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!!!
