Sheffield Students' Union President

The Willoughby Year

2008-06-17T08:53:00.004+01:00

It is with some sadness that I write this which is probably to be my last blog.

I've no idea how many of you will read it but it's worth it even if it is just one of you.

I have 14 days left in office as of today. It is unbelieveable how quickly time passes. It sounds cliched perhaps but I seriously cannot believe how quickly it has all gone.

Someone just asked me if I've enjoyed the year and my response was as it has been to everyone who has asked that - "mostly".

Whilst "mostly" doesn't seem as enthusiastic and positive as one might expect, it is a realistic and honest answer.

There has been a lot this year which has been exceedingly hard and challenging. I have been majorly disliked and opposed by certain sections of our membership. This has been a great experience to have but equally been tough. I have had mass sleep deprivation and sacrificed closeness of many of my friendships to put in the hours necessary to fulfill this role. I have been put in numorous situations where I have never been before and had no idea how to handle myself.

Yet on that point I can begin the list of positives from the year. It has been an immense privilege to be able to lead a fantastic team of Union Officers and staff into situations where I and them have never been before. I also count it a huge honour to be able to represent the 24,000 students at this University nationally, locally and within our University structures. I have met some fantastic and inspiring people (and some not so inspiring for sure..) and developed skills I never thought I had.

Last night we welcomed Alastair Campbell to the Union as part of the Broomhill Festival, supported by the Leukemia Appeal. It was great to be able to spend time prior to the event chatting to him. Despite denials that he knew what 'spin' evens means, he was certainly good entertainment and a very intriguing and influential guy.
For the audio soon to be uploaded to the website, check out http://www.shef.ac.uk/union/student-voice/theexchange/

I wonder whether my year in office will be as memorable as The Blair Years...

Write a book (or maybe a small pamphlet) about me and you'll see.

Thank you.

Officially the Best Union in the World!

2008-06-10T11:09:00.008+01:00

What an evening!!

Whilst regularly banging on about being the best in the country, we are now, once again, officially recognised as such.

This is a great award to win on several counts.

Firstly, John Sargeant presented it and he's a legend.

Secondly, Monday night was the first NUS awards ceremony ever to be held. And in this inaugural event we were recognised as being the best Higher Education Students' Union in the country - a fantastic achievement as the award recognises excellence in student participation, democratic engagement, strategic planning and vision setting and inclusion.

Thirdly, and most satisfying in winning this award, is that it comes from the student movement itself - we are recognised by our peers to be the very best.

We were the first to win the Club Mirror Students' Union of the year (which we retained this year).
We were the first to win the Virgin Guide Students' Union of the year.

So alongside all our many other awards, it really is a fantastic achievement.

Whilst I would love to say it is all my doing that brought us this award, I can't even utter those words with any integrity! One of the key reasons why we won is because of the excellent collaborative work which exists between staff and students. The enthusiasm, creativity and drive of students and the student leadership is matched beautifully by the support, wisdom, expertise and continuity of staff. This adds a depth and substance to our services, activities and representation which is second to none.

And that is why we won.

Thank you so much to all of you for playing a part in winning yet another award. It's students engaging in all the areas in which you do that gives us the richness of diversity and creativity which brings the Union to life.

Let's enjoy the success but not be complacent. Many Unions are bucking up their ideas and for us to remain at the forefront we must remain open to change, innovative and reponsive and most importantly - student led.

I've never looked so shiny..

Mind you, Rob Ellerington who took the photo was blinded by the light bouncing off Bill Rammell's head.

the year to date - what a year it's been!

2008-06-04T18:41:00.005+01:00

I was reflecting recently on what this job is like. A parallel came to mind. It’s kinda like being an engineer, but learning how to be an engineer on the job (no 4yr degree or anything) and doing it all well in the public eye. It can be tough at times, mistakes are made and sometimes it feels like your feet just aren’t anywhere near the ground.

However, I consider it an immense privilege to be able to say I have been your Students’ Union President for this academic year. It’s be a great and stretching challenge and one which I have relished and grown through. I have realised throughout the year, as I’ve been to meetings around the country and met officers of other Unions, what a fantastic Union this is. This is not just because of the services and activities provision available but also because of the opportunities for representation of our student body within the University, locally and nationally.

Whilst not all of the achievements listed have been done alone due to the excellent and committed staff support we receive as officers, I have been the driving force behind each one:

I have reviewed the Union leadership which although unsuccessful in passing through referendum this time around, gained majority of support and began important debates around what our leaderships should look like – debates which won’t end until the necessary changes are made and there are many students still around who want to see these changes passed.
I have campaigned nationally in support of the NUS governance review changes and the passing of radical new NUS education policy.
Alongside Pete and Emily, I have organised a high profile and successful Higher Education debate titled ‘University, is it worth it?’
I have worked hard at maintaining and developing positive community relationship – in particular:

- Co-ordinated the ‘sshh’ campaign
- Co-organised the ‘love where you live’ initiative
- Initiated the SummerVolidays project – the first of its kind
- In partnership with Hallam, University security and the police, I organised the ‘Like it? Lock it, Keep it!’ crime prevention campaign
- Been involved in creating a new University Community Strategy.
- Been actively critical of the crookesmoor parking permit, winning an extension to consultation period
- I have achieved groundbreaking collaboration with Hallam

I have overseen relationships with the University, forging positive working relations with a new Vice-Chancellor and have engaged proactively in the shaping of the University governance changes which bring about significant changes to the faculty structures in particular. Although the majority of the credit must go to Pete, I have put forward the case to the University for increase funds to improve our building, succeeding in £9.9m to develop the building.
Working with the chaplaincy, I have helped co-ordinate a new Inter-faith tandem learning project – the first of its kind in any university.
I have ensured, as far as possible, that Nursing and Midwifery students have had as few problems as possible in their difficult period of time since the University lost the nursing contract. In particular, working alongside the N&M Councillor, I have ensured that mental health placements for N&M students have been secured with smooth transitions between placements. I have also overseen the new N&M councillor and the induction of the new committee.
I have overseen and engaged directly and extensively with the Union’s strategic planning ‘Vision 2012’. Connected to this is the guiding of the Union into being part of SUEI, the Students’ Union Evaluation Initiative which is an initiative to evaluate Students’ Unions and their efficiency and effectiveness in all areas. Surprising huh?
And I’ve been to Cyprus.

Silence S'il Vous Plait

2008-05-27T12:50:00.004+01:00

Needless to say we are entering the intense and stressful time of exams.

I just wanna wish you all the very best for any exams you might well be sitting over the next 3 weeks. They are a great opportunity to show what you're capable of.

And for those who have finished, never had any or can't be arsed to revise - be considerate of those who aren't any of the above.

Just think, potentially 4 months of lush summer holiday awaits...

University Court

2008-05-16T09:36:00.003+01:00

The University Court is an annual event which invites all key stakeholders of the University to hear from the University Treasurer and Vice-Chancellor and from the Union President.

Here is my state of the Union speech:

Pro-Chancellor, Members of Court …..

This academic year has been a year of new beginnings with all the opportunities they bring. It is not often that a President, constitutionally only entitled to one year in office, can come before Court, welcoming the VC as the new boy.

But, having taken up my job three months earlier, it was great to welcome Professor Keith Burnett to this University. From the outset, Keith, has been keen to build positive relationships with us as a Students’ Union – and I know not only with us. Prior to becoming President, I had no idea what to expect of a VC nor of what our relationship would be like. And advice from Union Officers in other universities suggested that it was a relationship to approach with caution. But they were wrong. As Union Officers we have found that Keith has been great to work with. He is keen to listen and learn from us and from our students. He’s always approachable and relaxed. He has almost inspired me to take up learning Chinese in my spare time. Unfortunately I don’t have any. We’ve established a really positive working relationship and I’m sure many of my successors will experience the same in the coming years. On behalf of the Union Officers and all of our students here at this fine University, welcome Keith.

I think that you’ve already found what an important role the Students’ Union plays in the life of this University and in attracting new students to come and study here. But today provides me with another opportunity to make the point.

As you will see from this year’s Annual Report, it has been a year in which we have once again seen the Union of Students recognised nationally with the awards flowing in. As highlighted by my predecessor, the last academic year saw us celebrating success with the Sheffield Business Awards, organised by the Chamber of Commerce. This was especially satisfying to win as we defeated the minnows of Meadowhall Shopping Centre, Hallam FM and Kier Construction to take the award.

The Royal Mail Community Impact Award followed an evaluation of our volunteering programme, charitable fundraising and work on community relations. And this year, our success was reinforced by winning the Guardian Public Service Award in November 2007, beating UBS, the large investment bank, to scoop the award. Initiatives such as Love Where You Live have sought to tie our student body into the local community so that they see themselves and are recognised as a valuable part of the richly diverse community. This summer will see us launch the biggest city wide volunteering initiative to date - with around 400 students engaging in a wide range of projects, giving something back to this great city. The summer will also see us add a global theme to the Broomhill Festival in which many of our International students will be actively involved from Samba drumming to Salsa dancing.

We have recently secured funding from the National Youth Volunteering Programme for a 3 year post to develop new initiatives and expand existing projects. We are the only Union in the country to receive this funding perhaps due to the fact that we were an exceptional winner in the Outstanding Project category at the National Student Volunteering awards in December.

To cap it all off, we were once again acknowledged to be the best in the UK , winning the Club Mirror Students’ Union of the year award …. Again … and to win top placing in the Times Higher student experience league table.

Our development over the years was highlighted to me personally in October, when I had the fortune of meeting with a group of former students who had begun their studies here in Sheffield in 1957. They had met up at least once a year ever since. 2007 saw the 50th anniversary of their friendship and so they chose to celebrate this by returning to Sheffield. After a tour of Firth Court I took them on an action packed, adrenaline fuelled ride around our Union building, met with gasps of amazement at what the old graves building had become. A few mentioned to me how they were expecting the Union building tour to be the least interesting bit of their weekend and that they only expected it to take a few minutes. Two hours later we completed the tour, due partly to my filibustering but mostly to their interest in the substance of what we offer our students. Some of the most rewarding comments were not just about the nature of the building improvements, which are no doubt fantastic, but how it was all so student focussed and so obviously student led.

Awards recognise our success, but they, don’t explain it. For that, I ‘d turn to the current Higher Education minister Bill Rammell who said that; “The best thing about Sheffield Students’ Union is that it is constantly re-inventing itself.”
Just like the ageless pop sensation Madonna, we are not content with a smattering of number ones or superficial hair-do changes and gym workouts. We realise that if we want to remain relevant to our members and effective in representing them, we must evolve. Last year we began work on our next strategic plan, for the three academic years from 2009.

I was at a conference on the future of students’ unions last week, and one of the speakers on change management made the case for every plan to be driven by an inspiring vision ……… After all, Martin Luther-King did not say “I have a strategic plan…”

He had a dream and we do too. We have a clear vision for 2012 – placing student leadership at the heart of the Union, refreshing the Union building, and developing our work for our members well beyond the building . And we’ve begun work on new initiatives which will bring the vision to life. To be at the cutting edge of developments, leading the way nationally in best practice and innovation.

Crucially to this vision, we want to be recognised as being More than a building. The Union is a membership organisation with a role to play in all aspects of our students’ lives. And it is a project with the University’s Accommodation and Campus Services Department that has perhaps best highlighted this approach last year. We have been centrally involved in supporting the development of the new University residences, working to ensure smooth transition for students, and helping to build communities in the new accommodation. We have established ourselves as a crucial partner in bringing about the very best experience for students where they live.

And we’re not complacent about what we do and not complacent about student leadership of the Union. Our annual elections are taking place this week, as you might have seen on your way here today. We already have the highest student participation in the country in our elections. But we want to be better.

So last year saw new Union governance structures with the specific intent of embedding democracy at the heart of this organisation and strengthening student leadership.

Following a comprehensive review of our structures in light of the Charities Act, we have made some of the biggest changes to our governance since the Union was established in 1906. We have set up a Trustee Board with 3 independent external trustees joining the 8 student officer trustees - ensuring good governance and effective scrutiny of our operations. Our committee structures were also significantly altered to enable greater and more diverse engagement of our members. Both have been successful. The final, and most significant change has been to Students’ Union Council, the sovereign body of the Students’ Union. Previously, Union Council had just been made up of stakeholders within our membership. It was inward looking, involving just the traditional activists and those already engaged with the Union structures. The review wanted to reach out beyond those traditional stakeholders to all our members.

Councillors are now elected directly from every academic department enshrining academic representation at the heart of what this Union is about. It might not seem radical, but we’re the first Union in the country to have a directly elected Council rooted in academic constituencies. The 40 departmental Councillors are accompanied by 8 Councillors from the representative groups ensuring representation of the full range of our membership. The 8 Student Officers make up the rest of Council.

We are in the early days of these new structures but already we are able to see enormous benefits. We had high levels of nominations for each position and good turnout for the elections. It has brought a variety of voices from ordinary students to the decision making. Home and International. Undergraduate and postgraduate. Council has also welcomed the Vice Chancellor who hosted a reception to meet the Councillors and to outline the governance review of his own. We hope that this will happen again in the future.

Elections for Council are now held early in the academic year which makes an important statement at the start of the year that this Union is a democratic, student led organisation in which every student has the power to get involved, to change and to shape its future.

It accentuates the point that right at the heart of the Union is democratic student leadership.

We provide great services and activities as have been recognised throughout this year and highlighted in my previous comments. But the distinctive role of the Union, the one thing it can do that nobody else can, is to provide a voice for our students.

Internally this voice has been clear on the issues like personal tutors and assessment and assessment feedback, where we are working positively with the University.

Externally, the single biggest issue facing students in the UK today is the Government’s review of UK Undergraduate funding due in 2009.

I don’t know whether you saw the recent Guardian report on 14th February. It highlighted two things. Firstly that education continues even on Valentines Day. Secondly, that despite a rise of 7% in applications to University, research from the Sutton Trust demonstrates that the effects of debt are significantly affecting those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, many of whom are deciding to live at home and attend a local university or not to bother at all.

Education is one of the greatest determinants of social mobility. A society which does not allow fair access to education is socially regressive, and can neither be described as free nor just. Fair access to education requires selection only on the grounds of ability. Hence, any system which selects on other grounds, positively or negatively, is improper. Just such a thing, and a threat to the very integrity of our society, is a market in higher education which would be created by lifting the cap to introduce variable top-up fees.

Though the current system allows for variable top-up fees, the £3,000 cap means that the vast majority of institutions charge the full amount for the vast majority of courses, so variability is largely nominal. De facto, this means that we have a flat rate tuition fee, which is paid after graduation. Though this is not ideal for students, it represents a relatively good compromise. It is understandable that students should have to make some contribution to the cost of their education, particularly given the exponential expansion of higher education sector in recent years. The current system encapsulates two important principles, one by design and one by providence, which make it acceptable: first, by design, education is free at the point of access. The student’s contribution is made only when he or she is sufficiently well be paid to be able to afford to do so. The other, which happens because of the £3,000 cap, is that almost all UK undergraduate students pay the same fee, and thus there is no market in higher education. This principle is threatened by the review of the cap due to take place in 2009/10.
Intuitively, it may seem, that variable fees are a sound idea: different courses require different provisions and incur different costs. A lab-based science course, for example, will cost more than an arts or humanities degree. Furthermore, some institutions are better than others and some will certainly add more to your CV, so why shouldn’t you pay more? Quite simply because the market it would create would be socially disastrous. If different funding levels are required between courses and institutions they can be defined, as they already are, on merit, and distributed through the grants that institutions receive through Hefce. A market is no way to determine them, given that markets work on the principle of supply and demand. The number of places to read PPE at Oxford are limited, and could not realistically be increased, whilst the demand for such places is to all intents and purposes infinite: there is no way that supply could ever meet demand, so the market would fail and the vendor could charge whatever it liked for the course, not what it is reasonably worth.

We know many things about markets. One is that people with less money buy cheaper products; that is why Tesco have a value range and a finest range of own brand products. So instantly the less well off in society will be directed to cheaper, and inevitably less good, institutions. Yes, there would be some bursaries, but realistically these would only aid the very brightest of the very poorest. Vast swathes of young people would be excluded, or at least strongly deterred, from the nation’s premier institutions, for example Imperial College has publicly declared it would charge in the region of £15,000 per annum if it could. £45,000 in tuition fees for a 3 year undergraduate degree would be a disincentive to anyone, but it would be a particular disincentive to those from poorer homes, who have less financial backing and are more debt averse.

A market in higher education would be like introducing a value range and a finest range for universities. Though many laud the introduction of variable fees as a way of increasing participation from lower-income homes, as has been seen in Australia and Canada, these people ignore the important subtleties of detail. In 2002 the proportion of low income students in higher education in Australia had increased, but the proportion of those students on the costliest courses had declined by 38%.

University for all, but the top institutions for the few.

A marketplace in higher education is simply a poverty trap; it is something that you must oppose if you believe in equality of opportunity.

We are not naïve. We recognise that students must make a contribution but with a fair system in place which is ‘means-blind’.

As I mentioned earlier, we are in the midst of election fever. Part of the election is to elect the leadership to take this Union forward for the next year. Alongside this is a referendum to define our position moving into the funding debate of the next couple of years. We are proposing that we use the opportunity of 2009 to carry out a thorough review of Higher Education funding which does far more than just lift the cap by a couple of thousand pounds and delay a decision for a few years.
We’ve laid down the key principles for that debate:

- Adequate bursaries to ensure that there are no financial barriers to higher education.
- No variable fees which would create a market in higher education.
- Increased student loans available to cover all living costs, preventing students from being forced into high-interest commercial loans and credit card debt.
- Loans to be available on low-interest rates.
- No return to upfront fees.
- The introduction of student loans for postgraduate student

This University prides itself on excellence. On producing a Sheffield Graduate with distinctive skills and a professionalism which will be recognisable across the world in all sectors. On being excellent at research and excellent at teaching.

Let’s not support the regressive step of pushing students to exorbitant levels of debt and making access to excellent education impossible for those without sufficient funding. Let’s not be pushed in to creating a hugely inequitable system because it is deemed the only option available to us. But instead let’s find a solution which won’t price people out of our best universities of which this is one.

It has been refreshing to have dialogue with our Vice Chancellor on this issue. We share his view that we should aim for excellence with affordability. Let’s work together, not in opposition, to begin to shape the debate nationally and subsequently to shape the future of the lives of students for years to come.

Thank you.

University - Is it worth it??

2008-05-12T18:40:00.006+01:00

That is the question many of us are asking.

One of the biggest and most significant changes to the Higher Education landscape in recent years has been the introduction of fees. This has brought with it increased strains not only on the bank balance of students as we are plunged further into debt (effectively portrayed in our Wall of Debt in the Union building foyer) but also on their welfare and the quality of education they are willing/able to aspire to.

Universities for their part are wrestling with the desire to provide a high quality education without pricing any students, from any socio-economic backgrounds, out of contention for that top education. Also of concern is the desire from academics (as pioneered in particular by UCU) to increase their wages in line with the increased pressures upon academics to not just teach and research but also to provide proper and regular feedback to students and contribute to the Research Assessment Exercise which aims to assess how good the quality of research is at each institution and to provide funding accordingly.

All of this is happening within an increasingly competitive Higher Education market, not just in Britain - which now sees roughly 42% of school leavers attending around 150 Universities - but also globally as Universities across the world are waking up to the statistics which say that they aren't competing with the likes of Britain and America. (http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2007/ARWU2007fulllistbyrank.pdf)

Some will put forward the case for education returning to the pre-fee days of being free.

Some will say that International student fees need to be regulated.

Some will say that we should have an open market in Higher Education allowing institutions to charge whatever they like.

Some will say that those studying for a second degree or are retraining should be given financial support to facilitate such study.

Is any of this possible or desireable?

With the government set to review the cap of £3000 for higher education in 2009 there has never been a better time to start asking these questions.

Therefore we have pulled together a fantastic panel for a Question Time style debate around this issue.

Thursday 15th May
7.30-9pm
Students' Union Auditorium
cost £1 available from the Students' Union box office.

• Bill Rammell MP – the Labour Minister for Higher Education
• Baroness Verma MP – a Conservative Shadow Higher Education Minister
• Wes Streeting – NUS President-elect
• Professor Keith Burnett – Vice Chancellor of the University of Sheffield
• Professor Rick Trainor – Head of Universities UK (which speaks for all UK Universities)

Check below link for more details:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=13582574411

Don't miss this opportunity to grill the key decision makers and educational leaders on the future of our higher education!!

key changes to your university

2008-05-06T15:48:00.002+01:00

Summer is here - hoorah!!

For this week anyway.

I wanted to take some time to let you know about some of the changes that have been going on this year within the University. Whilst this may not be of great interest to all of you, some really significant steps have been taken this year in reforming the organisational management and leadership of the University and I have been involved in these developments.

Old and new

We have a new Vice Chancellor who started his reign in September and started with great eagerness to review the way in which this University is structured.

As the weblink below states, the benefits of the new structure will include better planning across the whole University, better external representation and a greater ability to grasp opportunities and increase income.
(http://www.shef.ac.uk/vc/dev.html)

With these new structures has come a new leadership. Previously there has been 5 Pro-Vice Chancellors (like deputy heads) overseeing 5 specific portfolios. Underneath them sat the Deans of the 5 University Faculties (Social Science, Medicine, Engineering, Pure Science, Arts and Humanities).

The new structures will see the introduction of new 8 person Pro-Vice Chancellor team: 5 Faculty PVCs and 3 corporate, institution-wide PVCs (Teaching and Learning, External Affairs and Research and Innovation)

Check out who they are here:
http://www.shef.ac.uk/vc/newappointments

Why tell you this?

One of the significant things about the new structures is that they devolve significant new responsibilities to faculties, such as overseeing and dictating spending and setting of the budgets for departments within each faculty which had previously been done by the soon to be defunkt Academic Development Committee.

This new power will enable faculties to be shaped more according to the needs of that faculty. It also offers an exciting opportunity for us as a Students' Union to be actively involved in representation on all of the new faculty boards, promoting students' interests at every point and ensuring that the faculties are not selling us short on issues such as assessment or assessment feedback through to postgraduate support and placement schedules (for those departments for whom placements are a joyous thing).

We are still waiting to see how these new structures will bed down and how they'll work in practice, but it's certainly a great opportunity and one which is not to be missed or taken lightly.

For updates on University business check out:
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/smg/

National Union in Blackpool

2008-04-12T09:41:00.003+01:00

NUS Annual Conference took place 1-3 April in Blackpool. We sent a delegation of 15 people to engage in the frequently heated debate for 3 days.

The 2 key debates at NUS conference were the NUS governance review proposals and the Education Funding policy.

Governance Review
Unfortunately the governance proposals failed narrowly to pass by the two thirds majority required. However, it did receive a simple majority and attempts to completely dismiss all parts of the review were heavily defeated. This means that the governance changes are now the policy of NUS requiring the executive to consult on them and to represent them at a later date. However, were it not for delegates from institutions such as ourselves, Edinburgh and Lancaster disregarding mandates issued to them by Students' Union Council, the result could have been very much different as the changes would probably have passed.

Whilst the governance review may have been rejected this time round, the cries for change to be made resonated throughout conference hall and so further proposals put to NUS conference in the future are highly likely.

Education funding
NUS adopted new education policy, similar to our own, which laid down a new set of guiding principles going into the 2009/10 review of HE funding. These include:
- the support for the expansion of HE to ensure social justice and economic prosperity
- a funding system to accordingly support this mass expansion
- increase in state funding to match OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) average
- businesses to pay more for the benefits from HE through structures contribution through the taxation system

A major campaign will now be planned for 2008-9:
- coalition built with students, lecturers, TUs, MPs and the media.
- Establish a war chest to fund the campaign
- Hold a national demonstration to coincide with parliamentary attempts to lift the cap
- Town hall rallies to apply pressure
- Strong HE and FE campaign, across Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales

Welfare
- NUS to prioritise and increase its work on mature student and student parents and to work to encourage Union’s make it easier for these groups to engage in our Union structures

Strong and Active Unions
- NUS to get tougher and more active on the issue of climate change as it is perceived to have been too inactive over the last few years.
- NUS to push govt for a structured mechanism of accrediting and qualifying extra curricular skills

Election results
Congratulations to Mark Foster for getting elected to NUS Steering Committee! Mark won under the guise of being anal with detail and subsequently he would make excellent steering material. He also highlighted how he was the only qualified hockey umpire who was standing in the elections. Once again, essential skills for being on Steering Committee!

For any more details on NUS Conference check: http://resource.nusonline.co.uk/media/resource/Conference2008FINAL.pdf

like it? lock it, keep it!

2008-04-09T12:14:00.002+01:00

Burglars beware - This blog is targeted at you!

Stats from South Yorkshire Police state the following:

Data for period 01 Sept 2007 - 06 Feb 2008

Burglary - Dwelling where the occupant(s) are either Graduate,Undergraduate and Post Graduate Status = 205
Of these 205 residences there was a total theft of 113 Laptops, this figure will include the data where multiple laptops have been stolen from one property.

The shocking reality is that there has been a significant increase in attacks on HMO's (Houses of Multiple Occupancy) over recent times and it is subsequently essential that we raise awareness of this and challenge students to take the due care and attention to their possessions.

This campaign has been supported by Sheffield First Safer Communities Partnership, working in collaboration with Hallam Union, South Yorkshire Police, University security and ourselves.

The message is simple. If you like your stuff, you need to lock it to keep it.

Many of us think that we will never be burgled and it's the kind of thing which happens to others. However many of us probably know someone who has been burgled and so it isn't such a distant possibility.

Check out the weblink below for more information:

http://www.shef.ac.uk/union/news.php?contentID=2949

Come get a free mug from the stall in the Union foyer between 10 and 3 this week.

And remember ... Like it? Lock it, Keep it!

standing to be a student officer

2008-02-13T10:53:00.004Z

Happy day,

As many of you will be aware, election fever is gripping the concourse. i can remember my time last year getting planned up and ready to launch my campaign upon unsuspecting students.

Standing to be a student officer is a fantastic thing to do. The opportunity to represent Sheffield students is a great honour and the opportunities presented to you as an Officer are unlikely to occur at any other point in your life, at least not for several years.

You will be a representative, locally, nationally and to the University on behalf of 24,000 students. You will be a director and trustee of an £11m business and oversee the strategic development of it. You will meet a plethora of experienced, knowledgeable and helpful people to aid personal development, alongside receiving training to equip you for effectively carrying out the role.

It is especially exciting for the coming year for the following reasons:

There are new governance structures within the University meaning greater opportunities for student representation at top University and faculty boards. We also have and a very student focussed Vice-Chancellor, who is keen to work with us.
There are exciting developments locally with a new University/Union community strategy being formed and developing links in collaboration with Hallam.
Nationally there are big debates to be engaged with around the funding of Higher Education, bursaries and other student support.
The are also new governance structures of the NUS which will make it easier to engage in debate and support.
Internally there are also exciting developments with significant adjustments to the Union building, the new Council structures entering its second year and the long term strategic planning for this award winning Union.

I would encourage everyone to stand as an Officer. You are stretched and challenged personally in many ways. There is great support provided for you throughout, from experienced heads within the Union, and it is an experience you will not regret (though at times it is much harder than others to not regret it!!) Any further questions, please feel more than able to come and speak to me in person or reply to this email.

Nominations are open now and all the way through to Friday 15th Feb for the positions of President, Education Officer and International Students' Officer.

And then following the elections and the announcement of the referendum results, there will be the nominations open for the remaining 5 positions on Friday 7th March and closing on Friday 14th March.

With any further questions, please don't hesitate to come and see me personally (level 4 of the Union building in the Sabbatical Office) or contact me personally at mark.willoughby@sheffield.ac.uk or 0114 222 8605

it's been a hard day's night, and i've been working like a dog

2007-11-26T10:11:00.000Z

Happy day,

Apologies are definately in order for the length of time it has been since I last blogged. No particularly valid reason so I might as well just crack on.

The year is passing remarkably quickly. Five months in and still buzzin off the early morning starts and late night finishes.

The highlights over the last month have been ...

1. Officer roles review
I am carrying out a comprehensive blank page review of the Union Officer roles. This is a large and complex task but is a very exciting one. We have the opportunity to make sure we get the officer representation which our membership wants to have.

This process is widely engaging our membership through consultation in focus groups, questionnaires and one to one conversations.

I want to encourage you to engage in this process and make your opinion heard on your Union representatives. Please email me: mark.willoughby@sheffield.ac.uk or come and see me in person in my office (in the Sabbatical Office on Level 4 of the Union building) or if you see me in passing. I reiterate how exciting and essential this process is.

2. Representing our students:
Aldwych in Bristol
The Aldwych group is the Students' Union's of the Russell Group Universities (the top 20 research led Uni's in the country)
Emily (Education Officer) and I meet with the rest of the group monthly to further our work, the direction of which was agreed at our first meeting during the summer.
Our main two of objectives are:
1) Higher Education funding - Building towards the 2009 review of HE funding
2) National Bursary Scheme - crucial to any Widening Participation agenda is that a system of bursary allocation exists to ensure access to education for all. A National Bursary scheme is one of the proposals.
We also have 3 sub-objectives, specific to Russell Group Unis:
1) Teaching Quality
2) Postgraduate students
3) International students

At this meeting we also had John Denham MP, the Secretary of State for the Department of Universities, Innovation and Skills who we were able to lobby hard on teaching quality and bursaries.

University meetings
I've spent some of my time recently sitting on University committees, namely University Council, University Finance Committee and the Senate. These are the sovereign bodies of the University and it has been good to engage in debate in those meetings particularly around the new build proposed on the current Ranmoor site.

3. Community representation
I have recently coordinated the Sshh campaign, which took the more proactive approach of going directly to students in the residences with the message of respecting your fellow residents and the local surrounding community in the levels of noise made. Big thanks to James Gould for helping run this.

I'm also beginning the process, alongside Tom Bramall, of working with the University to draw up a Community Strategy. This is very much in the early stages, so not much to report here.

4. NUS Extraordinary Conference
The NUS (National Union of Students) was mandated at the 2007 Annual Conference to carry out a long overdue reform of its governance. For too long our national union has been ineffective and inefficient. It has failed to fight and win for students on a plethora of issues as it has spent its time on internal squabbles and relatively insignificant policy debates. The chance now exists to change that.

The consequences of these proposed changes for students could be huge. They will make the NUS easier for normal students to understand and get involved in. They will make the organisation more transparent and more democratic, and most importantly of all, they will mean that we have a chance of winning the fees debate in 2009/10.

The future of our National student movement depends upon this governance reform going through and I have been working hard to ensure this happens.

An Extraordinary Conference is being held next Tuesday 4th December and we are sending a delegation of 10 people to this Conference to engage in the debate. It should be quite a giggle.

Check out the following site for info on the conference and the proposed reform: http://www.officeronline.co.uk//events/nationalevents/274911.aspx

This is all from me for now.
I hope to resume regular blogging from now on, so watch this space...

...

life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get

2007-10-03T17:16:00.000+01:00

Ola!

Forest Gump was onto something there. The variety and diversity of this job is what makes it so exciting but is also what makes it so challenging. Every day is different and requires a different collection of brain cells to manage each situation appropriately.

I've spent most of the last few days working on my objectives, representing Nursing and Midwifery students to their governing bodies, nationally representing us as Sheffield Union to the Aldwych group (the Students' Unions of the Russell Group Unis) who met in Southampton last Friday and showing some ex-students around the Union building.

(As an aside, these weren't any ordinary ex-students. They were a group of friends who started uni here in 1957 and have met up every year since then, sometimes two or three times a year. This year was their 50th anniversary so they returned to Sheffield for the weekend and I showed them round. A fine group of people and I greatly enjoyed showing them round. It has of course changed beyond recognition since then and they were all pretty astounded by the change)

But the thing I am most excited by at the moment is the forthcoming Students' Union Council elections. It's such an exciting prospect to have a directly elected body to oversee my work, create policy and shape the direction of this fantastic Students' Union.

Nominations are open now with the closing date midday on Monday 15th October.

Do not hesitate.
Do not delay.
Get on the website.
Have your say.

http://www.shef.ac.uk/union/student-voice/union-council/

It's such a fantastic opportunity so do please get involved and stand for your department or representative group.

Two further things to plug:
- The Burma Solidarity Demo next Monday: http://shef.facebook.com/event.php?eid=19760916688&ref=mf
- My band are playing two gigs this weekend:
Thursday night: http://shef.facebook.com/event.php?eid=13855770186
Saturday night: http://shef.facebook.com/event.php?eid=5067367729

Without facebook I dunno where I'd be.

It's worth £10bn apparently Chris Moyles told me.

Any bids?

so here we go

2007-09-25T09:56:00.000+01:00

A huge, warm, embracing, Sheffieldian welcome to all new students of the University of Sheffield.

It is fantastic to have the hubbub of activity back on the concourse after a quiet but busy summer. It makes me realise why I stood for this position:

The bustling energy.

The creative vibrancy.

The buzz of diversity.

To new students: you are incredibly welcome here to this fantastic city, fantastic university and highly fantastic Students' Union.

To returning students: great to have you back. Look out for the new guys and help them to feel included and part of what is going on.

I want to encourage you to get involved in as much as possible that is going on this Freshers Week. Check out your Intro Week guides alongside the website for all the information you need to make this a truly memorable and enjoyable first week of university life.

As student officers, we are here to represent you so please come and talk to us about anything you want, whenever you want. We want this to be the best week of your life so far!

Our offices are located on either level 3 (offices for Sports, International students and Activities) or level 4 (offices for President, Education, Womens, Finance and Welfare) of the Union building.

I wish you well and look forward to meeting you some day,

Mark

money don't make my world go round. i'm reaching out for a higher ground.

2007-08-01T09:23:00.000+01:00

Morning all.

Fresh out of the Dolly Parton school of philosophy, I've headed straight into the philosophical minefield that is Des'ree this week.

Yesterday was payday. But it can't be said that I am in this job for the money. Plenty as it is for my needs, my overdraft is still crying out to be replenished.

So if it's not about the money then how am I reaching out for a higher ground?

Well, this week has involved the embelishing of my personal and our team objectives. This is a process which is mostly enjoyable but also difficult at times. But it's getting there and it's an exciting time. The potential for the coming year is huge! Alongside this has been the discussion of the financial direction of the union with debate around certain retail and structural possibilities within the union building.

I have also continued liasing with sabbatical teams in other uni's, learning of their objectives and seeking areas where we can work together to build consensus around particular issues.

It is a bit of a building site in the union building at the moment. I find myself climbing ladders and painting walls that I didn't think were possible. The new media hub is under contruction which is going to be such a fantastic resource! The source is being refurbished, again a change that will create a much more flexible and useable space. The main foyer is having a repaint and new lighting. The Graves building is being considerably altered with the LGBT lounge and SURE radio moving venues and the marketing department moving into newly furbished office space. And the Fusion and Foundry is being considerably refitted with many alterations taking place.

All in all, it's a busy time. We're already the best Students' Union in the country, but as with any organic institution, not resting on its laurels and desiring continued excellence, we're reaching out for a higher ground.

if you want to see the rainbow, you've got to put up with the rain

2007-07-25T15:06:00.000+01:00

Those are the wise words of Dolly Parton. And people say she was just a big pair of ...

This classic quote can seemlessly be used to describe two current experiences of the union officers.

But before this, let me, in classic salesman style, sell myself as the new Union President:

I come with:
- 22 years
- A degree in Social Policy and Sociology
- Double glazing
- Moderate musical talents utilised in a band
- A roof-rack
- A sister
- A broken, but well used squash racket
- An ultimate frisbee
- 6"4 inches of height
- A chicken pen
- Alloy wheels
- A young persons railcard
- A passion for The Office, Alan Partridge and The Mighty Boosh
- A winning motto: He who dares, wins (surely that's copyrighted?!)
- A shed
- A pasta maker
- A smoothie maker
- And a signed football

Back to Dolly...

Quite tangible is the occurence of very large amounts of rainfall. Graduation week last week was frequently disturbed by torrential downpours and concourse rivers forming with a current strong enough to move proud grandparents on quicker than they'd hoped.

Rain is the new sun I'm told.

Metaphorically speaking, Miss Parton's words describe another union officer experience of late. This is the feeling of being inundated and often overwhelmed by the barrage of new things - new commitments, new people, new challenges, new offices, new sleep patterns, new eating habits... The list goes on. Everything is very new. This is a very exciting time. But at times it feels somewhat like the rain won't stop.

But the rainbow is coming.

Gradually I am climatising myself to the new surroundings, the new people and the new challenges. This year offers so many exciting opportunities!
We have a new VC.
We have new student residences.
We have new democratic processes.
We have new ideas.
And this is all happening whilst surrounded and supported by experienced and knowledgeable staff, always willing to offer guidance and help wherever necessary.

My objectives for the year and the Officer team objectives will be coming soon, so refresh this page hourly and see what emerges.

Before I finish may I just emphasise something I will reiterate regularly throughout the year:
This is your union.
We are your representatives.
Come and speak to us whenever you so desire so that we can do the very best job of working hard for you to respresent you the very best that we can.

Big love x