SU Executive Election: “I kind of knew in the first month that I wanted to re-run.”
AnneMarie Deeb, a Forensic Science student at the University of Leicester, is re-running for Education Officer in the upcoming Students’ Union election.
Having been elected into the role this time last year, it did not take long before she had decided that she wanted to continue in her role.
“I kind of knew in the first month that I wanted to rerun.
“It’s just been so much fun welcoming everyone back on campus, actually meeting the students that kind of shaped this university and being able to fight for the rights of students. All that combined, has just made it so much fun.”
She has used her experiences from this year to form relationships with students and staff – something that she views as being very beneficial.
“I want to push for bigger and better things this year, which is partially the reason why I wanted to rerun. I felt like I got the baseline of things I wanted to do. But now that I know that and have good relationships with university staff, I know more about the role.
“I know policies from the Office for Students, the government; it’s kind of going to help me, I guess, streamline my processes.
“I know the exact routes to take so things will get done quicker. I’ll be able to push for bigger and better things.”
Being the Education Officer is something that AnneMarie sees herself as being a good fit for.
“I have almost three degrees (two master’s degrees). I’m clearly a big fan of education, I want to go and do a PhD after this, so I love education, I love being in it. I love working in it and then of course, I love this community here.
“Being able to work for the community is enjoyable, but my degrees are in criminology and forensic science, which are kind of on the basis of helping people and also fighting for justice.”
“I didn’t realise how much I would enjoy it being student-focused.”
She has recently been working on the introduction of self-certification for students for mitigating circumstances on assignments.
“I wanted to work with the University on treating students as more of a co-worker, rather than the University versus the students. So, I said we need to give these students the responsibility to be adults and to self-certify themselves if they need it.”
Having campaigned for blended learning last year, AnneMarie wants this to be offered to students to suit a wider range of needs.
“What we’ve actually seen is that students like the option. Therefore, the university is continuing forward with blended learning. So those who don’t feel like they need to come in person don’t have to. If they’re unable to, they have the option to register their attendance and still attend online.”
With COVID restrictions being lifted by the government, Deeb wants to ensure that students who are still being affected have the support that they need from the University.
“I wanted to make sure that there was a form of compassion that could be taken forward.”
She also has plans to introduce a two personal tutor scheme for all students.
The results of this being trialled in the Business school will determine whether this is likely to be followed up across the whole University.
All candidate manifestos can be read here (https://www.leicesterunion.com/voice/democracy/elections/manifestos/).
All candidate manifestos can be read here.
Vote on the SU website here. Voting closes at 12pm on Friday 11th March 2022.
This article is part of a series of articles covering the SU Executive Election. You can view all articles here.
Max Ashforth is a second-year journalism student with aspirations to pursue a career in journalism. You can find him on instagram @Max_Ashforth.
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