Posted on Wed 16 Aug 2023 at 13:40 by
Jimena Alamo Hello everyone!
Just like that, two more weeks have passed!
This fortnight has been a wild one. It started with a couple meetings with university registry and the local council about voter registration. Basically, registering as a student used to be automatic when you registered to uni, but that’s not the case anymore. We’re trying to simplify the process, to make sure students are represented by locally elected representatives (as SU officers, you know how much we like the idea of publicly elected positions). This is still ongoing, but hopefully I’ll be able to tell you more about this soon.
We had therapy dogs in the Edge! I am hoping (and literally dreaming) about making this happen more often. There are about a billion pictures of me with dogs, but here is one with a dog that literally knows how to swipe with his nose (beware dating app users).
On a more serious note, I have been having one on ones with different members from university council and its subcommittees – with Amber, who sits on council as well – to build a relationship with them and learn more about how council works and how we can get things done for you. They have all been lovely and very helpful! We’re very lucky to have such a good relationship with the university and its council lay members.
On the manifesto side of things, I have been working hard on getting things in motion, especially around two points. First, I brought up the early arrival for international students and the “buddy system” (what I’ll call this manifesto point from now on) where international students will have at least one more international student in their kitchen group during first year accommodation. The Campus services team was very helpful in explaining the obstacles around it and we’re working on alternatives to get this done. I also had a meeting with the university’ VP for community and inclusion about this. I’m feeling very positive about this happening either for this or next academic year.
Finally, I had my first one on one meeting with the VC. This happens fairly often, and it’s a great way for me to bring to his attention what the SU is doing and some of the biggest issues that students are facing at the time. This is where the second big manifesto points come up: housing! He agreed with me that there is a lot to be done around affordable/quality housing options in the city after your guaranteed first year accommodation. This, also, I will give you more information on as I have it.
This was quite a content heavy update... As usual, happy to answer any questions or have a chat about anything I’ve mentioned. If not, just remember to come back in a couple weeks for the next update. In the meantime, I hope you are as hyped up about the World Cup as I am. Hopefully, by the time you read this, the Lionesses will be getting ready for the final. If not, I might need that dog therapy session to happen sooner than planned.
See you again soon!
Much love,
Jiji x