It’s been an incredibly busy month, with elections taking place alongside the ongoing challenges facing the University, as well as managing my own projects. After taking annual leave to campaign, I’m now back in the office and busier than ever. This week alone I’m attending several committees, travelling to London for a conference on AI, and even DJing a Women’s Night in the bar!

Support Tool

The new student support tool is on track to launch in mid-April. Several sections have now been fully built and are currently being tested. SU teams and student staff are reviewing the content to ensure everything is accurate, clear, and easy for students to navigate. Student Community Officers will also have the opportunity to review the tool before it goes live in the coming weeks.

Alongside this work, I’ve developed a new lecture slide that will be introduced at the start of teaching sessions, highlighting the support available for some of the most common challenges students face. This began rolling out last week.

Pay the Placement Campaign

The Pay the Placement campaign has officially launched, bringing together a wide range of Students’ Unions across the country to raise awareness about unpaid nursing placements.

Students can support the campaign by signing the petition on our website and writing to their local MP to help push the issue onto Parliament’s agenda. We are also planning on-campus activations in mid-May to coincide with International Nurses Day.

More information on how you can support the campaign is available here:

https://www.essexstudent.com/paytheplacement/#student

Student Rep Hub

The new Student Rep Hub has now launched, creating an accessible space for reps to find all the information and resources they need. It also includes a new section showcasing student rep “wins”, highlighting the impact reps are making by turning student feedback into real change.

Southern Unions Conference

Two weeks ago, Alex, Hareem and I attended the Winter Southern Unions Conference in Reading. I took part in sessions focused on student representation systems, student rights and complaints processes, and student perspectives on AI.

Alex and I also delivered a session on lobbying government for national reform of university funding, ahead of the campaign we will be launching in the coming weeks.

Strike Support

I have been working with SU staff to develop a dedicated Strike Support page on our website. This includes information on why staff may take industrial action and guidance for students who wish to support staff.

This work follows a policy I wrote and passed through SU Council, which places greater responsibility on student leaders to ensure clear information and support is available to students during industrial action.

We will also be monitoring the impact of strikes closely, pushing the University to ensure students are not disadvantaged, including replacing missed teaching or removing content from assessments where needed. We’re now working on additional guidance on complaints and compensation for students whose education has been affected.

Committees and University Changes

We have continued to raise student concerns about the proposed Southend closure and planned redundancies with the University, while also pushing for greater financial transparency and clearer communication with students.

I have been particularly focused on ensuring the concerns of research students are recognised. PGRs face distinct challenges during institutional changes, and after raising this with the University they have agreed to provide dedicated communications to research students in the coming week.

In Senate, we also pushed back on elements of the proposed restructure. We highlighted that the plans had not yet been considered in sufficient detail and raised concerns that the University was not taking a sufficiently strategic approach to the long-term success of the institution or the interests of students.