You voted and results are out. Your representatives are elected; here are their visions and their commitments – what they promise. The Third Eye spoke to the students that were elected to the UM Senate and Council to hear how they plan to honour the voters that put their trust in them.
Omar Chircop: Representative in Council
“First of all, I would like to thank every person that supported me in one way or another. I wish a good term to the elected candidates and praise all candidates for taking time from their personal life to help the student body. For this term I want to work as a team with the other student representatives on the council, senate and faculty boards so that we have a stronger say for any problems that may occur. I urge students to contact any student reps including myself for any issue they would like to discuss.”
Chiara Vassallo: Postgraduate representative in senate
“I have always loved feeling close to students and youth, and through such a large relative turnout in a senate election I feel that there are already more people than there were previously who knew that senate even existed let alone what it does. I aim to be as open as possible to my fellow peers so that any academic issues that they may face, I will be able to help them go through the correct channels and assure them that there will be a strong student backing should it reach senate level.”
Beppe Galea: Postgraduate representative in senate
“I am humbled by the result. 1,265 students voted for me and I will honour their trust by representing them in the best possible way on the Senate of the University of Malta. I take this opportunity to encourage every student, especially those who did not participate in these elections, to be active on campus. The University sent out more than 11,800 votes through an electronic system. 79% of the student population chose not to vote despite the fact that they received the email to vote directly through their University email. This makes me more determined to work harder to increase the turnout of voters each year.“
Yasmine Ellul: Undergraduate representative in senate
“I am extremely honoured to have been elected to the University of Malta Senate with 1,310 votes and I would like to sincerely thank the students who showed me their support and expressed their belief in my capabilities by voting for me. Having student activism close to heart, I am excited to start working together with the other student representatives on Council, Senate and faculty boards with the aim of tackling all academic issues which may arise in the best way possible.
My goals are to continue building upon the positive work done by previous student representatives while also bringing to the forefront new ideas in order to improve student life on campus in a holistic manner. While I am looking forward to give my input, I also encourage all other students to be proactive and approach me with any ideas or proposals they may have!”