SU21 - Michael Upham for Education Officer

The impact of Covid-19 has transformed education as we once knew it. Almost an entire cohort of students will know nothing other than online tutorials, digital assessments, and closed campuses. 

Next year, we will have the opportunity to shape what education will look like in a post-Covid world. 

After three years as a student representative, I have seen how inaccessible and outdated our education system is and how unprepared we were for Covid-19. Now I’m running for Education Officer, to change that system. 

As EPS Faculty Representative this year, representing over seven thousand students, I have seen the impact that the university’s decisions and practices have had on you. 

I’ve seen how your outdated assessments have caused huge problems, which is why I’ve been working with the university’s Centre for Educational Development to redesign them. If elected, I would go further, overhauling assessment in every School, making them more accessible and more effective. I’ll also push for permanent Safety Nets, including free and uncapped resits, so students can get the grades they deserve. 

I’ve seen how your wellbeing has been put second to the university’s profit margins. That’s why when the university was pushing to reduce the extra time in exams to less than thirty minutes, I stood against it. Students needed that extra time for protection against technical faults, to allow for caring responsibilities, or simply because many don’t have a quiet space with a suitable working environment.

I successfully campaigned for 24-hour take-home assignments in several Schools, and for no student to receive less than an hour of extra time. That’s also why this year I have co-written a new framework for wellbeing in EPS. Next year, I’ll put wellbeing at the heart of education in every School and ensure we tackle stress and workload. I’ll commit to ending bunched deadlines and removing assessments after the holidays, so you can get your much-needed rest.

As a representative, I’ve also seen how students wait weeks for feedback, well past the twenty-day limit, yet only receive a single mark, with no explanation or guidance for improvement. This isn't conducive to a good learning environment. How can students build and develop their skills and learning without the necessary guidance and support?

The quality of feedback provided is also wildly different across the university, meaning some students end up losing out. It’s simply not good enough. That’s why, if elected, I will create a university-wide Feedback Framework, to ensure quality feedback in every subject and to hold staff accountable. 

Meanwhile, I’ve seen how our international students are left without a voice in their education. That’s why I created an International Student Rep role in EPS this year and would now expand this if elected to create international student representation in every Faculty, so every international student can have their voice heard.

Throughout this year, I’ve also seen how students have continued to be charged obscene fees and saddled with decades of debt for an education. That’s why next year I’ll enthusiastically campaign for fee refunds and a tuition fee debt write-off. I’ll also campaign for free education, because education is a right and not a privilege, and should be open to everyone in society. 

The University’s response to Covid-19 has shown how education can change. 

After years of students campaigning for lecture recording and being told it was impossible, now it is the standard that all our lectures are uploaded online. 

After years of being told that we can only be assessed through timed in-person exams, many of us are now afforded 24 hours to complete our assessments online. 

After years of charging for resits and capping students at 40 per cent, last year both the cap and fee were temporarily lifted overnight. 

This year has shown that ‘that’s just the way it is’ is no longer an excuse. Students have been shown that there is scope for huge changes. We can make University education more accessible and inclusive for all. 

We can’t afford to lose this chance. It’s time to change education and bring Queen’s into the twenty-first century. 

To see all the candidates running for this position, visit the QUB SU Website.