Caitlyn Taft (she/her) from SCAN interviewed Harrison Stewart (he/him) on why he is running for Education Officer for the Students’ Union.
Harrison is the current VP Union Development. He is rerunning for Education Officer.
- You’re very passionate about climate and sustainability. How do you envision it being embedded into the curriculum?
Harrison told me about two different approaches he’s seen other universities take.
“We can add a whole new module to every course, which would be very difficult. Or, we could have it as a key thing in our curriculum. So students are constantly thinking about sustainability and the climate. It’ll be embedded as a subconscious theme.”
- Can you talk about overhauling LUSU’s Long Term Strategy? What does this mean for future students and LUSU individuals?
Harrison called the Long Term Strategy his legacy piece, saying:
“It’s based on a massive survey from students and key staff member in LUSU. It gives us a mission statement and four key themes to aim for. It makes it so we can hold ourselves at LUSU accountable.”
He continued:
“It’ll last 3 years and it gives LUSU a strategy plan. It’s the biggest project that the Students’ Union has done in years. So many people at Lancaster don’t believe in the Students’ Union but this will allow people to buy into LUSU.”
- Wednesday afternoons being taken up by lectures, seminars, labs, etc have caused a lot of stress for students, especially those who do BUCS Sports. How would you achieve the free Wednesday afternoons? On the topic of this, you discuss cutting the timetabled days to 9-5. Why do you think this will be beneficial for students?
Harrison told me about his own experience as a BUCs player.
“I’m in BUCs Sports and I know what it means to not have Wednesday afternoons free. Through my experience, I’m very confident to get it back. Other unis have cut their days down to 3 days a week. Boston College in America said that work-life balance increases, mental physical health increases, productivity is boosted. That’s all because of cutting down working hours.”
- Academic reps are really important and often times overlooked completely. You mention praising effective training and a development plan for them, how do you envision this coming about?
Harrison told me about his manifesto point on academic reps, stating:
“Academic reps are overlooked, even though they’re so crucial. LUSU doesn’t advertise the recruitment campaign. Why don’t we do that? Having different training sessions throughout the year, and making sure that their development is in the forefront will be what I work towards.”
- Can you talk more about how you want to help build established academic communities for academic reps?
He continued his point on academic reps:
“Certain academic departments invest into their academic reps. Other departments don’t. I want to demand that departments engage with academic reps more.”
- You have mentioned how you have rebuilt the postgraduate board. What did this mean for Postgraduate students?
Harrison told me about the Postgraduate Board and the opportunities it has brought for postgrad students.
“There are 9 colleges in Lancaster but only 8 are represented at university level. Postgraduates make up 24% of the students at Lancaster. There’s never been a space for them. It was a large constitution piece I worked on. It’s flourishing and now we’re representing Postgraduate students.”
- What is your idea about a Sugarhouse Scheme?
Unrelated to education, Harrison talks about this scheme in his manifesto.
“I know it’s not an education piece but you’re not just looking at education in this role. We are made to comment and learn and do things that aren’t the job you initially campaigned for. The scheme will be really easy to set up because of the relationship I’ve built with Sugarhouse. Having loyalty cards and a certain percentage behind the bar that will go back into the society. Societies often struggle with working with sponsors as they can be difficult.”
To vote for Harrison Stewart, you can head over to the LUSU website.
