Sabb Update - 24/05/24

With the end of term just a few weeks away, the Sabbs are working hard to deliver their manifesto aims, run events and represent your student voice on campus.

President - Hannah

Hello everyone! 

Well done on your exams/assessments and for those of you who still have a couple left, keep going you’re nearly there!! A lot has happened since our last update, even a general election has been called... finally.

So, what have I been up to?

Manifesto work

• Student Safety: As mentioned in my last update, the 100% bag and body search trial has finished. I’ve shared the results with our Events team and will be discussing this after Summer Ball. I will also be writing a blog so you can find out the results and next steps! As part of my student safety manifesto point, I have attended my first University Campus Safety and Security Coordinating Group. I raised student concerns which were discussed. I’m looking forward to the next meeting. 
• Extenuating Circumstances: As well as sitting on the project board, I have been included in the mitigations policy comms group.  

Events

• Wonkhe Associate Editor Jim Dickinson recently visited to host the 'Secret Life of Students' session and the sabbatical officer team had a fantastic opportunity to speak. This session was delivered to a range of University and Students’ Union staff. We covered a range of topics such as cost of living, housing and belonging at university.  
• The Sabbs and I also ran an incorporation drop-in session and raised awareness of what incorporation means on socials. And, I’m happy to say that you voted in favour of RHSU incorporating in the referendum so thank you to everyone who had their say.  
• I was also invited to talk at a Q&A session for Royal Holloway applicants with student ambassadors. We spoke about our experience at university and our top tips for those joining later in the year.
• The Student Opportunities team put on another outstanding event, Society Awards. I had the best time and the privilege of announcing the Fundraising and Impact as well as Best Event awards. Well done to all of our society members, especially committee members who work tirelessly to put on events, run sessions and ensure students feel welcomed at Royal Holloway.
• This week, I attended the Office for Students Strategy Day away at Westminster, Kingsway College. We discussed threats/opportunities for Higher Education and what students want from Higher Education.

Committees and General Meetings

• We’ve had a couple of big meetings in the past few weeks, everything from University Council, Joint Executive Committee and chairing Finance, Staffing and Risk Committee. 
• I’ve also had a variety of University committee meetings including University Education Committee, a catch-up with the Careers service and an Estates Planning Committee.

VP Education - Sharanya

Hi all, I hope the exam and assessment period is treating you well! The end is near, you've got this! 

This month, I have been working to support students through their exams and assessments. This includes handing out free fruit and water as part of Nisha and the Advice Centre's Stressbusters campaign. I have also been sharing helpful tips and support on my platforms, supporting students through complaints and queries where needed.

I have also been working with the Library Services team to work on a Study Skills reading list for students. Aiming to smooth the transition and experience at Royal Holloway, I have been carefully co-curating books, podcasts and media that will teach students effective study skills and provide them with support in adjusting to university life. This will be introduced in September 2024!

Following the success of my Grad Week campaign, I will be working closely with the Careers service to see how they can better support and empower new committee members in their career-focused endeavours. Grad Week included a series of events and comms to better support students and their employability concerns with an Alumni Panel, an International Students Q&A Panel and a Student Futures Fair. I also have joined a project board which is working to improve the experience and support offered to students on a placement.

Alongside working on my manifesto, I have been attending numerous committee meetings - including University council - the highest governing body of RHUL. I recently attended the NUS Conference in Blackpool alongside the other officers and I am keen to engage students in the upcoming general election.

VP Wellbeing & Diversity - Nisha

Recently all the sabbatical officers spoke at a guest speaker event with Jim Dickinson who is an Associate Editor at Wonkhe. Wonkhe is the home of the UK higher education debate, bringing the sector together through expert analysis, debate, and insight. Their mission is to improve policymaking in higher education and provide a platform for the new or previously unheard voices and perspectives in the sector. Jim came to speak to University staff about real-life experiences of students in today’s climate and interviewed all of us officers on the following different topics that affect student experiences:

• Alastair spoke about the effects of commuting and loneliness.
• Hannah spoke about cost of living and part-time work, especially for international students who have a legal cap on their working hours.
• Sharanya spoke about how students are really using AI and why.
• I spoke about the impact of poor housing and mental health.

Throughout May, the Advice Centre team and I have organised a Stressbusters campaign to help you guys through this exam season! Exam/assessment periods can be tough so we have designed this campaign to help you navigate the stress and pressure. This week and last week, we have been out and about in the library giving out free fruit and water and running revision cafes, study break-out zones and special extenuating circumstances drop-ins with our Advice Centre. The campaign includes a range of exciting events, helpful articles, and engaging social media content so check out our campaign page to find out more!

Additionally, it was also Mental Health Awareness Week therefore the Advice Centre team and I put out helpful resources, articles, events, and social media content on this topic. We had a social media challenge/campaign run through the week and lots of other wellbeing activities such as puppy yoga, Zumba, friendship bracelet making and a walk around Virginia Water Lake. I also organised a Wellbeing Fair for this week which took place on 15 May in the library. The fair aimed to bring together all of the mental health-related University support services, societies, and charities together in one space so that students could see the support they have available to them.

Festival of Languages & Cultures

Alastair, the University’s Wellbeing team and I organised the Festival of Languages and Cultures which took place last week on Founder's Square. The event was a great success and celebrated the diversity and culture that we have on campus. We had two student performances as part of the event, Pavit played a short interlude on the Sitar and Sakurako’s performance of Noh from Japan. 

Society Awards were last week and I got to announce the winner of the Sarah Parker Remond Inclusion and Accessibility Award. Sarah was an African American activist, an anti-slavery lecturer and the first black student at Bedford College. Throughout her life, she promoted inclusivity, and equality and worked tirelessly to support the rights of minority groups. The Inclusion and Accessibility Award is therefore awarded to a group that has demonstrated an outstanding effort to ensure that their activities are as accessible as possible and has made a significant effort to promote an inclusive attitude within their membership and in the wider campus community. It was an honour to present this award to the winning group this year, the Law Society and the runner-up was LGBT+ Society. Both groups have done some amazing work this year to ensure their groups are inclusive to all students.  

I also chaired the last Wellbeing, Community and Diversity Executives (WCD) of the academic year. WCD is a meeting that the VP Wellbeing and Diversity chairs, and all the student Community Officers attend. This meeting allows for student voice to be incorporated into campaigns and projects that the SU is working on.  As part of their training process the new Community Officers for next year also shadowed this meeting. It was lovely to meet the new Community Officers properly and hear about their ideas for the new academic year ahead.

Next year, the SU is going to be researching and writing an insight report on the international student experience. I have been working with Elise, our Research and Insights Coordinator, to develop questions for a short international student survey to kickstart our research for our work in this area next year. We will be launching this survey after our annual Rate Your Union survey shuts. The survey itself is only 10 questions and focuses on topics such as friendship groups/communities, the cost of living and student experience.