Association President Candidate: Tom MacArthur

The Stand has interviewed every sabbatical candidate. If you have any other questions that you’d like us to ask them just email us.   Why do you feel that Association […]


The Stand has interviewed every sabbatical candidate. If you have any other questions that you’d like us to ask them just email us.

 

Why do you feel that Association President is important to St Andrews?

The role of Association President is essential because that one person is a link between everyone. The President can directly contact every student, sits on the most committees within the Students’ Association, and has a place on the Academic Court. This means it’s a tremendous opportunity to represent everyone, to relay information between the committees, the University management teams, and most importantly, the students.

 

What do you believe makes you especially qualified for the job?

I’ve been a president of two societies, both of which I set up and got off the ground, and have served on numerous other committees, often as an exec. As a result I’ve had a lot of time to develop my management, leadership and communication skills, and those are crucial qualities for a good President. I’ve also had a huge amount of fun in the process, and it’s always so much easier to throw everything you have into a job you enjoy.

 

What are the three main principles that you plan to follow during your year as a Sabb?

What matters is what we’re communicating to the students. Every year people promise us they will be the ones to finally fix this issue, but they don’t seem to understand how. The first line in any dialogue should always be ‘what would you like to know?’

I also want to work on our long-term strategy. We’ve been making great strides in our international standing, and have a lot of funding on the way from the 600th Anniversary fundraiser. We need to bring students into the process of developing the University over the next few years.

 

If you could make a major change in St Andrews today what would it be?

If I could make one major change today, it would be to immediately solve the accommodation problem. There are enough things for students to be getting on with than worrying about having a place to live next year.

 

Any additional comment or message you’d like us to pass on?

I really believe I am the most driven, enthusiastic and committed person for this role. I know I can make time for everyone, answer any email within the hour and go the extra mile every time. It’s the kind of work I love doing, and so I want to help as many people as possible whilst doing it.

 

 (To see all the candidates, click here)

 

Condiment: I’m a bit of a chili sauce fan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pokemon: Blastoise. As a marine biologist I love the idea of a giant turtle with water cannons.