On 24rd February 2015, Room One heated up as the second of the Exec Election Bubble Debates took place. The evening was once again hosted by Nina Blissett on stage and Dave Thompson in the crowd, talking to the panel and sharing social media interactions. Nina brought us an introduction to the evening, saying that “we want candidates to clash” and that this would be the “hardest job interview of their lives”. We were also introduced to the panel; Sarah Haar- Ex- VP Action, Axelle Savary- Butler Court Hall Chair, George Hones- former Rigg Rut Hall Chair and Hamza Modi- involved in Action,Welfare and chair of Bakewell Hall. For anyone who was there, I’m sure you’ll agree that the evening was a lot more intense than the first debate as the panel asked intrusive questions alongside audience and social media participation.
You candidate, Kailey Hazeldene was brought on stage alongside current VP Education Amy Ward.
Kailey’s 30 second speech showed that she has a lot of experience, has been a programme rep for 2 years and is now the president on her course. She assists regularly as department open days and is one of three elected students to sit on senate.
Amy: How will you respond to straight NOs from members of staff?
Kailey: I want to continue your work and make sure that Reps know that things are continuing projects. Continuity is important.
Axelle: What are you going to do to make sure the lecturers put students first and not their reserach?
Kailey: Make sure that the students undertsand research to provide engagement and interest. It is important to give lecturers the option to make sure that they are always interested in the modules they’re teaching.
Hamza Modi: Are you offering anything different or new to Amy?
Kailey: I’d like to introduce a VP Education Question Time so that I could be brought up on my manifesto points more often.
Sarah Haar was speaking to Vicky, a previous VP Education who asked: Should your eductaion be considered a section of the union?
Kailey: Yes, everyone is here for a degree! We had 2000 respondents in education week alone and we should push it more.
Amy: There is a gap between being a course President and a VP, we don’t have a committee- how will you prepare yourself?
Kailey: I’ve been on 3 working groups to represent students and I sit on senate. I have been putting myself forward for as many roles as possible and have spoken with lecturers on all different courses.
Twitter question: How can we stop exam bunching and make it clash less with sporting events?
Kailey: We could open David Wallace sports hall for one week- it is used less during exam time. Education can come first for one week and Saturday exams could be a possibility. In exam period- you don’t know when the weekend is anyway.
Twitter question: Do you agree that all lecturers put their research first?
Kailey: A lot of lecturers don’t put it first. We have working groups and student engagement working on this kind of thing. I could help in this role to raise awareness that this might be happening and then roll out the innvoative ideas that the univeristy already has.
Tweet from Lborogradschool: In Sept we open a new lboro campus in London. What will you do for the educational experience of Loughborough in London students?
Kailey: I’ve sat on a group that has considered this kind of thing- spreading the whole of Loughborough into London. I can impact on the experience they’re having there.
George Hones: What is the logistical run through on rooms for extra learning areas..? Where might you expand?
Kailey: The old Bill Mo common room is being looked into. Cost is an issue- but I believe that degree quality, learning experience and student experience can all be imporoved- and hence funding will be increased as a reuslt anyway. Some of the costs are outweighed by the benefits.
Kailey responded well to many questions from various sources and appears to know about the role, having had student experience in President and Programme Rep roles.
