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MAXimise Your Education!



Hey y’all! I’m Max and I am running for the role of Education Officer this year! I am a fourth year maths student and when it comes to the Leeds University Union I haven’t just been there, done that and got the t-shirt, I’ve got the whole darn suit:



• Four years’ experience as a mathematics course rep including roles as the faculty’s library rep and ethics rep

• Three time society president

• General Interest Rep on the Activities Exec

• Completed a summer internship with the Leeds Institute for Teaching Excellence examining the effects and impact of the pandemic on university education

• Starred in the BBC Three Documentary “Freshers 2018: In Our Own Words”, following me on my first year freshers experience

• Won a Riley Award for Outstanding Contribution to the LUU due to my work on improving the LUU’s serious incident response and policy



When it comes to my core three policies – Just Think ICE!



Inclusivity: I will work tirelessly to ensure that ALL students are represented and included in the Leeds curriculum no matter what their social background or identity. This will involve embedding inclusive content in every course, making sure university staff and systems respect students chosen identity/name/pronouns, and making module enrolment fairer for all.



COVID Recovery: After a stressful couple of years it is the perfect time to reflect on, reform and re-invigorate the way we learn. The most important part is minimising the impact of the last couple of years on current student grades and negating any destruction caused to everyone, especially those who have been most affected by the pandemic, such as taking an integrated masters course or year in industry etc. I will use knowledge and experience gained on my internship with Leeds Institute for Teaching Excellence to help inform this decision.



Ethics: Considering the ethics and power behind the knowledge learned in university is vital to ensuring that we get the most out of university. As the first student in the School of Mathematics’ ethics theme team I have seen the benefits of introducing a greater consideration of ethics into the curriculum first hand.



Vote Max For Education!

Vote Meg #1 for Education



I am re-running for a second year as Education Officer at LUU, and there is so much I want to carry on working towards in this role. I graduated in 2021 with a degree in Philosophy, Ethics & Religion and I have been involved in plenty of clubs and socs at LUU since I came to Leeds in 2017. So far as Education Officer I have been involved in the work around financial transparency at the University, working towards abolishing hidden course costs and resit fees, trying to improve study space and library opening hours, support for Gypsy Roma Traveller communities, inclusion and accessibility in Higher Education, and campaigning for the value of arts degrees to be recognised.



If I’m elected to stay in this role for another year, I would like to continue working on my value of the arts campaign and continue to be involved in decolonisation work. I would also like to start highlighting the connection between student housing and academic success, as it has been shown that the places and spaces that students live and study in, and their distance from campus, have an effect on mental health and ability to complete university work (WONKE, 2022). This issue is something I would like to work with the University on to find a solution.



My Priorities:
Link between student housing & mental health - the spaces and places that students live and study in have an effect on outcomes and academic achievements (WONKHE, 2022), no student should be at a disadvantage due to their halls or housing

Engaging everyone in decolonisation - many aren’t aware of the decolonisation work at the University of Leeds and others don’t see how it applies to different schools, it’s important to get all students interested in decolonisation

Highlight the value of the arts - continue to campaign for the recognition of arts degrees and their value, and provide opportunities for students to network and showcase talent

Reform Mitigating Circumstances


Mitigating circumstances is an anxiety inducing process that causes stress rather than relief. Many professors don’t actively promote it as an option to students even though it is even more necessary to many after COVID. We will:

- Conduct student based research to make sure that mitigating circumstances support students rather than Universities.



Make Accessible the Standard



Students are forced to place their own accessibility measures into their learning when this should already be the norm. Our disability services do not help all students that need it, instead offering halfhearted substitutes. We will:


- Ensure that all University equipment such as laptops and library computers are equipped with accessibility software.


- Make sure that all lectures are available to watch again on Minerva. There shouldn’t be an expectation that all students will engage with lecture materials in one sitting whether this is due to disability, language barrier or something more.



Educational Accountability



We are at a university that loves to make promises. Unluckily, it is often hard to find the visible results and when students pinpoint the things that aren’t working, they are given minimal support to resolve the issue. I am hopeful for a future where all students feel like their voice matters. As the LBTQIA+ co-director of not on my campus UK, I have been involved with the organisation of their conference. This has been a good starting place to open up new discussions which is why I want to establish something similar for our University. We should be forcing the institution to engage in the conversations that matter to students, such as:


- Housing and tuition costs


- The low standards of education received in a COVID world


- The Universities negligence in supporting trans students and staff


- An imbedded culture of racism that is accepted as the norm by the university



I've been a student leader in my faculty for nearly three years. As I come to the end of my degree, I can reflect on countless numbers of negative student based experiences; myself included. I aim to help students reclaim their rights within education because we deserve better than what we receive. I don't see myself as a fully whole person yet, but I hope that you will give me a chance so that we can grow together.