By Erin Miller.
As we reach the halfway point of semester 2, voting for your new SU Officer gets underway this week. Here are your candidates for the VP of Academic Life.
Ashika Rajkumar – 404:Student voice not found? Not on my watch.
Ashika is a postgraduate student studying a Masters in Computing (data analytics). She completed her undergraduate bachelors programme in India, studying Computer Science Engineering.
Her position as an international postgrad has helped shape Ashika’s manifesto, along with her years of experience. Following her undergrad, Ashika worked for three years as a software engineer and UI developer.
This role allowed her to grow and develop her communication and leadership skills, which encouraged her to run in the elections.
Within her manifesto, she outlines some clear points she aims to tackle within her term.
Clarity within student studies, she aims to provide a listening ear, to hear and tackle issues surrounding fair assessments and concerns. Working closely with class representatives and staff, she hopes to address and ease the high workloads for students, providing a balance.
This falls alongside her promise to help students balance their studies and wellbeing through increased support. She also hopes to make active change through student feedback to make academic life better across the campuses.
“Ive experienced different education systems, different expectations and the pressure of adapting quickly. That perspective allows me to see DCU not just as it is, but as it could be. Clearer, fairer and more supportive for every student.”
Ashika wants every student within DCU to feel represented, international or local, as she understands the struggles of studying at home, or miles away from your family.
“Being VP of Academic Life isn’t about politics to me, it’s about the people. It’s about making sure no student feels lost in the system.”
Vincent Hynes – Vin4TheWin
Vincent is an undergraduate student currently in his final year in International Relations. With a brief history in engineering, he has been here long enough to know what he wants fixed if elected.
Involvement is something Vincent has grown into during his time at DCU, 3 years of being a class rep, current ordinary member of Societies Life Committee, Politics Society Treasurer and Events Manager while also serving as Class Rep Secretary for the SU.
He also ran for Humanities and Social Sciences part time officer last year but lost out to Angelina Zhao.
Hailing from Westmeath, Vincent knows the commuter struggles as well as anyone. He is advocating for compressed timetables for commuters and lecturers, and hybrid lectures online when possible, due to weather concerns or unforeseen issues.
Vincent’s main focus is placement for nurses and teachers, and on St Pats Campus. While it is a secondary campus, Vincent is pushing for more councillors to help with stress and burnout and more communal spaces and study pods.
He is pushing for more books and online resources for teachers, free printing in DCU for teachers and for teachers to be able to pick their own placement.
“Im told that for placement they’re not allowed to be placed further than an hour and a half. How is that calculated? Does Google Maps take into account traffic? Does it take into account public transport? So, it’s a joke.”
He plans to bring more graduate prospects to DCU through career fairs and other events, for the School of Humanities but also international opportunities.
Vincent will also bring clearer timelines for INTRA, Erasmus and Master Programmes to allow student time to prepare, alongside workshops available for students.
Roman Vai Smith – VoteRoman
Roman is a Masters student studying Creative Writing, he completed his undergrad in Business from Monmouth University in New Jersey.
Creative is the right word to describe him, writer, photographer and artist are just some of his skills. He writes substack and details his life through unique expressionism featured across his Instagram and website.
His manifesto is mainly focused on post graduation, helping students find and further their careers after college.
He plans to improve and expand the current employment resources, aiming to help more students find jobs after graduation. He hopes to provide these services to postgrads and undergrads across the different schools in DCU.
Speaking with job recruiters, holding workshops and working more intensely with careers services and newsletter, he hopes to give students more opportunities beyond One4All vouchers.
He plans to target stable careers that sponsor visas.
“I will help you get what you deserve out of your time at DCU.”
Job-hunting and CV perfecting is in his skill set. Roman wants more career guidance available for students, allowing for more opportunities, no matter what sector it is students are hoping to go into.
He understands the pressure of the constricting job market, and hopes to prepare students for the professional world.
Voting begins on the 16th of February till the 18th on Loop.