Rebecca Would

Candidate for Vice President Education and Democracy

Photo of Rebecca Would

Key Points

  • Assessment timings and weightings review
  • Increase feedback options and representation in all modules
  • Transition support for students leaving university
  • Greater prominence of sustainability within all degrees
  • Collaboratively support students from underrepresented backgrounds

Why vote for Rebecca Would?

Assessment timings and weightings review: Students should be given assignment weighting, workload and approximate due date at the start of the module so they can plan work to reduce mental health stresses at the end of term. I will work with departments and schools to help balance assessment weighting and workload consistently and transparently across modules. This helps students understand what is expected of them, and will ensure sustainability of student workload.  

Increase feedback options and representation in all modules: I want to increase visibility of all student reps in each school to allow informal feedback at all levels. This will be especially beneficial to Joint Honours students, students taking a minor, and anyone taking a module that isn’t run by their school - as they can often be left out of informal requests for module feedback. 

Transition support for students leaving university: When students graduate or otherwise leave university, this shouldn’t mean an instant disconnect from the university or union. I intend to make the current options and systems more open and transparent so students know what support is available before they leave and create a way for alumni and students not presently enrolled to give feedback about their experience to support future years. 

Greater prominence of sustainability within all degrees: There is some fantastic work already occurring with the university sustainability team and the new Faculty Sustainability Reps, and as a Geography student promoting this and giving it a louder voice is very important to me. I will promote and share this work to students so everyone knows how their departments are improving sustainability through their teaching and general practice. I also want to continue to uphold and further the sustainability work going on within SUSU.

Collaboratively support students from underrepresented backgrounds: I want my time as VP EdDem to be collaborative and responsive, working with and listening to students from all backgrounds to learn what they would find most helpful. This will include collecting feedback and hosting discussion groups with students from both personal underrepresented backgrounds and underrepresented within the university such as post-grads, mature students and students based at all teaching campuses. This will support further work with the other SABBs and the rest of the SUSU team to ensure SUSU are supporting all students throughout their degree. 

I am currently the President of the School of Geography and Environmental Science, and President of the Folk Music Society, giving me a strong existing connection to SUSU. I was part of the Education for all team at the university, attended national (online) workshops on assessment design and was part of the national working group to revise the benchmark statement for Geography to help improve student academic experience. Learning and education is an integral part of students’ university experience and I want to support all students to enjoy their studies.

Questions & Answers Ask me a Question

Hi, Thanks for your question! Absolutely I believe decolonising the curriculum is essential in creating and inclusive and welcoming education. My manifesto is focussed on new things that I think SUSU hasn't highlighted as much on in the past. Decolonising the curriculum is a long term focus for the university as a whole and partly comes under our commitment to the race equality charter, that was signed in 2018. As part of our continuing commitment to making the university and union as diverse and inclusive as possible I will work to maintain, uphold, improve and share the current work being done.

This question was also asked to Bianca Bian, Nicky Jessup, Juilee Kadam, Shola Falohun, Sheetal Namala, Tejaswini Chandra

Answered by Rebecca on 16/02/23 14:18

Hi, This is a great question, and definitely an ongoing issue. I'd like to encourage candidates interested in applying to have 1 on 1 meetings with the person in their position so candidates know what can be possible as part of the job. I'd also support budget breakdowns from students whose main promises involve spending, to ensure they've thought through their ideas and aren't knowingly promising more than can be achieved, with the breakdowns shared as part of the manifestos on the SUSU page. Creating these would involve a meeting with the SUSU representation (including VP EdDem) and finance teams. I believe these measures will help the election promises remain achievable and transparent to students. I also look forward to supporting students in the summer and autumn elections. As the current school president for Geography and Environmental Science, and former course rep I want to make the information for these elections more available by working with reps to promote the elections more equally across schools.

This question was also asked to Bianca Bian, Nicky Jessup, Juilee Kadam, Shola Falohun, Sheetal Namala, Tejaswini Chandra

Answered by Rebecca on 21/02/23 18:20

Hi, This is a really tough (but fantastic) question, as I am really excited about my whole manifesto, and each point for different reasons. In terms of my personal areas of interest and experience, I'm looking forward to leading an assessment timings and weightings review, as I know this is something that will benefit every student this year and in the future. Improving assessments is something I'm really passionate about as there is a lot of scope for reducing the inequities students see. As Geography and Environmental Science school president, I know how much feedback systems need more transparency, particularly for students taking modules outside of their school, and I'm excited for the opportunity to improve this across the university. No-one comes in to university thinking about leaving but final year students and students facing difficulty might be, and information about leaving isn't widely shared. I'm looking forward to supporting these students because I know many people who are coming to the end of their degree and aren't certain to what extent SUSU and the university can still support them. Once again as a geography student, highlighting some sustainability work and bringing it to wider attention is something I'm super excited for and I know a lot of students would be interested in how their degree covers sustainability. Finally, I wouldn't be running be running if I weren't excited about working with and for students, and having the chance to share discussions with students from all backgrounds and using that information to improve their experience and the academic experience for others in similar positions is part of what makes this job exciting.

This question was also asked to Bianca Bian, Nicky Jessup, Juilee Kadam, Shola Falohun, Sheetal Namala, Tejaswini Chandra

Answered by Rebecca on 21/02/23 21:43