It's that time of year again to say goodbye to our Executive Officers who have served this year. Read what they achieved and their highlights of the year.
The Students’ Union is run by students and our six Executive Officers are full-time, paid students who, just like with our general elections in the UK, get elected via a voting system. They are here to help and support you and bridge the gap between students and the university with help and advice. They work on manifesto pledges and lobby the university, acting as a voice to make change.
As the academic years draws to a close, we say a huge thank you and goodbye to our Executive Officers who have served this year. Over the course of the year they have been working hard on projects, campaigns and speaking up to the university to make changes that benefit you and put pressure on them to act. We spoke to each of them to find out what their best and favourite achievements (to name a few) were.
Serena-Amani, President
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The toilet door, obviously... (for context, adding a toilet door in the Library was an early manifesto win. Watch the grand opening here)
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Pushing myself to absolute limits to represent and be the student voice in argubly one of the most difficult, polarised years. Utilising the highest spaces within the University to ensure student voice is heard by University trustees, and offering recommendations on how the University can understand/practice how to work with students compassionately and productively going forwards.
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Rites of Passage - being in the company of some of my favourites from the Students' Union, celebrating friends becoming DOCTORS - and feeling the love from Barts' and The London (the BLSA President knows who I am? Oh yeah and Professor Sir Mark Caufield!) BL Honorary Graduate pending...
Amaan, VP Barts and The London
- The new Garrod Building - I helped move the BLSA into the medical schools building and oversaw the grand opening of this multi-million pound facility which features a brand new bar area, multi-faith space and study and social spaces.
- I’ve also helped set up new spaces for flagship events due to increased cohort sizes or a lack of space availability. For example moving th association dinner from Barts' Great Hall to BMA house and the Graduation Dinner to de Vere.
- We had the largest Rites of Passage ever!
Tahmid, VP Welfare
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Cost of Living – My #1 achievement this year has probably been expanding the Students' Union Food Pantry and successfully lobbying the University to fund the running of the service. This is in addition to other cost-of-living achievements such as successfully lobbying for a full governance review of the Financial Assistance Fund and the introduction of emergency food vouchers.
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Student Experience – I secured £200,000 of funding for lighting improvement projects across Mile End Campus – with works due to take place over Summer 2024. I also conducted a month-long footfall survey of the Mile End Multi-Faith Centre and Friday Prayer. I’m planning to do more on both of these areas coming into my President term!
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Study Well – I loved working on this campaign and meeting lots of you at the pop-up stalls as Mile End and Barts! This year I aimed to expand awareness of the Study Well programme and create more of a tailored experience for students at Barts too.
Matthew, VP Communities
- Working with the marketing team and successfully getting funding (ERIC fund) to create a new PGR marketing and communications role and organising summer PGR events
- Collaborating with Stefan Krummaker to advertise the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey through a fun video on Instagram and Tiktok (watch it here!)
- Organised a PGR BBQ with the Mexican Society which was the last event of the year
- Worked with the Student Voice team, Queen Mary Archives and the Library on the Decolonise Book Stand
- Worked with Nick, PGR Representation Assistant, on the Postgraduate Consultation Group
Aisha, VP Science & Engineering
- Initiated the Employability Curriculum Group in collaboration with university members. This has been the first Students' Union officer owned and led group. Due to its success & growing membership, the board now has continuity for ongoing years as it now reports to the university’s Education Quality & Standards Board.
- Passed a student council motion for a new cross-faculty Degree Apprentice (DA) PTO role to increase DA representation & engagement within the Students' Union. This role will be up for nomination in the upcoming Autumn elections
- Lobbied for a separate EC consideration process for students with disabilities, chronic conditions & mental health conditions. This has now been implemented on students’ MySIS portal, by which students part for the Dyslexia & Disability Service may not typically need to provide immediate evidence when making a claim.
- Won a proposal to create a females-only space within the campus. Next steps are in place to design and pilot the space for the upcoming academic year. The space will have timetables females-only hours, with the remaining hours to be used as a bookable society room for all groups.
Jovani, VP Humanaties and Social Sciences
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Being a part of the University Engagement policy and representing students views
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Organising and getting student's feedback through the Islamophobia Rebrand survey
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Working on the employability subsite - making employability accessible to all
We wish all our 2023/24 Executive Officers the best of luck for what they choose to go on to do next, and hope they all have a well earned break too! We welcome our new Officers for this year so keep an eye out for an introduction soon and you can read their manifestios here.