Nominations: Nominations closed
Voting: Voting closed
Election
Read about what the Mature & Part-Time Students' Officer is responsible for.
In order to vote for this position you must be a part-time student OR a student who began an undergraduate course after the age of 21, or a postgraduate course after the age of 24.
Category
Candidates
Danilo Paganelli
What will you bring to this role (e.g. experience, skills or qualities)?
I have made been a part time student since early 2021 and have been on several committees during my time at UCL, including also being the co-Disabled Officer at UCL last year. Hence I have a good understanding of the Student Union and on leading events. I also have a lot of connections and thus this will be essential in creating collabs and expanding the M&PT network. I also have 2 jobs and I thus understand the difficulties of juggling both jobs and education, and I want to help support students managing this, such as by lobbying UCL to make more lectures hybrid/recorded.
What do you hope to achieve in the role if you are elected?
In addition to pledging to be there for anyone who needs my support, my aims for next year include:
Host fortnightly events – both online and in person – so that M&PT students can meet eachother and make new friends
Lobby departments/UCL to make lectures hybrid to help those commuting
Make a committee for the network to help our students even more (including marginalised communities, such as POC, LGBTQ+ and Disabled students)
Make a "M&PT" Instagram and Facebook so that people can ask for support more easily
Please summarise why students should vote for you.
I will ensure that you are able to meet lots of other part time students and are able to make amazing friends. I will ensure that I am contactable so that I can help in any way and help solve or signpost any issues that may arise during your time at UCL – I will strive my hardest to help however I can. I also will try my hardest to ensure that UCL makes life easier for us who are part time and/or those starting as mature students and help make positive change.
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Christopher Johnson
What will you bring to this role (e.g. experience, skills or qualities)?
I am a part-time mature student studying for an MA in Comparative Literature, juggling studying with parenting and other caring roles. Before deciding to return to college, I was a journalist, foreign correspondent and editor working in several different countries across Europe and Asia.
Since starting at UCL in September, I have been keen to improve the provision for mature and part-time students throughout the university and want to help the Students' Union target more support to this large but isolated and mostly overlooked minority.
What do you hope to achieve in the role if you are elected?
Mature and part-time students need far more support across the whole of UCL and the Students' Union.
I would like to focus on three main areas:
* Social - Establish and run an active Mature & Part-Time Students' Society with social events and gatherings plus a physical space for us to meet
* Information and contact points for part-time students, on how courses, modules and examinations differ from those for full-time students. We need changes to Moodle and the Students' Handbook to help part-time students
* Support - Advice and counselling tailored to mature and part-time students
Please summarise why students should vote for you.
Since October, I have been working with the current Mature & Part-time Students' Officer, Tope Oyelade, to improve support for mature and part-time students, a diverse group with widely differing needs. I have proposed an action plan to improve support in a range of areas.
We now have a Mature/Part-Time UCL WhatsApp group with more than 60 members and have been organising social events, including weekly Huntley Mondays (1pm @The Huntley) and monthly social gatherings.
But there's so much more to do.
Please help me ensure mature and part-time students feel included - not isolated - at UCL.
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Kai J Chappell
What will you bring to this role (e.g. experience, skills or qualities)?
- I have already been a part-time student for a year at UCL, so understand the pros and cons of this mode of study and feel well-placed to support part-time students.
- I was a student representative in two different roles as an undergrad, both as a course representative and as a student ambassador, so have experience representing the views of my peers and actively seeking positive change.
- I have worked in roles in my career which have required me to have an understanding of a range of people and views, which seems right for a role where people are studying in a range of ways.
What do you hope to achieve in the role if you are elected?
In 2022-23, over 6,500 students at UCL were part-time students - each with their own reason for studying part-time, whilst mature students begin their studies for a number of reasons. Both groups are often have a very different university experience - but difference doesn't have to be a bad thing!
I hope to:
- Conduct a student-wide survey in Term 1 of part-time and mature students to understand people's reasons for studying in this way
- Tailor social events and study skills support to best accommodate different groups
- Work with academic staff to improve the experience of M/PT students
Please summarise why students should vote for you.
As a part-time student myself, I understand some of the issues part-time students and mature students face when it comes to starting at and integrating into a new university. I hope that my experience in 2022-23 will mean that, next year, I am able to continue to include mature and part-time students in the planning of social events, study skills support, and work with academic staff to ensure full inclusion for us as students who typically are after thoughts when it comes to university level planning.
I hope that 2023-24 will be the best year to be a part-time or mature student at UCL!
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Sam O'Sullivan
What will you bring to this role (e.g. experience, skills or qualities)?
Hello, I am Sam - I am a mature undergraduate student in my second year in the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies. I want to be your student officer because I genuinely want to improve the experience of mature and part-time students at UCL.
Unfortunately, very little was accomplished this year. Being an older student or studying while balancing work and/or family commitments is as lonely and difficult as ever - but there is so much that could be done to change this. I have the drive and, most importantly, the time, to make these changes happen.
What do you hope to achieve in the role if you are elected?
I will:
- Hold more social events (incl child-friendly socials for parents).
- Organise 'returning to study' training to help with academic writing, study, IT and referencing skills.
- Set up a Mature and Part-time Students Network. As well as giving us an official space within the Union to hold events, this would also give us a louder voice in the Student Union's various committee groups. It is through these committee groups that we can affect real change, so getting access to as many of them as possible is a priority.
- Lobby the SU to find create a mature students' common room.
Please summarise why students should vote for you.
I want to make UCL a place where older and other non-standard students can actually have fun, and not just study. There is a lot of support for postgraduates but none for mature undergraduates, or students with parenting responsibilities - so this is an area I really want to focus on.
I hope you can vote for me. :)
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