Manifesto Analysis: Director of Student Development and Activities

JULIA LISCO

Candidate for Director of Student Development and Activities Julia Lisco has presented an aesthetically pleasing manifesto, laying out her points clearly and articulately, if a little concisely. She has four years of relevant experience across several clubs, most notably with Gilbert and Sullivan society.

Communication 

Ms Lisco intends to create regular, clear, and continuous ways for the student body to communicate with the Student’s Association, by making individual voices heard, in order to streamline the process of running societies. She is also passionate about cross- society communication, to enhance the experience of being in all clubs. Through the candidate’s direct experience of this, she aims to foster collaboration, shared experiences, and pool resources between societies. 

Accessibility 

Ms Lisco is clearly passionate about widening accessibility not to societies not only financially, but in terms of society spaces. She makes it clear that she feels strongly that financial issues should not stop St. Andrews students from partaking in the rich tapestry of societies. Ms Lisco aims to make access to society spaces more widely available, and potentially expand, due to the present inconsistency or lack of available spaces. 

Storage 

Often, societies are left without spaces to store their physical assets, but to ensure that clubs are run smoothly and practically, Ms Lisco intends to acquire more storage spaces. This should also help clubs transition smoothly from one year to the next. The way these will be secured and maintained is unclear, however. 

Ms Lisco’s manifesto engages with an admirably wide range of goals, however, lacks depth and practical ways they will be achieved. She has real world experience of many of her goals, which is certainly a strength, however, many of her aims lack clarity. 

CAT MARTIN

Ms. Martin has been a student in St. Andrews for five years, and in that time has been in a wide variety of societies. She presents a very engaging and detailed manifesto, guiding us through her main goals, and how she hopes to achieve them in a humorous and colourful way. 

Enhance policies 

The way that societies are set up is a difficult and complex process, which Ms. Martin aims to streamline to encourage new societies to form and flourish. Additionally, cat aims to start mixers for any prospective club founders to meet similar minded individuals. 

To optimise the Green policies of clubs and societies, Ms. Martin wants to reduce paper use as much as possible, and placing a greater emphasis on digital communication while balancing this with concerns about accessibility to technology. 

Broadening Accessibility 

Policies in this area touch not only on financial accessibility, but also discusses having sober reps, and inter- Sabbatical communication with the Director of Wellbeing to increase participation from minority and disabled students, to ensure a welcoming atmosphere for all. 

Charity opportunities 

Ms. Martin is passionate about improving student development, and how this can be done in tandem with the Careers Centre, and by working with local charities. Volunteering opportunities are a great way to both give back and enhance your CV, so she hopes to promote this route via weekly newsletters and social media promotion. 

Ms. Martin outlines a very strong plan, drawing on her present experience working with societies. Ms. Martin lays out her plan clearly, outlining her thoughts well. She details a creative yet practical way she aims to improve Student Development, and relates it to the way societies presently function, once more displaying her wealth of knowledge.  

ROBERT MORAN

A technician who has worked with the Ents Crew, multiple societies, and the Byre Theatre, Candidate for Director of Student Development and Activities Robert Moran has presented a very brief manifesto, laying out five proposals. 

A technician who has worked with the Ents Crew, multiple societies, and the Byre Theatre, Candidate for Director of Student Development and Activities Robert Moran has presented a very brief manifesto, laying out only five vague and ill developed priorities for the year ahead. These priorities include “working tirelessly” on the upcoming Change Programme, and accountability — something he hopes to achieve through office hours, an open inbox, and monthly updates. He also expresses a desire to improve the diversity of events and opportunites offered by the Careers Centre so that students are able to explore a variety of different routes. Perhaps Mr Moran’s most commendable point is to promote diversity and inclusion amongst all subcommittees, though again, how he plans to enact this is ill-developed and unclear.

URQUHART DYCE

Director of Student Development and Activities (DoSDA) candidate Urquhart Dyce stresses the importance of holistic learning, volunteering, and inclusivity in a thorough manifesto on 2024-2025 changes to learning opportunities in St Andrews. Dyce concentrates on a number of issues, including the purpose of a university education as a “holistic learning experience”. From northeast Scotland, Dyce is also a passionate member of the community, with passions ranging from chess to tennis, badminton, and rugby. 

All plans centre on six major ideas: 

Student-centric Policy 

Dyce plans to develop an open-door policy for DoSDA-student conversation. By hosting monthly meetings and facilitating feedback, Dyce wants to maintain an understanding of what students need. 

Engage with Societies 

Dyce plans to attend at least one meeting or engage with the president of each and every St Andrews student society. With over 150 societies, Urquhart Dyce wants to engage and advocate with many sides of the St Andrews student body. 

Improve Access to Space 

For many students, booking university spaces for sports, events, and extracurricular societies can be more confusing than needed. Urquhart believes a streamlined, transparent process for booking across university spaces is essential. 

Promote Volunteering 

Dyce supports the current work done by the Volunteering Subcommittee and hopes to promote volunteering opportunities throughout the 2024-2025 term. 

Encouragement of CEED and Careers Centre Work 

Dyce spent a year before university working for a company in northeast England and believes career opportunities of all sorts should be supported and shared amongst the student body. Dyce hopes to increase the communication between the CEED and Careers Centre to facilitate student engagement.