December 2024 Updates

Whew! December flew right on by, and it was nice to celebrate the first six months as your VP Welfare & Community at the SUSU Staff Christmas Party! I’m going to jump straight into the December updates as there’s lots to say despite the short month.

Independent Living

The Independent Living project has been quietly trickling along over the last few months. The Halls of Residences team introduced cooking classes as part of their offering (open to all students, not just students in halls, btw). The cooking classes aim to not only teach students how to cook, but also to understand nutritional values, budget cooking, specific techniques, portion control, and more! If you missed one of the sessions, they will be made available for all to watch online.

LGBTQ+ Support

I have some good news to share regarding LGBTQ+ support. After sharing your feedback with staff from the University, I am pleased to share that the University will be hiring an intern to develop a SharePoint of resources that aim to support LGBTQ+ students transitioning into, and studying at university. This SharePoint will include a variety of information about everything an LGBTQ+ student would need, and I’m ensuring it also fits the needs of our Trans and Non-Binary (or otherwise gender-diverse) student groups (e.g., funding, healthcare information, etc). This resource hub will mirror the ones currently available for other underrepresented student groups, and aims to improve the sense of belonging and community at the university.

The Inclusion and Respectful Behaviour Policy has enjoyed its first five months in practice, and I have been discussing with the University staff who look after it to ensure that misgendering is clearly stated. I have also heard that they are planning on creating supporting guides and resources for good practice and how to get support if a person needs it through the policy. If you have any concerns or questions regarding the Inclusion and Respectful Behaviour Policy, please do get in touch by emailing welfare@soton.ac.uk.

The Gender Expression Fund has almost reached its limit! But there is still plenty more money to go around. After some initial analysis, it’s clear that the Fund has had a positive impact on students’ sense of belonging and sense of community, something lacking in surveys (another reason why filling out our SUSU surveys is so important!). If you’d like to apply for the Gender Expression Fund, find the information here: https://www.susu.org/help-support/gender-expression-fund/.

Inclusive Events

I am pleased to share that I’ve met with our Head of Events at SUSU and we have discussed ways in which to make our events programme more inclusive! This includes reducing the need for loud noises, implementing more welfare rooms (with adequate promotion), and I will be sitting on all events working groups (such as Elections Night Live, Freshers, etc.) to ensure that inclusion and accessibility is at the heart of all of our events. If you have any more ideas, or have concerns from events in the past, please get in touch. You can also apply to be part of our events committee. Send me an email to find out more: welfare@soton.ac.uk.

Friendship Making

Another outcome of the student survey showed that you want more friendship-making events. It’s so important to me that everyone feels like they have friends and that they have a community at university. It’s never too late to get involved, join a society, or volunteer. To support you in making friends (it’s ok to admit that, by the way), we will be holding our ‘Break the Ice’ event on the last Friday of every month. We will have board games, drinks, and more. I’ll be there, too, so you can always come chat to me. I love Uno and anything crafty.

Safety

SUSU Safe is such a massive part of SUSU, and you may have noticed my ongoing posts regarding staying safe in halls, private housing, while out at parties, or even travelling home. I have also been sharing posts regarding the rise of meningitis and septicemia, and staying safe when walking home alone with the Hollie Guard app. If you haven’t followed my account yet, it’s https://www.instagram.com/susu_communities.

The Societies and Campaigns Manager and I met with two students who are leading a campaign regarding non-consensual photography during nights out. This is something that we will be supporting at SUSU and something that has appeared in national news recently. We will be meeting on a monthly basis, and we will be reaching out to clubs and societies to ensure to raise awareness of the safety campaign. If you are interested in supporting this campaign, please reach out to welfare@soton.ac.uk. 

Academic Support

While academic support does not usually fall under my remit, I have been working with the University and the SUSU Advice Centre team on a student support review feedback. We’re keen to hear your thoughts as well as get some feedback on the existing SharePoint site. If you would like to review the site, and/or if you have had a student support review in the past, please fill out this form: https://forms.office.com/e/6kbRXPTuXW. 

Senate

The Senate approved the new roles and responsibilities for the Sabbatical Officers which will take effect in the upcoming Leadership Elections. If you’d like to learn more about the new structure, you can find out more information here: https://www.susu.org/representation/minutes/1351.

Liberation Officer updates

I have been working closely with the Liberation Officers this month. Achsah (BAME Officer) and I have met with the University’s Director of Student Support Services to discuss the promotion of the Report and Support Tool. We also have more meetings coming up with various University EDI staff to discuss Achsah’s manifesto. Achsah and Sophia (LGBTQ+ Officer) have been working hard in the background to recognise and celebrate our LGBTQ+ POC community. If you’re interested in being part of a focus group, please do contact me on welfare@soton.ac.uk.

Lordana (International Officer) and I met with the VISA team at the University to discuss University communications, promoting the VISA team services, as well as ensuring that all international students are aware of what the University’s VISA team offers. We will be meeting again in the new year to discuss further plans.

Any Other Business

• I had some time off at the beginning of December to reset and recharge. I hope you are all being kind to yourself and giving yourself a break. Rest is good. Recharging is necessary. Your worth is not based on your productivity.
• I am happy to share that I secured Sabrina Carpenter tickets for her BST Hyde Park show after my presale code for the SnS tour went missing (check your other folders, folks).
• Advice, Representation, and Activities came together to eat waffles to celebrate the year. Despite my big talk, I only had two waffles.