Election post
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.
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
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.