponsorship Packages from The Sugarhouse for Clubs and Societies.
- Effective Training and Development Plan for Academic Reps.
- Assist and guide Academic Reps to build bridges with their departments that have been broken previously, helping to build Established Academic Communities.
His manifesto also discusses the current work he has done for the Students’ union. For example, rebuilding the Postgraduate Board and ensuring that LUSU goes Carbon Neutral by 2030.
Wellbeing Officer
Ella Smith
Ella (she/her) has worked on Lonsdale College’s JCR and with several LCOs. Her manifesto points are:
“Safety for Students”
- Reform the Counselling and Wellbeing system to clarify the services available to students.
- Build on the Late Night, Do It Right campaign by providing more resources for students in venues across town.
- Develop positive relationships with venue managers to ensure students get the most out of their nights out.
- Run housing awareness campaigns to help everyone understand on their renting rights
“Supporting Communities”
- Coordinate with JCR Wellbeing officers to support cross-college campaigns.
- Providing the tools to amplify campaigns run by Liberation Forums.
- Give spotlight to Sports and Societies execs to boost support and signposting.
- Match the demand for exec-role training across Colleges, Sports, Societies and Liberation Groups.
“Student Financial Assistance”
- Revise funding bids for the new academic year, ensuring that free food, access to sport, and emergency funding are available.
- Expand funding to encompass menstrual, sexual health, and general sanitary products.
Will Oliver
Will (he/him) is currently the Mens+ Welfare Officer for Lonsdale College. His manifesto points are:
“Cost of Living Support”
- Continue Josh’s work towards cost of living support.
- Encourage the continuation of Supper Club and LUSU pantry.
- Signpost hardship funds.
- Continue to push for affordable and functional student accommodation.
“Vastly Improving Mental Health Services”
- Thoroughly review the university’s mental health service.
- Signpost them more effectively and inclusively.
- Broaden training and better equip staff and students with ways of helping themselves and others.
“Responses to Discrimination”
- Implement a better system for people who are still suffering discrimination.
- Encourage people to report incidents.
“Wellbeing Infrastructure within Societies”
- Work with the new VP Activities to support society welfare, with better signposting and training.
Joe Innes
Joe (he/him) is the current VP Welfare, Equality and Diversity for County College. His manifesto points are:
“Main Policy Points”
- Provide mental health training for society & JCR execs.
- Increase collaboration between the SU and JCRs, Liberation and Campaign Officers and Forums.
- Ensure the SU is committed to extensive cost of living support.
“Cost of Living Crisis”
- Campaign for the further expansion of the LUSU Pantry and Supper Club to make them accessible to more students.
- Represent students’ concerns over accommodation prices and standards alongside the LUSU President.
- Ensure that free period products and contraceptives remain available throughout campus and SU accommodation.
- Ensure other campaigns such as the ‘late night do it right’ and ‘She Should Run’ campaigns continue alongside keeping Sugarbus free next year.
Activities Officer
Jack Watson
Jack (he/him) is the current VP Sport. His manifesto points are:
“Student Volunteer Recognition Programme”
- Develop a Student Volunteer Recognition Programme to tangibly reward the phenomenal work done each year by our executive committees.
“Societies Committee and Leagues”
- Continue to develop Societies Committee and leagues to ensure they too are fit for purpose.
“Student Leader Training”
- Expand the Student Leader training offer.
In his manifesto, Jack underlines all the work he has done for LUSU in his current position. For example, facilitating the Womens+ Sport Forum, introducing the Student Sport Access Fund, and supporting the transition to in-house student group finances.
Sky
Sky (they/them) has been on the committees for LUAC, ULMS, and the LGBTQ+ Forum. Their manifesto points are:
“Accountability”
- Implement a centralised complaints procedure providing a neutral voice for society issues, ensuring accountability for everyone.
“Roses”
- Make an official program detailing exact events and sports, but also key information like bus reservations and timetables.
- Ensure sufficient transport and needs such as catering.
- Streamline the welfare of all involved in Roses including athletes, spectators, officials, and media teams.
“Societies”
- Continue Santi’s work with the Societies Access Fund.
- Ensure funding for competitive non-BUCS sports.
- Work towards getting a designated societies minibus, ensuring inclusivity of non sports societies.
- Ensure visibility of the different societies.
- Work with the SU to reform its website to make it more user-friendly and accessible.
George Collins
George (he/him) has experience serving on execs as a President and Secretary. His manifesto points are:
“Lower the Bar”
- Secure the society access fund for next year, making activities more financially accessible to all.
- Facilitate training, ensuring activities are accessible for all, particularly neurodivergent students where student leaders would benefit from additional help.
- Wednesday afternoons free for activities (UG & PG).
“Raise the Bar”
- Collaborate with sports and societies on implementing the Sports Review.
- Improve staff accessibility to be available at key times (e.g. on Wednesdays for sports).
- Fight for student voices to be considered in the University’s space review on how spaces are used.
- Media Summit – work alongside Media groups to ensure their unique needs are met with a separate framework to other societies.
“Go to the Bar”
- Explore the standardisation of College space/bar bookings making them easier to book.
- Work with JCRs to create a regular and thriving bar scene on campus, collaborating with societies to provide entertainment.
Kyle Bailey
Kyle (he/him) has been the Rugby League Vice-Captain and Fylde College Pool Captain. His manifesto points are:
“Build upon Previous Officers’ Work”
- Advocate for all sports and societies.
- Ensure these groups have a prominent voice within the Student Union.
- Improve communication with sports and societies.
“Inter-Collegiate Sports”
- Strive to make sports and societies accessible to all students, regardless of their background.
- Strengthen partnerships with college JCRs and Sport Lancaster to ensure the success of events like Rivals, and make it easier to book pitches and courts.
Thomas Porter
Tom (he/him) is currently one of the Media and Communications Officers for County College’s JCR. His manifesto points are:
“Key Areas of Focus”
- Provide in person neurodiversity & inclusion, mental health awareness, and wellbeing training sessions for exec members of all societies and sports teams.
- Streamline and simplify the society affiliation process.
- Provide a prominent alumni donations fund platform for all societies on the LUSU Website.
- Keep the campus lively and animated all year round by increasing LUSU supported society taster sessions & fun events made for students.
“Other Areas He Would like to Do as Part of the FTO Team”
- Fight for lower costs across campus.
- Encourage more students to speak up about what they want from our SU.
- Increase inclusivity and accessibility in sports.
- Increase your employability through society skills workshops.
- Keep you updated with SU activities and promote your society events.
Voting opens Tuesday 5th March and ends Thursday 7th March.
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