Thursday 08-10-2020 - 12:51

Your Full-Time Officers returned to campus a few weeks ago however a majority of the start in office has been working from home.  

They have been working so hard for their members and significant change and achievements have already been met in their first 100 days! 

Oliver Robinson, President has 

• Been working on the recruitment of an Interim CEO and the new CEO with our Executive Search Firm Prospectus, ensuring that students will be involved in the recruitment process. 

• Overseen the budget process, ensuring that significant cost savings were made, and opening up a conversation around Union priorities at a strategic level. This strategic level will look at how to best deliver our core charitable objectives, and what areas of activity we should prioritise for students and to preserve core assets for the future. 

• Worked with the VP Union Development, Atree to make further savings and bring SU Living more in house into the Students’ Union. 

• Strengthened the power and accountability of Executive Committee, the primary political body of the Union, by reducing the controversiality clause and making all votes recorded. 

• Reformed Executive Committee by reducing quorum, meaning the committee will be more agile and able to better adapt in COVID-19 circumstances. 

• Created a new format for Executive Committee papers to ensure better inclusion of Part Time Officers in policy creation. 

• Set up the scrutiny panel of student to inspect our budgets before they went to Board and to draw out their key priorities for SU funding. Whilst not a resounding success, it highlighted severe weaknesses in the Union’s governance processes. https://lancastersu.co.uk/articles/have-your-say-on-students-union-spending-for-2020-21 

• Attended Senate and Council with Bee, VP Education, and elected Senate reps, presenting reports to Council updating them on the position of the Students Union. 

• With the VP Education, Bee, met with UCU trade union representatives to discuss health and safety on campus as students return, and will continue to liaise with them to ensure a good relationship between staff and student unions. 

• Worked to improve the Student Union score in the National Student Survey (NSS), calling for more independence from the University. 

• Attended University Management Advisory Group, where he challenged the University on student welfare, including mask wearing and campus lockdown policy.   

• Alongside the VP Education, consistently raised the issue with the University of ensuring students get a good quality education in the current circumstances. 

 

Atree Ghosh, VP Union Development has: 

• Passed policy on campaigning for a block grant increase and ensuring transparency with our membership. 

• Changed the JCR finance structure, making their roles more representative rather than events focused whilst saving the students’ union £42k which has significantly helped reduce the deficit position. 

• Worked with the President, Oliver to make further savings and bring SU Living more in house into the Students’ Union. 

• Working with VP Societies and Media, Shannon to help facilitate new ways our membership can create their communities in a COVID world 

• Has organised the Big Night Online with VP Societies and Media, Shannon and LA1TV. 

• Submitted a paper to the Executive Committee and triggered a NUS Referendum. 

• Worked with VP Welfare, Amy to prepare Trustee Board paper on SU Living contract delay and assist with Stop Housing Haste campaign. 

• Proposal to join the national “Cancel the Curfew” campaign approved by Executive Committee. 

• Restructured the governance of RON in our elections as chair of Democracy Committee following paper by Postgraduate and Mature Students Officer, Amy Stanning. 

• Organised the Students’ Union Campaigns Day with VP Welfare (Amy), VP Sport (Paul), and Students with Disabilities Officer (Molly). 

• Presented paper to Executive Committee explaining links between the Sugarhouse and the slave trade, beginning a discussion on possible actions, including a potential renaming. 

• Created health and safety content with other students for the University’s guidelines for COVID-19. 

• Created a social media guide to Executive Committee, it’s powers, membership, and past decisions. 

• Organised College Wars with VP Societies and Media, Shannon. 

• Interviewed by Bailrigg FM over Central closure and issues regarding rent reductions with the University. 

• Editing Executive Committee recordings and publishing on central SU page to ensure transparency with students in line with what conversations and decisions are being made. 

Bee Morgan, VP Education has: 

• Secured students the right to re-sit their exams should things go wrong and coordinated a vote, so students got a say by picking when their new re-sit period will be. As part of this, she also got the University to allow students to progress into their next year as normal rather than delay a year due to needing to re-sit an exam. LINK: https://www.instagram.com/p/CCV7hp2A0Su/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link 

• Successfully lobbied the University against going back on their promise and moving Summer exams a month forward. 

• As part of the new ‘Joint Faculty Teaching Committee’, went through every module that had a change in teaching for the new academic year, making sure the right student consultation was happening at all levels. 

• Pushed the University to better communicate with students under the uncertain circumstances, successfully lobbing them to host several ‘Town Hall’ online events for students where she presented student questions she had collected. LINK: https://lancastersu.co.uk/articles/what-will-life-at-lancaster-look-like-in-the-next-academic-year 

• Had a motion unanimously approved at Executive Committee, “The Return of Students: The Unfair Blame Game”, covering the narrative shift that unfairly blames young people for the rise in coronavirus cases. 

• Submitted a paper to re-table the discussion on diversifying and decolonising the curriculum including recommended actions after the University put it ‘on-hold’ in 2018. 

• Taken her fight for anonymous marking public, after the University failed to meet the promise for putting it in place for this academic year. 

• Been a key part of discussions around the design and how course delivery for this year would work, making sure students were always at the heart of decisions. This included ensuring students in different time zones were considered and communications around the new timetable were clear. 

• Created a social media guide covering academic updates for students on what is happening this year – she has seen significant increase in student queries over how teaching will go ahead this year. LINK https://www.instagram.com/p/CEoz-ceA3OV/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link 

• Pushed the University on online delivery and maintaining the progress made, renewing the fight for lecture recordings and full online submission beyond COVID-19. 

• Provided the student perspective on the shift to digital teaching and learning as part of consultation for the Office for Students, where she highlighted the breadth of ‘digital poverty’ and how students mental health can be impacted when they don’t have a suitable quiet space to work. LINK: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/digital-teaching-and-learning-in-english-higher-education-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic-call-for-evidence/#about 

• Attended Senate and Council with the President, Oliver, and the elected Senate Reps, where she challenged the University on their National Student Survey (NSS) scores and poor inclusion of the student voice in decision making around COVID-19.  

• Given her perspective as to what needs improving as a Trustee in an interview as part of governance and democracy review. 

• Helped plan the virtual delivery of the Academic Reps which includes advertising, training, and postgraduate specific support. 

• Been working on implementing the new Student Consultation Framework and Student Voice Committee. 

• Been part of an interview with Bailrigg FM about the A level scandal, discussing with new students what impacts this is having now and in future. 

• With the President, Oliver, met with UCU trade union representatives to discuss health and safety on campus as students return. 

• Worked on the annual report covering key achievements in the previous year. 

  

Shannon McCaul, VP Societies and Media has: 

• Been carrying on the work in creating a societies committee to create better communication channels between our societies and the students’ union 

• Working with VP Union Development Atree to help facilitate new ways our membership can create their communities in a COVID world 

• Helped create a completely online Live Freshers’ Fair event with our amazing student media volunteers and full-time staff 

• Organised Big Night Online alongside VP Union Development, Atree and LA1 TV. 

• Launched a new campaign celebrating the amazing work our students do outside of their degree called ‘Student Success Stories’ LINK: https://lancastersu.co.uk/articles/student-success-stories-paris-2-surrey-in-12-days 

• Started working on the 2020 Student Media Summit  

• Created welcome presentations for each college, explaining and welcoming new students to the union 

• Chatted and got to know my counterpart at York Students’ Union 

• Attended the Student Opportunities Festival, getting ideas for the year ahead 

• Helped the Green Lancaster team with their Don’t Ditch It work 

• Worked with Lancaster SU Students With Disabilities Officer, Molly and Lancaster SU VP Welfare, Amy, on a new accessibility framework 

• Organised and carried out College Wars with VP Union Development, Atree 

• Started putting together plans for a home Roses 2021 campaign with VP Sport, Paul  

• Assisted the central comms team throughout Welcome Week  

• Began planning the review of the ‘Zero Tolerance Policy’ with BAME PTO Max, and VP Sports, Paul and VP Welfare, Amy 

Paul McCarthy, VP Sport has: 

• Developed a new line of communication between the Students’ Union, Sports presidents, college captains and College sports reps, ensuring they have direct contact with the Union to increase transparency and responsiveness. 

• Worked on a campaign with Lancaster University Cycling Club and Green Lancaster to promote Students Cycling to University. 

• Liaised with University Staff and College Captains to develop a way in which Bar Sports can safely take place in the pandemic. 

• Been working on developing an affordable model to ensure that the recreational football and netball leagues will be able to go ahead in the next year. 

• Working with VP Societies and Media and Union Staff on developing a completely online and interactive freshers fair for all student communities. 

• Has submitted a paper to the University to secure you a Home Roses.  

• Began planning the review of the ‘Zero Tolerance Policy’ with BAME PTO Max, VP Societies and Media, Shannon and VP Welfare, Amy 

• Worked with University and College sports teams to ensure they’re up to date with government regulations and will be ready to return to play as soon as possible. 

• Circulated a recommended welfare training course to Sports execs in order for them to elect a dedicated welfare member based on a oprimary manifesto objective.  

• Been part of the summer working group with university staff over how to safely reopen the sports centre for students come term time. 

• Organised the SU Campaign’s day and took part in campaigns video with VP Union Development (Atree), VP Welfare (Amy), and Students with Disabilities Officer (Molly). 

• Participated in national BUCS webinars on sport in COVID, but on a university and recreational level. 

• Begun conversations with University managers over restarting the university sports board in order to make some progress with the sports review. 

• Developed a guide with VP Welfare (Amy) for incoming freshers over useful ways to adapt to university life with coronavirus, featuring advice on where to access services, how to adapt to shared accommodation, and basic activity ideas on how to entertain yourselves when stuck inside. 

  

Amy Merchant, VP Welfare has: 

• Launched a campaign ‘Stop Housing Haste’ which is focused on reducing the pressure put on students to sign housing contracts weeks into term. The campaign also aims to empower students to learn their rights, as well as support them in their decision making. 

• Contacted Lancaster letting agencies urging them to delay contract releases until January in line with SU Living.  

• Took part in a three-part online course focused on Domestic Abuse, Sexual Violence and how to identify unhealthy relationships. 

• Met with members of Jewish Society (JSOC) to discuss their plans to campaign for the university to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism.  

• Began planning the review of the ‘Zero Tolerance Policy’ with BAME Officer Max, and VP Sports and VP Societies and Media. 

• Began discussions with the library staff and Part-Time Officers about curating a permanent online liberation space. 

• Met with the Women+ forum to support their new microaggressions campaign.  

• Met with the LGBTQ+ and Women+ officers to discuss resourcing pronoun badges.  

• Attended the Athena Swan Committee meeting.  

• Attended the trans awareness seminar ran by Library and learning Development and The EDI Team. 

• Produced a letter regarding climate emergency that will be sent to the new Pro-Chancellor. 

• Visited the colleges during arrivals to ensure that JCR members had pronouns badges.  

• Took part in the SU Campaign’s day video with VP Union Development (Atree), VP Sports (Paul), and Students with Disabilities Officer (Molly). 

Together the FTOs have: 

• Secured a SU Living rent freeze in 2021-22 (https://lancastersu.co.uk/articles/full-time-officers-secure-2021-22-rent-freeze-for-su-living) 

• Challenged the university on Central Rent (https://lancastersu.co.uk/articles/central-store-to-close-after-uni-rejects-calls-for-rent-reduction) with an open letter. 

• Challenged the University on the block grant cut, successfully lobbying the potential cut from 33% to 15%. (https://lancastersu.co.uk/articles/university-to-potentially-cut-288k-from-students-union-block-grant) 

• Secured housing contract delays for SU Living and created signs as part of Amy’s wider ‘Stop Housing Haste’ campaign [https://lancastersu.co.uk/articles/win-for-vp-welfare-su-living-to-delay-signing-of-housing-contracts] 

• Been part of the student consultation for the new University strategy. 

• Met the Vice Chancellor, Andy Schofield and Chancellor, Alan Milburn discussing their manifesto priorities for the year ahead. 

• Completed six weeks of officer training, including a team residential and NUS Lead and Change 2020 online training. 

• Set up a weekly ‘Full Tea Officer Update’ broadcast to talk to keep students up to date on the Full Time Officer Facebook page.  

• Presented fresher's’ fair LIVE alongside our student media presenters.  https://lancastersu.co.uk/articles/freshers-fair-live 

• Got back to campus and into the office, managing to finally get a full team photo, which turned into a rather amusing (socially distanced) photo shoot. 

• Networked with fellow Full Time Officers from other Students' Unions across the North. 

• Started a poster campaign, raising awareness on key student issues and calling on University management to do better. 

• Worked with the Union management team on updating the strategic risk register. 

• Worked with the Part Time Officers to challenge the new Pro-Chancellor, Alistair Burt, on his voting record as an MP. https://lancastersu.co.uk/articles/students-union-cautions-university-over-new-pro-chancellor-s-record