Posted on Wed 13 Nov 2019 at 11:44 by
Alisha Lobo I don't think I have ever felt so run off my feet. This job is intense, but these past weeks are unlike I have ever experienced (except, maybe SU elections?). With the regular business of the start of semester and the addition of so many unexpected events taking place UCU strike action, attendance monitoring, and the General Election, I am definitely off the high of the beginning of semester! And yet, it is still too far away to count the days till I am at Heathrow on a flight home. Ngl, I feel like homesickness is also sinking in, so many years on, I thought I would be over it. Oh well. Look out for the people around you – check in with them, especially your international friends!
But saying that, I wouldn’t change a thing. This job never gets old and it is always exciting. You never know what you are going to wake up to and no day is the same.
#NeverOK project update.
I ran a forum on the Report and Support tool with Feminism and Gender Equality on what could be improved and the changes that should be made on the form in order to improve user’s experience. Over the summer the University’s complaints and disciplinary procedures have been revised, this year will be interesting to see how cases are being processed and how they work through the system.
It has been slightly over a year since the report and support tool has been launched. I have been working on getting a report published to students about the incidents that have been reported, the time taken to resolved, and the wider context and trends that we have been seeing. This is also something that we are working with University Council on to ensure that there is accountability and oversight from the governors of the institution. It is essential that we are transparent about what is happening behind the scenes but also calling out the shortfalls in the system with the University. This needs to be a continually improving system, we cannot afford to fail more victims.
International students UG.
Attendance Monitoring
On the 24th October, the ISA held a forum with Peter Lambert the Pro- Vice- chancellor for Learning and Teaching and the Head of Student Immigration to discuss the challenges facing Tier 4 international students about the new attendance monitoring app. In the forum the students overwhelmingly voted against the current attendance monitoring system. Since the forum the ISA have released a statement of further action taken against the University.
Faith and Cultural societies and ISA
The ISA held their first ever joint meeting with the faith and cultural societies. This move has been done to prevent the separation of work that we sometimes see across the Union. It is important that the international community are represented socially through the societies but are being advocated for politically by the ISA and that we are facilitating cross collaboration.
Celebrations!!
The Latin American Society society alongside Mexican students celebrated Day of the Dead celebrations for the first time in our SU. There were performances from Salsa society and phenomenal artwork from Fineart society.
On the same day we also saw protests down by Chancellor’s green from students raising awareness of the current situation in Hong Kong. It has been over four months of unrest in Hong Kong and there remain concerns around police brutality and civil liberties.
October also saw the celebration of Black History Month at the Students’ Union. We welcomed an Olympian, hosted a Spoken Word Event in partnership with The Black Verse and had variety of events that were hosted by Afro- Caribbean society and Race Equality.
Refugee and Asylum seekers
Following a five year battle championed by University of Bath Amnesty Society and UCU - University and College Union with the University on this, the work does not end. Ensuring there is adequate sustainable support with a long term development of the program is essential for the University to have. I am working with University of Bath Amnesty Society and Bath Star to get a number of commitments from the University to ensure the safety of the scheme in the long- term.
On a more personal note….
Your officers are taking BathSU national! I was shortlisted for my piece ‘what does zero tolerance really mean?’ on WonkHE, a Higher Education policy website. (So was Eve, the SU president!) Last week, we attended their annual event, Wonkfest, where people from across the sector come together to discuss the imminent challenges across different departments in Universities. Unfortunately, I did not win, but there is always next year!