Posted on Wed 12 Jul 2017 at 10:37 by
Euan Morrison
It’s been another two eventful weeks at the SU.
Two weeks ago myself, Sophie and Jade sat down to write our year’s development plan. Ordinarily each of the officers would complete an individual plan however, this year as our manifestos complemented each other’s well the decision was made to create a team development plan. As a result we have a great range of exciting projects on the horizon that as officers we will be working together on!
Last week was really different. The officers and SU staff attended the NEC in Birmingham for the NUS SU17 conference. The event is a chance for all of the SU’s across the country HE and FE to meet and discuss a variety of topics within the sector. It included a number of speeches from the influential members of the NUS as well as two keynote speakers Alex Sheen of #becauseisaidiwould and Reni-Eddo Lodge who discussed race issues within the UK.
The main part of the conference consisted of various workshops aimed at both elected officers and SU staff members. I had the opportunity to attend workshops on the accessibility of students unions and their services, educating students on sustainability, student academic representation systems, the effects of Brexit on the sector and how I can improve my communication with students. These were productive workshops that allowed you to get an idea of how other institutions operate but also allowed for you to share good practice and ideas and network.
The conference ended with the NUS awards a formal do to celebrate the achievements of student unions. We were awarded our prizes for our achievements in Best Bar None and the NUS Green Impact Award!