In my first weeks as President (Education and Wellbeing) I have settled into the role well, after being shown the ropes by the previous President, Phil Semmens, I was able to quickly start what I had set out to do in my manifesto. I would like to thank Phil for all his hard work this year, and wish him the best of luck as he moves on to his next role at the Department of Work and Pensions.

The Academic Journey

Firstly, I learnt about the new ‘Academic Journey’ process that is taking shape, where the University is completely overhauling its term times, both into semesters and restructuring the way in which assessments are taken (Another blog post to follow).

I fully support the restructuring for new students as it makes it easier for students by only having to focus on three modules at a time, and makes doing two courses less intensive for double honours students. It also makes assessment easier for students as they are able to retake at the end of semesters instead of waiting until the end of the year.

Meeting other Students' Unions

During this week I travelled to Birmingham with current and old sabbatical Officers in order to collect the Union’s Green Impact Award, our Union was rated as ‘Excellent’ and won the award for ‘Union of the Year (Non-Commercial)’. I used this opportunity to network with other officers from around the country, getting to know other sabbaticals allows for the sharing of ideas and concepts and transference of knowledge of situations that many experience throughout the academic year.

Team Bonding

In the second week, the Union sabbs and managers went on a residential away weekend. With the student Leadership Team constantly changing, it is important to quickly get to know each other and to bond as a team for our limited time working together. This year we went to Center Parcs in Longleat, and participated in team building activities and exercises as well as using it as a way to relax before the busy period from now until Christmas!

Coming up....

That’s all from me for July, only 6 weeks until my graduation and the new students arrive for Fresher’s! To all returning students, I look forward to seeing you back, and to new students, I look forward to meeting you! Give me a follow on Facebook