Howdy folks!
It's been a month in the job and a lot has already happened; some things we expected and a few surprises too.
Where to start though?
It’s been a great month of team building with the Full-Time Officer's (FTO's) and the wider office. Most of your newly elected Officers weren’t well acquainted before the election process. There are a lot of opportunities to get to know each other during the election campaign, we get to hear each other's plans and visions for the future of the SU and learn about our potential colleagues for the next year.
It’s the things you don’t learn that are the most interesting, though.
That you are not the only one to have worked the punts in Cambridge; that one of your colleagues is deathly afraid of water; that one has taken a major national government to court (and won); that another turned down a place at Oxford to come to UEA. It's these details that start the much needed process of bonding us together as a cohesive team for (at least) the next year.
Our first outing on the River Yare (the one that runs through our fine city) was one such experience. There is nothing like a bit of stake-less competition and sharing personal stories about broken bones, childish obsessions, tattoo comparisons, and teenage indiscretion to learn about what drives people to see the world in the way that they do.
I’m sure you can understand that I won’t be telling you our secrets here. Suffice to say, in my humble opinion, our SU is in some very good hands this year!
So, other than splashing about on a river and hanging out with some amazing people, what you been up to this month, Chris?
Well, dear student, I’m glad you asked!
There was a LOT of training to do. Learning what is within the power of the SU and what isn’t, learning the norms of the wider industry and where UEASU sits in the ‘bigger picture’ of higher education, learning the legal guidelines and restrictions for such an important charitable organisation, picking up the projects of our predecessors and making sure that there is a level of consistency for all the stakeholders in the SU, from staff and students, to board members and the university management. It's sort of like jumping in the driving seat of a bus while it's already doing 70 mph down the motorway and hoping that none of the passengers notice.
Metaphor aside, we’ve all been pretty busy. The summer months are an opportunity for the new Officer team to plan how we are going to implement our manifesto priorities this year. I started by working on the ‘Know your rights’ campaign for international students, allowing my creative side to flourish on Canva and ticking off one of my manifesto's priorities. I count that as a win on both fronts! Keep an eye on the C&D Instagram in the coming weeks to see this campaign go live!
For anyone with a passing knowledge of Concrete Confessions, you’ll know that the refurbishment of Scholars bar has been a tiny bit more ‘complicated’ than we had expected. I’m sure it is no stretch of the imagination to see that this issue will have been at the forefront of the first three weeks on the job for the current FTO’s. We’re crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s at the time of writing so I can’t confirm the final form it’s going to take just yet. However, all the work that has been put in by everyone at the SU and concerned Mature and PG students makes me confident that people are going to pleased with the result.
One of the defining things about Gen Z and Gen Alpha are the importance that you all place on the ethical dimensions of your consumption of goods and services. As a mature PhD who has always cared about such things, it's an exciting thing to see gain real traction in the student movement. My first month in office has seen me dedicate a good amount of my time to drawing up information about the big banks that students are most likely to choose for their student bank account and trying to highlight the wider impacts that these banks have on the world, both in the UK and on a global scale. A big part of the activism that I have been a part of since coming to UEA has been centring the ethical investment policy of the University, so this is a project that I have particularly enjoyed!
Realising that I am fast approaching the recommended word limit for this post, I'm going to wrap it up here with some housekeeping information and a promise that next month's blog post will (try and) be a little less freewheeling in its scope and direction.
I’m contactable through either the C&D Instagram account or by email at c.kershaw@uea.ac.uk. From Monday 23rd September I'll also be in the Officer Hub on the ground floor of the SU building every week between 11am-1pm running ‘office hours’ for students to come and raise issues with me, chat about campaigns you’re interested in running, or just to talk about politics, history, or anything that takes your fancy!
I’m really looking forward to working with you all over the next year and can't wait to see what we’re going to achieve together!
All the best and good health,
Chris – Campaigns and Democracy Officer