Manifesto
Hi I’m Emma Robinson, and I am running in this year’s student union elections for the position of equality officer for the college year 2016/ 2017. I am a first year creative and digital media mature student. In my first year in ITT I have seen a lot of activity and have got involved in as much as possible. I am currently a member of the Rugby, Rainbow and Radio society. You may have heard me on ITTFM during radio were I co presented the T-RED show with two fellow CDM first years.
I am running for the position of equality officer, because I genuinely feel that I can make a difference within ITT. In this, the year of equality, following the passing of the marriage referendum I was heavily involved with volunteering for the Dublin south branch of yes equality. For the campaign I canvassed door to door daily and even designed the banner for the pride parade. This experience thought me a lot on what it is to be equal within society, and as a member of the lgbtq community, having to ask for equality by canvassing door to door, did not sit well with me. I am of the personal belief that every single person is equal regardless of (but not limited to) what race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, age etc. None of it should matter. I have a lot of plans and ideas, If I were to be elected the equality officer for the college year 2016 / 2017.
Equality officer visibility to students
I want the equality officer to me more visible around the college. I want every student to know who the equality officer is and what their name and role is within the college. Ideally I would hope to meet with the new students during fresher’s week and discuss my role within the college with them. I want students to feel that they can approach me at any time with any issues or questions, whether it be when I’m walking down the corridor in between classes or just having lunch in the canteen. I will have a dedicated email address set up so that I can be contacted 24/7. No issue to big or small. If possible I would like to introduce and implement a bi monthly meeting between myself and all the class reps within the college, in which any issues regarding equality within the college and what I can do for you. I will also make myself available for one to one meetings with students that wish to discuss any issues or questions that may arise throughout the year.
Disability
I feel that the level of awareness regarding students with disabilities, whether it be a physical or learning disability, is not strong enough within the student body. As a result of this I plan to run a disability awareness week within the college year. In this week I hope to have a number of activities that all students can take part in that will help raise their level of awareness of students in the college that have a disability. I have events in mind such as: Blind for a day, Wheelchair for a day, Blind football, Wheelchair basketball etc. Throughout the college year I hope to liaise with the college disability officer and the student union education officer in order to increase the level of support for students with a learning disability, in particular those who may have fallen through the cracks in first and second level education and as a result have not had the relevant testing for a learning disability. I hope to have a form of in house testing introduced if and where possible in order to help these students throughout their time in ITT.
Mature Students
As a mature student I personally understand the feeling of going back to education and being older than the vast majority of my class. Although there is a mature student and friend’s society within the college, I do not feel there is enough awareness within the college on mature students. I would like to change this and have a day of awareness on mature students within the equality week I also hope to run at some stage throughout the year. I would also like to see the Mature students and friend’s society collaborate more with other societies. This is something I hope to discuss with the society at the start of the academic year.
International and Erasmus Students
There is a wide diversity of students of different nationalities and culture within the college. Every semester we see new students arrive on the Erasmus programme. It is important that each new student is made feel welcome within the college and knows their way around the college. To help aid with this I would like to introduce a new concept called the Erasmus guide team. This team would consist of volunteer students who would spend the first week of each semester guiding their assigned Erasmus student around the college and ensuring the feel welcome. As part of equality week I would also like to have a day dedicated to culture. This day would be called cultural exchange. Students would make or bring in items from their culture and would barter with other students for their items, no money would be involved and it would be down to the student what they wish to trade their item for. Within this day I would like to arrange language exchange workshops, where students will teach each other their language, slang words etc.
LGBTQ
The rainbow society is very successful within the college, hosting many events such as rainbow week. I would like to have a day for LGBTG awareness within equality week. Throughout the day I hope to have speakers in to discuss various aspects of the lgbtq community. I would also like to have some workshops run throughout the day, in which guidelines will be given on how to provide support to the lgbtq students within the college.
Contact and Support
If I were to be elected as equality officer, I hope to have allotted times available weekly were a student will be able to book an appointment to come and see me. I would post all my relevant contact details on the college website, where students will be able to contact me at any time. As mentioned I hope to offer support to any student who is facing an equality issue. In the event of an issue arising, I will go above and beyond to solve the issue and insure that students feel equal throughout their time in ITT.
VOTE EMMA ROBINSON #1 FOR EQUALITY OFFICER 2016/ 2017
Making ITT EQUAL for everyone!
I am running for the position of equality officer, because I genuinely feel that I can make a difference within ITT. In this, the year of equality, following the passing of the marriage referendum I was heavily involved with volunteering for the Dublin south branch of yes equality. For the campaign I canvassed door to door daily and even designed the banner for the pride parade. This experience thought me a lot on what it is to be equal within society, and as a member of the lgbtq community, having to ask for equality by canvassing door to door, did not sit well with me. I am of the personal belief that every single person is equal regardless of (but not limited to) what race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, age etc. None of it should matter. I have a lot of plans and ideas, If I were to be elected the equality officer for the college year 2016 / 2017.
Equality officer visibility to students
I want the equality officer to me more visible around the college. I want every student to know who the equality officer is and what their name and role is within the college. Ideally I would hope to meet with the new students during fresher’s week and discuss my role within the college with them. I want students to feel that they can approach me at any time with any issues or questions, whether it be when I’m walking down the corridor in between classes or just having lunch in the canteen. I will have a dedicated email address set up so that I can be contacted 24/7. No issue to big or small. If possible I would like to introduce and implement a bi monthly meeting between myself and all the class reps within the college, in which any issues regarding equality within the college and what I can do for you. I will also make myself available for one to one meetings with students that wish to discuss any issues or questions that may arise throughout the year.
Disability
I feel that the level of awareness regarding students with disabilities, whether it be a physical or learning disability, is not strong enough within the student body. As a result of this I plan to run a disability awareness week within the college year. In this week I hope to have a number of activities that all students can take part in that will help raise their level of awareness of students in the college that have a disability. I have events in mind such as: Blind for a day, Wheelchair for a day, Blind football, Wheelchair basketball etc. Throughout the college year I hope to liaise with the college disability officer and the student union education officer in order to increase the level of support for students with a learning disability, in particular those who may have fallen through the cracks in first and second level education and as a result have not had the relevant testing for a learning disability. I hope to have a form of in house testing introduced if and where possible in order to help these students throughout their time in ITT.
Mature Students
As a mature student I personally understand the feeling of going back to education and being older than the vast majority of my class. Although there is a mature student and friend’s society within the college, I do not feel there is enough awareness within the college on mature students. I would like to change this and have a day of awareness on mature students within the equality week I also hope to run at some stage throughout the year. I would also like to see the Mature students and friend’s society collaborate more with other societies. This is something I hope to discuss with the society at the start of the academic year.
International and Erasmus Students
There is a wide diversity of students of different nationalities and culture within the college. Every semester we see new students arrive on the Erasmus programme. It is important that each new student is made feel welcome within the college and knows their way around the college. To help aid with this I would like to introduce a new concept called the Erasmus guide team. This team would consist of volunteer students who would spend the first week of each semester guiding their assigned Erasmus student around the college and ensuring the feel welcome. As part of equality week I would also like to have a day dedicated to culture. This day would be called cultural exchange. Students would make or bring in items from their culture and would barter with other students for their items, no money would be involved and it would be down to the student what they wish to trade their item for. Within this day I would like to arrange language exchange workshops, where students will teach each other their language, slang words etc.
LGBTQ
The rainbow society is very successful within the college, hosting many events such as rainbow week. I would like to have a day for LGBTG awareness within equality week. Throughout the day I hope to have speakers in to discuss various aspects of the lgbtq community. I would also like to have some workshops run throughout the day, in which guidelines will be given on how to provide support to the lgbtq students within the college.
Contact and Support
If I were to be elected as equality officer, I hope to have allotted times available weekly were a student will be able to book an appointment to come and see me. I would post all my relevant contact details on the college website, where students will be able to contact me at any time. As mentioned I hope to offer support to any student who is facing an equality issue. In the event of an issue arising, I will go above and beyond to solve the issue and insure that students feel equal throughout their time in ITT.
VOTE EMMA ROBINSON #1 FOR EQUALITY OFFICER 2016/ 2017
Making ITT EQUAL for everyone!