Key Manifesto Points

• increase student engagement by seeking out new study approaches
• Increase social activity among students by running weekly.
• Make student voices heard through new feedback approaches
• Make students/graduates influence job market decisions

Main Manifesto

Hi, I’m Andycan, an international student and a Solent University alumnus who graduated with a First-Class degree in July 2017 after studying a 4-year course on Information Technology Management. After I graduated, I spent 1 year in the IT industry building my experience and during my career, I decided as a young IT graduate, establishing a business or enterprise of my own would be more beneficial as I noticed most establishments exploits young graduates without giving them the necessary benefits, pay and opportunities that match their skills.

Evaluating the situation in the job market, I made a decision to return to the University to study a Master’s in a Business Administration course which will equip me with the accurate knowledge and position to establish an IT enterprise which can help both young undergraduates and graduates looking to get into roles that best match their skills, knowledge and work, life balance without being exploited by the industrial fat cats.

I am currently running for the position of Head of Student Engagement in the university, with my experience as both an alumnus of Solent University and my industrial experience, I want to be a representative that fully emphasize the needs of the students and creates opportunities to ensure students are always ahead of the game in the competitive job market and possess skills and knowledge to allow them standout and have a say in their future career, goals and aspirations.

I want to open your potentials to give you a say in the University and Job market, If Andy Can you can!

Questions & Answers

1. How would you help build a community of students at Solent University?

The key to constructing a solid community is building a social foundation that breaks down cultural boundaries, stigma and mental limitations that restricts students from engaging with one another. My approach is to breakdown these boundaries by encouraging and creating awareness that attracts students to share ideas, objectives, experiences and work together as a community for example creating events such as Solent International Students Day, International Exchange day, Share-A-Pizza day etc. And making these events more targeted towards students and reducing unnecessary rigidity which reduces interests.

2. What types of events for students would you like to see on campus?

I am aware that the University holds special awareness programmes and events such as Mental health Week, Black history month etc. However, my target isn’t just to create more events, it is to increase student engagement in these events or improving already established events by creating opportunities in these events that boost students interests for example sharing a free hot pizza during Black History Month or encouraging students to give positive and encouraging talks about their mental health experiences to encourage students and give them a motivational boost.

3. What improvements would you push for catering facilities on campus?

My goal is to push for exploring more menu options and introducing intercontinental mouth-watering dishes which are not limited to students of a singular nationality. Introducing more diverse dishes allows international students to be more comfortable using catering facilities and encourages social interaction and engagement between students of different backgrounds. I would also utilize my IT knowledge to create an engagement app to allow students order for lunch and rate dishes they’ll love to see.

4. How would you make the university and Students’ Union more inclusive?

With my experience and knowledge on IT and my international background, I want to create a social app which can be used by students to perform a variety of functions such as rating their courses with anonymous feedback, allow students join social events, win prizes and most importantly voice university concerns. This app would allow better responsiveness from students and allow engagement of Students’ Union and University to meet the student needs.