It's been a while!

I realise it’s been a significant amount of time since I last posted and for this very reason I’m struggling to remember a lot of what I’ve done over the past three months! I’ll keep it as brief as possible and, as always, I’m available should you wish to question me on anything or find out further information. (This isn’t in strict chronological order.)
 
I’ve attended and/or spoken at several visit days, open days and SARE events. Visit days and open days are the events UCS holds to invite potential new students into UCS and see what’s on offer. The Self Assessment Review & Evaluation events (SARE) events are used to look back on the previous academic year and highlight key things which have been successful and also to look how to improve in the next academic year (action-planning). I attend these events to give the views and opinions from students’ perspective and to introduce a different line of thinking to the discussions. Student reps should be in attendance at these events but the attendances have been very low in many cases. We hope to improve this in the future.
 
As per usual, there has been a huge number of committee meetings to attend, as well as some working groups. These include the Equality & Diversity group; the Environmental Panel; Waterfront Action Group; Learning, Teaching & Assessment Group; Student Services; and the Alumni Development Group, to name just a few! Other projects have been developed from these groups such as ‘equality impact assessments’ of the current policies in place at UCS and a feedback/draft work entitlement policy.
 
I also attend Academic Board which is arguably the most important committee I attend. At the last meeting, we discussed the student charter, academic strategy, student engagement policy and student experience enhancement. All of these are pivotal to improving things for students’ entitlements and the overall student experience at UCS. The Board is very agreeable to some of our proposals but less so to others, so we just need to keep working away! For example, the student charter has a few niggles that need to be worked out before it can be agreed.
 
As you may or may not have heard by now, UCS recently appointed its new leader! The former cumbersome title of ‘Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer’ has been changed to ‘Provost’ and Professor Mike Saks has been selected to fill the role. He’s currently the Senior Pro Vice Chancellor at the University of Lincoln. The Union was involved in the selection process, from meeting with the recruitment agency who were creating the job specification to meeting the potential candidates in a semi-formal setting at the final interview stage. I look forward to meeting him again and discussing his plans for UCS and its students.
 
I was involved in the appointment of new welfare advisor in Student Services. The Union strongly feels that having a student representative participating in these processes means that we should be able to help UCS get the right sort of staff in to progress and further UCS in a way that is beneficial and relevant to students.
 
There are two final things in which I have been involved over the last few months, reviews and the most important one of all, representation! The reviews were of Wolsey and Orientation, two major things for all students at UCS no matter your situation. There is not much to say on these besides the fact that they are happening and if you have anything to say on either I am always happy to receive constructive criticism, comments or suggestions, just email them to me.
 
In relation to representation, there are some key areas which we are currently working on: Union representation in the Learning Network; Student reps; and funding and civic responsibility campaigns. I’ve met with our partners in UCS Bury St Edmunds and UCS Otley to discuss and develop an appropriate, serviceable and sustainable structure in which we can involve and represent the students at each of those centres to the best of our ability, and in a way which means we don’t have to re-write the ‘rules of engagement’ every year. We’ll soon be meeting with UCS Lowestoft and UCS Great Yarmouth to discuss plans in each of their centres.
 
As for trying to get the current student reps to attend our training session, well this has been somewhat of a disaster! We hope to hold the first training sessions and Union Council meeting tomorrow.
 
As for the campaigns, the funding campaign is about making sure students studying in higher education help those in years to come to be able to access education provision in a fair way, without prejudice or barriers. The civic awareness campaign is where we’ll be encouraging students to register to vote in preparation for the upcoming general election. This is the most important election we’ve had for years so it’s important you make your vote count to be actively involved in deciding who will run the country for the next four to five years.
 
I also made a presentation to the UCS Board of Directors, which is the body with overall control of UCS. It consists of the acting Chief Executive Officer of UCS; the Vice-Chancellor, Secretary/Registrar and one Senate member from both the University of East Anglia and the University of Essex; the Principals of Suffolk New College and West Suffolk College; and the Chief Executive Officers of Ipswich Borough Council and Suffolk County Council. I spoke about the Union’s role, its importance, where we came from, where we is now, and where we want to go in the future and how we can help UCS to be a better institution for current and future students! We were somewhat reassured that we had been invited to present because it hopefully means the UCS Board can see all the good things we are doing and support us in the future.
 
As I previously mentioned, it’s been a long time since I last posted, so if I've forgotten anything please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments or issues. su.president@ucs.ac.uk or 01473 338157 or 07595 002850.