Hi everyone! I’m Daniele, a DPhil Cancer Research student at Green Templeton and I’m hoping to continue representing you as a Trustee on the Student Union. I’m passionate about improving the student experience and strengthening our communities. Here’s what I hope to achieve next year and my relevant experience.  

POLICIES   

SUPPORTING FUTURE REPRESENTATIVES: I will ensure that candidate preparation academies run throughout the year that supports candidates in running for elections, to help empower individuals to run for elected representation roles, both in the student union and college common room committees. I hope that this reduces access barriers to increase diversity of representatives.  

GETTING THINGS DONE! One of the biggest current challenges for Student Trustees is the difficultly to find the time and resources to action our policy proposals. I will schedule dedicated working days every month where student trustees can meet with the union staff and the sabbatical trustee team to develop plans to implement policy proposals! 

BETTER COMMUNICATION STREAMS: I will make it easier for students to contact the Student Union. I will establish regular ‘Office Hours’, where anyone can book in to talk to their representatives. In addition, I will implement student surveys to collect student opinions and use them to better guide organisational decision making.  

INSTITUTIONAL MEMORY: I will create a handover manual for future Student Trustee so that they can hit the ground running when they take over. I hope that this will initiate a living document that can be continually updated. I will also implement a handover period where new trustees can shadow and learn from current trustees.  

EXPERIENCE 

As a current Student Trustee for the 2022-23 Academic Year, I have experience engaging with the Trustee Board, in addition to its subcommittees and the university-level committees that we represent students on.  

Before this, I gained experience in student advocacy as Academic Representative at my undergraduate student union. This included serving as the first point of contact for >300 students, lobbying for policy changes and representing students to the union and university in student-staff liaison meetings.  

As the 2020-21 ICSM Paediatrics Society President, I managed the organisation’s volunteering, fundraising, academic and mentorship programmes. This role involved ensuring compliance with extensive union and government policies regulating our activities, such as GDPR and safeguarding best practices.  

I also have experiencing handling significant fiscal responsibility in my role as Beit Hall Committee President, where I oversaw a budget of tens of thousands of pounds to ensure appropriate and equitable spending. I am dedicated to enhancing the student experience, which I’ve pursued as Welfare Officer and Peer Support Coordinator at the GTC Graduate Common Room, and as a member on the NDORMS Student Committee and Richard Doll Society Committee.  

I hope to continue to draw on these experiences in my work at the Student Union, to ensure that the union fulfils its purpose to create an educational environment governed by fairness and to provide all students an equal opportunity to flourish. 

Image description: Headshot photograph of candidate Daniele Cotton