Written by Khalid Abumaye, MDXSU Vice President Science & Technology

Working in MDXSU I believe there a lot of things that I’ve achieved within the year, the first win I would say is anonymous marking, when I was a student I felt that marking was bias and unfair for certain students and that could’ve been because of race, religion, background etc. in some cases marking a student low could’ve been because this student wouldn’t come into lectures or they where rude to their lecturer and that resulted in this student being marked down because of this very reason. I can say that anonymous marking has now become a policy for the university where every module must implement it wherever they can! 

I’ve worked and developed a good relationship with the Dean and Deputy Dean in the Science and Tech faculty having regular meetings and make sure that what students wanted was raised in these meetings, working with the Dean and the president we’ve come up with a shuttle bus for students going to and from Allianz park and also a prayer room for students of faith in Allianz park.  

I’ve also raised that Post-Graduate students are neglected on campus and before the whole Covid-19 situation, I was working with a staff member from the SU and PG students to organize a networking event for PG students, With that same staff member I’ve worked to do a focus group asking questions to PG students and seeing what their opinions on their courses are!  

The PVG reports where great! (Credit goes to all the PVG’s and SVL’s out there), I’ve worked with sports to make sure they make it clear that students don’t have to pay £50 straight away but they can pay that amount in installments, sports is a big help for mental health and I will make sure that sports becomes more diverse and more accessible for any student with any circumstances.  

MDX App and the computers/laptops in Middlesex university, computers and Laptops are slow and students must log into the system more than once to access one thing (Don’t worry guys, I hear you!) I’ve been working with the Dean to help fix that and to make sure all our computer system are working perfectly for every student on campus … as for the mdx app, I’ve been working with student engagement to help promote it and to also help improve it, I know there are problems with attendance, timetables and emails on the app and that’s being raised in every university meeting that there is.  

Teaching and learning can be boring at times, going into 2-3 hour lectures and sitting there listening to what the lecturer has to say (by all means, lecturers have worked hard to prepare these lectures for you guys) but there isn’t enough interactive learning in the lecture rooms, I believe that I could’ve learnt a lot better if the lectures where more interactive with the class and that is why I’ve been in conversations with the Deputy Dean of Science and Tech to help encourage lectures to be more interactive in their lectures.  

PGR students who volunteer to teach (round of applause for you guys!) It must be hard to prepare lectures for students whilst doing your research project, I’ve been having conversations about getting you guys certificates as a reward for your efforts in volunteering to teach and proof that you have the experience to teach, which makes employability easier for you guys.  

MDX Works, they work day and night to make employability easier for every student, I’ve worked with them to get more awareness that MDX Works is there for the students and student can go to them whenever they need help on employability. 

PG students I know you’ve asked for a representative in the SU, I am your representative, I got you …  

Right Now, the most important thing for students are assessments and exams, we are raising academic fairness to the university and making sure lecturers are not marking harshly because of the current situation, deferrals and extenuating circumstances are available for students who need it.