Wednesday 07-12-2022 - 11:47

Congratulations! You've made it to the end of the semester, and we’ve got no doubt that you’re ready for a well-deserved break.

As it’s the end of the year, some of your Officers have given us a round-up of what they’ve been up to over the last few months. Get to know them a bit better by reading their short blogs below and remember you can get in touch with them anytime — or even pop in for a cuppa with them!

 

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Letitia - President

Hey, I’m Letitia, your President at The Union and I wanted to update you on all of the work we’ve been doing around cost of living support for Manchester Met students.

Throughout this semester, we’ve been working with senior leaders at the University and as your Officer team, we created a report outlining the support we felt would help students most.

The Uni has set up a Cost of Living Hub which will be updated with the latest support for Man Met students throughout the academic year, but we wanted to highlight some of the changes that are already in place:

+ Over 1.15 million pounds has been added the Hardship Fund, which is available to support all forms of financial hardship (food, rent or utility bills).

+ We’ve increased the emergency loan available at The Union Advice Centre from £50 to £75.

+ The University is looking to add value food options to outlets across campus, including £1 beans on toast available at The Deli in the Hub Food Court (Business School).

+ There’s also microwave provision across campus, including stations in the Business School, Brooks, the Art School and Geoffrey Manton.

As your elected Officers, we’ll continue to work to get the best support for Manchester Met students and we’ve added a Cost of Living feedback form to our website for any ideas or questions you might have.

 

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Phoebe – Sports Officer

Hi everyone, I’m Phoebe – your Sports Officer. I wanted to give you a bit of an update on what I’ve been up to so far this year when I’m not competing in Lacrosse for MMU or in one of the many panels I do every week! So, here goes:

I’ve been working on a more inclusive sports kit for MMU teams, including genderless options and a modesty range. Watch this space for an update in the new year after I’ve had a chance to grill the tenderers.

I’ve been elected as the BUCS representative for the Northwest and I’m planning to use this opportunity to raise awareness of the cost barriers to sport for lots of students.

As part of Black History Month, I worked with Union staff to arrange a talk on sport and adversity from Kofi Josephs.

I’ve worked to get Sports Council re-elected and change the way we do RAG with initiatives like bringing a tin to training and re-distributing this food to MMU students via an internal food bank.

And lastly, I’ve made sure our students living over in Liverpool can now train at Liverpool John Moores University. We’re hoping this will improve the safety of students who would otherwise have to make their way back to Liverpool from Manchester at night after training.

 

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Shazeaa – Societies and Development Officer

Hello, I’m Shazeaa, your Societies and Development Officer. Here’s a quick run through some of the things I’ve been up to this year so far!

Firstly, I’ve been working with the fantastic ISOC to organise great Feel Good Friday events for Islamophobia Awareness. I hope we can work together more in the coming months too.

I’ve also been to the GMSA to meet with Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, to talk about the cost of living crisis and how it’s affecting students.

Cost of living campaigns have also made their way into Societies Council over the last few months. We’ve discussed a ‘pay it forward’ option for The Union shop, as well as the idea of a food donation box.

We’re actually hoping to improve Societies Council by creating a big Whatsapp group chat for societies to be able to chat directly to Council members, without always having to go through me!

I’ve also been working on creating networking sessions for societies to meet each other and we’re looking at a potential ‘end of year ball’ for societies to celebrate together.

 

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Stella – Education Officer

Hi everyone, I’m Stella. Here’s a little bit about what I’ve been up to since I was elected as your Education Officer this year.

Firstly, I’ve been advocating for anonymous marking as standard practice, which forms part of a bigger review of our assessment methods at MMU. I want assessments that work for you and the University, which means exploring consistency in timing and clarity of assessment briefs and making sure you get informative feedback within 4 weeks. I’m also looking at the relationships between summative and formative assessment and how we can make sure both are used whenever possible.

This semester I’ve also been working with the Officer team to address the cost of living crisis and how we can make sure the University minimise course related costs without impacting on awards.

I’ve also been working with our BAME Ambassadors to help the University meets its target of eliminating awarding gaps by 2025 and adopt a broader focus of student experience for racially minoritized groups of students.

Finally, this semester the Officer team introduced Feel Good Friday as a way to bring students together in lots of exciting activities. The project has been a great success so far, so keep an eye out and make sure you come along to our next event!