Candidate for the position of President (Education & Welfare)

Damilola Adesanya

Hi There,

My name is Damilola Adesanya and I am running for the position of President, Education and Welfare.

The last year has brought about a change in the way we live. We have had to swiftly transition to online virtual learning with tons of support available to students and the entire academic community. As we come out of lockdown, we are all too aware that we will have to embrace the new normal, which would require things to be done differently. Our goal is to build a community where our students will always come first. To achieve this feat, my key objectives are simple and concise. I would aim to:

Increase Student Success

I will support student driven initiatives and events aimed at encouraging more people to get involved in study groups and educational workshops, running concurrently with studies to increase the learning and assimilation rates and ensure peer support without the risk of collusion, thereby reducing the risk of carryovers, plagiarism, and academic misconduct, leading to a boost in overall student grades and university national ranking. Introducing FeedR, the review platform hosted on the union website where students can go online and give anonymous reviews on their learning experiences on the modules with suggestions on how to improve the overall experience. This platform will be fully accessible and monitored and striking feedback and reviews will be published upon approval by the union.

Enhance Wellbeing Awareness

I will work to support student wellbeing initiatives by driving student involvement is determining what wellbeing means to us and working with the student body to ensure that wellbeing, mental health, emotional stability and counselling devoid of discrimination is fostered and made a top priority in our community. It has been observed that some members of the student community underperformed during the COVID-19 lockdown because of a lack of peer support and adequate peer interaction. I intend to solve this problem by creating the RGU Buddy App, where students can log on, create profiles unique to their RGU personality and build like-minded friendships.

In line with ensuring wellbeing, I will work closely with the union, building on the efforts of previous administrations, to ensure that vice presidents within the union also receive a stipend payment in compensation for their efforts to further drive equality and fairness.

Promote Student Employability and Entrepreneurship

Actively seek out funding and partnership opportunities to fully support all home and international students and alumni in employability, job creation and entrepreneurship schemes, boosting our credibility as a university focused on employability and continuing to play our part to boost the Aberdeen and Scottish economic ecosystem. This initiative will also focus on funding and supporting the creation of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises to ensure that our students go on to become successful employers of labour.

Promote Student Driven Sustainability Initiatives

I will ensure that student awareness and involvement is supported in creating a more sustainable environment for us all by encouraging participation through the creation of Sustainability Champions role whose office I will work closely with to equip people with the right knowledge about climate change, low/net zero carbon emissions and why it is important for us to act now.

Ensure Synergy through Inclusion for International Students

I will strive to close gaps in access, achievement, and advancement for students from all backgrounds and identities, as well as students from all disciplines, supporting every RGU student from commencement to completion of studies to minimise the likelihood of certain students not doing as well as they should in higher education, and therefore not reaching their full potential in employment or gaining access to existing and future opportunities and ensuring that international students continue to receive the support and inclusion at every level of student life.

In summary, my set objectives are;