NOTE: The absence of Mr. Barker's manifesto from our original publication was due to a miscommunication and an editorial error. Mr Barker submitted a manifesto within the requested time frame and we have added coverage of his campaign to reflect that.

Tom Groves

When opening up Tom Groves’ manifesto, it may seem overwhelming to see there are sixteen pages available to view. Yet, his tone is clear and quite colloquial, making it both unique in format and context. When one opens up Groves’ manifesto, right away one is met with his trademark logo for his re-election for Director of Events: the goose. This really does set the tone for his re-election campaign: he focuses on the possibilities of what the Union could be far beyond it has been visualised before in a fun, conversational way that is not often seen in many candidates traditionally professional manifestos.

The Overview

In his manifesto, Groves’ aims to build on last year’s progress and introduces several new policies that focus predominantly on reforming spaces, events, councils and subcommittees.

The first area explored in the manifesto is spaces; the candidate says they will develop outdoor spaces particularly by focusing on the Piazza and FiEld. He suggests extending WiFi connection and the Main Bar speaker system to these areas and moving bike racks from the Piazza to the opposite side of the building in order to increase outdoor seating area and queuing space. Groves also aims to reutilise space by finding a sustainable company or takeaway to take up Blackwell’s lease, buying up the car park next to the Union so that there is more floor space available for large events, and increasing student opportunities at the Byre. He also suggests several ways to reform existing spaces, such as bars and cafes, by using Olio to reduce food waste, creating a new bar in StAge, and introducing an app for ordering food and drinks from Union bars in order to reduce waiting times.

In terms of events, he proposes adding several new events to the St Andrews social calendar if big events do return, such as three grad balls in 2022, laser tag and zorb football events, a period of virtual events before Freshers week, a food festival on the FiEld, and he aims to generally upgrade events by inviting more DJ collectives and using the Bop survey to improve club nights. He proposes several new safety measures to increase student wellbeing during events, such as promoting the Zero Tolerance Policy and making the reporting process clearer, installing a quiet room above bars, training student security staff by using contract security companies, and hiring a customer safety supervisor, who will be a trained member of staff responsible for handling safety and discipline issues.

Groves also proposes to reform councils, elections, and subcommittees. He suggests terms for all elected positions should start on the 1st of July, instead of early April, in order to prolong the handover period and prevent incoming presidents being left without a committee for several weeks. He also proposes to make more resources available for future candidates, such as past manifestos. The candidate aims to increase transparency by streamlining the website so students can propose and vote on issues that will be discussed at council meetings online. Additionally, he suggests further increasing transparency by adding council meeting minutes on the council page. Regarding subcommittees, Groves suggests creating several new positions in the Ents crew, such as a promotion officer, venue design officer, and events booking officer and redecorating the design team’s suite. Moreover, he suggests redesigning the Sabb email to make it more concise, less repetitive and so it will include content from societies and subcommittees every week. In terms of societies, he puts forward the idea that societies could potentially use the volunteering portal and yourunion.net/shop for selling merchandise.

The Analysis

Something quite unique in Groves’ manifesto is Point 1.7 and 1.8 in Section 1: Develop Outdoor Spaces. These two points concern itself with the changing of outdoor spaces outside the Union, particularly in hiring a mural artist to decorate the path to McIntosh and then moving the bike rack from the Piazza to the other side of the building. I am curious to see if the artist being hired is a local/student artist, and if there is a plan to decorate the path to McIntosh if more upkeep upon it will take place. I think it is unique that Groves not only has ideas to help change the experience of being at the Union, but physically change the physical space of the Union as well. This is also noticeable in Section 7: Buying the Car Park and the Decorate the Union initiative.

Groves covers other issues that I think many students would be happy to see: the inclusion of vegetarian and vegan items on the Main Bar menu (Bars and Cafes, pg.6), the suggestion to put a piano back in the Union (Bars and Cafes, pg.6), and the creation of a Union Youtube Channel societies can use to promote their events properly (Marketing, pg.11) are all highlights in Groves’ manifesto. Yet, I think something very individual to this particular manifesto is in “Councils and Elections”, where in Section 5 he plans on digging up council plans and motions from past years where there is no record of them available. With the increasing tension between town and students, it makes more sense now than ever to have council motions on record for further student discussion.

There are, however, some areas that raise questions. In more than a few instances, he has left out important specifics on how he plans to achieve his goals. He suggests pushing the Union’s shop webpage to societies so that merch or other items can be sold through there, but gives no indication on how this will be achieved. Similarly, his social media targets have zero follow-up clarifications on the strategy that will be employed. Considering that social media is increasingly important for outreach, targeted campaigns could be used to great effect, so it would’ve been nice to see an example of new social media campaigns.

Bikers will also be unhappy with the candidate’s proposal to move the bike racks currently in the Piazza to the other side of the building, as mentioned in the manifesto. Having taken this possible pushback into consideration the candidate still believes that the extra space could be put to better use by expanding the outside sitting area for Main Bar and Rector’s. Perhaps the question should be put to a student vote; the proposal is interesting, but it isn’t clear how popular it will end up being. Let’s shift our focus to a few meters to the right, adjacent to the Piazza lies a car park that the candidate recommends buying to expand revenue for the union through parking fees. Unfortunately, by the candidate’s own admission this will not be possible in the short term, as the Union will first have to recover from the financial losses created by the pandemic which will probably take years. It isn’t clear then why it has been proposed in this year’s manifesto.

Finally, Groves proposes allowing people to dance on the 601 stage during nights out. The proposed increases in safety measures (more fencing and security guards to avoid people going backstage) appear quite lacking. If our nights out are anything to go by, intoxicated or distracted people are known for falling and tripping; adding a height from which to fall seems dangerous, to put it mildly.

Caitlin Snook

As a William and Mary joint degree student, Caitlin offers an interesting perspective on the DoES race informed by her two experiences. At the heart of her manifesto is the desire to listen to students and create from the moment a new students sets foot on campus a sense of belonging and inclusion in events

The Overview

Caitlin summarises the main ideas behind her campaign in three words: “Connection. Collaboration. Communication”. Leaving aside the alliteration, the themes are strongly present throughout the whole manifesto. Describing her experience as a perennial “fresher” jumping from university to university while on an international exchange programme, Caitlin explains how important student events can be to build lasting relationships and foster a sense of belonging. To this effect she plans to increase the collaboration between the DoES and DoSDA to increase the use of the online events calendar, reinvigorate the night-life entertainment and introduce a university-wide buddy scheme to attend events in pairs. Collaboration with other student unions across the UK is also debated, a refreshing possibility that would allow to split costs for bigger guest acts during well-established events such as Freshers Week.

The difficulties of connecting with others during a pandemic caused by an air-born disease are well known to all. This makes it all the more challenging for DoES officers to provide quality events to entertain students and enhance their experience at university. Our current reliance on the virtual space has prompted the candidate to push for more online festivals and events, while preparing for our gradual return to in-person events.

In her manifesto, Caitlin also places emphasis on student feedback: through the creation of online forms and instituting dedicated office hours they communicate her intention to tailor the student experience to the student themselves. In line with her motto, these initiatives would allow the St Andrews student body to influence the officer’s work and keep them accountable for her campaign promises.

The Analysis

The candidate has an overall comprehensive and clear manifesto. She clarifies her circumstances in being a fourth year William & Mary Joint Degree Programme student, and how her main introduction to St Andrews has been through Union events. Of course, however, when one reviews anything with a fine tooth comb, one is bound to find some issues.

One issue that is noticeable is in the Events section of her manifesto, in which she outlines an idea to collaborate with other student unions. Although the concept of learning how other student unions are preparing for potentially in-person Freshers Week is interesting, there are some potential issues with the nature of our University, namely that ours is the most international in the area and therefore our process of phasing back to in-person events may be halted by the amount of students returning and needing to quarantine (presumably if this measure is still in place) will be large.

Another issue that is in this candidate’s manifesto is in the Services section in her plan to expand upon the Can Do Initiative that began with the pandemic last year. Although her general idea to “include more resources as St Andrews prepares for a phased return to in-person events” is important, there has already been a continuous expansion of resources through the Can Do Initiative by Enterprise Education and the CEED that are available on the University website. Perhaps if there was more clarity on how she was going to expand COVID resources or more so how Caitlin was going to increase their accessibility in collaboration with these University departments, that would make more sense.

Caitlin’s manifesto particularly stands out in its emphasis on collaboration, communication, and because of how tailored it is to the current pandemic conditions.

In terms of collaboration, Caitlin aims to personally work with several other sabbs in order to increase the use of the events calendar, develop a wellness events series, and create digital content that will introduce freshers to university life. Additionally, she also plans to extend this collaboration beyond the sabbs by working with other student unions on events for freshers week.

Caitlin also emphasises communication in her manifesto and plans to create a more communicative relationship between the student body and DoES by holding Can Do hours where students can directly discuss ideas for events with the DoES, creating surveys in order to get feedback on events, and by establishing a Union events committee so student opinions are represented in the creation of Union events.

Moreover, Caitlin’s manifesto is also unique in how tailored it is to the current pandemic conditions. She suggests exploring the reintroduction of Sinners in some capacity, holding festivals and events that are capable of being held virtually, like On The Rocks, online, and transforming the Can Do initiative into a larger hub of Covid resources and information that will be available to students. She also aims to combat pandemic loneliness by introducing an event buddy scheme and by encouraging more combined society events.

Charles Barker

Charles Barker is a geography student with a clear understanding of the issues current plaguing the student nightlife experience, and he offers a manifesto which gives a direct and occasionally humorous look at these issues. He presents himself as a candidate aware of the limitations COVID has the potential to place on the realisation of all his ideas, and offers several innovative ideas to commonly faced issues.

The Overview

Charles’ manifesto has 5 key areas. His first is COVID planning, and it highlights the importance of having events which cover all possibilities - best case, worse case, and all the variations in between. He notes the importance of a continuous incorporation of student feedback into how COVID-safe events are being handled, as well as the assurance that grad ball, if allowed to go ahead, will accommodate all three graduating years.

His next section on improving collaborative efforts is perhaps his most innovative, proposing a creation of a new ENTs subcommittee. He envisions it as a means to ensure student consultation is incorporated from the get-go in Union events, and refers to them provisionally as the Event Planning Team. Importantly, this role would play a key role in the improvement of BOPs, which he sees being accomplished in two key ways: the aforementioned student consultation program, and invitation of Dundee based DJs.

His vision for events isn’t just constrained to BOPs however, as Charles makes provisions for events every night of the week, the most notable addition being Wednesday night as a club night. He also specifically mentions a continuation of daytime events such as the Record Fayre and Kilo sales.

Within services, Charles states his disagreement with the decision to close the Barron Theatre, and clearly states his understanding of the massive hit this will take to student spaces. He also makes specific mention of boosting the equipment available to the design team, providing more training to ENTs, and making equipment rental easier by working with the Music Officer to reduce the cost barrier. Baker’s fourth section concerns a beautification of the physical Union space itself, achieved by a revamping of the current Union lighting system, as well as a continuation of hanging student created art within the building. Notable here is his emphasis on a redesign of outdoor spaces, which would include the addition of covered outdoor area.

His final section is discipline and safety, an area that is ever present in all students minds. He states that many students are unaware of current reporting procedures, and that if they are aware and do make a report, their complaints are often dealt with slowly or without the deserved respect. His plans to combat this centre around raising awareness for the current measures in place, and work collaborative with the DoWell to monitor how complaints are handled.

Before turning over to an analysis, some other interesting points of his are the addition of chicken poppers to the side menu (who doesn’t love poppers), expansion of veggie items, and a commitment to helping to ensure that individuals relying on public transportation still can attend and access union events.

The Analysis

Charles’ manifesto is a clear view of the very real issues the DoES will be up against next year, and it isn’t afraid to admit to the fact that parts of his vision may or may not be achievable due to COVID. He also isn’t afraid to tell us what we’ve all known - BOPs are in need of a serious revamping, and have been in need for a long time (seriously, sometimes I wonder if they were designed by someone who had an allergic reaction to anything off the top 40). The stand out features are his attention to the little things that can be changed to make a huge difference, like how the Union is apparently getting ripped off by lighting fees, and indicate a candidate who has done his research.

Another very strong point is his theme of collaboration with the student body that runs throughout the entire manifesto. He explicitly states several times that the job of the DoES is to figure out what is actually working, and what people actually want changed, a practical and refreshing take from someone in charge of coalescing the St. Andrews nighttime experience.

However, there are several parts of his manifesto which lack concise explanation of how he intends to implement the actions required for his proposed change. Most notable in this area is his safety section; he rightly points out that many students are upset with the process, however more explanation into the specific work he envisions happening in partnernship with the DoWell would have been appreciated. Another absence for us is his section about virtual exhasuation. Again he very adeptly explains that many students feel too burnt out after a day online to then spend a night doing online events, but fails to fully explain how he would help combat this issue

Overall, Mr. Barker's manifesto is a clear look at not just the issues the DoES is likely to face in the next year, but also an exploration of how he intends to fix lingering problems. It is targeted and direct with its issue spotting, and reveals a candidate who has done his homework. However, the 'how' to his 'what' is occasionally lacking, and leaves one wishing for further expansion.