Life as an SU Officer: Danny Coucill
As the nomination deadline for the Student Union Elections draw near Danny Coucill gives an insight into his time as a Student Officer (Communications Officer) and what inspired him to run in the elections last year.
Nominations close this Friday at 2pm, so hurry if you want to be the voice of 8,000 students. Click here to find out more.
What Inspired/Encouraged you to run to be a Student Officer?
I love the Student Union, as an institution. I think it does so much to support the students from all angles, and think it's a vital part of the university experience, more so than most other Student Unions. As a Student Officer in the previous year, I was concerned that I heard lots of grumbles about people not knowing about happenings in the SU, and I felt I could do my best to change that, which led to me to run for another role, to ensure students knew of the opportunities the SU had.
What has been your bigggest achievement/success as an Officer this year?
Personally, I feel a lot of the work I've done has not been at the forefront of the Student experience. A lot of my work has been to ensure events get promoted and people know where to go, Howeverm some things I have been really proud of have only just happened or are soon to happen. Sound Radio will be broadcast through speakers in the Lounge in the coming months, for the foreseeable future, allowing students to hear from other students, which will then be used as a platform to let people know what is going on at the Student Union. I also was keen to make sure SU elections were not only known about, but also highly publicised. if you're reading this, then you know about elections and that's a huge thing for me. I also strived to ensure that the SU was seen as a sperate entity from the Unviersity, to which I had a meeting at the beginning of the year with the University and raised those concerns. As a result, we saw the university tweeting about the Student Union, and highlighting it was a Student Union event or initiative, which i think is a huge postive!
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced as an Officer this year?
Something I feel a lot of people don't realise is that as a part-time executive officer, you are not the "boss" or lead change, but are rather the voice of the students and can campaign for change, and aid sabbatical officers to implement changes. I also have had to give up a lot of time, which I could have spent on nights out etc.. during Freshers where instead I was helping. When friends would ask to go to a fresher's event, I couldn't as I was helping it. However, the SU ensured that we had a fun time regardless,so as a challenge, it wasn't so bad.
What would be your top three tips for running in a Student Union election?
1) Get your name out. Make sure people know who you are!
2) Don't run a negative campaign against others, as it makes you the enemy rather than them and it backfires on you.
3) Run for the right reasons. Strive to change, and to help students and the SU, not because you feel it will be a CV filler or because 'it gives you power'. It makes not only your lfie harder, but also those who do want to help the students of Winchester legitimately.
If you have any questions regarding the election please do get in touch with your Student Union president Tali Atvars (tali.atvars@winchester.ac.uk)
