Xander McDade #1 for Student President
About Me
I am a third year part-time History & Politics student living in Highland Perthshire and based at UHI Perth. For the past year I have also been the HISA Perth President and as the lead student representative on the UHI Perth campus I have been campaigning hard to oppose more frontline teaching and support staff cuts following the devastating cuts that were taken last summer. I have also been championing the student voice and have succeeded in getting more student representation in college discussions on major changes being proposed.
My Pledges
- Oppose Frontline Teaching & Support Staff Cuts
The university and college sector is currently experiencing significant financial pressures due to reduced Government funding and lower student recruitment. This has already led to devastating cuts to academic and support staff and is having a negative impact on the student experience. The University and partner Colleges currently have huge duplication in functions like management, finance, HR etc. If you elect me as Student President I will oppose any further frontline teaching and support staff cuts and push for any savings to be made through greater efficiencies from the university and colleges working closer together on back office functions and not at the cost of the frontline student experience.
- Improved Learning Resources
Whilst UHI was once at the cutting edge of educational technology other institutions have caught up and are overtaking us and our student experience is suffering as a result. We have also seen reductions in the amount of physical resources like books and a lack of resources on some courses too. If you elect me I will campaign for improvements to both the physical and electronic learning resources to ensure students are getting the best possible student experience.
- Putting The Student Experience At The Heart of All Decisions
The University and its partner colleges have embarked on a process to explore new operating models including merging into a single institution to help save money and make the institution more sustainable (https://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/media/news/uhi-explores-new-operating-model-to-strengthen-student-experience-and-ensure-financial-sustainability.html). I would bring strong experienced student representation to this process to ensure that improving the student experience is placed at the heart of all decisions and not as an add on to financial decisions. I would like to see this process used to look at how we can invest more resources into the frontline student experience to ensure that teaching contact time and our learning resources are on a par with other institutions across Scotland.
How To Vote
You can vote on the HISA website www.hisa.uhi.ac.uk using your student ID. Voting opens at 10:00 on Monday 10th March 2025 and closes at 16:00 on Thursday 13th March 2025. Rank the candidates in order of preference by giving a 1 to your top choice.
Please Vote Xander #1 for Student President!