Candidates for this year’s 2013 CUSU and GU elections spoke at hustings on Monday evening to try and sway students before they cast their votes next week.

Students have put themselves forward for each of the sabbatical officer roles, which include CUSU President, Education Officer, Access Officer, Women’s Officer, Coordinator, Welfare Officer, which bridges both CUSU and GU, and GU President. Those running for University Councillor and NUS delegate also delivered speeches.

Presidential hopefuls George Bangham, Greg Hill and Flick Osborn each elaborated on their manifestoes. Bangham, a third year History student at Emmanuel, is running on a platform as outsider to the CUSU machine, having served as chair of student think tank The Wilberforce Society. He told the audience this allowed him a unique perspective on how CUSU is really regarded among students, and pledged change within the Union. He called upon his experience of managing publicity in TWS as the factor distinguishing him from the other candidates. Bangham, however, attracted a number of sceptical questions from audience members for his claim in his manifesto that he will ‘depoliticise’ the post of Women’s Officer. His key proposals are to instil within CUSU a sense of responsibility to the community, and a culture of volunteering.

Greg Hill called upon the measures he had implemented as sabbatical president of Homerton Student Union, including lobbying for Homerton to raise all staff pay rates to match the Living Wage, the building of a gym and quadrupling the amount received by the college in sponsorship. Brushing away claims that he would be unable to balance the President role with his political affiliations – Hill is chair of Cambridge Universities Labour Club – he proposed the installation of more CUSU reps in colleges, with one for each year. In light of his previous lobbying, he said that under his presidency CUSU would fight to extend the Living Wage across all the colleges and back the Hidden Costs campaign, which reveals hidden course costs, together with the Right to Light drive spearheaded this year by the Women’s Campaign. He pledged to deliver a CUSU “which harnesses enthusiasm”.

The final presidential candidate to speak was Flick Isborn, a third year theologian at St John’s and the college’s former JCR president. She emphasised the personal qualities she could bring to the role, labelling herself “strong and assertive” and “a people person”. “I don’t come with a specific party line”, she noted. Johnson outlined three proposed areas of improvement: uniting, expanding and reshaping CUSU. The areas of improvement she identified were increased transparency, holding workshops in colleges to establish closer ties between CUSU and students and promoting ethical sustainability. When asked by an audience member how as president she would increase student interest in CUSU, she drew laughs by suggesting the way to students’ hearts might be through their stomachs, in offering free food at council meetings.

The candidates for CUSU’s other sabbatical roles were also in attendance. Dom Weldon will seek re-election as CUSU Coordinator against third year Mathmo Juliana Yau. Weldon suggested new measures including setting up an online shop and facilitating equipment hire for societies, while Yau has proposed to update the current list of college rooms for hire, introduce an app with the university’s social schedule and hold more informal events.

Jia Hui Lee is running unopposed for Education Officer on a platform of implementing a university-wide framework for evaluating standards of supervisions and resources. Lauren Steele, director of the recent production of The Vagina Monologues, is also running alone for Women’s Officer, and pitched a more interactive women’s movement, with student involvement through photo and video campaigns.

Access is being fought between JCR Access Officer at Girton, Jacob Conalty, who proposes targeting prospective applicants from schools which currently send the fewest students to Oxbridge, and fourth-year Sam Ruiz, who is studying Chinese. Ruiz suggested a way of confounding Oxbridge stereotypes in the national media might be more extensive coverage of the CUSU Shadowing Scheme.

The position of CU and GU Welfare Officer is being contested between Charlie Bindels and Helen Hoogewerf-McComb. Bindels emphasised the need for “relevant and engaging events” by the CUSU Welfare team such as fortnightly welfare forums, together with a dedicated welfare website. Hoogewerf-McComb, meanwhile, said that as Welfare Officer she would work to make sure help was “competent, effective and professional”, and recommended training for tutors. It was unacceptable she said, that staff were being approached with cases as extreme as students contemplating suicide without appropriate training.

GU President will be contested between current GU International Officer Xin Jin and Richard Jones, a PhD student in history. Both acknowledged the serious constitutional problems faced by the Graduate Union this year, and pledged greater communication, and professionalism and efficiency respectively, to resolve the current impasse. Jin said he would act to improve services for international students, while Jones expressed his aims as getting more PhD students to teach undergraduates and making the GU a Living Wage body. CUSU Chair Mark Chonofsky asked Jin whether allegations of physical assault against CUSU and GU Welfare Officer Chris Page reported in the student press might detract from his campaign. Jin’s response was simply that the police and Junior Proctor Christina Skott are investigating the incident.

Candidates will be campaigning across the university this week ahead of online voting for the CUSU positions next Monday and Tuesday, with paper voting in colleges on 6 March.