 My name is James Donahue and I'm a second year computer application student. My name is James Donahue, I'm the current education officer, I'm a journalism graduate. Ever since I've come to DCU, I've been heavily involved in representing students and because of that I see many things and issues that students have and I'd love to be able to solve their issues for them and help them with different and various issues. So that's why I wanted the next academic affairs officer because I want to affect every student's academically both inside the classroom and outside. I'm running because currently I'm the education officer and I love my job. It's really rewarding to meet different students every day of the week but also next year with the incorporation and all the new campuses. It's a fresh challenge and I think there's some ideas I'd like to implement across all campuses so that's why I'm running. I suppose this year the two busiest days of the year for me were exam results and it's extremely stressful for students but I suppose my worry will be that not enough students are getting information so the thing I want to set up after exam results is a free headline for our students so they can get advice and support from that for the days after exam results. The big thing I would like to see is earlier continuous assessment results and earlier repeat results because many students come to me and say that their continuous assessment results are after exams or just before exams and that's not good enough and we repeat students. Many of them are waiting, they're going out on an intro and they're waiting for the repeat results to come back so if we could have continuous assessment and repeat results earlier that would be good for every student. So I've lots of experience. In first year I was a class rep for computer applications and this year I'm the engineering and computing faculty representative so I represent every student in the engineering and computing faculty both undergraduate and postgraduate students so I'm just back from a two-hour education meeting myself so I do have an awful lot of experience in dealing with student issues and dealing with committee issues or university issues also and as well as that I'm very heavily involved in societies here at UCU I'm the treasurer of Harry Potter Occurrent as well so I'm vastly experienced. Well I suppose I have some experience. This year I'm playing the education officer obviously and I think it's effectively the same role but it's more academic I see it on 17 different committees throughout all the campuses already but I suppose the most important experience is it's a peer-to-peer role that students do call into you and I have that experience and I know the structures and stuff so that's my experience. I'm half of my degree so I'm on the ground with students at the moment I know the issues that are coming and I know the issues that are before me as well so I know the issues that students are having and I'll be able to represent and get that voice across if I were to be elected as an academic affairs officer as well as that I have been a class rep in first year this year I'm a faculty rep and I hope to be the academic affairs officer next year basically I've come up through all those positions so I know how the education officer or the academic affairs officer can work with class reps and faculty reps as well I think I have that to my advantage and I can utilise those positions as well the main thing that probably sets me apart is the experience I have with the role already but more than that so it's kind of the enthusiasm I have for the role and it's been seen like often as faculty officers kind of get tired and stuff throughout the year but I'm kind of full of energy and I think another year of me around would help the union in general