Mórrigan McEvoy

Hi! My name is Mórrigan McEvoy, and I am re-running to be the Accessible Education Officer in the Students’ Union! 

My main priorities are:

- Virtual Campus Room Finder Search Tool

- Sustainability & Cost-of-Living Support

- Improved Physical Accessibility

- An Equal Experience for All

Who am I?

I am a psychology student who has been working as the Accessible Education Officer in the Students' Union as my placement year. I have been part of many societies throughout my time at Queen's, such as the French Society, Walkie Talkie Girlies, the Marine Biology and Zoology Society and of course the Psychology Society!  I love getting to know students and improve their university experience, which has been a big motivator of mine for re-running in the SU Elections.

What Experience do I have?

As the current Accessible Education Officer, I have been working on a multitude of projects this year, spanning from sustainability and improving study spaces on campus to LGBTQIA+ student support. I have sat on several influential University groups, bringing the student voice to the decisions made at the top. For example, I sat on the Committee for Equality Diversity, and Inclusion considerations for our new campus in Gift City, Gujarat, the Committee developing the University's Racial Equality Charter application, and the University's Sustainability Committee. This broad scope has allowed me to examine the consistent accessibility issues students are experiencing at Queen’s, which has influenced the policies and projects I will work on if re-elected.

Going back further than this past year, as a psychology course rep, I learned how to listen to and represent the student voice to Queen’s staff, and along with the other student reps, I made real change for the students in the School of Psychology regarding assessment feedback, assignment bunching and exam guidance.  

My Priorities in Detail

Virtual Room Finder Search Tool

• Currently, students have no consistent or detailed online resource that allows for easy wayfinding on campus. You won’t meet a student at Queen’s who hasn’t gotten lost at least once on campus. The lack of support for locating rooms and buildings on campus is unacceptable and inaccessible.
• In a recent survey run by AccessAble, 97% of responders expressed increased anxiety levels when they could not obtain accessibility information about a location in advance of arrival. Our students feel this, too. It causes decreased confidence levels and time wasted lost in the corridors of an unfamiliar building- not to mention the complete disregard for students who need to plan ahead to find an accessible/disability-friendly route.
• I refuse to let the location of QUB buildings and rooms remain a mystery to our students. The Room Finder will allow students to search up any room name/code in QUB buildings and get directions there (elevator-only routes, too, of course.)
• This year, I have already started work researching the Room Finder and I am currently liaising with Queen’s to progress this project. If re-elected, I will push this over the line in a timely manner.

Sustainability and Cost-Of-Living Support

• This year, I have been working closely with the QUB Sustainability Team to collaborate on sustainable projects and initiatives that affect students and our wider environment. Sustainability is a passion of mine, which is why you can rely on me to make sure that Queen’s actually adheres to their sustainability pledges.
• Placement Student Support: Placement students often feel isolated and underappreciated, and this cannot continue. I will improve the wellbeing resources available to placement students so that they can get the help they need, when they need it. I will also work to give hospital-based medical placement students free parking, as no student should have to incur this cost on top of their regular expenses.
• Regular repair workshops: I will organise free, regular repair workshops for students to advertise sustainability as well as support students in the current cost-of-living crisis. These workshops will focus on a range of practical skills, but can be adapted to what students want to learn. This means that students can depend on themselves for these tasks rather than having to pay someone else to do them.
• Waste Reduction on Campus: Queen’s has a Net Zero 2040 plan, and our excessive use of single-use crockery and products on campus is completely incongruous to this. I will continue liaising with Queen’s to reduce waste on campus, particularly our single-use waste.
• Recipe Network: Students are struggling to afford to eat and a lot of us don’t know how to make quick, cheap, nutritious meals. To help this, I will create a network where students can upload recipes for such meals, letting other students know where the good discounts are, and how to bring the ingredients together. This will also allow students to learn about other cultures and their meals, bringing our university community closer together.

Improve Campus Accessibility:

• Students across campus have expressed their disappointment for the lack of accessible entrances and accessible features of certain buildings on campus. Queen’s takes no accountability for this and no change has been enacted. I will ensure that all buildings on campus undergo an audit for physical accessibility and following on from the results of this audit, adjustments are put in place. I will also work on making this audit a regular occurrence for campus, so that accessibility is maintained.

Equal experience for all:

• Student Parents and Carers: Parents and carers deserve to enjoy their time at university as much as any other student, yet they are balancing extra responsibilities with no official support network at Queen’s. I will work on securing an official bursary fund for student parents and carers.
• Sophisticated Neurodivergent Support: This year, I have been working with the Postgraduate Education Officer on upscaling our study spaces on campus so that both neurotypical and neurodiverse students feel comfortable using them. I will continue this work, ensuring that all future study spaces created/adapted on campus incorporate student feedback. Equally, I will continue work on diversifying our curriculum towards more inclusive teaching and assessment, so that all types of learners feel they are receiving a quality education and can retain the information they are learning.
• Improve parking: In particular, students with accessibility requirements and commuting students struggle with campus parking on the daily. It is completely unacceptable to let our students suffer like this. I will work to improve parking in close proximity to Queen’s for these students, to reduce anxiety, time-wasting, and money.

Blood Drives in the Students’ Union:

• The students of today want to give back to their community and make societal change. A great way to do this is through donating blood. I will work to implement regular blood drives in the Students’ Union throughout the year, so that students can easily donate without needing to travel or book in advance.

Timetabling and Scheduling:

• Timetabling and scheduling affect every single student at Queen’s. It is time that the University calendar reflects the ever-changing needs of students. I will work with the University and Schools to ensure that classes are scheduled in a way that fits their students’ needs and availability. This will have a particularly positive impact on commuting students, student parents and carers, and neurodiverse students.

All of my policies are rooted in the student voice and student feedback; I will continue to use the student voice to shape my work.

Accessible education affects us all, and I will ensure that that effect is positive, meaningful, and long-lasting.