What's On?

Make sure you check out the What's On? calendar at the bottom of my blog for upcoming student group and Guild events!!

Wednesday 25 November 2009

Get Involved!!!





Alot has happened in the last two weeks, so much that I have found it really difficult to find time to blog!! But apologise for the delay, and here we go!

Tell David Campaign
It would have been quite
difficult to miss the noise (literally!) that has been made about the proposed increase in top up fees, and the fact that our own Vice Chancellor, David Eastwood, is sitting on the review panel that will offer a recommendation. I just wanted to say a massive well done to the Officer team who worked so hard to get the flashmob organised in just 24 hours! And after all the work they put in, it wouldn’t have been a success without so many of you guys turning up to show your support (all 400 of you!). Job well done, now for the next steps!!! (Thanks to Redbrick for the photos!)





Vale Fireworks
Great fun and I was Challenged by Purple Mermaid Circus Society to
do fire spinning!! Here’s some photos of me in action!!



Get Involved!!!
Get Involved campaign is BACK and it will be even better than ever!!! On 25th January we will be having a Get Involved fair with stalls from all sorts of societies!! It is a fantastic opportunity for students to join up to societies half way through the year, and for societies to showcase their stuff!! For the two weeks following the fair, student groups will have the chance to organise a variety of events, workshops and activities aimed at new members. The deadline to get your society involved in Monday 30th November. The guild marketing department will then be putting all your events together in some fantastic publicity, which we will start promoting from the moment students get back in January!! Watch this space!

Students Disability Group
I went along to a meeting with Student Development staff, which the University Equality and Diversity coordinator had set up. The meeting was for any interested students, who wanted to make a difference on key issues affecting disabled students. The ideas ranged from better signage for wheelchair users, to more awareness of mental health issues. We thought it would be a fantastic opportunity for the Guild and the University to work together in supporting students achieve some great things. The next meeting will be at 12pm, 2nd December, rm G28 ERI building. We hope to create a committee of interested students for the Disabled Students Association, which has not had student involvement for some time. If anyone is interested in any issues relating to disabilities, then feel free to come along to the next meeting – it is really informal and a chance to share ideas. For any more info, just email me at vpsad@guild.bham.ac.uk.

CV Skills Workshop
WEDNESDAY 2nd DECEMBER 4pm-6pm COMMON ROOM!!!! All student group committee members are volunteers and you do absolutely fantastic work for other students, the university, the local community or even wider a field. Many committee members are driven by their passion and commitment to a particular subject, perhaps a hobby, an interest or a long-term career choice. Although it’s passion that drives you, it is so important to acknowledge the amazing skills you are developing which will stay with you when you leave University and pursue your career. The Guild and Careers Service have put together a workshop specifically aimed at committee members to help you recognize, develop and articulate those transferable skills to help with CV’s, interviews, internship or job applications. With information you can take away, practical exercises, and an opportunity to speak to careers advisors about your own CV and experience, this will be a great opportunity to get those skills down on paper now!! Sign up at Student Development or email studentgroups@guild.bham.ac.uk and bring along your CV or draft applications for some advice!! For any more details, please email vpsad@guild.bham.ac.uk!

Mini-Forums
These have been great so far, only a few left! This is a really good opportunity to let me know about any issues you are facing, but also celebrate your successes as a society!! I’ve had some great feedback so far, you should be getting the minutes from the meeting in the next few weeks, and as I said in the meetings, if you would like to chat over any more issues, just get in touch!!


Tomorrow I will be appearing on our very own Student Radio Station, BurnFM!!! Check out www.burnfm.com between 2pm-3pm to listen!!

A snippet of my To Do List!!


Monday 9 November 2009

TELL DAVID NO!!


...Would you pay £7000 a year for Uni? Join the flashmob at the clocktower on Tuesday at 12:50pm to TELL DAVID NO! HISTORY IN THE MAKING... Something very exciting is happening to Birmingham and we need your support. The review of university tuition fees was announced today. The review is the decision making body who recommend whether tuition fees stay at their current level (roughly £3,000 a year) or go up to £5,000 or even £7,000 per year! One of the seven people who will be on the panel deciding what will happen is our very own Vice Chancellor, David Eastwood! This means students and media across the country are looking to Birmingham… We are organizing a flashmob at the Clock Tower at 12:50 tomorrow, to make a BIG NOISE and Tell David that tuition fees mustn’t go up! Come join in and make a big noise- this isn’t just about current students, this is for the future of your brothers and sisters, cousins, nieces and nephews, children, grandchildren, godchildren, and little Bobby next door!! The flashmob will last for approximately ten minutes, before everybody heads down to Joe's in the Guild to learn more about the current situation. If you're free all day or just for 5 minutes, be there! Thank you in advance for all your support and please ask us if you have any questions! (president@guild.bham.ac.uk) Remember, 12:50 tomorrow at the Clock Tower!

Monday 2 November 2009

Challenge Emma
Purple Mermaid Circus Society challenged me at the Student Group Megaforum to do fire spinning at the Vale Fireworks…so I went along last Monday to their meeting to start learning poi! I can spin them in a circle, which perhaps isn’t quite what they had in mind, but my other tricks look a bit of a mess! Good fun though, and hopefully I will see
a few of you about on Friday to show your support/have a good laugh as I try to keep up with the pros!! I was also challenged by ArtSoc to take part in their life drawing class (drawing, not posing!), the pictures are on my wall in my office if anyone wants a look! It was great to see such a turn out, must have been 30 people, and it was a fantastic calming experience in between my busy days! I went along to the Krishna Consciousness society meditation event, which was fascinating and very interesting. The concepts brought forward were open for discussion, and the breathing exercises really got oxygen around the body!! I also popped in to see the InterVol presentations in Student Development, on the trips students made last year. There were lots of interested students listening, and the projects some of our members have taken part in are absolutely amazing and inspirational – best of luck to the members wanting to volunteer abroad this year!

NUS Zone Conference Unfortunately, I missed Guild Council on Thursday (if anyone would like to send any comments or questions, please email me vpsad@guild.bham.ac.uk) due to being at the NUS Union Development zone conference. I went along to workshops on the new media and online campaigning, and communication strategy. There were also talks and discussions on NUS policy, NUS accountability, and the Wave of Change within the Student Movement.

Equal Pay Day panel discussion A huge thank you to the speakers and all who attended, it was a really interesting discussion and debate. The campaign gained over 600 signatures calling for tighter equality measures, and the women’s association did a fantastic job of raising the awareness with students on campus – well done!

University Meetings
The management team and I met up with the Alumni and Development Office to see we can work together, in terms of promoting our services to both of our
member-base, potential funding channels, and combining open day’s at the University.


This week....
  • I will be putting the final bits of Multi-Cultural/Inter-faith week together to start promoting.
  • Practicing Poi spinning!!
  • Psychology department quality assurance review (half a day)
  • Visiting University Central Kitchen woop woop
  • Student Group Committee
  • Get Involved campaign working group
  • Vale Fireworks
  • Student Volunteering week working group
  • Full building tour of the Guild (apparently it takes 3 hours if done properly - there must be a lot of hidden gems!!)
Sorry it’s a quick update – busy busy week catching up from being out of office for a couple of days last week!!