Plymouth Gazette are working with UPSU during this student election cycle to bring the candidates to you in their own words, unedited and unabridged to represent their true personalities and passion. These are Owain Gullam’s answers to our questions. Owain is running for VP Activities.
Why are you running for your role?
I’m running for my role because I believe the SU can do a better job for all students. Student groups are too marginalised from each-other, left to pick up the pieces of really hard situations and don’t get equal representation.
I have experience as RAG Chair, setting up other societies including the Plymouth Gazette, and helping to run established ones. I’ve represented UPSU at a national and international level at conferences, winning awards whilst doing it.
My experience in clubs, societies and volunteering as well as Union Council gives me experience to navigate the complex and frustrating processes of UPSU. These processes have become intrinsic to UPSU and the way it runs, leaving groups feeling restricted in what they can do and how they can do it.
I have a passion for student led and charitable projects. Our student groups excel at these when they’re enabled to. My passion for charitable groups and activities goes beyond the ordinary, every club, society and volunteering group counts as charitable due to doing so much for its members.
This shouldn’t be a business, we need to give students and groups their voice back to ensure we stay democratic and charitable.
What makes you different to the other candidates running?
Outside of UPSU I’ve worked in churches as part of large organisations, I’ve helped set up a museum from scratch, and I’ve worked in swimming pools as an operator in competitions. I know how to communicate with different parts of society, and I will use this experience to get the best deal for students.
I’ve worked with other students on Union Council to bring about a better life for students. Due to the way UPSU runs, our democratic processes are long, boring, and rarely effective. We need someone with the knowledge and experience necessary to change the basic procedures in UPSU so that will better effect our student voice – Representatives need to not have their hands tied whilst speaking on behalf of students.
Furthermore, in writing my manifesto, I’ve considered all student groups. The UPSU currently doesn’t do a good job of always being there for all groups, and I believe other candidates have made the same mistake in their manifestos.
Their manifestos often continue old practices that have failed many student groups. I have and will reach out to bring new ideas to the table, and fix what is broken, not drag on broken policy.
In what way will you improve the influence of the student voice on the way that the university and SU operates?
For UPSU’s student groups this is often overlooked. Student groups need their voice to work for them without asking, the representatives should make that conscious effort.
Student groups should not be left to work things out themselves, this limits their successes, groups that do end up being successful without UPSU’s help end up disenfranchised anyway, so students lose out either way.
I endeavour to ensure that Union Council reps are not bound by ridiculous rules, and have a genuine remit beyond simply collating evidence for the SU. Sabbatical Officers also need to not be bound by the silly procedures of the past.
If the rule doesn’t make sense, it shouldn’t be there.
I would also like to see our representatives meet more frequently so change can be brought about quicker, and there will be more checks and balances on our executives who are often not held accountable until after a mistake has been made.
If you could only pass through one of your policies this year, what would it be and why?
I wouldn’t only pass one policy.
UPSU Election Candidates of 2020 were elected nearly a month before lockdown. Nobody saw it coming. The winning candidates had a lot of manifesto points, none of them COVID related. I’m sure none of them anticipated dealing with the issues they have. They passed policies that would have been laughed at a year ago.
I endeavour to not only fulfil all of my manifesto points, but represent students on local, regional and national issues as and when they come up.
My manifesto points are not and never will be prioritised.
What approach are you going to take this year regarding working virtually and in person during your time in office?
I would like to think that when I take office, COVID restrictions would be a thing only talked about in history lessons. However, I understand the transition back into our public spaces will be hard for some.
I would like the university to keep access to Zoom and other online facilities for 12 months after restrictions ease so that individuals struggling to transition back into a “normal” daily routine will not be left behind.
Working from home has its benefits, but I believe being in person to reach out to students to get their voices heard is the best way to be an effective representative.
I am also anxious about the university attempting to use COVID as an opportunity to disallow groups into certain rooms and facilities on campus. This should not be accepted. We should be able to access all of the spaces that were previously available to our student groups.
Do you think there should be more emphasis placed onto students to either get their work and research published in academic journals or to compete representing the university in their sports clubs/societies? Why?
Students should not feel extra pressure to do anything beyond what their course requires. There are clear benefits of publishing research but there are also significantly more stresses, this should be weighed up on a case by case basis when thinking of this kind of academic work, as already happens.
Competitions are integral to a lot of clubs and societies in UPSU. We need to consider that some clubs and societies face financial burden when entering competitions on any level.
We should help our students compete on a local, regional and national level, and when those competitions yield results those groups should be rewarded, not left to pay for their achievements.
Activities whether they be sports, hobbies or volunteering shows massive benefits to mental health, this should not only be encouraged but significantly enabled.
How will you improve the university services digitally and in person?
The university’s wellbeing hub is shambolic. It’s messy, links to many outside resources which whilst helpful is very overwhelming to students already in a crisis. Revamping the wellbeing links is step one to assisting students in need of additional assistance.
In person university services that need improvement should include room bookings for individuals and groups that aren’t endorsed by UPSU.
I would ensure that whilst so many student groups have gone above and beyond what is necessary, we have lost so many key groups to downfalls made during the pandemic. We need to ensure going forward that groups get the space, funding, physical and emotional support necessary. UPSU needs to facilitate growth.
Students can vote from the 26/02 – 05/03 on the UPSU website