William Brander

Hi everyone, I'm William from Australia.

Having served as Academic Representative in the School of Medicine last year before seeing the light and switching to a better course, I am eager to run it back and operate on behalf of our esteemed bioengineers.

It is due to my previous success in this role and the sense of fulfilment that came with it that urges me to run for this role. For example, last year, many people had technical difficulties during their exams which negatively impacted their grade. They were denied a retake as 'it was only first year' and 'as long as they passed it was fine'. As academic rep I challenged this standpoint, arguing it went against Imperial's value of academic excellence and was disrespectful to the work the students had put in for their exams. After long discussions with faculty members the affected students were allowed to resit their exam, which was a hugely rewarding experience. Another responsibility was the regular collation of feedback about individual modules to improve them as the year went on, which was to great effect.

Should I be elected to this role, any problems you may have, whether it be about methods of teaching, exams, or something else, the faculty will be made well aware of this. And if issues arise during assessment that are beyond your control, rest assured that the situation will be handled fairly.