Monday 15-08-2022 - 11:00

 

Hi everyone!

Firstly, I'd like to introduce myself as 1 of the 2 Co-Presidents of the Students' Union this year. For the first time, the SU president role is held by two people – which is excellent news for you as it'll hopefully mean Pedram and I will get twice as much achieved this year.

Reflecting on my time as an LPC student last year, I realised I didn't have much awareness of the Students' Union until the end of my studies. which was a real shame as I feel like I've missed out on opportunities which could have enhanced my uni experience.

Therefore, one of my goals this year is to increase our visibility to ensure you know all about us. Not only the great services we have to offer, like our skills development programme and independent advice but also so you can see the work the SU is doing for you. Hence why I'm writing this!

I hope that these monthly updates from Pedram and I will give you a greater insight into the day-to-day work the Co-Presidents at your SU do. I also hope it will encourage you to get involved with what we do. Whether that be to create your own society, drop us a line for a chat or even run for Co-President yourself next year. This is your Students' Union, so please make the most of us.

 

With that lengthy introduction complete, I hope you enjoy this month's update from me!

 

Meeting SU team and University staff

This month, much of my time has been spent meeting as many different people from the University as possible.

This included virtual introductions from all the SU staff who talked about their role and the work they do on a day-to-day basis. Click the following link to the SU website to read about the great work they do: SU Staff Team

It also involved lots of introductions from university staff. A few examples include:

• Meeting with the deans of each of the UK campuses
• Chairs of various committees
• Programme leads
• University support staff

 

Pedram and I were invited down to London to meet with the then Vice-Chancellor Craig Mahoney, our current Pro-Vice Chancellor Zoe Radnor and previous President Daniel Finlay. It was a great opportunity to hear more about their work, to hear them be very supportive and excited about the work we plan on doing.

This visit down to London also meant I got to explore the Bloomsbury and Moorgate campuses, meet some more of the lovely staff who work there, and find some time to fit in some sightseeing. 

 

SU Team Planning

As well as virtual introductions, the entire SU team got together in person for a planning session at the Birmingham campus for the year ahead. This is a pretty important event for us as it involves us deciding and scheduling all the events and campaigns we want to run throughout the year.

It also coincided with the annual campus staff social at the Birmingham campus. Although I'm based at Leeds, as the majority of the SU team is based in Birmingham, I was kindly invited along. This was a great opportunity to meet some more university staff at that campus – so for those studying in Birmingham, I'm sure you'll have the privilege of meeting with them soon.

 

Content, Content, Content

This month saw us getting content ready for us to distribute throughout the year, from producing written content for the website and filming video content to having our president photo shoots. I hope you're ready to see a lot of my face around your campus this year!

In addition to producing content to promote ourselves as the new Co-Presidents, we've also been planning some really exciting new media content to come out this year – so something else to keep your eyes peeled for! 

 

Committees

Within my first week of the role, I was already participating in university committees. Although it's a less visible part of the role for you to see, sitting on committee boards is a crucial part of the Co-President position. It allows us to put your voice forward, ensuring university policies, decisions and actions are being put forward with the diverse student population in mind.

This month saw me involved in approving some new course programmes for the University, as well as sitting on one of the widening participation (WP) committees. Widening participation is targeted at undergraduate students from all underrepresented backgrounds. The University has three WP committees designed to review and create policies to ensure that underrepresented students have fair access to University. They continue, complete and are successful in their course, and once they've left the uni, they're progressing onto further study or employment.

If you want to read more about how the University intends to achieve this, click the link to read its action plan for 2020-2025, which outlines its strategy and targets: Ulaw Access and participation plan

 

 Lead and Change Conference

At the end of the month, I was able to attend the annual Lead and Change conference run by NUS. Over three days, I was able to collaborate and network with fellow newly elected and re-elected officers from other Students' Unions all across the country. It was a fantastic opportunity to make connections and share and develop our ideas for the year ahead.

Alongside networking, each day revolved around various training exercises which taught us more about our roles, how we can make effective change during our time in office and how we can empower you as students to do the same.

It was a great way to start the year and has provided me with some great resources (both through knowledge and from making connections with other officers) that I can utilise throughout my time here at the SU. 

 

Skills Development

This month, I also had the chance to try out some of the training courses the SU provide via our Skills Development Programme. This fantastic resource is available to all students, enabling you to gain additional skills and qualifications outside your university studies. Even better, most of the courses are completely free! So keep an eye out in your inbox for the sign-up sheets which detail the programmes on offer each semester.

In the meantime, you can find out more about the skills development programme on our website: Skills Development Programme

 

Manifesto action

As I'm still relatively new in post, this month has primarily focused on planning how I can achieve my manifesto goals. It's been great to discuss these ideas with other people, and I have already organised and attended some meetings to get started on achieving these goals.

However, one initial win I can take from this month has been planning and actioning these visibility articles. It's a great achievement to not only have agreed this concept with Pedram and the SU team but also to have been able to publish one within the first month of my role. 

 

Get in touch

Here concludes my monthly update!

If you have any further questions or want to discuss anything in more detail, then please do not hesitate to get in touch with me at Emma.Barlow@law.ac.uk