Supres

Monday brought with it some long overdue work for the Student Experience Group. For weeks i had been collating data and research and my folder was looking decisively full, sadly however it had mysteriously managed to dodge typing any of it up!

On Monday evening we had our first exec meeting back of the term with a number of important motions regarding changes to the executive elections.
Firstly a motion was called to change the restrictions on the Welsh Affairs Officer Candidates to be either learning welsh or had the ability to speak welsh - this would be self defined byt every individual.
The second was in relation to the new "societies and services officer" position. With such a position it was felt that the executive positions were now redundant, therefore the motion called for them to be removed. However it is also important that our Union executive remains a populous body ensuring a strong check and balance on sabbaticals and other officers. Therefore 2 non-portfolio officers would be created to both increase numbers and assist next years Elections Working Group in re-structuring the executive committee effectively.

I also spent much of my week preparing the changeswansea site for the upcoming exec elections. From re-organising the remits to writing up reasons for students to run and FAQ's ensuring a clear and transparent elections process.

On Tuesday we had our penultimate Student Affairs Committee of the year, a highly succesful committee fantastically chaired by Alan Speight. I was particularly impressed by his call for sabbatical officers to give a brief run down of our plans for the final term. Alongside this Ross and i could see the time ticking away on the NATIONAL STUDENT SURVEY countdown in the sky!

Much of the rest of my week was taken up with raising exec elections profile, second campus work and building increasing liasons with the community. On Thursday night i worked with a number of local residents on a draft bid for increased funding for a "great gardens" scheme - highlighting both residents and students who made efforts to green up their streets and houses - much like the Unipol project in Leeds.

On Friday I had an unexpected visit from a predecessor- Becki McKinlay President of the Union in 05/06- my first year! It was like a proper blast from the past. I had seen Becki at a leaving do for a colleague back in August/ September last year but due to the noise level in the venue we hadnt really had the chance for a proper chat!

It was great to chat to someone who i think had a similar experience to me - except to be fair Becki and her team lost their then Welfare and Education officer in their first term - imagine the workload!

I remember in our first year when we were doing our show the Lazy Students Club on Xtreme Becki would regularly message in - until one week when we forced her to come in to the studio and get involved - as you can see from the picture she got stuck in! A homage to the legend that is the Kinster!

So a good week all in all and a good beginning to the end (sniff!)

NUS Annual Conference – Good, Bad or Ugly?

When you think of Blackpool you probably think of Donkey Rides, the Pepsi Max and a mahoosive tower! I would doubt that “foundation of national student policies” springs to mind, but in April 2009 Blackpool played host to a huge delegation of student representatives from around the country.

I myself was amongst your eight elected delegates, sent to represent you and your fellow students. It was a fantastic experience, and I would like to begin by saying a huge thank you to all of you who elected me last year, it was a real privilege to represent Swansea students.
National Conference is a three day event where policies are raised by a huge number of delegates from any Union within the United Kingdom. These policies set the priorities of the National Union for the coming year. For example this year Plymouth University SU submitted a motion calling for NUS to continue to government to prevent students being forced to live in certain areas through HMO legislation.
Alongside these policies the National Officers report back on their year in office and are scrutinised by students throughout the Conference. Elections are held for a variety of positions from National President to National Executive Members.

So was it worth it?
Definitely! The National Union has got some real power, from officers being involved in Government Educational Reviews, to providing training and support for student representatives, NUS is committed to building a strong and vocal Student Movement.

With 2009 being the year of a potential review on Tuition Fees in the UK, it’s a concerning time for students. On returning from National Conference this year I’m proud to be part of a National Union which is moving forward loud and proud! I believe that NUS is at an amazing stage in its life, a stage where it can be a strong and active force to take on growing consumerism in Higher Education. If we are going to continue to encourage young people to further themselves in Higher Education we need to make sure their educational institution is of a high standard, and that can only be met if that institution is well funded.
Ultimately some of that cost will fall to the student, but it is important that this does not become a barrier to education. I believe that with NUS fighting for a fair, and accessible funding system Higher Education in the UK can as D: REAM once said “only get better”.

For more information about your national Union why not check out www.nus.org

With the Uni a little quieter it was time to knuckle down to some paperwork. From the portfolio i was putting together on campus development, to working with John and Beyram on the Student Experience survey it had piled up just a little!

Alongside this I began the push for the executive elections coming up in the middle of May. We decided to go with the idea of “Could you represent them (your fellow students)” with promotion showing students at Swansea doing what students do!

Alongside this the sabbs and I met with Rhys from NUS to discuss how we could leave the Union in good shape for our successors. We wanted to look at a Union wide review that ensured that students were getting maximum potential from the Union and staff were confident in what the Union was trying to achieve. From here we will be looking towards informal meetings, surveys and an away day!
Friday was by far the most exciting day of my week, I was invited to sit on a “stakeholders panel” for interviewing candidates for the director of Nus Wales role. When i arrived at Cardiff SU that morning it appeared that it was just me and a panel of GM’s and Managers, somewhat interesting and daunting!

It was a really positive morning with an excellent opportunity to see where each candidate wished to take NUS Wales forward. With NUS Wales recent successes in its involvement in the WAG HE funding review and the positive outcome in the bursary review, NUS Wales is at a crucial time in its life and it is vital that it had a good director to support the officers at this stage.

Much of Monday was taken up with filing (and tidying) all the things I should have done during election week, then in the evening myself, Leoni and Andy went along to the annual AU awards dinner. It was an awesome night and a great opportunity to see so many fantastic students awarded for such a variety of different awards, the legendary Jeff Lee was deservedly nominated for all his time and effort!

On Tuesday i sat on a review for the Universities partnership course with Neath Port Talbot College. The Foundation Certificate in Health Studies is a one year course offered in collaboration with the School of Health Science at the University. The course is primarily offered to build up students who did not quite make the grade for the BN Nursing Degree at Swansea, however the teaching offered is exceptional and really helps build the students almost above the grade. Throughout the day alongside my five academic colleagues we met with lecturers, students and support staff, no-one had a bad word to say about the course. What was extremely positive was the level at which many students who had gone on to the BN degree felt they were better prepared thanks to the course.

On Tuesday evening a number of us made our way down to Cardiff for their reclaim the Night march. Katie Dalton NUS Wales Womens Officer did a fantastic job with an excellent route and a great host of speakers from a variety of different areas.

On Wednesday Leoni and I made our way to Sketty Hall in search of students! Student Recruitment had asked us to help out with a Higher Education Fayre they were due to attend. With out trusty pamphlets and free pens i think we certainly recruited a few potentials!
In the evening a friend of mine was down to visit and we made our way to the Drama societies Macbeth performance. My old housemate Dan Entwistle did a fantastic job as Macbeth and the rest of the cast did great too, particularly the wicked witches who appeared permananently sozzled!

On Thursday,following a particularly strange night at Willy Wonkas Easter Ball in Oceana (tuckshop and popcorn fountains?) Ross dragged me out to drive him down to Carmarthen. Ross and I had promised to pop down to meet the final year Nursing and Midwifery students there and discuss any issues they had and attempt to get them to fill in the National Student Survey. Despite my tiredness it was a really positive morning, especially with the students willingess to fill out the survey!

The rest of my week was taken up with a variety of meetings from Union governance to University representation, thankfully though it was a little more relaxed than the previous week!

With campaign week in full swing i managed to fit in a couple of meetings with the University early on the Monday. Then at 12:00 we held our “Grill a Candidate” event in JC’s, where all the candidates attended to give a short speech but its open to anyone and everyone to ask all those questions, queries and thoughts. It was a really good event where all the candidates really gave it there all in a situation that isn’t too easy.

In the evening i went along to the Erasmus social which once again was a spot on event made even more colourful when the sea of campaign t-shirts hit wind street!
On Tuesday i met with a number of local residents to discuss thoughts for our upcoming community champion awards. Pencilled in for June (ish) i hope that it will be a great opportunity for us to prove that there are a great many things that students and local residents are doing in within our community.

Wednesday morning brought with it a Med school open day in the morning and then of course Village Election Day. In the afternoon Leoni and i made our way up to Woody’s to spend the afternoon on the ballot box.

Thursday was of course the BIG DAY and whilst i wasn’t campaigning i really didn’t stop. In between helping on the ballot box, taking photos of the day and chasing candidates i got caught left, right and centre by students and staff – some students even had me fill in their psychological profile for their dissertation!

Despite the weather the day was fantastic and really proved the importance of good promotion. From our huge “Vote here “ banner to my rather popular “think while you stink” toilet posters we really got the message out there. By the end of the day we were just shy of 2000 voters but then came the count!!!!

By half past one in the morning it was all over and the following fantastic students were elected ;

Education Officer; Ross Gilman
International and Overseas Officer; Andy Patton
President; Luke Young
Societies and Services Officer; Raechel Mattey
Welfare Officer; Lance Horsey
Womens Officer; Raegan Healy

It had been an excellent week and whilst it felt a bit weird knowing your successor but still having 3 months to achieve your goals, it was a good feeling roll on July 2009!

With campaign week looming it was hard to stay focused on the day to day, but the work didn’t stop!

On Monday I attended the Universities Council Away Day (surprisingly held in the Abbey?). The day was comprised of a series of presentations from the Senior Management Team – the Vice Chancellor, the Pro- Vice Chancellors and the Director of Finance. The team quite simply layed out their plans for the year ahead and the further long term for the University, from departmental changes to potential campus development. The day was extremely well layed out with a great opportunity to be a part of an excellent future not just for Swansea University but South Wales as a whole.

On Tuesday following our previous few months research we held our first (and notably last) lunchtime Student General Meeting. Whilst the turnout was at an all time low it was a positive opportunity for the students in attendance to assist us in ensuring that the meetings are better attended. From discussing the time of meetings to how we could make them more informative and appealing to the student body, it was extremely helpful.

On Wednesday i had a number of meetings with student services, before heading down in my rather fetching “Jim’ll Fix – It” Attire to Swansea Bay. This was for the annual Medsoc Polar Bear Run, where students in a variety of crazy outfits run down to the tide before attempting to swim (paddle/ squeal) through the water and back again.

The infamous fundraiser raises thousands of pounds every year for a fantastic group of charities including the RNLI Mumbles Lifeboat station and the Swansea Gambia link. This was my second year doing the event and it certainly didn’t disappoint – even if i looked rather cold in our Learning and Teaching Committee that afternoon!

For the rest of the afternoon i relocated to the Waterfront offices and in between writing stories and giving quotes managed to get some more fun election work out the way!!

Thursday was my last opportunity to catch up on my backlog of paperwork before the frenzy began! In the evening following the official opening of campaigning i went along to People and Planets “Funky Fashion Show” in DV8. This was a fashion show for the society members to show off what was made in the workshops where people had altered, customised and funked up their old clothes!

On Friday Leoni, Estelle and I headed to Llandrindod for NUS Wales Conference. Over the two days that we were there motions were proposed, Lleu Williams was elected as Deputy President and Katie Dalton as President. A variety of motions ranged from gender balanced delegations to trustee training for Welsh sabbaticals and executives from NUS Wales.

I am extremely proud to say that i was elected to the office of Welsh National Executive Committee – Higher Education Rep alongside Tom Hecht from Bangor Students Union.

On the final day of the conference Wes Streeting (NUS National President), Aaron Porter (NUS VP Higher Education), Beth Walker (NUS VP Further Education) and Ben Whittaker (NUS NEC) all gave a variety of speeches regarding the future of NUS. It was an enjoyable and informative time – bring on Annual!!!

On Monday i met with Rhys Dart (Regional Development and Training Officer -NUS Wales) and Scott Farmer (Interim Director - Nus Wales). It was a really positive meeting and a great chance to work with Scott during his interim term helping move NUS Wales forward.

In the afternoon Simon Darvill and myself attended the University and local residents forum. We were extremely pleased with our highly positive report and plan for community procedures - even if the acronym is not the best Community Residents Action Plan !
We also made progress alongside the University on a planned "tenants poster" showing both rights and responsibilites for all students living in private sector accommodation.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I attended a mental health first aid course along with a variety of staff members from throughout the University. Mental Health First Aid is an ambitious new project, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, designed to train trainers to teach Mental Health First Aid throughout Wales.
The course does not train you to be a therapist, counsellor or mental health professional, but rather;

* give initial help to someone experiencing a mental health problem
* deal with a crisis situation or the first signs of someone developing mental ill health
* guide people towards appropriate help

The course was absolutely brilliant, a really productive opportunity to understand a variety of issues relating to Mental Health. Much like a regular first aid course it is aimed at preserving life and promote recovery. If you are interested in finding out more visit;

http://www.mhfa-wales.org.uk/

This week was Isoc's (Swansea University's Islamic Society) Islamic Awareness Week , and an excellent one at that. With Mosque and Executive Officer VRSA Mahaboob Basha heading up a number of meet and greets, i was lucky enough to have a number of fantastic opportunities to understand more about Islamic Culture and Swansea Universities Muslim Community.
On Friday i was invited to speak following the regular prayer session to the Swansea Muslim Community. It was a great opportunity to meet a variety of students and i really had my eyes opened. What i started to realise was that virtually every Islamic student, regardless of their home country (Libya, Saudi Arabia, India etc) had come to study, and more importantly felt at home in Swansea due to the fantastic Muslim community already here. Our primary aim as a Students Union is to ensure that students are supported and cared for throughout their time at Swansea. Through a variety of Welfare campaigns, services and procedures we attempt to further this aim. Thankfully we don’t do this alone whether its Student Support Services or a Personal Tutor there are a huge variety of ways that students are supported. What is fantastic is that the Mosque is a massive support network alongside these others, supporting a variety of different students from so many different backgrounds.

On Friday night i attended the Malasian Societies Night in the Taliesin with General Secretary Luke Young. The night was designed to help people understand the diverse history and culture within Malasia. It was a great night, even if both Luke and I shamed ourselves with some “Interesting” Bollywood dancing on stage! – many thanks Akash!!!!!
On Saturday we began the elections graft as i managed, alongside Deputy X-treme Station Manager Ben Shaw, to get 2/3rds of the sabbatical candidates in to the radio studios to record their manifestos, reasons for voting and of course their campaign songs – oh if only the elections were won on songs rather than slogans!!!!

This week was a bit of a slow starter but as usual the pace soon escalated!!!

Much of the early part of the week was taken up with meetings with some of our excellent support staff. From Edy our Campaigns advisor to Dave from the waterfront we really are blessed with an excellent bunch of staff here at the Union, who consistently have brought new ideas alongside an element of consistency ensuring campaigns and representation can grow throughout the University.

Alongside this Ross and i had some more great fun in lectures promoting the NSS, my particular favourite being where i left the lecture sharpish after the lecturer arrived - meanwhile Ross was still flyering the students!!

On wednesday i got my much needed fix of working groups!!! First we kicked off with an excellent campus development discussion, where suggestions ranged from how to get students involved to ensuring environmental sustainability.

Following this we met with the final elections working group before we kick off on the 5th! Some awesome suggestions came up regarding the candidate question time, and also about general promotion.
The key thing that was raised was that the Union MUST promote why people should care about the elections - highlighting the breadth of what the Union. Its so rare to be in such a big organisation where you really have a massive amount of control. Students really can impact on what the Union does and where it goes - the sabbatical elections are one of the most crucial parts of it!

A key issue that i have been working on this week is issues surrounding building work going on within the new buildings. On Thursday night we had a fantastic opportunity to meet with a number of students from the halls and hopefully give them a voice. It was an excellent opportunity for us as officers to really grab the bull by the horns on a issue that students are really being directly affected. But more importantly to me was that the students were so uplifted by the fact that people were taking their issue on - its what we are here for and to be a part of that support network is a real honour.

On Friday the all wales convention rolled into town, asking students who should decide the laws that affect you daily here in Wales - Westminster or Cardiff? Parliament or the Senedd?

In 2007 the Assembly set up the "All Wales Convention" to see what welsh people thought.

They are going around Wales guaging public opinion on whether Wales have a more powerful assembly, more like the Scottish Parliament? Its other key aim is to explain the present system of powers available to the assembly.

At the helm of the legendary diplomat Sir Emyr Jones Parry, who served within the EU, Nato and UN, the all Wales convention is coming to Swansea.

It was a fantastic event and it was a real pleasure to meet Sir Emyr who did a great job of starting a good debate. There was a variety of opinions, in particular concerns were raised about whether we are moving towards a divided isle, yet we are so similar?

Friday evening a number of us went down to Bristol to support the "reclaim the night" march. Since 2004 the London Feminist Network numerous women have marched throughout the UK to say no to rape and male violence and demand justice for survivors. The UK rape conviction rate is still at its lowest ever, just over 5%. As a key supporter of the womens campaign it was crucial that Swansea Union represented to say enough is enough — to put their feet on the streets for women’s rights and take back the night.

On our return Luke, Estelle and I made our way back to the Union alongside Adam Bruce Smith to SSSH some students!!!

Wow – I actually cant believe I have finally caught up on the blog! I must thank First Great Western for their unending encouragement whilst I sit on a variety of their trains! Up until recently I knew it was important to write my blog but this week really has proved it, let me explain….

Over the weekend I have been poring over this small screen attempting to write up my report for the Annual General Meeting on Monday. Whilst I love my role as chair of the trustees board this task has certainly been one to test me! I think the hardest thing is that I have to write a report on the financial year 2007-2008 (July to July) and I only came into post in July 2008!

To be fair I have had the benefit of having sat on the executive last year and thus I held an active role during this time, but it didn’t make it any easier!!!

So if I may I’ll outline what I said on the night!

Swansea University Students’ Union is run by students for students. All of our services are offered either free or at the lowest cost possible, in order to ensure students get the best possible experience they can.

Our Vision is to be progressive, supportive, encouraging, influential campaigning union – what a mouthful!

The key is that our mission as a Union is to represent you and your fellow students here at Swansea. This can be in ensuring that the University consults and takes note of student opinion when initiating changes, and also ensuring that the University takes notice when things are not going right. Student involvement is at the forefront of this –whether you are a course rep or simply filled in the Omnibus survey your views are to be represented.

Representation is wider than that and can encompass everything from your local community to national student issues such as top up fees and Graduate employability. As a Union we are here to represent you on these issues alongside our colleagues in Wales and nationally through the National Union of Students.

Our other key role is to further the so called “softer” side of your education here at Swansea. This is quite simply ensuring that you leave Swansea with a variety of skills and experience, not just those gained through your degree scheme. This is primarily encompassed in our wide variety of societies across campus. From religious encouragement and awareness to social action, our societies provide an unrivalled service in making students people who will shape the world when they leave University.

In ensuring that you gain the most from your University experience Welfare services play a crucial role. In our Advice centre for example, three trained and experienced advisers supported by an administrator, are available to give advice in person, or by phone, letter or email, on a wide variety of issues. We help students for example, to manage their debts, sort out their housing problems with their landlords, manage their finances, apply for extra funds, negotiate with traders over consumer problems, and employers over problems at work. In addition, as we are independent; we are the only source of support for students who have issues with the university itself like Unfair Practice, a complaint, or who wish to appeal an academic decision. A lot of our time is spent on these academic issues.

Alongside this we offer a wide variety of services to students at Swansea, some of which are free and some which turn a small profit.
It is highly important to us—and we consistently attempt to convey to our members that the Union is Student Run, Student Led—with all profits to students. From Just Coffee in Union House to Woodys Bar in the Student Village, SAS lettings service to the launderette – all of our services are run to support your life here at Swansea. By keeping profit margins low and ensuring that all that money goes back to students we can remain fair, competitive and appealing.

To ensure that we remain on track it is vital that we have core values to which we adhere to. These are

Democracy
Non -Discriminatory
Democratic and representative
Accountable
Ethical and green
Innovative
Value for money

Democracy is at the forefront of these values, without it the Union would be worthless, unrepresentative, powerless and not to mention illegal! We are a student run and student led organisation and therefore our direction comes from our members – you the students.

We regularly promote our motto; “Your Union, Your Experience”
It is of the utmost importance to us that our members are involved and active. We have numerous opportunities for people to “Stand up and Speak out” from our Student General Meetings to our Course Reps Assemblies.

The student body is the highest decision making group within the Union. From motions mandating sabbaticals to look into drink safety, motions to ban sales of products or even the removal of a sabbatical trustee – these are all in the hands of the student body.

Our services are constantly under review, primarily as to how to make them better but also whether they are still required and if our members want something different.

So 2007 to 2008 in review – how did we do?

In 2007 we underwent a vast governance review. Our constitution is our legal document which sets out our roles, procedures, structures and rules. In recent years our constitution had constrained us and in some areas left us dangerously vulnerable.

With some fantastic direction, particularly from Nick Cooper, Luke Young and Stuart Rice, the governance review was actioned and completed within the year. Students were encouraged to take part in the review, and the University set up a special committee to work with us on the final document.

The key change in our constitution is as follows
• Trustee Responsibility – in registering as a charity we are legally required to have trustees who “have the final say” this has always traditionally been your elected sabbatical officers.
• However in recent years unfounded allegations have been levelled at sabbaticals regarding financial control of the Union and most importantly their understanding of their legal roles and responsibilities.
• In come - External Trustees- these will be three people selected by an appointments committee of current trustees and then hopefully accepted by the student body here at the SGM.
• Do we need them? Well these people will bring experience that sabbaticals perhaps cannot. Years of experience within financial areas, legal experience or most importantly charitable experience. But alongside this these people will bring increased credibility and support to the charity. They will often be well respected people who due to their experience will encourage a stronger, more conscious Union.

• Surely Student power will be diluted? Well there is of course an argument there. However the power still remains in the hands of the student body – it is the students who suggest direction, make policy and challenge sabbaticals. The trustee board can only veto policy if they feel it brings significant financial, legal or reputational risk to the Union. Also there will only be three external trustees selected and ratified by students. There will still be six elected sabbatical trustees and the President will remain as chair of the board, with carrying vote.

• At the end of the day these people will be people who believe in the Union, believe in students and most of all want to be of use and help the Union. We hope that through good selection and adequate involvement these trustees will bring a vast amount of security and support to the Union in their terms of office.

So enough about the politics its time to party!
In 2007 – 2008 we put on a whole host of awesome events from the first ever snow ball on campus, to fresh and free an event exclusively for freshers. We increased the massive amount of acts available in sin city, alongside NME club status making us an official live music venue in Swansea. From Zane Lowe to One Night only, Alphabeat to Pendulum we have offered a wide spectrum of music.

We also signed a new contract with Luminar and Oceana for their brand new £3 million refurbished venue which has gone down a storm with students. Our continued good relationship with the Luminar group has continued to encourage big nights whilst also funding specialist events such as the society awards and the xtreme 40th birthday party.

As a campaigning Union we tackled a number of key issues last year, not least increased library access. Through excellent research and diplomacy with the University, Chugga was able to secure extended access for the January and Summer periods.
It feels pertinent to then move on to student safety which was a key issue tackled by the Union last year – from “people trains” walking students back late at night after working in the library to the fantastic safety awareness weeks student perceptions on their own safety and the reality that the Union was on the ground looking out for them became clear. Nel Richards also held some fantastic self defence sessions as part of her effort to increase welfare and safety for female students.

Danielle Dixon did a fantastic job last year as disability officer for the Union and alongside Nel looked at a number of ways to increase accessibility across campus. Not least looking at the Union itself and its processes

Accommodation is and continues to be a key issues for students here within Swansea. Nick worked alongside the University last year to increase student feedback on accommodation in the Village. Whilst in my role as Accommodation Officer I challenged students to leek on their landlord and not to panic. I feel that

From an education point of view we had a massive response rate to the NSS, there was a 70% response rate to NSS 2008 (which was an improvement from 61% rate to NSS 2007) with an average sector response of 64%. The Student Satisfaction Survey had a response rate of 9.3% (1287) which was an improvement on the last three years response rate. Owens excellent idea of a “feedback lounge” – in Fulton House was picked as best practice through NUS and we have been inundated with calls from other Unions regarding our experience.

Alongside this Student Written Submission was made and the officers were actively involved in the QAA audit. Chugga was also able to secure accreditation with the University for our course representatives and alongside John Follett the program is increasing extremely healthily.

So on to Welfare – Our advice centre received well over 900 client contacts - up 6.6% from 2006- 2007. Alongside this the demand has grown so much that we have employed a new member of staff with particular experience of substance abuse and mental health issues.

Our Nursery was built and achieved registration allowing it to open in Feb 2008. There has been an increase in interest in the service but most importantly staff and parents feel more comfortable and happy with their new surroundings.

SAS Lettings has continued to make a successful impact upon the community with increasing student and landlord interest. Something which we hope will increase even more in its new base in Fulton House.

Niche opened its doors in Feb 2008. Financial performance has shown steady and improving growth in sales across the remainder of the academic year. Interest from a wide range of students not just internationals, has increased and it has solidified the Unions dedication to achieve environmental and ethical impact.

So the Future! – We are in challenging times, but I also believe these are times where opportunities, influence and engagement will increase.

In times of Financial instability students come back to their Union – why? Because as our mission states we aim to be value for money for our members! From increased discounts, deals, offers, opportunities and support we can be there as a “reasonably priced friend” to students at Swansea University. It is our job to ensure that we make your student pound go further whether that’s the price of a pint in the bars or the level of free advice and support we offer, our members will hopefully value the Union much more during this time.

Alongside this as the University looks at Campus development and expansion we are at a crucial time when the Union must be researching and representing (thankyou John Follett!) ensuring that the student opinion is at the core of developments. If we fail to do so then students will lose out and ultimately so will the University – therefore it is CRUCIAL that we progress alongside the University and ensure Swansea University increases and flourishes in its educational and welfare opportunities for students.

With the big dog behind me I could get back on with meetings, meetings and more meetings! To maintain my sanity Ross and I utilised any excess time we had to pop into third year lectures and generally harass them about the National Student Survey – www.thestudentsurvey.com

Amongst all this madness the sabbatical polls closed!!! With 20 candidates standing and an amazing range of candidates in each category my faith in the process was once again restored – keep your eyes peeled on www.changeswansea.com over the next few weeks as the campaign trail rolls into town!!!

This week has also been the week of the quizzes – from both the Xtreme and Erasmus societies. Alongside Ben Davey and Will Long we had great fun hosting the return of “It box live” with a variety of weird and wonderful questions and of course the legendary Xtreme raffle.

The Erasmus quiz was also excellently well attended and Katie Oliver and Jenny Barker did a great job encouraging so many Erasmus and home students to attend and work together – it was great to see a whole team of Erasmus students win the quiz beating off even the dodgy SU team!!!

Finally on Friday I met with Simon Wright to devise a pro-forma for our current and upcoming community plans. It was a great opportunity to show how much we are doing both as a Union individually and also alongside the University to really attempt to unite students and residents and reduce problems in the community.

On Monday the National Student Survey went live, this in an opportunity for final year students to have “their say” on their experience of Higher Education and most importantly of Swansea University and their degree scheme. Last year we got around a 70 % feedback rating so we have a hard task ahead of us to take that rating up!!! This year weve gone with a kind of “on tour” theme- basically either having a stall in Fulton House where people can fill in the survey there and then on their laptops and then have the opportunity to rock out on guitar hero in front of literally tens of adoring fans!
Alternatively we are taking the tour to them – from department to department were going into lectures, talking to students leaving departments, gatecrashing revision sessions and interrupting hard work on facebook!

On Tuesday the snow shut the United Kingdom down so I was forced to take the day off! It was a good opportunity to hang with the housemates and particularly because it was Adrians birthday – so we made sure we had a “few” drinks to celebrate.
We had been planning on going to Cardiff to meet with Education AM – Jane Hutt, sadly our delegation – and a number of the NEC were unable to make it. However I think those that did manage to did us proud!

On Wednesday we held a Higher education review session with members of NUS Wales NEC and delegates from the Assembly’s review group. It was a great opportunity for a number of students from Swansea, Swansea Met (and even a very dedicated President from Aber!) to really put their points across regarding their experience of Higher Education. Everything from funding to freshers week was discussed and I hope that their thoughts will be taken strongly on board by the review group.
I think the key thing was no-one wanted fees to increase and wanted a more sensible funding and bursary system. But alongside this they wanted the current system to be sincerely looked at, in that there are major discretions and generalisations within the current system. For example if you are a student from a separated parent base, you get your funding based purely on the amount that the parent you live with earns.
Now whilst this is sensible in principle in some cases students with parents who are still married are potentially severely left out. A student might only live with one parent but is still supported financially by the other – yet another students whose parents are married gets less because jointly his or her parents earn above the threshold, yet they cannot afford to support him or her as much. Is this fair? The general feeling was that the system was too black and white and did not account for the considerable grey area in students financial situations.

On Thursday and Friday I met with a number of committees and finalised the changes to the officer titles and election schedule by meeting with University representatives.

Friday night was by far the highlight of my week though! I returned to campus at around midnight just as it began to snow. Then Luke Young, Alison Pritchard and Adam Bruce Smith drifted in to the offices for a cup of tea before we made our way out to do the SSHH campaign. Impressively the lights were actually broken in Singleton Park, but the full moon reflecting on the snow drift gave an odd brightness to the evening. It was another good campaign with some awesome students out and some good banter – it’s a bad precedent that’s been set now though students literally expect our little luminous brigade with our mass of lollipops!