For the 2015 Elections, the Soton Tab caught up with the sabbatical candidates to discuss why they should be voted for and to give a little insight into their personalities. Shruti Verma, this years uncontested candidate for VP Education, explains why she is suited to this role.
Since you are uncontested this year, how are you going to prove that you deserve this position?
That’s a question I’ve been pondering over since Friday! I think the only thing I can do is get out there and show people what my plans are and how much I want to do for every one of them. I’m still going to run my campaign with everything I planned and convince people to vote for me because they genuinely want me in position and not just because there’s no one else running.
What do you think is the most important point on your manifesto and why?
There isn’t one…that’s the point of my manifesto. It’s about All the Small Things on your degrees that stack up to cause bigger problems that affect your experience. Different points will be more relevant to different faculties and courses, all of which are equally important.
How will you go about improving the student employability?
Well, typically student employability comes under the remit of VP Welfare and I wouldn’t want to step on their toes. I do, however, have plans to work on things that will make finding a job more accessible by working with the university.
As you can see from my manifesto I want to improve the guidance and support from the university to enable students to make the best and most informed application they can to their desired industry. My points include: more relevant CV clinics to everyone at the university; more diverse graduate fairs so they target a wider range of industries and a system to chose who writes your academic reference as the default of your personal tutor will not always give you the best reference.
Why did you choose to run for VP Education?
Ever since I can remember I’ve been involved in education committees or being a rep and I love it. I love being able to make a difference that will help people achieve what they want to.
I believe that education is such an important thing and at university, it’s the one thing that links us all together – we’re all here to get a degree.
I’ve been an Academic Rep at the university since I started, being a Course Rep in my first year and Faculty Officer for the past two years, so I’ve seen the unnecessary struggles of students and I want to change that.
In your SUSU TV Big Reveal you used All The Small Things to characterise your manifesto, is there a song title that describes your personality?
Keep Your Head Up – Andy Grammer
It’s pretty self-explanatory – I have to just keep going no matter what.
Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad?
Not going to lie, I’ve never watched much of either of them. Game of Thrones type fantasy isn’t really my cup of tea and I keep meaning to watch Breaking Bad, but I still haven’t got around to it!
A slightly more chilled night at the Hobbit pub or a wild night at Jesters?
Erm…start with a chilled night at the Hobbit, followed by a wild night at Jesters? I see no reason not to do both 😀
Which celebrity would you take on a night out in Southampton?
I would take out McBusted (they’re one band so I feel like it counts!) – a good night out includes great/cheesy music and I think they’d be great fun to spend a night out with.
Do you think Shruti Verma is a good choice for VP Education? Vote in the poll below!
Fyi you’ve spelt Shruti’s name wrong in the poll
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Noted and changed, thank you.
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So you’re proposing “a system to chose who writes your academic reference as the default of your personal tutor will not always give you the best reference.” and “more relevant CV clinics”.
You are aware that you select who your referee will be? It’s not predetermined by the university but by who you nominate (http://www.southampton.ac.uk/careers/students/applying/references.html). As for more CV clinics, I turned up to one that was supposedly full because there’re a load of students who apparently book a place but don’t show up but I got in and found it pretty useful.
Looks like some easy wins for that manifesto, or is it that you don’t really understand what you’re talking about? RON anyone?
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That may be the case, but I was unaware that that you were able to choose who your academic reference was, and I have been here 4 years. I have also never been told about any CV clinics.
Maybe instead of acting negatively, you could have said that it may be that they need to be advertised better?
Also, in the manifesto, it says that when a potential employer contacts the university for an academic reference, the university will pass on your personal tutor’s information. Shruti says that she wants to implement a system where you can tell they Uni who you want to act as your referee.
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Maybe I could have sounded less negative, but I still stand by my views. Better advertising could help but it’s easy to find help online. I’ve been told many times about the careers service in various lectures but some of my friends claim theyve never known about their workshops. One girl certainly should have known because we sat in the same lecture where I learnt about them! ‘You can take a horse to water’ I think the phrase is.
I’ve had a look at the manifesto and it’s my understanding that employers don’t randomly contact the university asking for references and only do if you give them details of your referee. If the university were randomly confirming information to third parties I think there would be some legal issue on data protection. (not too sure on that but it does sound a bit like an infringement of your rights).
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How many RONs could a Woodchuck chuck if a Woodchuck could chuck RONs?
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