Leah Ball - Vice President Education

About me

I'm Leah, a final year BSc Education and Psychology student :)

I would love to be your VP Education this year because I want to be forefront in creating a university education that is accessible for everyone. This is something I intend to build upon in a future career. I think student voice is highly important, and I will endeavour to amplify your voice in shaping a positive learning experience.

I believe that I have both the passion and experience to carry out the role effectively:

My experience

• My dissertation is on student voice and wellbeing - central to this role.
• President of the Education Society - leadership, management, and communication skills.
• Undergraduate course representative - experience collecting and sharing student feedback.
• Governor at a local school - a strategic role involved in the development and accountability of a school.

This experience gives me the insight to understand and implement students' needs.

My manifesto

1. Deadline and feedback structure

One of students' top 3 priorities for SUSU this academic year was work-life balance. As VP Education, I will work with departments to create a streamlined system where deadlines are spaced out, to reduce unnecessary stress for students. This will also include systematic assignment feedback guidance for lecturers to reduce inconsistency across modules and markers.

2. Improved communication between faculties

I will work with faculties, particularly those with joint honours programmes, to ensure clear communication and sharing of announcements. This will ensure that joint honours students, different levels of study (undergrad & postgrad), and those taking modules outside of their faculty/department, all have access to the same information.

3. Improved access to Blackboard

Following on from point 2, I will endeavour for students to have access to the Blackboard page of the departments running all of your modules. (For example: me having access to the BSc Psychology page through taking their modules as part of BSc Education and Psychology) This will keep you up to date with everything relevant to you.

Furthermore, I will ensure that Blackboard module pages are open at least 2 working days before the beginning of the semester.

4. Learning objectives and references on all lecture slides

I will lobby for the inclusion of learning objectives and references on all lecture slides throughout the university. This will benefit students with disabilities and those with English as a second language, helping to work towards making education at our university equitable for all.

5. Consistent and convenient course inductions

I have noticed that course inductions vary widely between departments, meaning that some of us are stuck in inductions for longer and miss out on Freshers events. As your VP education, I will make course inductions consistent and convenient across the university, so that everyone is prepared for their studies and able to enjoy all the Freshers events they choose.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

I would be so happy if you vote Leah as Number 1 for VP Education :)