Meet your FTOs for 2023/24
Friday 22-09-2023 - 14:00
Completing your top team of students leading the Students' Union for 2023/24, it's the Full Time Officers! Let's see who they are and what they do below...
What do Full Time Officers do?
FTOs are your Full Time Officers and you guessed it, they work full-time to make your student life better. FTOs may be recent graduates or have paused their studies for the year to represent you. They’re the top leaders of the SU and will work for the year to represent your views to the University, run campaigns to deliver change and support the work of our incredible student volunteers. FTOs are involved in making decisions with senior staff across the University and contiually strive to ensure that your voices are represented.
How did they get here?
You voted them in! In March, over 2,000 of you took part in the Mega Elections and picked the students that you wanted to lead LUSU this year.
Meet the FTO team
Cerys Evans (she/her) - Students' Union President
As President, Cerys leads the overall work of the Students' Union and the Full Time Officer team to ensure that they are winning for students at every opportunity. She will work to make sure the SU is as effective as it can be within the next year by building important relationships with university staff, other students' unions, the NUS, Members of Parliament and more! Cerys' own priorities include ensuring you can get where you want to go eadily and cheaply, reforming student services to serve students and making campus an affordable place to belong.
Harrison Stewart (he/him) - Vice President Union Development
Harrison has completed the second year of his LLB Law degree and is taking a pause from studies for the next year to represent students as your VP Union Development. Harrison will take a political lead on the nine colleges, governance & democracy, finance, commercial services (Sugarhouse, Central and SU Living) and the climate emergency. He is particularly interested in ensuring the Union has effective governance systems in place, increasing political engagement amonsgt students and improving our commitments to environmental sustainability. Outside of his new role, Harrison originally comes from far, far away (not) in Morecambe and is now a proud Cartmelian. He's a self proclaimed legal nerd, pretentious music fanatic (with a scary obsession with The Smiths) and a keen university sportsman.
Sam Hedges (he/him) - Vice President Education
Sam is a recent graduate in Physics and is looking forward to serving the next your as your VP Education. As VP Education, Sam aims to create academic communities within departments between staff and students with a key focus on the work of the Academic Reps. He will contribute to the University's Curriculum Transformation Project which will be a major strategic project changing what a Lancaster degree might look like over the coming years. As a student, Sam was involved in our student radio station Bailrigg FM and he gained experience as a radio host. In his spare time, he loves to get out into the local countryside on his bike and you'll often find him pedalling to work at the SU!
Santi Siabato (he/him) - Vice President Societies & Media
Santi is a recent graduate in Marketing with Psychology originally from Colombia but living in Surrey. As VP Societies & Media, Santi is the political representative for the over 150 student societies and four official student media groups (SCAN, Bailrigg FM, LA1TV and Take2 Cinema). Not one for a quiet day, Santi's been involved in just about every student leader role going including as an Academic Rep, JCR President and active member of LUSing, LUYoga and LUHipHop. To support all of our student groups, Santi is hoping to improve the training offered to Society Execs, maintaining societies support and ensuring groups get the recognition they deserve. On the occasion that they do have a spare moment, you'll find them tuned in to Ariana Grande as the biggest stan to walk the earth.
Jack Watson (he/him) - Vice President Sport
Jack is a recent graduate in Natural Sciences who threw himself into sport at university throughout his whole time. He was the President of the American Football Club for the last two consecutive years as well as being a member of the two previous Roses Committees. After two years of historic Roses victories (including winning on Yorkshire soil for the first time in 38 years in 2022), Jack is confident that Roses 2024 back on home territory will not be one to be missed. As VP Sport, Jack hopes to give back tothe Lancaster sporting community that has given him so much. In particular, he hopes to improve the Executive Committee handover process, create a new Sports Committee (which is already approved!) and to improve communications between students and their Union.
Josh Newsham (he/him) - Vice President Welfare
Josh is a recent Business Economics graduate from Preston. As your VP Welfare. Josh's focus is to ensure that campus is welcoming and accessible to all by breaking down systemic and cultural barriers, empowering forums, providing accessible cost of living support, introducing a Harm Reduction Policy and much more. Josh also sits as a member of the University Council which is the highest decision making body of the University and he intends to use his voice to represent the best interests of students. Having served as the LGBTQ+ Students Officer last year, Josh will continue to work closely with a new full team of Liberation & Campaign Officers in his role as VP Welfare.
