Supres

One of the hardest things about this job is having the time to be available in the office for students to drop in. Thankfully this week was an exception to the rule, with a number of students from societies such as the Christian Union, Dance and Yoga popping in for a natter – and some free tea!
On Monday I had the opportunity to meet with a number of key residents within the Community alongside Simon Wright from Student Support Services, Chief Superintendant Mark Matthias and our very own snazzy community representative Simon Darvill! It was an excellent opportunity to work with residents on ways in which we can improve our community. However, one of the saddest things that came out of the meeting was that a number of the residents felt they didn’t know their neighbours and often their neighbours didn’t make any effort to introduce themselves. If you live in the community make sure you take the opportunity to meet your neighbours. The majority of residents love students living in their community; many will tell you it keeps them young. However it can often feel like an “us and them” situation, be sure to introduce yourself, maybe even offer them a cup of tea- might be worth cleaning up first though!
On Tuesday both Ross and I set off to attend a staff student meeting in the school of health science. It was a slightly odd experience as the committee has members both here on the Singleton Campus and also down at Carmarthen- therefore we found ourselves on camera streaming live! The committee was a great opportunity for Ross and I to understand current issues for our comrades in health science and therefore work on how to support them better. In practice we are now looking alongside both staff and students in health science, at increasing bus service provision and challenging WAG on their current support for students travelling to placements.
In the evening I chaired my first SGM- this is the core of representation within the Union and it is your real chance to stand up and shout about how your Union is run. At the meeting all representatives (especially Sabbs) give their reports and open the floor to scrutinise them and their work. We are here to work for you so therefore it is important that we are accountable to you and the SGM is the key place for this. Alongside this opportunity to scrutinise and challenge your officers you have the opportunity to set the strategy of the Union. Whether there is an issue you feel we should be campaigning for or a national issue you wish us to investigate and respond back to you – it is up to you. Our biggest successes in the past such as 24 hour library access and increased student safety work has come from SGM policy – and therefore has been directed by you the student body.
On Wednesday we had our Finance and Resources meeting and then went forward into our regular meeting with the Senior Managers of the University. This meeting is fantastically informal yet serious, it gives all of us the opportunity to work alongside the University in getting the best for all of our students. Whether it is informing them of a concern that we are looking to resolve or asking for support on an issue these meetings enable another level of support and most importantly communication and clarity.
The end of my week was highly active with a number of opportunities to meet and chat with students and look at plans for the rest of the term and indeed the rest of the year. On Thursday polls closed for the executive elections and I was really chuffed with the significant turnout – to see who’s running to represent you check out the information on the website.

I knew this week was going to be both fun and testing! On Monday I met with Luke as we prepared for our first executive meeting, not only with a virtually brand new committee but also with a brand new (slightly nervous!) chair – moi!
But before we could kick off with the democracy we attended the leaving party for Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor Rhys Williams. I had only recently met Professor Williams but in the few months that I have had chance to work with him he has been extremely helpful and most importantly highly encouraging. Professor Williams has a clear love for students here at the University and his dedication over the years in supporting student issues is testament to that.

SO the exec meeting – wait a minute I hear you say! What is an exec meeting?
The executive committee is made up of elected sabbaticals (us) and voluntary reps, students much like yourselves, who campaign for their specific remit but come together to represent students across campus. SO between the two groups we form a committee which looks at the policy and direction of the Union. Therefore we discuss everything from our services to our campaigns and look at ways at improving them for students.

There were some fantastic items to get through including election procedures and plans, Nus conference motions and disability access challenges. To see a copy of the full minutes make sure you pop online to the main website and they’re under representation.

On Tuesday we were given some more trustees training along with the Athletic Union. The trainer was absolutely fantastic and despite the fact that we went over a few things covered before, there were some really interesting and new information which I learnt a lot from.
After all the brain ache of governance training we decided to pop along to see the Comedy Clubs first performance of the term. The guys and gals put on a fantastic show for the packed crowd in DV8, with an extra special comic performance from my friend Dan Entwistle.

Wednesday evening included a rather entertaining night in Oceana for the Fresher’s Ball – where some of you may have seen me dressed as a mildly inebriated headmaster (apologies!). On Thursday we were given the opportunity to meet numerous members of the academic registry team. From staff members who deal with grievance procedures to those dealing with Erasmus students both here and abroad, it was great to put faces to email addresses. More importantly it was fantastic to see so much passion to do the best for students, and a real desire for us to tell them what you guys wanted to change. However exams still will be in session this year!

Following on from our meet and greet we attended our first Student Affairs Committee. This is the real student experience committee, so it’s the best place for us to bring issues regarding non – academic aspects of your life here in Swansea. One of the key things that we managed to take forward was the setting up of a proper review of fresher’s fortnight alongside our colleagues in Student Support Services. So make sure to get in touch if there are things that you weren’t happy with or would like to see change.

On Friday I was sent for Fire Safety Training- which despite the interesting nature of trustee training, I have to admit was the most fun course so far. By the end of the training I was given a fire extinguisher to put out a small fire – I felt like I was in London Burning!