Officer Blog Post: July 09 – Ramblings…

Hello there guys!

I hope you’re all enjoying your summer and taking advantage of the occasional day of sunshine! It’s dry in Lincoln today, which is a bonus!

So, what have I been up to?

Student Council – do you know what it is? If you do, you’re probably in the minority. At the minute; we’re working hard to develop Student Council so that it engages more students and is more accessible to the average student who isn’t fussed about lots of technical terminology. I’m working with Chris (President), Emma (VP Comms) and Beccy (a member of our staff team).

Council meets regularly and has the power to mandate Officers and set the Union’s priorities which put students in charge – so please do keep an eye out for updates on how to get involved. If you want more info check out www.lincolnsu.com/council or drop me an email to reps@lincolnsu.com

My biggest piece of work to shout about relates to our Holbeach Campus! Steven Greaves (VP Welfare) and I have been named as the Lead Officers for all things ULSU at Holbeach and we’ve swung into action and started to research the needs of students and plan for the year ahead. We’re making our representation and our opportunities more accessible for those who spend very little time on campus which is a great development which students will benefit from greatly.

Whilst on the topic of satellite campuses; we have been working with Val Braybrooks, Dean of the Agriculture, Food and Animal Sciences Faculty to develop what is know as FE Student Council at Riseholme. Our priority is to ensure that this group doesn’t turn into another typical bureaucratic university management committee and that is remains a safe haven for students to take their problems and have them dealt with.

It wouldn’t be one of my blogs without mentioning Student Reps, so the big thing to tell you this time is about Sponsorship. We have put together a package which should see considerable additional income pumped into the system – I’m not going to go into detail until it’s finalised as I don’t want to get anybodies hopes up or jeopardise the deal, but more info shall follow!

We’ve met as an Executive on a number of occasions now, one of which was to elect ourselves to the various committee and board seats that the Union holds – including our own Board of Trustees. My term as a Council Trustee ends in October and as I wasn’t elected as a Student Officer Trustee, so I shall be stepping down from the board when the time comes – but this does relieve a considerable workload meaning that I can focus efforts on the projects that I’m involved in, which directly benefit students! I’d like to wish the best of luck to the new Trustees taking up positions on the board, I hope that you succeed in continuing to develop the role into what it should be.

Looking ahead;

I’m going back home on Sunday for a couple of weeks, meaning that I’ll be relying on email and phone calls to add my input and progress my projects – which should be fun, and will also give me a chance to relax and earn some money for my holiday.

My to-do list is ever growing, highlights include: finding a sponsor for student reps, confirming arrangements for Holbeach fresher’s week, continuing work on Student Council and also, as a project team, we’ll be starting to write up all the content for the reps system; handbooks, websites, guides, promo stuff etc

So busy times, even though very few students are around – but it should ensure that our big changes are ready for September!

If you have any questions about what I’m up to or even fancy getting involved – just send an email to reps@lincoln.ac.uk and I’d be happy to have a chat.

8/9 weeks till Freshers!

Dan x