I will campaign to change the faculty policy on late submissions. Providing a 24-hour period after submission deadlines where no marks are deducted

Assignments can be a lot of pressure for students. I would like to see a 24-hour grace period implemented for all modules. This would mean that students who upload their assignments late but within 24 hours of the assignment deadline would not be penalised for doing so. 

I think that this would be fairer as some lecturers operate unofficially on this basis. Therefore making this policy uniform across modules would give all students the same leeway when it comes to completing their assignments. It would also remove any issues there may be around technical problems as students experiencing such issues would have an agreed window of time in which to resolve any technical issues they may be having uploading their assignments.

I will pressure the faculty, and it's schools to create a better timetabling system.

The current timetabling system that is used by DCU is in my view not fit for purpose. It is not user-friendly and places the onus on the student to learn a lot of technical abbreviations and terms that many students find confusing.

Our current timetabling system is particularly not suitable for HSS Joint Honours students who take modules from a range of different programmes and schools. The current system makes creating a timetable a time-consuming task for those students myself included. The worst part is that once you have gone to that effort there is no ability to save your selections and therefore when you want to check if your timetable might have changed you have to start again from scratch.

I commit to holding regular clinics where students of the faculty can visit me and raise their concerns or issues.

I think it is important that, as a representative of students, I make myself directly available to them and listen to their concerns. That is why in conjunction with working closely with the class reps for all HSS courses. I commit to making myself available to students throughout the year to meet with me and discuss any issues they might be having.  In particular to discuss issues they may want me to campaign on.

I will work with the faculty to develop a unified code of practice for loop materials requiring all lecturers where practical to use a single format.

Loop is an amazing tool for teaching and learning. Even if it can be frustrating at times. One of the things I believe could make loop better for students is if lecturers in conjunction with students created a policy which set out specific standards for the layout and structure of loop pages, as well as the file formats which can be used.

Such a policy would help make loop more uniform across modules. It would also ensure that lecturers are using loop in a way that works for students and not uploading materials in a way that is impractical or confusing. 

Many HSS students study across our three campuses. I am committed to representing all students and making DCU's Multi campus model work.

DCU is a multi-campus university. I am proud of that fact and want to do my best to make that model work. Many students in HSS study on our three campuses and indeed, many students commute between them. Therefore it is vital that the HSS faculty are represented on all three and that every effort is made to maintain the links between our campuses.

I want to increase communication between lecturers and class reps. I will ensure that every lecturer is told who their module's class reps and are provided contact details for them.

I really believe that communication is one of the most important things in life. Where communication breaks down things stop working. That is why I will work hard to build the communication channels between Class Reps and Staff. One of the ways I will do this is by making sure that every module coordinator is given contact details for the class reps in their module.