Madeeha Saher

                                                                                                                                                               ‘Striving to help you reach your full potential.’
 

Hello everyone!

My name is Madeeha and I’m in my 4th Year studying Politics, Philosophy and Law. I’m running to be your Vice President for Education (Arts and Sciences) for the upcoming year! I have friends from various academic backgrounds, and as I am a part of three different faculties, I have noticed patterns that affect students at King’s.

Considering this, as your Vice President for Education (Arts and Sciences), I would aspire to make the following changes:
 

1. Educational Accessibility

           Increased Module Options

• I will expand the module options available for students, including greater access to intercollegiate modules (taking modules at different universities), and across different faculties.

           Study Spaces 

• I will strive to open more study spaces across all King’s College London campuses, to increase student access to study on campus.

            Laptops

• Due to the rising Cost of Living Crisis, it is becoming increasingly more difficult for students to afford the relevant technology required for their course. Moreover, laptops may be expensive and difficult to afford for some. In response to this, I would seek to establish a laptop bursary scheme, which will provide the laptops they need to engage fully with their academic material and assessments.
• I would also seek to lengthen the loan period for KCL laptops, and significantly reduce the fee for late laptop returns, which is currently £5 for every late hour.
• I wish also to increase the number of laptops available to borrow across all KCL campuses.

 

2. Consistency

            Marking

• I aspire to improve the consistency of marking of all assessments across faculties.
• Many students are currently feeling discontent at the wide variation of marks given, with little feedback regarding justifications for their marks. I would advocate for more tailored academic feedback for all assessments, so students have a greater understanding of how their marks are justified.
• I would endeavour to introduce more cohesion in marking within modules and across modules, to ensure that similar quality work is granted similar grades.

            Group Presentations

• Many courses have group presentations, however it is still important that everyone is graded on their own efforts and merits. I would ensure that student grades are not negatively affected in group presentations, merely because of the peers they were working with.
• King’s has one of the most diverse student bodies across the UK, yet not a lot of students know enough about other religions or cultures to promote interfaith dialogue and create an equitable and open learning environment. 
• In collaboration with different societies, I aspire to create a module which helps students access information about some of the major religions in the world and learn more about them. 
• Hosting more Interfaith events at King’s throughout the year. 

 

3. Academic Inclusivity

           Submission Leniency:

• At present, students are given immediate fails if they submit an exam late online, or capped at a pass (40%) for late assessments- even if they are a second late! I would push the introduction of invisible grace periods. This would allow faculties to be more lenient in accepting a late submission due to technological issues (which are not currently considered as a valid mitigating circumstance).
• Alongside this, many top universities have introduced the gradual deduction of marks for late submissions, rather than an automatic cap or fail. I would aim to also introduce this for King’s students, which would enable King’s students to be fairly graded, and consequently enable you, the student body, to reach your full academic potential.

 

           Assessment Deadline Bunching

• I endeavour to advocate for spacing between assessment deadlines, as assessment bunching and multiple deadlines at the same time, can be highly stressful and may hinder students from submitting their best work.

           Faith-Related Clashes

• I would advocate for greater consideration of faith-related commitments and prayer times (such as Friday prayers) when timetabling classes. This would ensure that students can attend all classes, whilst also adhering to any religious commitments they may have.
•  I seek to introduce exam breaks for those who need to pray during exam times, to ensure they are not adversely affected by missing part of their exams.
•  I will try to ensure that no exams or assessment deadlines fall on any faith-related holiday or festival.

             Decolonising Academic Curricula

• I will continue to ensure that academic curricula is decolonised.

 

4. Cultural Sensitivity

Tackling Microaggressions

• I want to establish a series of events to tackle microaggressions at King’s, and how to deal with (and avoid) microaggressions at university and beyond.

             Training Staff and Student Leaders

• I seek to develop more formalised training for staff and student leaders on how to appropriately address and handle sensitive topics.

 

I am also an active member of the KCLSU community: I am currently President of The Indo-Pak Development Forum, a KCL Widening Student Ambassador, a pro-bono volunteer assisting with cases at King’s Legal Clinic, and a GCSE tutor. Therefore, I am familiar with the educational challenges that exist, and I believe my experience has equipped me to be able to address your concerns appropriately.

Thank you for reading my manifesto, and for considering me as your upcoming Vice President for Education (Arts and Sciences)! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me on: [email protected]

Have a lovely day :)