Community Officer Update – Catherine – November 2022

Hello everyone,

Here is my monthly update for November 2022 as Your SU Community Officer:

· Completed part 2 of the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Leadership training with an external organisation, Mission Diverse.

· Met the Vice-Chancellor, John Latham, to discuss student issues like enrolment and lack of academic/social trips at university.

· Delivered Love Your Uni Love Your City training to four Community Champions.

· Met with UCU strike representatives to discuss how the planned action will impact students and presented this to the Your SU Union Affairs Committee to vote on support.

· Helped my placement student with their plant potting and sustainability-themed tote bag event for their Add+Vantage module.

· Attended a Coventry Post War Plans Seminar about the city’s architecture and urban planning after the destruction caused by The Blitz bombings.

· Filmed a Snack Wars video with Your Education Officer, Bianca, and Your President, Desmond, trying food from 5 different countries.

· Had tea with Ian Dunn (Provost) and George Wagstaffe who was commissioned to create the statue for the new garden on the site of the Alan Berry building.

· Attended a meeting with university staff and students to discuss relaunching the pronouns badges that are now redesigned with the rebrand.

· Visited CU Mile Lane campus to meet students & host a games session.

· Facilitated the Coventry University Senior Leadership Team Roundtable Talks and Closed Q&A session where Your Students’ Union Sabbatical Officers and fellow students asked questions to university staff about a range of issues.

· Attended Coventry University Academic Board with Your Education Officer, Bianca.

· Met with the Gender Equality Society to organise how to campaign to get Coventry University to sign the Can’t Buy My Silence pledge to not use non-disclosure agreements in misconduct cases. I wrote an open letter urging the university to sign with supporting statements from Gender Equality, Women in Design, LGBTQIA+, Acoustic Music. Windband, Tabletop Games, Musical Theatre, and Post-graduate Officer, Kirsty Harrod.

What was your highlight of the month?

I enjoyed visiting the CU Mile Lane campus and talking to Your SU reps & campus officer, Helen. It was a great way to get out of the office and be student-facing when a lot of the work I was doing this month was behind the scenes.

What was challenging about this month?

I found it difficult to maintain motivation this month with the darker/colder weather and staffing changes at the students’ union.

Community Officer Update – Catherine – December 2022

Hello everyone,

December marked the end of semester for students at Coventry University and campus became quiet very quickly after assignments and exam were completed. At Your Students’ Union, we were finishing off tasks for a well-needed break over the festive period. Here is my monthly update for December 2022 as Your SU Community Officer:

· Networked with other SU Sabbatical Officer teams from around the UK at an event run by Coole Insight in Leeds with Your Education Officer, Bianca.

· Attended the 2nd Board of Trustees meeting this semester, and met our 3 new trustees (2 student & 1 external.)

· Conducted a library outreach session with Your President, Desmond, and one of our Community Champions to gain feedback on your university experience and what facilities/places in Coventry you think other students’ should know about.

· Attended the Visitor Experience Sub-Group meeting and gave a verbal update on the Love Your Uni Love Your City initiative that I pitched to the group in September. Also listened to updates from key stakeholders in the hospitality/tourism/entertainment sector in Coventry.

· Attended my first Coventry University’s Race Equality Council meeting.

· Chaired the 2nd Your Students’ Union People and Culture Committee, which discusses human resource (HR) topics within the organisation.

· Listened to 2 Disability History Month Panel events for staff and students about experiences within Higher Education and wider society. These were organised by Jodie Enderby, a PhD student at the university, and were highly attended.

· Sat on a Student Disciplinary Panel as the Your Students’ Union representative.

· Passed the Institute for Leadership & Management Course (ILM).

· Involved in the planning for January Welcome with a disability-themed spoken word event and the return of the popular plant potting & tote-bag designing event.

· Wrote an article for the SU website about how transgender students can request to change their details at the university.

What was your highlight of the month?

As campus became quieter, it allowed time to breathe and reflect on my first semester as Your Community Officer. I was able to assess which manifesto points had been achieved and which needed to be prioritised next semester.

What was challenging about this month?

With the chaos of September, October and November, I missed out on a key period to plan events for Disability History Month. Thankfully, Jodie organised 2 fantastic panel events for staff and students and I’ve added a disability-themed spoken word event to the January Welcome timetable.