The most integral part of our time in University is the standard and quality of education we experience. Our Union recognises that and hence has a position dedicated entirely to improve this experience. I, Sadaf Cheema, a final year International Relations student is running to be your next Vice President of Education (Arts and Sciences) because I believe that throughout my degree I experienced various hurdles and problems. While I navigated their solutions myself, I realised that through a position of power I can not only highlight these issues to our university’s administration but also work on solving them to prevent other students from going through the same. So here I am and following will be my priorities if you elect me as your Vice President of Education!

 

Timetabling and Exam Schedules:

Students this year faced grave timetabling issues where sometimes their timetables were not sorted for as long as 10 weeks. This induces a lot of unnecessary stress for students at the beginning of the term and is quite an unpleasant start. I plan to take the following measures regarding this.

• Dedicating a team from within the KCLSU that engages with the University’s timetabling department to ensure smooth running of the process and making sure there are no delays and no loopholes are overlooked
• Ensuring successful organisations of timetables well before the beginning of the new term.
• Ensuring timetables are made available to the students at least 3 weeks before the beginning of the term. Thus if problems or clashes occur, they can be resolved before the beginning of classes.

Another similar issue caused by lack of organisation is delayed exam schedules or sometimes extremely hectic ones. Here is how I plan to deal with this:

• Ensuring exam timetables are released at least 11-12 weeks before the exam dates.
• Setting the schedules with a perspective of empathy towards students and making sure enough time is allowed between each exam for students to perform their best.
• Ensuring exam schedules take in consideration the mental well-being of students and are set in a way that it is as manageable as possible. 

Expanding and Increasing the Considerable circumstances for MCF:

A lot of students often go through circumstances which can most definitely impact their performance in an approaching essay or exam however unfortunately they cannot apply for MCF since their circumstances don’t align with the designated categories.

In previous years many students (including me!) had to sit through an exam on Eid (A sacred day for Muslim) because it could not be considered as a mitigating circumstance.

• I plan to work with the university to introduce a new category of MCF for Faith Related Circumstances.
• Ensuring the revision of present MCF circumstances and making them more flexible.
• Working to make the evidence required for MCF less rigid when it comes to circumstances such as a death.
• Asking for a death certificate can be triggering for some students hence ensuring it is scraped completely and introducing a more lenient form of proof in this category. 

Overlapping and Cluttered Essay Deadlines:

One Major problem among some faculties this year that students experienced was numerous essays due on the same day or in the same week. This is problematic because it can be extremely challenging to work on different essays on entirely different topics at the same time. Moreover, these essays contribute massively or sometimes even half of student’s entire grade, hence making it extremely hard to prioritise and decide.

Overlapping deadlines can also be triggering for students that suffer from ADHD and can significantly hamper their ability to perform the way they wish can in their academic work.  I plan to work on this by:

• Engaging with different faculties and departments to understand the reasons for overlapping deadlines
• Ensure there is enough communication among module conveners to make sure deadlines don’t coincide on the same day or in the same week.

Improving the Personal Tutoring System:

While Personal Tutoring is a great way to ensure a better student experience, there are several problems within the system that need to be addressed. This includes students finding it hard to reach their personal tutors or sometimes being oblivious to the nature and kind of help and advice they can seek from their personal tutors. I plan to tackle this by:

• Dedicating a session in students induction every year throughout their degree to ensure they are well aware of the support available to them through personal tutors
• Instead of senior professors who often have hectic schedules and find it hard to accommodate personal tutees appointments immediately, introducing a paid scheme through which PhD students can offer the personal tutoring.
• This student-student interaction can be more comfortable and allows both to benefit from this engagement. These PhD personal tutors can then direct concerns where required, to senior professors.

Introducing cross-curricular Professional Courses

It is important to recognise that we exist in an extremely competitive world where skills outside of our degrees are heavily regarded and desired. Thus I plan to:

• Introduce a range of short professional courses both online and in person from different schools and faculties that are zero credit.
• Ensuring Students can benefit from these courses and are awarded a certificate of completion which can benefit them when they are entering the professional world.

Revisiting the content dedicated to GENDER in SSPP Degrees:

Often in Social Sciences degrees, we notice the absence of feminist theory and work of feminist scholars when discussing social and political aspects. If not absent, the entire work of feminist theorists is cluttered into a single week of the entire module and is considered sufficient discussion. I Plan to

• Question the absence of women from our reading lists and lecture content despite there being abundant literature that is both accessible and related
• Ensure there is at least one or two core or optional readings dedicated to the feminist perspective of political and social topics when discussed in SSPP degrees.

Promoting Empathy and focus on Student Well Being:

University life can often be a challenging time and can sometimes considerably impact our mental well-being. It is extremely important to be more empathetic and sensitive of the challenges students face. This empathy can be very helpful and can make students feel supported and cared for. I plan to do this by:

• Regulating and improving the system of KCLSU Well-Being Leads and making it more accessible for students.
• Collaborating with societies to arrange more and better cultural and traditional events which can help international students feel at home.
• Improving the current mental health support available to students in the university and KCL residences.

Endorsing and supporting the pre-existing KCLSU campaigns:

While I have some distinct ideas and goals I can work towards  as Vice President of Education, I fully acknowledge some excellent work KCLSU has done over the years and thus in my role as a VP I will be fully endorsing and supporting any work towards these campaigns:

• Decolonise KCL: As an International University it is important to decolonise the curriculum and make it less Eurocentric owing to its momentous international student body.
• Dismantle KCL:  This excellent campaign’s work to decolonise and eradicate institutional racism is extremely relevant and I aim to try my best to support and facilitate it.
• Scrap the Cap: I will work to ensure that this campaign which works towards ensuring that students don’t suffer adversely for a submission delay of even a single minute keeps going and get full cooperation from KCLSU.
• Preventing Prevent: I will vocalise my thoughts strongly against the Islamophobic campaign ‘prevent’ and will work towards raising awareness about its severe impacts on Muslim Students.
• Better Disability Support: I believe it is important to make our campuses accessible and inclusive for everyone and hence I will advocate for improving and expanding the support for people facing any kinds of disabilities.
• Bridging Attainment Gaps: I will work towards understanding and handling the attainment gaps better especially when it comes to BAME community.

KCLSU exists to make our university experience a truly memorable one and with the initiatives listed above, I am confident I can achieve all of that and more. With support and votes from you all I can show you the difference a year can make when your chosen Vice President Education (Arts and Sciences) is dedicated and passionate!