I’m currently writing this blog whilst dressed in three layers, sipping on a cup of hot green tea. As much as I do love the cold and the cosy feelings that this season brings, I can’t help but reminisce in mild horror at how quickly this term has flown by.  

Unsurprisingly, this role has brought forth an immense feeling of expectation and responsibility – no less is to be expected when you are tasked with advocating for the welfare of around 24,000 people. This is covering quite a broad remit of responsibilities, from solving EDI issues to helping ensure physical safety in the venues. I have chosen the strategy of focusing all my energy and resources on no more than one objective at a time, which has helped in getting a lot of actionable tasks done in a relatively short amount of time. To summarise, here is what has been accomplished so far: 

Community Reintegration After the Pandemic 

With the return of students to campus, we had not one, but two cohorts of students who were new to night life and university culture. To help facilitate this transition, I led the Stay Safe 2021 campaign during Welcome Week, which involved teaming up with the Christian Union to give out warm beverages during night events in Beit Hall, as well as handing out rain ponchos, hall maps and cab numbers to students on their way home. It also involved implementing the Ask for Angela scheme in the venues, as well as Active Bystander Training to enable casual staff as well as bar managers to enact the scheme. I also went along and attended most of the events to help, up until the point where I got sick with Fresher’s Flu. 

Improving Safeguarding and Discipline Procedures 

This objective saw the most progress this term. In the second half of October, I spearheaded a campaign for the Union to improve its safety measures against spiking. We implemented test strips, drink covers, made social media posts and physical posters, and made plans to reach out to neighbouring venues and student unions, all within a mere 5 days. Everyone in the Union felt the urgency to act quickly to help ensure the safety of students, and it was heart-warming to see so many people come together for this cause. That said, this is not just a one-off campaign, but rather one step in a long-term approach to improving student safety both here as well as outside the Union. On November 18, I chaired a town hall on Teams to invite students to give us feedback on how the measures we implemented were working so far, and what we can do to continue to improve. Just last week, I had a catch-up with Sam Hammond (ICSMSU President) about the next steps for communicating with Venues, and I plan to send out an update to my connections in other student unions by the end of the week.  

Importantly, I also had my first meeting with College staff about the working group to review student disciplinary procedures. This working group will meet for the purpose of addressing important questions about confidentiality, interpretation of guidelines and expectations from external regulatory bodies like the Office of Independent Adjudicators (OIA) and the Office for Students (OfS), and the duty of College to safeguard vulnerable students at risk of harm. The membership of this group will be approved by Senate in December, and the group will start to meet in the beginning of Term 2. 

EDI Strategy 

Work on this objective has led to some promising outcomes, thanks to the combined efforts of the work and finish task group that was formed. We had an initial meeting to discuss key objectives and definitions that relate to equality, diversity, and inclusion in the Union, then used points from that discussion to make a tender document for EDI consultants. We then sent the tender document out to several EDI consultants and firms, shortlisted two excellent candidates, and interviewed them both. We have come to the collective and unanimous decision to work with Koreo, an EDI consultancy firm that has done some incredible work in other parts of the student union sector (as well as outside of it). Their expertise will guide us on creating a holistic approach to consulting and data analysis in the upcoming term, to help inform us of the core elements which will be embedded into the strategy. 

CSP Culture Review (Upcoming) 

This objective has not had any action points met yet; I plan to create a working group to create an action plan for this piece of work in the upcoming term. I also plan to work with India to draft a set of initial questions for interviews, surveys and focus groups after the analysis and work on last year’s sexual misconduct survey has concluded. It is important to get the latter done before the start of the next term, as it will help inform the policy changes that Lloyd and I will lobby for in College’s working group on student discipline. 

Other Stuff 

Besides working on my own objectives, I have also done other bits of work to aid in various important projects. These include helping Daniel write the wellbeing section of the Union’s response to the NSS survey, training wellbeing reps, academic and wellbeing officers (AWOs) and the liberation and community officers and co-chairing the College’s Student Experience Committee. I have also made an effort to have a one-hour catch-up with at least two volunteers each week, which helped me stay grounded and focused in all of my work.  

Thank you so much to all of you in the Union for your incredible support; I never expected for this role to feel so wholesome! Remember to allow yourself to get plenty of well-deserved rest and spend some time on things that you enjoy over the break; it will help you perform at your best.