Goodbye to our Executive Officers 2024-25

Your Students’ Union is led by students, for students – and at the heart of it are our six Executive Officers. These are full-time, paid student leaders, chosen each year through our student elections, just like how we vote in national elections. Their mission? To champion your voice, support you, and make sure the university listens. They deliver on their manifesto promises, launch campaigns, and push for the changes that matter most to you.

As this academic year wraps up, we’re celebrating the incredible work of this year’s Officers. From driving new initiatives to challenging the university to do better, they’ve been busy making your student experience the best it can be. We caught up with each of them to hear their proudest moments and biggest wins from the year.

Tahmid, President

• SU Lounge Funding - One of my biggest wins this year has been securing an initial £150,000 to kick-start renovation works on the SU Lounge (formerly Draper’s Lounge). This opens the door to even more funding, potentially up to £600,000, which would be a game changer for the SU Lounge and other QMSU spaces in Godward Square. The revamped space will create a much better experience for students in the years ahead, especially with the newly refurbished ITL building reopening soon.
• Democracy Review - I’m really proud to have led and passed a full review of our democratic structures this year, bringing in the biggest changes to how QMSU works in a generation. These updates will make it easier for more student voices to be heard and help shape what the Union does, while also making sure we have stronger systems in place to take real action based on student feedback.
• Ethical & Sustainable Investment Forum - Getting this new forum up and running to start tackling big issues like the University’s Investment Policy has been a major achievement. I pushed for joint ownership between the Union and the University by proposing a co-chairing model. I’m hopeful it will become a space where students, QMSU and QMUL can have meaningful, ongoing conversations and work together on important issues in the future.
• Faith & Contemplation Spaces Survey – This has probably been my biggest student engagement project during my two years as a sabbatical officer. A huge thank you to everyone who took part. We received 1,466 responses from students and staff from a wide range of backgrounds. I’ve really enjoyed reading your feedback and putting together a report based on what you shared, which will be published soon. Your input has already made a difference within the University. It has helped me clearly show in key meetings throughout the year that our current faith spaces on campus are not fit for purpose. I truly hope this report will help lay the foundations for a better, more inclusive experience for all students in the future.

Rahma, VP Barts and The London

• Russell Group Students’ Union: contributed to the Healthcare Working Group by shaping a national survey on student challenges and worked with RGSU through the Ethical Investment Group to address concerns around university investments. 
• Whitechapel Library: worked closely with the Library team to support renovation plans, focusing on both academic and wellbeing needs. Key proposals included more silent and group study spaces, plus a new contemplation room for reflection, prayer and relaxation, supporting student mental health. 
• Assessment feedback: gathered medical student views on assessments, focusing on the role of mock exams. The survey results will contribute to the review led by the Institute of Health Sciences Education. 
• FMD Education Strategy Away Day: chaired a panel, bringing together reps from Neuroscience, Pharmacology, Medicine, Dentistry, and MSc courses. Led discussions on curriculum, assessments, welfare, and more, with active academic engagement.

Nabihah, VP Welfare

• • Women’s wellbeing: piloting a women’s space on campus which received great feedback, I presented this back to the uni. Consistently ran women’s wellbeing walks, events and study sessions
  • Academic welfare: collected student opinions on the academic advisor scheme alongside Al-Habib and presented our findings to the university, fed into the new extenuating circumstances policy and ran our biannual StudyWell campaign to support student mental health during exam period
  • Cost of Living: opened a new free food pantry in the Garrod building, helped update the SU CoL webpage, collaborated with Advice & counselling on a money advice series, championed self-funded students by lobbying for the removal of late fees, running interviews alongside Jovani to investigate the self-funded student experience and wrote a report on this, designed a survey to support lobbying efforts on travel fares and supported work on combatting student gaming and gambling issues
  • Liberation & Climate action: Ran events for black history month, islamic heritage month, disability history month, climate action week and anti apartheid week, ran iftars during Ramadan, supported rahma and jovani on their work on islamophobia and interviewed alumna to investigate progression rates of Bangladeshi women who graduate from QMUL
  • Started lobbying for QMUL to partner with Higher Education Scholarships for Palestinians alongside Hassam
  • Campus experience: my proposal to introduce individual meeting booths on campus was accepted and I worked with other exec to get our proposal for bidets on campus to be accepted. This work is yet to take place but I’m grateful to have taken first steps and am hopeful that future exec will finalise it

Hassam, VP Liberation, International and Postgraduates

• Launched and led the brand-new Cultural Unity Week to celebrate the diversity of over 170 nationalities represented at Queen Mary, aiming to tackle unconscious bias, xenophobia, and racism. Successfully secured People’s Cultural Inclusion funding and partnered with QM ResLife to deliver thousands of pounds’ worth of events for students.
• Advocated and collaborated with QM Global Engagement to secure £2.2 million in scholarships for international master’s students, including £5,000 individual awards for 440 students beginning their studies this September.
• Incorporated sustainability-focused events into the Students’ Union’s liberation campaigns, highlighting the intersection of climate justice and liberation movements
• Co-launched the flagship Russell Group International Students Report in partnership with Russell Group Students’ Unions and actively lobbied MPs and Lords through the All-Party Parliamentary Group on International Students, representing the interests of Queen Mary’s 10,000+ international students at the national level.
• Worked with the QMUL Alumni team to strengthen alumni engagement with Students’ Union societies, initiatives, and other offerings. Currently developing a dedicated online alumni portal to improve accessibility and boost their involvement with Queen Mary so societies and facilities.
• Made an alliance with Russell Group universities in London to lobby the government for a London weighting on the stipends of PGR students at Queen Mary. Also launched a PGR survey in collaboration with UCU to better understand the needs of PGR students, which will inform future lobbying and policy advocacy efforts.

Al-Habib, VP Science & Engineering

• Summer internships: worked with the University to tackle barriers to unpaid internships by securing funding for paid summer roles. From 2026, 10-15 internships will launch across Science & Engineering, paid at least the London Living Wage and open to students receiving the Queen Mary bursary. 
• Enrichment scheme: as part of the summer internships, developed an enrichment scheme to run alongside the internship programme, with workshops on communication, application, and interview skills. Delivered in collaboration with the Centre for Undergraduate Research and Careers & Enterprise, the programme will help students build confidence and develop skills alongside their studies. 
• Advisor schemes: ran focus groups across all S&E schools with Nabihah to gather student feedback on advisor schemes, exploring understanding of the role, levels of engagement, and areas for improvement Insights will shape how academic support is delivered going forward. 
• Employability: worked with Jovani on the Employability in the Curriculum Working Group, updating its terms of reference and setting new priorities based on student feedback. Over 1000 responses to the recent survey are now shaping action plans on increasing student employability.

Jovani, VP Humanaties and Social Sciences

• Work on Islamophobia - One of the most meaningful projects I’ve been deeply passionate about this year has been our work addressing Islamophobia. We've made significant strides collaborating with the university to explore adopting a formal definition, drawing on best practices from other institutions. We have also brought in a specialist advisor who has supported us not only through expert guidance but also by delivering tailored Islamophobia training to staff, reinforcing our commitment to an inclusive and respectful environment.
• Students who work - Balancing employment with academic life is a reality for most students. I launched a survey that reached over 500 students, capturing valuable insights. These findings have since informed high-level university discussions and led to the creation of written pieces, such as one on the experiences of self-funded students. Our hope is that this work leads to meaningful support and recognition for students navigating work alongside their studies.
• Amplifying Student Voice in the HSS Merger - In response to a proposed merger within the HSS faculty, I led efforts to ensure students’ perspectives were front and center. Through a targeted survey, we gathered wide-ranging feedback which I presented at Senate. I’ve since compiled a comprehensive report, and continue to work closely with the university to address student concerns and shape clear, student-formed communication moving forward. This work will firmly placed student voice at the heart of key structural changes.

We wish all our 2024/25 Executive Officers the best of luck for what they choose to go on to do next, and hope they all have a well earned break too! We welcome our new Officers for this year so keep an eye out for an introduction soon!