So in my last post (read it here, if you missed it), I discussed the, almost complete, 11/12 Academic Session from the viewpoint of an Executive Officer. However, the elections for 2012/13 have just passed and it's probably a good time to reflect on the year ahead so here we are.
First, the results:
President:
The Candidates were Simon Patterson and William Mohieddeen (and RON). William Mohieddeen won.
Vice President:
The Candidates were Sarah Samson, Eamonn Laird and Andrew Southward. Sarah Samson won.
Executive Officers:
The Candidates were James Bastone, Scott McBurney, Ryan Campbell, Chris Knox, Richard Cook, Brett Murray, Kev Rooney and myself.
Winners were: Myself, James Bastone, Scott McBurney, Ryan Campbell, Richard Cook and Kev Rooney.
Thus making the Executive Committee:
William Mohieddeen
Sarah Samson
Brian Beacom
James Bastone
Scott McBurney
Ryan Campbell
Richard Cook
Kev Rooney
From the get go, it was always gonna be a hard fought election period - with the current President and Vice-President running against each other. This had the rather positive impacts of increasing election turnout dramatically and creating a good atmosphere for students several times. I would very briefly argue that the tension between candidates was far greater compared to last year, although this may be a reflection of me being more involved in the SA at the running of these elections.
It's on video before and after the elections and I'll unashamedly say it again - I did back Simon for President, the students clearly disagreed and for the sake of them, I'm happy to spend another year working with William. There are some issues that were clearly campaigned for this year and it's quite easy to guess what will occur in the near future - assuming the likes of Hands Off Abertay doesn't crop up again, of course.
Firstly, Media - it has been on the lips of the Executive Committee for several years - this is however the first time it has been actively backed by so many candidates. We've seen attempts at various forms of Student Media over the years, all of which have ultimately failed. What I speculate will happen this year is the implementation of a radio, the success of which will be largely down to the effort by those involved in its creation. I don't see a magazine happening, not a printed one anyway, it's been tried over and over and there is quite simply more arguments against it than for it. The last time it was costed, it came out as £1,300 an issue - advertising may offset some of this cost but it presents a large risk for the Students' Association, similarly the last time it was attempted in an online fashion, there was a lack of writers. I, of course, expect my peers in the Committee to attempt to prove me wrong and hope they are successful.
Next, Sports - Another issue that was widely campaigned for - everyone seemed in favour of the Students' Association taking control of Sports Teams. I have to admit, even I agree entirely - the current structure is 100% autocratic and is costing our sports teams hard earned top-spots. However, I have concerns regarding how we go forward with this, William's plan seems to be to elect a Sports President and then move forward from there trying to negotiate a job for them with the University. The way I see it however, there are 2 people who should lead the way in this argument. First is the Sabbatical that takes the helm for it, I imagine this will be William, though I regard it closer to Sarah's remit. Second is Ryan Campbell, as the only Executive Officer who is currently on a Sports Team - he represents the evidence based campaigning aspect. He can go in and explain exactly why we'd be better off, the tricky part as I see it may well be getting these 2 people on the same track. Fundamentally though, my 2 cents would be that a Sports President is completely unneeded - as Simon declared in his own Election Campaign - Sports Teams could easily be rolled into our Societies system and handled by the Vice President with very little extra work on their part.
Cuts and Fee's - they cropped up so much they are worth a mention - I just don't really know what to say about them. The Students' Association has already agreed that the University's degree package is a fair offering with costs reflecting the cost of study, meanwhile Westminster seems hell-bent on destroying education and the Scottish Government is standing by it's decision not to charge Scottish students but has started working with NUS Scotland in areas of widening access and retention (which is where our focus should be, not cuts and fees). So all and all, cuts and fees sounded nice on manifestos but amounts to very little.
And then there was the rest:
Societies - Little looks set to change, the training day will improve, as you would expect given last year's was a pilot. Funding shouldn't change, £100 start-up funds, £150 annual block grant and discretionary funds available.
Class Reps - I expect this will become an issue, or at least I hope it will. I think it was hammered into the heads of the candidates in the election debate that the class rep system isn't working when one student raised her hand and noted that she didn't have a class rep. Personally, my intention is to ask Oor Wullie to comply with the constitution such that class reps that don't attend 3 SRC's in a row are removed from the system and re-elected. I'd also advocate more control over training days and more than one of them as well and I hope the Committee will side with me on this.
RAG - As I pledged in my manifesto, I'll be pushing for control of RAG as it has historically been an Executive Officer's position. In which case, I'll be looking to act fast and get charities in place long before any society has to decide whether to donate to us or not. I'll continue in the fine tradition, started by Dee, of looking to our students for inspiration on events to run however I have a few in mind.
NUS - Hopefully our relationship with NUS will remain as strong as ever, despite William's claims that NUS have left us in the dark. All the evidence I've seen points to the opposite, they have been some of our strongest allys.
And that about wraps up my expectations of 2012/13 at the University of Abertay Dundee Students' Association.
I feel it's important to remind people that I speak independently of the Students' Association in these blog posts.
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