It’s the final two weeks of Semester One! Want to know what your elected Executive Committee have got up to this semester? Every day they will be posting their updates as we countdown to Christmas! Our final Sabbatical Officer update comes from your President, Megan Ball…
Hi everyone – Megan here, Student Union President.
I can’t quite believe that it is the end of Semester 1. It seems like only yesterday that I started my term in office, and then welcomed over 2,200 new students to the University and our Student Union. This Semester has truly flown by, and I would just like to say a huge thank you to all of you who have come along for the journey with me.
It’s sometimes hard to explain when people ask ‘So, what exactly is it that the President does?’ – I hope that my monthly updates have helped outline a little bit of what I do. I came into my role with the drive to be as transparent, accountable and communicative as possible, and that drive hasn’t changed. I try to regularly update my Twitter and my Facebook with where I am, what I’m doing, and who I’ve been speaking to. That being said, it’s always impossible to share everything that I do, especially considering that every day is different!
So, I thought I would write a little bit about my big highlights from each month that I have been in office. These are the things that I am most proud of, and I feel like have made the most difference to both my role, and the students that I represent:
July – NUS Lead & Change Conference in Bath
The first month as a Sabbatical Officer absolutely flew by – and I remember being slightly concerned that I had no idea what I was doing for a good proportion of the time! At the end of the month, I went to the NUS Lead and Change conference with Ellen (Vice President, Activities) and Vic (Vice President, Education & Welfare). It was such a great opportunity to meet other Sabbatical officers from Unions all over the UK who were in the exact same position as me – and also felt like they had no idea what was going on! We had workshops on campaigning, mental health, demographic representation, the attainment gap and lots of other essential topics to help us be better Sabb Officers. It was an invaluable experience!
August – ASIST Training
I took 2.5 weeks off in August, so I spent a lot of time away from the office! However, at the beginning of the month I took part in ASIST Training run by LivingWorks. ASIST stands for Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training and the course teaches participants how to be Care Givers, and facilitates Suicide Intervention techniques and Mental Health First Aid. It was a really great training session to be a part of, and I feel so humbled that I was able to learn and gain the skills that I did. Speaking to people, human to human, is so important.
September – Winchester Freshers 2019!
I couldn’t talk about September and NOT mention Fresher’s. It was such an incredible week filled with events, talks, fayres, welcomes, and very little sleep! As a Student Union we attended 82 Welcome Meetings, had 215 people attend Student Union talks, put on loads and loads of night-time, daytime and off-campus events and welcomed over 2,000 new students to Winchester! I sober-danced my way around the Silent Disco, attended a Board of Governors mid-week (worst timed meeting ever!), delivered over 2,000 Dig-In Boxes to accommodation and halls (not single-handedly, I had an amazing team around me!), and drove the Safety Bus after some of our events to get students home safely. It was probably my highlight of the year so far, and I had so much fun meeting everyone.
October – Graduation
With the mayhem that was Freshers Week and September, October seemed to creep up on me. Before I knew it, it was Graduation Week and time for me to attend 9 ceremonies and to graduate from my own degree!
The President attends Graduation Ceremonies as the only Student Governor on the Board of Governors. It was such an honour to be a part of so many students’ special days and to see everyone’s celebrations! My highlights were definitely meeting Hugh Bonneville and Dame Judi Dench (I kept the fan-girling to a minimum), as well as delivering an encomium speech for Honorary Graduate and England footballer, Fran Kirby. Graduation Week was such a special occasion and one that I will remember for a very long time!
November – Democracy
November was a month filled with democracy. With the Register to Vote deadline on 26th November, we had loads of Student Union Communications going out encouraging students to register to vote. I was so impressed by the numbers of young people registering to vote that the media reported – this early election had the potential to prevent thousands of students having their voices heard. In fact the day that this blog post is being posted in the General Election, so PLEASE GO AND VOTE!
The Student Union also hosted the first cross-campus ballot Student Senate Elections, and we had a great success! We had 15 students elected into Student Senate Representative roles – you can view the results here. The Zone Committees and Student Senate offered a great opportunity for us to update students on what we are doing in the Student Union, but also get feedback on what can be done better.
What a great month for democracy!
My Other Highlights from the Semester
Amongst the busy months were also a few other highlights that I wanted to mention…
Students on Interview Panels
A huge personal success was securing student representation on interview panels. This means that a member of the Student Union will now be present at all interviews for senior roles of Directors/Deans and Senior Management Team members.
This is something that the Student Union has wanted for a long time (and it’s actually best practice at lots of Universities!). Vic got involved with the interviews for the Career Services Manager and the Dean of Business, Law and Digital Technologies, and I have now sat on the interview panels for the Director of Student Services, Assistant Vice-Chancellor and the new role of the Chief Operating Officer. It’s so invaluable to have student representation when employing new managers, especially senior-level staff members. I’m very proud of this success, and look forward to seeing what other panels I will be on in the future!
Wonkfest 2019
On 4th & 5th November, I travelled to London to volunteer and attend Wonkfest – a Higher Education conference run by WonkHE. WonkHE is the ‘home of higher education policy’ and writes articles, runs events, creates podcasts and provides a platform for Higher Education debate!
Wonkfest was a fantastic experience to be a part of. As well as volunteering to help run the event, I also attended talks and seminars on higher education politics, widening participation, the ethicality of admissions, sustainability, the Teaching Excellence Framework, BAME student attainment gaps, and got to network and mingle with Sabbatical Officers from other Unions and loads of other Higher Education ‘wonks’! You can listen to the Wonkfest 2019 Podcast here.
Debating Society Political Candidate Hustings
I couldn’t write this blog post without mentioning the Candidate Hustings. As I mentioned previously, a huge amount of November was taken up by Register to Vote drives, and I was so pleased to see great political engagement from students! The Debating Society organised a hustings event, which featured a candidate Q&A from the local Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates. It was so well attended and I just wanted to commend the Debating Society on their hard work and determination in getting this event together.
It’s been a great Semester, and I know that Semester 2 is going to be filled with even more successes, events, opportunities and fun! Have a wonderful Christmas break everyone.
Megan Ball
Student Union President