Communicate, Facilitate, Collaborate

Introduction

My name is Simon and I want to stand in this election so that I can have both the opportunity and the honour to represent you within the wider student community.

The Covid19 pandemic may have disrupted life for many people, but for me I have taken this as the best opportunity to make changes to both my own lifestyle and to the way I operate at work.  As a student on the MBA in Educational Leadership & Management, I feel privileged to be able to learn more deeply about change management during a time where the world of work and education are going through significant change.

It is clear that we have a student community of very experienced leaders and managers, and we can certainly make a positive difference to the world right now.  We certainly want to given the decision we have all made to pursue this MBA – so you deserve a confident, effective and efficient representative that will embrace the rapidly changing world and provide effective communication between the student community within the course and the course leaders in order for Anglia Ruskin University to continue to build and grow.

What I will do for you – ‘Communicate, Facilitate, Collaborate’

Communicate

I will ensure that our student community have the opportunity to have a say on student union policies that directly impact on our group and I will represent them on the board.   I will also ensure that feedback from the board meetings are given following a meeting.

As the course representative, I will create a newsletter that gives you vital information obtained from the student committee meeting followed by an opportunity for you to share your thoughts and opinions.  I will also be asking your opinions on certain topics so that when I am in attendance, I will put your values opinions forward to the committee.

Facilitate

I will facilitate study groups to meet online to discuss course material and support one another in our studies.

Distance learning can bring many positives such as study flexibility and time management, but there are some drawbacks.  With a reduction of human interaction, especially since Covid19 arrived, it can lead to loneliness and for some people that can be very worrying and run the risk of not meeting their full potential.  The wonderful thing is that we do have an online community, but not everyone feels confident in discussing through written word.  So i propose the creation of study groups on MS Teams so that everyone has the opportunity to visually speak to one another and share their experiences and thoughts.

Collaborate

I will work alongside the course leaders to establish regular student voice surveys and present your thoughts, opinions and innovative ideas to help the faculty to continue to develop the student experience.

As I previously mentioned, there is a wealth of experience within our particular student base that would be brilliant to tap into.  The course leaders will undoubtably want to know how things are going for you and I’m sure you would like to share your experiences of studying the MBA.

What I propose to do is to conduct student voice surveys each trimester following each assignment deadline in collaboration with the course leadership to ensure that students’ views are represented and that faculty staff gain the formative information they need to build on the student experience of the course.

In summary,

I am very organised and passionate about working with people.  I am a believer that when everyone works together, great things happen and if elected, I will be committed to establishing Communicate, Facilitate, Collaborate.