Posted on Mon 24 Jul 2023 at 16:22 by
Jimena Alamo Hello everyone!
Here goes my first ever attempt to write a blog, so bear with me... This first month in post has been absolutely crazy! From a very emotional (I’m not saying that we cried, but we cried) goodbye to last year’s officer team, the next Monday was the oddest day. I sat down at my desk and asked myself: now what? Despite the initial confusion that surely comes with starting a new position anywhere, the first few weeks have been a blast.
I got to go to my first National Union of Students (NUS) conference. We voted on papers discussing the nature of membership to the NUS, and the decision was that in order to leave the NUS, SU’s nationwide would have to go through a referendum, which is the process we use here at Bath anyway.
Another thing I have been involved with in the past few weeks is the process of recruitment for the new Vice Chancellor. This is good news, because having SU representation on this committee means that we can push for a VC that is very keen on student experience (a positive example that the current VC has certainly given). I have also been more peripherally involved in the recruitment process for a director of sustainability (a new post in the university). In other university committees, I sat on remuneration committee and university council. Both were very interesting and helpful. I’d say the key takeaway from council is that, as an SU, we’re constantly raising issues about improving housing opportunities for students in the city – especially after the guaranteed first year accommodation. Our student submission for an Access and Participation Plan was approved in council and sent in to the OfS after this.
I also got to join Jura in a doctoral lunch, which was very fun and yummy - we had Mission Burrito! If you’re a PhD student and haven’t attended one of these before, I’d definitely recommend you do!
Finally, the entire officers' team have been attending graduation ceremonies as part of the staff procession. Five out of six of us are also graduating this week which has been very exciting. Nothing quite like meeting the families of your fellow officers – you get to ask all sort of embarrassing questions! In parallel to this we’ve been working hard on finalising our Top 10 for the upcoming year, so hopefully we’ll have this ready for you to see very soon.
I promise to do my best keeping this blog updated and not too content heavy! Hopefully this gave you a little insight into what the role of your SU President is. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions/suggestions about anything I mentioned!
Come back for another update in a couple of weeks!
Much love,
Jiji