Postgraduate Education Officer – Nadine Curtis

I’m Nadine Curtis, in my final year of Biological Sciences, running for Postgraduate Education.

“AN EDUCATION EXPERIENCE THAT WORKS FOR ALL.“

How do you aim to help postgraduate students in the midst of financial hardship?

Postgraduates are commonly underpaid or even not paid at all; I don’t know how we expect PGs to live comfortably, let alone have good mental health. They can’t just focus on their degree; they’re also expected to work, at least part-time. I think if you want PGs to academically excel, we need to increase their stipends, and increase them to be a living wage that is comfortable for them. We also need to decrease the fees they’re facing; international students face fees of £20,000 and upwards; I don’t know how anyone is expected to afford that. Even the loans that home students receive is only up to £6,500, when they’re paying at least 9 or 10 thousand for their funding. Lower fees and increase funding – that’s my goal.

What do you think isn’t been done by the SU enough for PGs?

I think they’ve done a lot of work concerning getting better funding for PGs; I know that undergraduates have got an increase in maintenance loans recently, and I know that the SU have been working hard towards better funding for postgraduates. I know it’s probably not the fault of the SU’s work or their goals, but the response they’re getting. I hope to continue the efforts that they’ve made to make a final push, such as to politicians, and at the university; we want our funding and support – we don’t want our money directly to the people at the top of the university, but it to come back into the student experience.

What experience – in SU and general student involvement – can you bring to this role?

I’ve been involved in the SU for 3 years now. I’m in the fourth year of my degree, so while I was on my placement year last year, I was the UG Biological Sciences Rep., where I made changes in terms of social spaces, better feedback from lecturers, and better assignment deadlines. We’ve created a really good social space and got societies involved a lot with Biological Sciences. In my current year I work as a Faculty Rep. for MHLS, and I’m continuing my role as Biological Sciences Rep. At the moment I’m working on interprofessional relationships between medicine and nursing students, and working on getting a better environment in the MBC. I’ve worked with council and the full-time officers, so I really do know the SU in-an-out at this point.

What do you do outside of all your work?

I do crochet, play electric and acoustic guitar, and love horror movies – when I have the time to do all that.

In 5 words or less, what is your campaign about?

No more exploitation or isolation.

You can read Nadine’s manifesto here.

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