“This is something back in my second year I’d always thought about running for”. Bee Morgan is running for VP Education, and has been motivated by receiving the “brunt end” of the educational system throughout her natural science degree, so has seen first-hand where the cracks in the system exist. She also has experience as an academic rep, so running for VP Education felt like the natural next step for her.
When asked about the current problems with the Students’ Union, Bee felt that there were issues with the perceptions of the Union, and people “don’t understand what the Union does”. She would like to see an implementation of better communication of the support available for students and societies.
Bee sees tuition fees as a major issue for students. She cites the potential plans for course-specific tuition fees, which would “make a big change to university life”. As VP Education, she would make sure students are comfortable with this, especially at the time of Brexit.
She also values lecture recordings as a priority, especially for 6-7pm lectures as an interim phase before new lecture theatres are built. Bee sees this as important in getting “value for money” for students’ degrees.
“Students cannot perform as well as they’d like to” under the current university exam and assessment system, Bee believes. She would like to change the “bunching” off exams and assesments by spreading them out through departments, which will improve student welfare as well as performance. She believes this is highly achievable, and it simply being a symptom of “inconsistency across the University”.
Concerning costs of education, Bee would like to remove the hidden costs within certain departments- for example, excessive purchases in field trips in LEC, and the compulsory purchase of resources like textbooks and art supplies in LICA. She would ensure students can communicate this through the open office system, social media and an improved university-wide communication system that is transparent in the changes the Union and academic reps are making.
Bee’s manifesto talks about off-campus study space, and she said she would build on the work already carried out by current VP Education, Ian Meeks in confirming off-campus developments. She said this is essential in catering for students with disabilities and mental health issues.
Finally, Bee proposes a reformed academic rep system, which will ensure stronger representation, especially for joint-major students. She has already assisted the introduction of an academic rep for natural science students after they were excluded from the scheme. To promote this, she would continue with the Union volunteers who promote the system on the spine, and raise awareness of the successes of academic reps that often go unheard.
Trivia: Bee could name all 4 educational faculties.
