Laurie Barr
I'm this year's School SRC rep - next year it could be you!
Hi, I’m Laurie, and I have been the SRC School Representative for Social and Political Sciences (SPS) since October. Since nominations for new SRC council members will be open between 09/02/26-20/02/26, I wanted to share my experience in hopes of inspiring another SPS student to nominate themselves for the role for next academic year!!
Fo context, I am a third year Politics with Quantitative Methods student. Before the start of this year, I knew very little about the SRC or student representation generally. I had never been a class representative, which it seemed many SRC council members had been, so I felt pretty inexperienced. Nonetheless, after discussions with a friend who was already on the SRC council and with the Student Experience Manager for SPS, I decided to put myself forward for the vacant role of SPS School Representative during the October SRC elections. It felt daunting and out of my comfort zone since I normally much prefer to work in the background of organisations. However, it felt like a very intriguing opportunity that I would regret not running for if it was on the grounds of being afraid to put myself out there.
I had seen a few elements of the inner workings of the School of SPS in my role as Vice-President of the Economic and Social History Society. As an SPS subject-based society, I had already worked with the School’s Student Experience Team on their Student Experience Forum (STEF), helping to plan events such as the Big Welcome, the Big Get Together, and the SPS Ball. Being School Representative has developed my understanding of the school (and university!!) even further due to the opportunities that I have had to sit in on meetings to act as the Student Voice, such as the School Learning and Teaching Committee, as well as SRC meetings such as SRC Council and SRC Academic forum.
The role has led me to work on a few projects over the last few months which the next School Representative will likely pick up once my tenure ends. As School Representative, you will work with Class Representatives from ESH, Politics, Quants, CEES, Social and Public Policy, Sociology, and SPS Postgraduate courses to support them in getting feedback from other students and bringing any issues forward to more senior members of staff if necessary. The major project this year has been trying to help Class Representatives with their termly meetings with staff called Staff-Student Liaison Committees/ SSLCs. SSLCs are done differently over different subjects throughout the school, and both the SPS Student Experience Team and the SRC are keen to get these SSLCs looking similar across schools and the university. Managing this task (including helping create proposals for changes and pitching them to senior SPS staff) has been very valuable for my confidence and public speaking skills- one of the many lessons learned from this experience!!
But the role is not all work (I promise!!). Sitting on the SRC Council, which is a very close-knit community, has given me an opportunity to mix with other Council Members, expanding my friendships beyond my school. The SRC also provide social opportunities such as Cross-Campus dinner (with all the student representative bodies like the GUU, QMU, and GUSA), Council Christmas dinner, and unique experiences like a trip up the University tower in the historic campus. Many of the experiences I’ve had due to the role I couldn’t have imagined doing a year ago- it is truly very special!!
So, do you want to take up the mantle and run to be the new SRC School Representative for Social and Political Sciences? No experience is needed- you just need a can-do attitude and an interest in student voice and support. I have found the experience very enlightening and worthwhile. It has developed my understanding of the inner workings of the school and the university, my relationships with staff and students, and my confidence in speaking out for students (as well as my Email writing skills!!). I would highly recommend the opportunity taking and I hope that whoever takes over enjoys the experience :)
If you have any questions about the role, nomination, or election process, just send an email either to myself (schoolrep-socpolsci@src.gla.ac.uk) or the Student Experience Manager for SPS (Linzi.Crawford@glasgow.ac.uk) and we will help you out!!