A NEW team has been elected to lead Scotland’s Rural College’s student association in advance of the 2017/2018 academic year.

The new president is Gemma Jones, 24, from Oldmeldrum, in Aberdeenshire, who graduated with BA (Hons) in outdoor pursuits management at Ayr’s SRUC campus in 2016; with Martina Bradacova, 28, from Prague, as the new vice-president, who also studied at Ayr campus, where she gained a first class BA (Hons) in activity tourism management.

The girls' two full-time sabbatical posts are salaried and mark the fifth joint presidential pair to represent SRUC students across all six of its campuses, which have a total of 2500 full time and 5000 part time students. 

Last year, the SRUCSA won the 'Best small and specialised students’ association' award from the National Union of Students in recognition of the progress made since it was formed in 2013.

Ms Jones said her main aim was to increase student engagement and improve the current representation of students: “Last year I worked hard to improve the visibility and accessibility of SRUCSA. 

"After a year working with students, I know that we need to work on better ways to communicate with them. 

“This year I would like to work on engaging the student voice and getting feedback from SRUC to the students faster. I would like to see as many student’s as possible engaged with their students’ association whether that be through representation, campaigns, awareness projects, sports, clubs or societies.” 

As well as her role as president, Ms Jones will also join the board of SRUC. 

On this, she added: “I look forward to taking on new areas of work as president whilst continuing current campaigns and projects. Working for SRUCSA has its challenges – with six campuses across Scotland – but I’m ready to get out there and help as many students as possible.”

Ms Bradacova was a student representative and her focus as vice-president will be on strengthening the equal access and awareness of study support services.

“SRUCSA has done a great job in the past in student voice representation and I want to continue this legacy through more personal engagement with students. 

“I would also like to conduct an investigation involving students on how SRUC can ensure their education and student experiences meet their expectations,” she said.

SRUC principal and chief executive,Wayne Powell, commented: “The Students’ Association is playing an increasingly significant role and is recognised for its very positive input to college affairs. 

We are very proud of the constructive working relationship we enjoy with SRUCSA. I look forward to working with the new executive team.”