Welcome Back! We're looking forward to a great semester 2. Here’s a brief rundown of some key representative updates!
Hi, and welcome back! We hope you enjoyed the Re:Welcome events and are excited as we are to be getting stuck into the second semester.
As previously threatened, this is the first of a series of monthly updates on what’s happened this month, what’s planned for next month, changes, updates, and any other little bits of news we think might be worth knowing as a representative. This being the first means it’s a bumper issue – strap in!
Student Voice in Action
The latest round of course committees started lately; some of you will have already attended these, others will have them coming up soon. These are your primary contact point with your course staff and the default place to take any feedback you’re hearing from your cohort, so please be sure to attend! If you absolutely can’t make it, let your staff know and ask them if they can rearrange. I’m sure they’ll be willing to help - and if not, you can always reach out to us for help or ask another rep to cover for you in your Department Channel of Rep Hub.
On the note of reaching out to us; we love hearing from you! Please keep doing that – in fact, please do it more! We want to hear about your successes to celebrate and your struggles to support. Have you successfully lobbied for a change lately? Let us know so we can brag about how great you are! Are you struggling with an issue? We can connect you with people who can and help you push for the change your cohort needs – or even just help you out with Course Committee paperwork; it’s our job to help make your work as representatives easier, but we can’t help if we don’t know you need it!
(We may also have selfish reasons for asking – we like to know when our reps make change, because you guys are what makes us Proud to be Staffs.)
Rep Hub Update
We’ve also got the first draft of our Rep Hub wiki! We’ll continue to add to this one-stop resource for all the information you could need in your role. We’ve got a jargon-busting glossary (chock-full of all those acronyms and titles the University uses), a walk-through of our procedures so you can know what’s going on around you...and plenty more to come. If you’ve got an idea for something you’d like to see covered, please let us know!
Don’t forget the chat channels aren’t just for us to get in touch with you – if you need help from your fellow Course Reps, want to link up on a project, want to punt something in the direction of your Department Rep, Officer or Student Voice, that’s the place to go. This is a chat platform, after all!
(If you can’t see the channel for your Department yet, make sure you’ve done the training and please don’t forget to do the test at the end. It’s really important that you have the knowledge you need to represent your cohort, and that training is the best way to evidence that you’ve engaged with your role to get it included on your HEAR. Already done? Check back on the 4th Feb.)
Leadership Race – Nominations Now Open!
Everybody knows the Leadership Race is how we choose our four Full-Time Officers, and their campaigns can steal the show a little bit - but it’s not just about them. The Leadership Race is also how we elect Department Reps, and student group leaders of all kinds.
Is one of your mates the perfect Officer? Do you think one of the reps you’ve worked with would make the perfect Department Rep? Does your Society or Network have someone who you’d love to put in charge if you could? Then “Recommend a Friend” for any of the above to run in the Leadership Race – or stand yourself - at https://www.staffsunion.com/leadershiprace. Nominations close at midday on Friday, April 8th.
January Update…
- Starting on the 11th, Student Voice and the Graduate School have begun working with the Graduate School Steering Group to design a new system of representation for PhD students
- The 19th was the date of the latest School Academic Committee for Life Sciences and Education - thank you to all the Department Reps who went to that
- On the 20th, Race & Cultural Inclusion Network lead Eddie Bammeke attended a joint conference hosted by NUS and Universities UK to discuss the BAME award gap - we’re looking forward to his report and will share it ASAP
- Our Trustee Board met on the 21st to discuss the strategic direction of the Students’ Union, reviewing The Union’s priorities following some phone conversations The Officer Team had with a sample of students
- Digital, Technologies and Arts held its School Academic Committee on the 27th, so thank you to the Department Reps who attended
Coming Up in February…
- A meeting with Dean of Students, Nuala Devlin, at midday on the 2nd (check the Rep Hub calendar for that one) – this is a monthly catch up for Department Reps and Network Leads to discuss how things are going with someone at the very top of the University.
- Also on the 2nd, we’re holding a drop-in for Department Reps at 2pm. Feel free to come along and let us know how things are going – we’re always happy to see you!
- Also also on the 2nd, this time at 3pm, DTA’s interim Associate Dean for Students Rob Marsden is holding a catch-up session for student reps in T103/4 (first floor of the Beacon building).
- The evening of Tuesday 15th, starting at 5pm, will host Representative Council - an opportunity for Department Reps and Network Leads to direct our workand hold Officers to account
- On the 28th, Student Voice will be working out of the shiny new Catalyst building. This will include:
- A Meet Your Reps drop-in between 10 and 12 - please come along to meet us in person!
- Our next Better Staffs Forum from 1-2pm – an open forum for students to provide their thoughts on a broader topic. Keep your ear to the ground for what we’ll be looking into!
Later This Semester…
Here’s a sneak peek of what we’ve got coming your way over the rest of the semester:
- Green Week
- Speak Week, where we ask what you’d do if you ran the University
- Voice Conference, where we compare notes with Course Reps on how it’s all going
- And more progress on the Team Manifesto from your Officers
That’s All Folks!
Have a lovely week, and hopefully we’ll see you very soon!
Thank you for all your hard work,
Hannah
On behalf of your friendly Student Voice team,
Mari, Ant & Jamie