For a Postgraduate Community and a Queens That Works For You
For a Postgraduate Community and a Queens That Works For You
Dia daoibh a chairde,
I'm Eoin. I've been around Student Unions for a few years now, and I'm really hoping you'll put your faith in me as VP for Postgraduate Education next year. This year, I'm the Queen's Accommodation rep, and Deputy Speaker to Council. I'm currently pursuing an MA in History.
I don't believe in long manifestos, and I also don't believe in promising things I don't think are achievable. Students, particularly postgraduate students, have been faced with rising costs, a shortage of accommodation, and university institutions that seem to miss the point as to why we're feeling more and more alienated. We need to build on the work done by the Union in previous years to try and halt the decline in our conditions, and improve our university experience.
My main three policies:
1. Community: To work with the Graduate School and other institutions of the University to create and maintain a vibrant, sustainable postgraduate community. We need spaces for postgraduates to meet like-minded people who share their experiences, whether this is through greater engagement with university societies, union events, or otherwise. Much of the summer needs to be spent preparing for the new year, so that the structures are in place for postgraduates to get the most out of their time here, particularly if they’re new to Queens. We need more events to help international students feel as if they’re getting something back from their contributions to our community, and at present, most simply don’t. We can change this.
2. Fees: Ensuring a commitment by the University not to raise Postgraduate fees, particularly the currently extortionate fees paid by international students at Queen’s. Our postgraduates are not cash cows, but vital parts of all of our experiences here, helping to ensure a diverse, meaningful education. This feeds into commitments not to raise the cost of our accommodation and other, secondary fees students have to pay, and to fight for better pay for students working for the University. Relocation cost guides need to be produced, we need to keep the food options on campus affordable. Many of our Postgraduates are carers and parents, and that has to be respected and supported by the University. Even as our fees have risen, so has strike action (which I wholeheartedly support). So where is this money going?
3. A Queen's That Works For You: Queens feels, increasingly, like a corporation. Students that I've talked to report that bodies that are meant to work for us, to improve our experience, instead make us feel like we're coming into a place of employment, rather than education. We need student spaces that feel like student spaces, particularly for Postgraduate students. If social spaces are available and students just aren’t using them, then we need to find out why. Everything is getting commercialized at the moment, not just universities, but we need to push back from that influence seeping into Queen’s as much as we can.
These are my main commitments to the students of Queen’s. I also wish to expand the number of scholarships available wherever possible, especially to asylum seekers, refugees, and non-traditional learners.
Nothing here is impossible. We need a University that recognises the rights of students to have a university experience that is fulfilling and provides the best space for us to grow and thrive. I hope you'll support me for VP for Postgraduate Education.
Go raibh mile.