James Potter, VP Education.

My Five Pledges. 1. A clear commitment on hidden course costs. Some departments have an expectation for students to spend large amounts of money to study their courses. The core textbook for BE400 is 44, EC114? 36. Biological Science? Things are even worse. I dont think this is right. Therefore I will Redesign the SU book sale system. o An online list of the books that the SU currently holds. o Closer cooperation with departments. o Involve course reps and convenors in the book sale process. Pressure departments to put course costs on Module Descriptions. o Work out estimates of how much each course costs, to raise awareness within departments and also to name and shame expensive courses. Praise departments who provide affordable resources to students. o Encourage and recognise good practice like affordable module readers and online resources. Work with the national student movement. o Id work across campuses to put rising course costs and lower student finances on the agenda. 2. Taking employability seriously. At the end of the day, we all want to get a good job after university. Rather than shy away from this problem, Id put it on top of my agenda as your education officer. Therefore I will Employ our own researchers. o Id hire our own undergraduates and postgraduates to find out exactly where the pitfalls lay in the careers process in order to target our resources more effectively. Encourage frontrunner feedback. o Id encourage the university to automatically give feedback after the application process. You need to know what you are doing right, and what you can improve on in order to get a job. Skills based employability modules. o Id encourage the university to put the development of skills at the heart of any employability modules that they offer. From project management, to social media usage and creative thinking, these skills should be developed in conjunction with the normal course content.

3. An empowered student union. I want students to take a larger role in the running of their union. Campaign for full executive transparency. o I think that students should know how we spend their money. Id publish any expenses and anything I spend in the executive budget. And openly pressure my colleagues to do the same. Reduce the cost of the executive. o Id try and save money wherever I can. I dont think a team building residential and expensive training programmes should be priorities when the budgets of ordinary students are as tight as they are. Id try and find cheaper alternatives and pressure my colleagues to do the same. Regular course rep forums. o Weve seen one course rep forum this year; I want to see more of them. If elected Id hold two course rep forums in the autumn and spring term. A fuller remit for course reps. o I want to encourage course reps to be more than just information gatherers. I want course reps to be able to develop and lead their own campaigns, and would help facilitate this process. Student research at the heart of what we do. o Essex is a top research university. Id hire students to conduct small-scale research projects to develop their own research skills and save money on research companies. An online complaints platform. o You shouldnt have to write a formal email, if you have a quick complaint that you want to report. I want a system where you can quickly log on to our website and register a complaint quickly, this complaint will then be followed up by myself, a convenor or a course rep within two working days. 4. Anonymous Marking. For some reason, Anonymous marking is optional at Essex. This is ridiculous; we cant afford to be this backward as an institution. If elected, Id strive to change this and make it a standard. 5. Education Awards. I think the union could do more to recognise good work. To facilitate this, Id set up education awards where students vote to recognise individuals who go the extra mile.

6. 24/7 Reading Room on Weekends. Whether its because of deadline all-nighters or the fact that you actually fancy doing some work before 2pm on a Sunday. I believe students should always have somewhere to study. Therefore I will Put pressure on the University to open the Reading room 24/7 over weekends. Got an idea? Give me a shout @JamesPotter73 on Twitter.

Policies from the Campaign. So. Ive asked you guys to have a look at my manifesto. Tell me what you think, and give me some ideas. Heres me listening to you. 1) More plug sockets in the library. (Contributed by Dom Condon) I will put pressure on the university to provide more plug sockets in the library. I will also put pressure on the university to make sure we can have as much access to plug sockets as is possible in the new student centre facilities. This got me thinking about how we could offer more study space to students. So heres my policy. 2) The promotion of top bar as a daytime study space. Offer reasonably priced hot drinks using the facilities in fusion.. Emphasise the fact that students can get water for free. Have a flexible music policy, if Top Bar is full of people working then you should be comfortable to ask our staff to turn it down. Allow reading groups to book the booths. Adapt: If people start using top bar as a study space, then we can look at spending money to accommodate more students, with more seating, earlier opening and more plug sockets.