It’s that time of year again when Newcastle Uni students get to vote for a brand new NUSU team.

The NUSU president acts as the voice of the student body and has direct contact with the university to strive for change. Here’s the line up of this year’s candidates:

Finlay Holden

Main manifesto points:

• Expand representation of NUSU on campus – better advertising of opportunities so more people are aware of the positive work that the union does and how they can get involved

• Develop Student Wellbeing Services – improve the SU’s ability to cater to those going though mental health struggles, making it more accessible to talk about and receive help for problems such as stress, anxiety and depression that surface frequently in a university environment

• Support student volunteers – boost employability and provide further support for student volunteers, in particular committee members and student ambassadors who do great work for little reward

Finlay says:

“Even through just the work I’ve done already, I can see the positive potential NUSU has on students’ lives, and only want to increase this further to give everyone who enrols at Newcastle University a unique and unrivalled student experience. Vote #FinForTheWin for a better campus for everyone.”

Campaign video:

Kolade Abolarinwa

Main manifesto points:

• Improving the support system provided for young creative minds in the university (from musicians to dancers): by requesting a budget for a new music studio exclusively for the music production society, beginners dance classes that can be added to your curriculum, introduction of creative reach out programs (like mini concerts and big talent show events)

• Fighting Discrimination on and off school campus: By reforming the sanctions assigned to offenders, creating a safe space for students to be able to speak freely about their experiences, and also providing 100% transparency for the students

• Focus on creating ways of helping student maintain a good mental health while studying in Newcastle: By creating ‘student-friendly’ clinics that help students improve their mental health and maintain it, fitting a new scheme into the student activities called “Wind down sessions”. The aim of this session is to give students a range of personalised activities that help relieve students of stresses from their courses.

Kolade says:

“SU is togetherness, togetherness is US.”

Campaign video:

Dorothy Chirwa

Main manifesto points:

• Greater emphasis on student wellbeing, so cheaper graduations, printing credit transfers, shorter waiting times for mental health services and an expansion of the university food bank

• Sustainability which means working hand in hand with the Sustainable Campus team to increase the ways our campus is sustainable

• Transparency from the university: how do they deal with discrimination on campus? Where does our money go? What happens in strike meetings?

Dorothy says:

“I am passionate about ensuring that all students feel supported by the SU whether it be to do with mental health, safety on campus or strike activity and if you feel the same about these issues, vote for me.”

Campaign video:

Voting opens at midday on 16th March and closes at midday on 19th March. 

You can cast your vote for President and all the other sabbatical roles on the NUSU website here.