My name is CJ Faichney, I am the 3rd year rep for my course of BA (Hons) in Digital Media Production. I came into my 3rd year as a transfer student from a HND diploma course in Belfast, Northern Ireland and joined ARU to complete my education to the fullest of my abilities, as I knew this was the place I had to be to truly unlock my creative potential. 

I am running to be your Vice-President of AHSS, not only as an Arts student, but also as an openly prideful member of the LGBTQIA+ community and an out and proud Transwoman. I believe I can bring fresh ideas and a different perspective to this role in our changing times of the world.

I will be campaigning on the following.

1. Greater Representation of LGBTQIA+ Students at ARU.
2. Tackling Student Loneliness & Mental Wellbeing at ARU.
3. Facilitate Greater Inter-School Collaboration.
4. Access to Facilities & Technological Resources.

Greater Representation of LGBTQIA+ Students at ARU.

There has been a push for a greater sense of representation of LGBTQIA+ students at ARU, societies starting, initiatives beginning, this is a good start, however, there still exists issues with positive visibility of LGBTQIA+ students as well as the representation of Transgender and Non-Binary students.

Who in many ways have not been treated fairly, with regards to Naming and accounts, with a monitoring form providing a trans option and a "preferred name" that is not being recognised by accounts and systems. As witness to this myself, as well as speaking to students I have heard said systems not displaying these preferred names, leading to difficulties in both presentation of one's self but also being called on by the incorrect name when a preferred name has been given, which is both difficult for someone to speak up about to correct.

Therefore if I am elected as your VP of AHSS, I will make sure to start this conversation, to help discover why and if possible effect change for the betterment of not just LGBTQIA+ students but any student who faces these issues of a lacking in positive visibility and naming conflicts, as I do believe this is achievable. 

Tackling Student Loneliness & Mental Wellbeing at ARU.

During my time studying both here and back home in Northern Ireland, one of the major things, I have noted is the difficulty students face with their mental health and wellbeing. While work is done to combat this, having spoken to some students in different courses, as well as my own experience, there are students like myself who may not avail of these services and essentially "suffer in silence", who may just go to class, then go back to their dorm room and repeat that cycle. 

This may be the case for keeping oneself safe, however it does not help combat the loneliness this can bring. One of the ways to help with this is joining a society, a group where people can come together and communicate, relax, and have fun together. If I am elected as your VP of AHSS, I will make this a priority of mine to help tackle this issue, while also help to develop more course-based societies to help students form their own support networks, their own hangout groups. 

Facilitate Greater Inter-School Collaboration.

As a current student in the Cambridge School Art, we are always encouraged to collaborate with our peers on idea-generation and on projects, through this stronger bonds between classmates occur and the capacity for creating greater projects can happen. In my time at ARU, I have been able to work for my Major Project with students and staff from Avans University in Breda, Holland. 

In this project we have all been collaborating in a horizontal working structure to create a futuristic city called New Canterbury, this project has allowed us all to experiment creatively and bring together different talents and specialisations in video production, graphic design 3D modelling, voice-over, etc.

If elected as your VP of AHSS and with this in mind as an inspiration I do believe it is achievable for us to create connections between schools and indeed courses in AHSS, to help students excel in both their creativity, academic capacity, and collaboration with one another.

Access to Facilities & Technological Resources.

Within the AHSS faculty there are numerous faculties and resources available to the students and teaching staff, allowing for such capacity for creation. However, from people I have spoken with in all three schools of AHSS, I have come to learn that this is not the case in the day-to-day lives of themselves. As a student at the School of Arts the Futures Lab and all its wonderous fabrication equipment, though upon speaking this news to a 1st year friend in the School of Creative Industries they had no idea of the existence of such a department.

So, we consider this the case for everyone outside the specific AHSS school buildings, unaware of such facilities that are available to students then how can we expect them to be able to make the most of their time at ARU. If say students in all three schools of AHSS want to pick up new hobbies or facilitate a greater approach to their learning, if I am elected as your VP of AHSS, I will endeavour to open these conversations to see if we can amplify the knowledge of such faculties and technology that we have on campus.