Hello everyone!
I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and sticking to their New Years resolutions! (Sorry if I just reminded you of the resolutions that you haven't stuck too...)
We have been back in Chichester for just over a week now! The new shop has been finished which looks AMAZING along with the new Academic Building so definitely check it out when you're back! It's very quiet without you all so please come back soon!
First of all, I'd like to publicly apologise for not getting puppies during #StressLess week in semester 1, I contacted over 12 different dog companies and was unable to get them. Who knew trying to get an event for a week that is LITERALLY about stressing less could be so stressful! There was a point in the stressful planning process that I genuinely considered dressing up as a dog but that would have been extremely weird and displeasing for all. I'm trying my absolute best to be able to get puppies this semester and have put in requests early/got into contact with other Students' Unions who actually managed to obtain puppies but please don't have your hearts set on it again, I don't think I can deal with the disappointment and I fear that there will be a tribe of students with pitchforks and fire marching up to my office to burn me alive as if my name is Guy Fawkes.
To focus on things that I have managed to achieve :)
Online Submission and Online Feedback:
This concept has been spoken about in depth along with the feedback from the pilot study that was conducted and there have been mixed reviews among University staff. Students are all for it which is amazing but the next barrier is showing the University staff that are hesitant towards the idea that it'll be beneficial for students finances, environment and completely take us out of the olden ages of paper copy hand-ins. The good news of this update is that a working group is going to be put in place for the logistics of how it's going to happen and WHEN it's going to happen. Exciting stuff! This still may a long process and may happen for some departments straight away when the concept is agreed but we have made progress which is amazing! Thank you to all those who took part in the survey I conducted last semester, your feedback was used in meetings to make this working group happen! *Virtually gives you tap on back*
24 Hour Library:
We did it! We officially had our Learning Resource Center 24 hours for 5 weeks! There will be another 24 hour 5 week period at the end of Semester 2 in the same fashion as Semester 1. If the usage is high and consistent then there is an increased chance and opportunity for it to have extended hours/24 hours throughout the entire 2017/18 academic year.
Post Graduate Students:
Last summer, as the library hours were extremely limited, we managed to obtain L03 computer room as a Post Graduate space to do work and an opportunity to meet other Post Graduate students also. It can be somewhat challenging for those Post Graduate students if they haven't done their Undergraduate degree at Chichester which is why myself and Helen Turley (Post Graduate Officer) are looking into finding a space for PG students on a more permanent basis.
Elections!
The nominations are open as of Monday 16th January for all the full-time and part-time officer roles. Take a look at our UCSU.org website to see all the roles that are available for you to run for! This last 6 months has absolutely flown by and this job has been everything I thought it would be and more, I'm so glad I was elected into this role to be able to work on my ideas and be a part of representing students at a lot of different University boards and meetings! It's well worth looking into if you love to represent a large group of people, have lots of innovative ideas and strive for change in an inclusive manner. If you have any questions then please don't hesitate to get in contact with myself, Mike Riley (Head of Student Engagement) or any of the other officers that you are considering running for.
If you have any further questions about elections or any of the campaigns I'm involved with then please don't hesitate to contact me on facebook or email:
suvpeducation@chi.ac.uk
Once again I'm really sorry for the lack of photos on this blog! Please accept this extremely cute picture of this really sassy penguin. I refrained from putting a dog again in case it reminded you of the puppies that I failed to get, I'm sorry.
I'm really sorry.
Sorry << If all the written apologies in this blog weren't enough, click the link.
