Wednesday 25-06-2025 - 10:44

 

Academic reps are the linchpin of the student experience here at LUSU. These student leaders represent you at departmental meetings, raise issues and feedback with lecturers, and help drive meaningful change within the University’s structures.

 

Much of their work often goes unnoticed - which is why we at LUSU believe it is so important to recognise and celebrate the outstanding contributions our reps have made over the past year.
Below are the winners of our recent Academic Rep Awards. Students who the Lancaster academic community felt have gone above and beyond in their roles, going the extra mile to shape and enhance the student experience.

While we celebrate these individuals, we also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the many other dedicated and inspiring academic reps across the University. With over 400 reps working across more than 30 departments, their collective efforts have played a vital role in making Lancaster a better place for all. This recognition is a testament to each and every one of them.

 
FASS

Jasper Rushen
Jasper, a first-year LICA Rep, was awarded in recognition of his dedication and proactive approach to his work. Consistently engaging with his cohort, and taking initiative in communication, Jasper has shown a genuine commitment to improving the curriculum.

In addition to attending events and supporting his peers, One of Jasper’s crowning achievements this year has been working collaboratively with FASS members to establish a new Design Society, aimed at building a community and support for new students. This, we are sure will have long lasting impact within the LICA department and for Design students for years to come

His reliability, teamwork, and drive to make a positive impact have made him a valuable representative deserving of this recognition.

 
Elsa Dorman
As a first year Department Rep for the English Literature and Creative Writing department, Elsa’s ability to adjust and adapt to the role is a testament to her exceptional commitment and energy as a Rep, receiving nominations from the department directly and fellow reps alike, 

Throughout her role, she has expertly help strengthen communication between students, staff, and LUSU, ensuring that feedback was effectively shared and acted upon.

Known for her kind and approachable nature, Elsa has consistently supported both academic and extracurricular initiatives and showed great dedication to her peers. Her attentiveness in lectures, willingness to listen, and proactive approach to raising student concerns demonstrates her as a valued and respected representative within the department.

She has set a shining example of what a rep can and should be at Lancaster University, making her fully deserving of this award.

 
Gabriel Salazar

As another first-year Department Rep for the School of Global Affairs (SGA), Gabriel has been instrumental in supporting his department.

His proactive and dedicated approach in addressing student concerns around AI highlights this, co-leading the organisation of the 'Artificial Intelligence and Beyond' symposium. A cross-disciplinary event involving LICA, SGA, and Education Research, Gabriel played a key role in managing submissions and collaborating with staff on the symposium’s development. His thoughtful and insightful contributions throughout the process earned him respect from both staff and students.

In addition to his work on the symposium, Gabriel attended every Staff-Student Committee meeting and regular catchups with the Head of School, consistently offering well-informed and valuable perspectives. 

His leadership in successfully co-organising the symposium and his ongoing commitment to improving the student experience made him fully deserving of this award.

 
Hannah Jones

As a first-year Rep for Law, Hannah has played a huge role in in tackling the issue of how to engage with and encourage feedback from fellow students.

Through developing a range of effective strategies, she significantly increased student engagement—often receiving responses from 40–50 students, compared to the usual handful. Her approach was smart, reflective, and determined, something which was directly recognised by the Law school itself.

Hannah went a step further by creating a guide to share her methods with other academic reps in the Law School, demonstrating her commitment to supporting her peers and improving student representation across the board.

Alongside her work as President of the Law Society, her clear commitment to student representation within the Law School makes her fully deserving of this award.

 
Jade Park

Jade was awarded for her exceptional dedication and leadership as an academic representative for the Theatre Department at Lancaster University. As an international student, she consistently championed the voices of underrepresented peers, especially when encouraging others to take the perspective of international students into account and addressing issues around decolonisation and inclusion.

She worked tirelessly to support fellow students—particularly those from international and minority backgrounds—offering guidance, sharing concerns with staff, and promoting the department through public and private platforms. Her commitment to sustainability, seen in both her coursework and extracurricular activities such as the ECOChallenge, reflect her passion for driving meaningful change.
Jade’s courage, empathy, and determination make her not only a highly effective rep but also a true role model. Her award recognises the positive and lasting impact she has made on her department and peers.

 

LUMS

Khushi Padale

What has defined Khushi’s role as a rep is her outstanding dedication, maturity, and commitment as an academic representative. Throughout the year, she has consistently gone above and beyond to advocate for her cohort, ensuring student concerns were communicated clearly, kindly, and effectively leading to real improvements in the student experience.

Khushi has been highly proactive and dependable, always the first to respond to requests, attend meetings, and relay important information, driven by a genuine desire to help others. Her warm, thoughtful approach and ability to gather and present feedback constructively have made a lasting positive impact on both her peers and the department, making her truly deserving of this award. 

 

Theo Hodgson-Cru
As a first-year rep at Lancaster, Theo has demonstrated a great commitment to his role and achieving this award. 

Through excellent attendance at meetings, Theo has been consistently well prepared, proactively gathering detailed and constructive feedback from his fellow students on their modules and overall university experience. 

His open and honest contributions have greatly benefited the first-year experience, and his dedication has made him a standout representative.

Like with many reps this evening, being a first-year rep is not always easy, but Theo’s ability to take the role in his stride and flourish illustrates how truly deserving he is of this award.
 

FST

Hannah Hurst

As the Department Rep of a large department such as LEC, Hannah has shown incredible leadership skills in her role. Something which has been recognised by both the department and fellow reps directly.

In her role as Department Rep, she has been instrumental in coordinating a large team of academic reps, and setting an example to her fellow reps. Whether this be setting up clear communication channels, organising meetings, and ensuring reps were known and accessible to students, Hannah has made sure to represent and to champion LEC students at all key departmental meetings. 

Her reliability, professionalism, and proactive approach have made a significant impact, both behind the scenes and within the wider student body. Her work has strengthened the student voice and brought lasting improvements to the department, making her truly deserving of this award.

Indeed, as someone mentioned, “I didn't realise how incredible a rep could be, until I [worked with Hannah]”. 

 
Joshua Chooyin

Josh, the eternal rep. 

An advocate for fellow engineering students throughout his 4 years at Lancaster, this award is a testament to his outstanding dedication, and leadership. He has consistently gone above and beyond to ensure students' voices are heard, actively challenging outdated systems and advocating for meaningful change. Whether moving exams or requesting revision sessions he has always put others ahead of himself.

Known for his approachability, reliability, and deep understanding of the rep system, Josh has been a vital link between students and staff. His efforts have led to tangible improvements, such as rescheduling exams and arranging revision sessions, and his support has extended beyond his own cohort to students across the wider engineering department.

Josh’s unwavering commitment to putting others first and driving positive change has made a lasting impact on his peers and the department, making him a truly deserving recipient of this award.
Whether it be an academic rep, a department rep, or a faculty rep, his passion and his willingness to pursue change will be missed from the wider LUSU academic rep community.

 

Melody Saynor
Melody Saynor has demonstrated outstanding leadership and contributions as the Department Rep for Natural Sciences, playing a key role in driving improvements within the department. Her design of a comprehensive student survey that gathered valuable feedback has led to enhanced student communication and support.

Melody's empathetic and professional approach to addressing sensitive issues has made her an invaluable asset to the department. She has ensured that the student voice is actively included in crucial processes such as course approvals, Annual Periodic Reviews, staff-student committees, and providing valuable input into the curriculum transformation programme within and beyond her department. 

Her commitment, initiative, and focus on fostering a more inclusive and responsive educational environment has significantly enhanced the academic experience for her peers, making her a worthy recipient of this award.

 
Robert Graham

Robert, as the Department Rep for Maths, has made proactive and thoughtful contributions as a student representative. He has consistently offered valuable input during student-staff committee meetings and played a crucial role in sustaining the Maths Society through a period of significant leadership changes.

One of his major achievements this year is his proposal of a new approach to fostering peer-assisted learning and community within the department through integrating the Maths Society more closely with the academic rep system. This we are sure will have a long lasting, positive impact for Maths students.

All of this demonstrates his forward-thinking and leadership skills. Robert’s commitment to improving the student experience and his effective role on the committee make him deserving of this award.

 

FHM

Daniel Myers
Throughout the past year, Daniel has demonstrated exceptional leadership and commitment to improving the student experience at Lancaster Medical School, particularly as Chair of the Staff-Student Liaison Committee (SSLC). 

As chair, he has facilitated productive, inclusive discussions and successfully managed the committee's meetings, creating an open environment that was even observed and praised by the GMC (General Medical Council). Daniel’s efforts significantly improved the student feedback loop, ensuring that student voices were heard and acted upon. 

His leadership, communication skills, and dedication to fostering a collaborative learning environment makes him fully deserving of this award.

Harold Hon
Harold has demonstrated outstanding dedication and a proactive approach as a first-year Medicine Rep. 

Consistently gathering feedback from his peers, Harold has raised important issues with the department and advocated for positive changes to the course. 

Harold has played an important role in making sure that students in his year group remain informed and kept in the loop.

This has involved setting up an Instagram account to provide additional support, offering an alternative to the WhatsApp group, swiftly sharing updates, and advertising resources.
His hard work and commitment have made him a valuable asset to the medical school, making him highly deserving of the award.

Niall Barlow

Always sporting an excellent bowtie, Niall has won plaudits from both his fellow reps and the department for his outstanding commitment and proactive approach as a second year BLS rep. 
As well as consistently attending SSCC and LTC meetings, Niall’s extensive contributions to the CTP within the department were highlighted.

Throughout, he has helped to identify flaws in the current delivery within Biology and has worked to improve the future curriculum through insightful student feedback, even presenting data with graphs to support his points. 

His efforts to ensure that students were able to input on these identified flaws is again a testament to his commitment to championing the student voice, even if at times this has involved constructively challenging BLS staff on what students want, successfully challenging existing held beliefs.

In addition to his role in internal departmental meetings, Niall created effective communication channels, such as group chats, to keep students informed and gather feedback. His professionalism, dedication, and friendly nature made him an invaluable representative, and his efforts in driving positive changes for cross-department degrees highlight his exceptional contributions. Niall’s proactive involvement and consistent support have made a lasting impact, making him a fully deserving recipient of this award.

Gemma Turner
Gemma is a Trainee Council rep member and the co-chair of the council itself – part of the representation structures within the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology programme.

In her role, she has played an active role in the development of the Student Representation Structures Processes and has gone above and beyond her role – whether it be volunteering on cross-cohort events or playing the pivotal role in the upkeep and management of the council itself. 

Beyond this, Gemma is also the Co-Chair of the Programme Forum and a representative on the DHR Education Committee. She has flourished in all of these roles, whether it be attending strategic leadership meetings with staff, fostering strong relationships with trainees, staff, and other professionals across the university, or raising feedback from fellow trainees on clinical placements.

The breadth of her responsibilities and her dedication and commitment to improving the experience of trainees within their cohort is truly inspiring.

 

Faculty Reps

Whilst all reps have played a vital role throughout the past year, there is a group of people we want to recognise for their work this year where, without them, a lot of this would not have been possible.
Whether helping to prepare for the Faculty Forums, working tirelessly with their faculty on pressing university issues, and even helping to design the Academic Rep Awards evening, they have been instrumental in their contributions.

These are our Faculty Reps!

 

FASS UG+PGT Faculty Reps

Niamh McAuley + Iman Jalloh
One thing that defines them is their sheer level of organisation and dedication to the role. From the very beginning, their vision on how the FASS Faculty forums were to be shaped and their ideas on what to bring to the forum were truly a breath of fresh air. The role that they have played within the rep system has been truly delightful to watch!

Watching how they managed to link their forum directly with the wider FASS faculty through collaboration with faculty level staff such as Alison Hui has been incredibly insightful. As well as being an effective conduit between the wider reps and the faculty, Niamh and Iman have been pivotal in ensuring that all FASS Reps had a direct impact on initiatives such as the current faculty restructure. 

For all faculty reps, what often goes unnoticed is the role they play within their faculty and within the central University, championing your voices in those spaces.

 
LUMS UG+PGT Faculty Reps

Nabilah Behrin + Aashta Gupta
Both Nabilah and Aashta have stood out in terms of their growth and development in their roles – from term one and beyond. 

It is always very daunting being a Faculty Rep, especially as someone completely new to the university, and so it is wonderful to see how both have grown into their roles. 
Whether it is not being afraid to ask for help, applying eagerness to learn and develop, or being an excellent champion within the LUMS faculty and their departments, it has been a pleasure for those who have been able to work with Nabilah and Aashta this year. 

Both their personable styles and ability to be an effective conduit between the faculty and the rest of the rep system have been truly appreciated. 

Defined by their ability to adapt, to communicate, and to champion voices within their faculty, we at LUSU are excited to see where they go next! 

FST UG+PGT Faculty Reps

Madison Lardner + Guy Boonyarakyotin
What truly defines Madison and Guy is their dedication to student representation, whether it be within their faculty or beyond, and taking the extra step to help where needed.
In the case of Guy, whether it be risking his life climbing a tree to film academic rep promo, his role in campaigns including the Plant-Based Universities Campaign, Fossil Free Careers Campaign and Palestine Solidarity Campaign, or his personable role within the department, Guy’s dedication to his craft is truly respected.

Likewise with Madison, whether it be using their free time to design all the name cards in their faculty, their long-standing role with the JCR, and their ability to champion SCC to future students – even to those who have gone on to become reps themselves – their contribution is truly appreciated.

Beyond this, Guy and Madison’s role in organizing the FST Forum was amazing, from designing the slides and the activities, to managing the room – not an easy feat, especially within such a large Faculty such as FST!

 
FHM UG+PGT Faculty Reps

Jess Thorpe + Aroob Alhumaidy + Hannah Adamopolous
FHM has often been tricky when it comes to student representation, especially due to the diverse nature of the departments. 

However, despite the challenges which derive from this, what has truly struck us is the team's sheer dedication to improving the FHM experience.

Indeed, in the case of Jess, combining both her role as the BLS department rep and the UG Faculty rep which while sounding tricky on paper, is something she has taken in stride. Whether it be spearheading the Forums, chairing the BLS SSC meetings, launching the FHM (Biomedical Science) reps Instagram account, and going above and beyond in representing the views of her fellow students, her role has truly been an inspiration.

With Aroob, their drive to improve the PGT experience has been inspirational, especially being that the PGT cohort in FHM is extremely small. One example has been leading focus groups and engaging PGT students directly on issues relating to both academic and social experiences, subsequently feeding this back directly to the faculty.

And Hannah, whilst being the Deputy Faculty Rep, her presence at Faculty meetings, her ability to speak confidently and make significant contributions to their SSCs, and her role in supporting both Aroob and Jess has been amazing to watch.

 

 
PGR Faculty Reps

Chris Sanderson + Mozhdeh Mohammadpour Zehaab + Radwa Elsekhily

PGR representation is no easy feat, and at times, is an underappreciated part of the student representation process at Lancaster. But what has defined this year has been this group’s approach and dedication to creating community and belonging amongst PGRs

With the new PhD forum up and running, Mozhdeh, Radwa, and Chris have led this with the creativity needed to make it succeed. Whether it be through regular meet ups, coffee mornings, organised walking socials, or movie socials at the Dukes. It has been truly incredible to watch how this space has developed.

Individually, Mozhdeh, Radwa, and Chris have also played a significant role in advancing the PGR experience, whether it be working closely within their faculty and department in setting up PGR initiatives, attending crucial meetings and having valuable input in improving the wider student experience.

 

This is just some of the work Reps do throughout the year, and we’d like to thank every single one for the crucial work they do.