Thursday 02-02-2023 - 12:00

 

Hi everyone!

I'd like to update you on my work in December.

 

Mental health training 

The month started with two full days' of mental health training. Along with raising awareness and understanding of mental health generally, the programme gave us the practical and actionable skills needed to become a mental health first aider. As with first aid for physical injuries, the role of a mental health first aider is exactly the same in teaching you how to recognise, support and triage someone who may need assistance if they are struggling with their mental health. It was really valuable training which I've already been able to use in my professional and personal life, so it was great to have the opportunity to attend.

 

The programme was delivered by members of staff from the University wellbeing team and was one of the many different sessions offered as part of the SU Skills Development Programme. To find out more about this and other sessions you can attend, check your inbox in January for the list and sign up details for the next wave of course dates.  

 

Commercial Awareness Challenge 

I was delighted to be asked as one of the panel members to judge the final of the Commercial Awareness challenge ran by the Employability team. The final consisted of students delivering a three minute presentation and then being asked some on the spot questions about a recommendation they would make to a business of their choice. Overall, we saw 19 different presentations – which were all fantastic and made it very hard to choose a winner! In the end, the other two panellists and I managed to whittle it down to one winner and four runners-up, who were announced at a virtual award ceremony. It was fantastic to hear the feedback from all students who participated how the challenge had seen a growth in confidence and knowledge of their commercial awareness. The competition is due to run again in the spring, so if you are interested in taking part or getting involved in many of the other great opportunities offered by the Employability team, check out their email newsletters.  

 

TEF

The majority of my time was spent finalising the data review and writing of the TEF submission. Which I'm proud to say is pretty much complete! With nine pages and just under 7000 words, it certainly has been the largest project I've completed this year. The submission has now been sent off to Student Parliament members and the rest of the team for review and approval. It has also been shared with the University to check for any inaccuracies and/or inconsistencies. Following these reviews, the only thing remaining in the New Year was to incorporate any of these amendments and have the piece of work submitted before the end of January.

 

I just wanted to briefly thank members of the Student Parliament who have engaged with this project so far, especially those who took the time to complete the survey – your responses were hugely helpful. Without them, there wouldn't have been much of a submission at all! 

 

Refreshers planning 

In preparation for new students starting in January, the SU is planning on running a series of welcome events for all new students, which is something I have been quite heavily involved with organising this month. Each event will look slightly different for each campus – it will be a mixture of online sessions for the online campus and those campuses where there are only a small intake of students, and in person for four campuses where there are a greater number of students. Whilst these are aimed at new starters, the online and in-person sessions are open to all students to attend – either if you've never heard of the SU or if you want to find out more about what we have planned until summer. I have been coordinating inviting our reps and clubs and societies on each campus to attend so it will hopefully be a great opportunity for you to speak to these individuals and perhaps join a new society at your campus! 

 

Team planning days 

I also travelled to Birmingham this month for a two day in person planning event with the SU team. This involved calendar planning of SU activities and events from the New Year up until summer, when my and Pedram's Co-Presidency term finishes. Examples of things to look forward to include; campus visits, ULaw Leagues, elections and our annual student led awards. These are just a few things we planned and have upcoming in the New Year so keep an eye out in your inbox for further updates. 

 

Governing Board impact report 

Our second SU Governing Board meeting was originally scheduled for this month in which I was asked to write an impact report detailing the actions and activities I've completed so far throughout my time in office. Whilst the meeting has been postponed until the New Year, I still spent some of my time this month on writing and finalising the report so its good to go for January. 

 

SSLC review 

The review meeting for the SSLC documents was held this month. Following some minor amendments, the materials have now been approved and we're ready to launch the trial of the new process in the New Year. The plan is to trial the new format and documents across three different campuses for both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Following this trial, the plan is to meet again in February/March to see if any changes need to be made before implementing a widespread rollout across all campuses and programmes.