NUS Conference Delegate - remaining candidates

My name is Zoe, I’m a third-year undergraduate studying History, Politics and Economics at SSEES. I am involved in students advocacy on campus and with Liberate the University, a student activist group advocating for free, decolonised and demarketised education.

Experience as a sabbatical officer (Oxford SU, 2017-18) where I supported the first wave of UCU strikes by standing as a sabb on UCU picket lines.

Experience as a UNISON workplace steward at QMUL (2019-2021) where I successfully campaigned against detriment to cleaners' working conditions.

Core campaign member for the successful UCU solidarity campaign UCL VOTE YES (2022) and the petition that forced it.

Tenant's rights activist, party-political campaigner (Corbyn's Labour), LGBTQ+ staff network chair, protest chant leader, poetry competition winner.

As the Founder of Pankh, a menstrual hygiene organization to empower rural, menstruating girls by building self-esteem for greater socialization during their periods, I learned what it means to be the voice of others. In the course, interacting with people from diverse backgrounds, enhanced my ability to work in cross-cultural environments, amplifying my exposure and communication skills. This will help me add value to the NUS as a delegate as I would be able to voice students' opinions better, more confidently, and with an open mind. 

 

My name’s Shaban Chaudhary, and some of you might already know me as the current Director and Student Trustee SU UCL. For those who don’t, I’m a 2nd year student who has enjoyed a role in student governance for quite some time, I was the Assistant Director High School and the Student Council Advisor at my high school, where I steered the direction of Council and introduced a Mentorship programme, something that I still run. Leveraging 6+ years of management and governance, I believe that I’ll be able to represent UCL's values and political priorities of students at national level.

Easily approachable: I am the current LLM representative. I am able to actively listen to your views and bridge the gap between students needs in UCL and expressing them at the NUS.

Reliable: I ensured to resolve students complaints with regard to exam changes due to Covid-19. This led to extensive reporting on students sentiments towards the examination department.

I have previous experience of being my sixth form's Integrity Club president, which aimed at fighting corruption in academic spaces. Being involved in liberation campaigns pushed me to better understand the struggles underrepresented members face and this will allow me to

delve into the nuances of each student's

experience to improve it. Volunteering opportunities made me proactive by gaining the

interpersonal skills required to transparently

engage with the concerns students have and

motioning those.

Being a Student Representative, I have found myself raising issues of varying degrees of seriousness to key figures in my department.  I have previously held the roles of Ethnic Minorities Officer in MidEssex Young Labour, and was Women's Officer in the exec. of my previous constintuency's Labour Party. Therefore, I am well familiarised with the structure of unions and conferences, and can use the skills I have acquired from my membership for serving the UCL student body by persisting in our voices being heard.

 Excellent and in-depth multi-faceted understanding of students. As a current UCL postgraduate student and a PGTA on some courses in the School of Engineering, and a professional student representative, I am very familiar with undergraduate and postgraduate teaching content stances and approaches.I have an excellent ability to summarise and identify issues and express my views. I have several internships (e.g., Microsoft) and have been involved in two papers (eg AAAI, EI.)I learn more about people's perspectives by regularly interacting with students from different countries.

I am committed to student organising and campaigning. I am pro-UCU and a trade unionist, and have vast experience both on picket lines and dealing bureaucracy, qualities I believe that will help me as an NUS delegate.

I additionally sit as the Communications and Campaigns Officer for the UCL Labour Society, a position which has seen me manage and contribute towards various campaigns both on campus and in the wider community. I will use these qualities and my experience to defend a de-marketised education system and ensure we do not diverge from the radical agenda we wish to achieve. 

I’ve been supporting the work of UCL Student Socialist Alternative for the academic year - I’ve also helped with the preparation and organization of protests to demand free education and strike action for the UCU. 

I’m experienced with graphic design and editing. I’m familiar with software such as Canva, ProCreate and Adobe Premiere. This means I can use art, photography/videography and social media to mobilize students to build mass movements. 

I have worked in my department's EDI committee as a student rep for two years and am a current lead department rep, where I learned to negotiate and voice student demand for change. I will use these experiences to actively push for change on the conference floor. 

As a first year, I’ve been active in democracy activism for about 3 years.

This year, I’ve been on campus campaigning weekly for the Student Union to support the strikes. But I must stress this as collective work, together with members of Student Socialist Alternative and supporters of our campaigns.

Recently, I’ve helped organize and lead a protest to demand free education at UCL. It was amazing to see UCL staff join our march calling for UCL management to meet their demands. Going forward we need more of these actions, with bigger and bigger numbers, to escalate until victory!

• I have experience as a Module Rep and Lead Department Rep
  • I regularly attend DTCs and SSCCs, so I am confident representing students and finding solutions
• I have taken initiative when students have felt passionate
  • e.g. on assessments and inclusivity practices
• I am Co-President of the EduSoc and took a major role in its re-establishment
  • Aiming to create greater community at the IOE, shows I care about students' wellbeing
• I am committed to listening to students and representing them to create progress in Higher Education

I have experience in lobbying and advocating for student rights through my work in external organisations and have a deep understanding of the issues pertaining to students. 

As part of the BME Network & Women's Network committee and as a volunteering rep I currently work on incorporating student views in policy-making processes and other discussions. I worked as a course rep to bring forward thoughts, ideas and concerns of students and served as a student trustee in the SU and so have plenty of experience in effectively representing and amplifying student voices.

My strongest attribute is my determination. I take on every challenge head-on and do what I need to accomplish my goals, even when the challenge is difficult. Every time I was given a new challenge during my time as a student representative in the sixth form or running programming workshops in my undergraduate years, I always enjoyed stepping up and demonstrating my skill at that new task. An innovative mindset, enthusiasm, and being self-motivated are some qualities that are common between me and what an NUS conference delegate must possess.