Tuesday 26-03-2024 - 12:32

June

Hello, Hope you are having an amazing day! I am back with the next instalments of the monthly updates, where I discuss what I have been achieving this month for you! Hope your exams have gone well! Here are the highlights of the month of June:

 

ULaw TEDx

During this month an email was sent out to all students telling them about our TEDx plans and asking if they wanted to get involved. I am excited to say that 200 of you have signed up for this to help make ULaw TEDx come true! We are overwhelmed by the support and the quality of the submissions that we have received and are currently going through the submissions in order to make the dream team. With this team, we aim to partner with TEDx institutions around the UK to bring opportunities to our students to volunteer for and attend (virtually or in-person) TEDx events so we would all benefit from “ideas worth spreading”.

 

International Student Experience Group

The University recognises the unique experiences and challenges faced by International students which is why they have created the Int Student Experience Group to bring together the work that the different departments of the University of Law are doing for Int students, to share best practices and identify patterns of issues that need to be addressed urgently. It is an honour to be a member of this group alongside the hardworking UK Int students rep.

 

Psychology Students

This month, I learned more about the new Psychology course offerings from the University by speaking with the Head of psychology as well as a passionate Psychology course rep. I understood the importance of consistent communication with students who study our courses with smaller student populations such as policing and psychology so that their voice is represented, heard and amplified. I have been invited to a Psychology SSLC meeting to get a more clear understanding of the issues facing Psychology students, to which I am looking forward.

 

In-Person Birmingham Drop-in session

It was great speaking in person with Birmingham students about the issues that they have been facing. The main feedback we received this time has been regarding the lack of placement opportunities for students who are doing courses that include placements and how difficult it has been to find such opportunities. I will be feeding this back to the two University International student committees.

 

International Student Voice Committee

As the majority of the International Student Experience Group is staff, Suszy and I, realised the importance of International students being able to feed into the group so we set up the Int Student Voice Committee that brings together our reps that are international to talk about the feedback they have been collecting and discussing the urgent issues faced by Int students. Any international students are welcome to join our sessions so if you want to take part and speak about your experiences as an Int student please do send me a message or an email. We would love to bring together students from a variety of cultures, experiences and viewpoints.

 

TASO Meeting

TASO is a charity with the goal of improving lives through evidence-informed practice in higher education. I attended another session as a student panellist for TASO and worked with fellow TASO panellists to discuss obstacles facing Universities regarding Mental Health and identify some key shareholders in the University community and their role in creating a mentally healthy university. I find this role fulfilling and cannot wait for TASO to release their highly anticipated mental health best practices repository for Universities in the UK to consider and implement.

 

SU Awards Ceremony

On the 29th of June, we celebrated the Students’ Union award with colleagues from the university and our amazing remarkable students! It was super well organised thanks to the hard work of my fellow SU colleagues. We had a DJ, live performances from talented students and heartwarming speeches from presenters and award winners. I am so lucky to play a part in this amazing ceremony and I am so glad that we have brought Daniel Finlay’s vision for the ceremonies to life. Daniel Finlay was our SU President back in 2021/2022. One of his goals was to create such an award ceremony and bring together the people that make ULaw what it is together.

 

Emma Barlow’s Final Month

This month is the final month that Emma Barlow, our fellow co-president, will be with us as her term is coming to an end. She has played a crucial part in ensuring our SU has been effective and successful this past year. Her leadership when times were tough and her ability to work with the University and through their process to achieve her manifesto points and SU goals will always be a source of inspiration for me. I will miss her dearly and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavours.

 

Food Pantry

One of the final projects that Emma Barlow worked on was the food pantry trial which we conducted in the Leeds and Birmingham campuses. It was a massive success and she has made a detailed report on our findings, other SU Food pantry projects and key takeaways. Our vision is to expand the food pantry idea into all our campuses and make it part of the fabric of those communities. No student should go hungry because of the high costs of living and we want to ensure that fewer students miss a meal at ULaw because of the food and snacks available to them through the food pantry among other necessary non-perishable items such as toothpaste, toothbrushes and toilet rolls.

 

Thank you for tuning in to my monthly update for June. A lot of fantastic initiatives are happening and every single one of them is to make your student life more enjoyable. As always, if you want to contact me, send me an email at Pedram.Bani-asadi@law.ac.uk.

 

Your Concerns, Your Issues, Your Voice

Pedram