Transcript
Vote Kelly Parry #1 for President
Winning for students!!
There's no denying it, the next few years in Edinburgh College are going to be tough; fighting for constant improvements to education and students’ lives against a backdrop of cuts to public services is certainly not an easy thing to do. As you probably know Edinburgh College is a merged college and this means that the college has to make savings; most of which require important decisions about how to save money. Because of this Edinburgh College needs a strong president to make sure processes that are happening right now such as staffing cuts, course moves and big decisions that affect YOUR education have the best representation. Not only do we have to lobby our college and governments to do this but we also have to make our case known and understood to the public. After all, every section of society is fighting harsh cuts and we have to make our case clear, concise and accessible. This by no means that our fight is more important but rather it should be thought about in the context of a wider vision for society, a vision that will maintain free education, a vision that will focus on widening access for the poorest students across the region and open up better, constructive opportunities for students who want to progress to university.
Why should you vote for me? I’ve been a VP of ECSA for a year now and have excellent relationships with your lecturers, staff, college management and local MP’s and press. I am also an elected member of NUS Scotland meaning I can get your issues raised on a national scale! Here’s a few notes on my experience and achievements:
This year Kelly has been a true spearhead of the Student Association. She has led students in standing up against cuts to our courses while showing her dedication to liberation and anti-fascist action. We need a president who understands students on a personal level and has the knowledge and experience and experience to work hard for you. Kelly will be that president. Raphael, Sighthill
Ensured that for the first time this year Edinburgh college had not only a fantastic events programme on campuses but also ran external events. We launched our first club and rock nights and ran fantastic events on campus such as: Charity events for comic relief, cancer charities, world Aids Day and Children in Need. Ran the biggest Fresher's Fayre ever seen at Edinburgh college. Hosted the first ever independence debate in any College or University in Scotland. Hosted a huge Ceilidh and Burns night event for our international students Led the high profile campaign www.bricksnotbuses.co.uk to challenge the move of our courses that restricted local access. Successfully lobbied Edinburgh College to provide prayer and reflection rooms on every campus. Fought sexism, homophobia and racism on our campuses
As Vice President this year I fought extremely hard to make sure that Edinburgh College was at the forefront of all our MSP'S minds in the run up to the Scottish budget. I gained massive experience through involvement in the NUS Scotland's ‘Fund Scotland's Future campaign’ and was delighted to have helped other student associations, unions, officers and students to do the same. Lobbied the Cabinet Secretary to address issues that relate to women and disabled students; who are often unable to continue studies or even think about an education here due to barriers such as inadequate childcare, caring responsibilities and lack of local access. National funding to do this has now been approved! Lobbied the college to provide additional courses where students requested it. Gained an agreement for anonymous marking so that your work is marked free of prejudice. At students request, ran a successful ethical campaigns to remove Starbucks from our campuses.
What does it take to organise and run the biggest college student association in the country and how will I do it? Edinburgh college students' association is the biggest college Student Association in the whole of the country which means that organising, managing and running all the activities the association does, including all the financial, strategic, and staffing planning is by no means an easy thing to do. There's a mass of work to do behind the scenes and its really important to do this well to make sure that you have the best run and accessible student association as possible. As an experienced student Vice President, student officer and elected representative of NUS Scotland I'm confident that I have the right skills to make this happen and I have an impeccable record on my own campuses this year. If there's anything I've not covered in my manifesto please do get in touch with me and I'll be happy to answer any queries and questions. Make sure you come along to the Q and A events too! I will: Ensure that the student association has a long term plan which puts students at the heart of what we do and ensures that this happens for not only this year’s students but forms a plan for a sustainable association for many years to come. Secure future funding for the student association. Ill make sure that you can access your student association more by coordinating our paid and volunteer officers better and ensuring they have excellent training. Represent your views on the Edinburgh College board and ensure that students also have the chance to represent themselves at staff committee meetings. Wider and national issues: Continue to lobby our local politicians when big decisions affecting you happen at governmental level. This year I worked really hard on this and have contributed considerably on campaigns against racism, cuts to education budgets, welfare cuts and equal marriage. How you benefit from our amazing association depends on how much you know so on communication and representation I will: Work hard in partnership with Edinburgh College to ensure I represent your views at the highest level. Work closely with campus representatives to ensure you have the right information, support and guidance to give informed and empowered feedback about your course. Help build a stronger, bigger grass roots student representative system to ensure that students are Included and not alienated in what the Students’ Association does. I think we can do this by communicating better with students, being present on campuses more and by providing more and better quality class rep training. Continue to work hard with other lobby groups, organisations and trade unions. Ensure that students have access to published minutes and detailed accounts of class rep meetings, centre meetings and Students’ Association meetings. Introduce a student newspaper to keep you up to date with everything that's happening in the Association as well as student discounts. Publish monthly President updates. Ensure liberation is at the heart of what ECSA does
I can't possibly list everything here and that's why I'd encourage you to check out my campaign pages where I'll be publishing students accounts of why they think that you should vote Kelly Parry #1 on your voting paper. FaceBook: Kelly Parry #1 for President Twitter: @ Kelly4Pres
Email:
[email protected] web: bitly.com/u/kelly4pres