Green Room Opening

The official opening of the Orchard Resource Learning Centre (ORLC) Green Room took place on the 16th October. Both myself and the VPEA Tom Marley were in attendance. I've said it before and I'll say it again; this really is a fantastic facility and something which I feel will be of great benefit to the students of Selly Oak Campus. Film footage of the event is apparently being posted on YouTube, a link shall be posted to it as soon as I find it. If you're finding the learning spaces on campus overrun with freshers this time of year, why not head on over.

The night went smoothly with but one exception. Tom - perhaps feeling a little light headed having been courteously plied with red wine by our hosts - managed to knock a bottle of the stuff on the brand new (rather expensive) green carpet. I should like to thank myself for successfully handling what could have been a very embarrassing incident. Sabbs; can't take them anywhere.

(How it might have happened ^^^^^)

And on that note, I'd like to wrap up this post by reminding all our members (on all sites) to always drink responsibly.

Blogging et al.

Ok, so I'm not a natural blogger. That would be why a large number of posts have appeared overnight whilst I pretend that they were here all along.

But blogging is apparently the way forward, and in fact our officer blogs are meant to replace the old Guild Council reports. I don't approve but I'll run with it. Why? 'Cos Guild Council are entitled to censure me If I don't.

Continuing a very old tradition; the first person to ask a question of the SSO in GC wins the prize of a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Return to Selly Oak Campus

On the 2nd October 2008 I was delighted to return to the lovely Selly Oak Campus. This was a visit long overdue but essential to my ongoing campaign to reinvigorate student participation and democracy on the site. In a way the delay had its benefits for I was able to see for myself the change that has transformed the groundfloor of the Orchard Learning Resource Centre (OLRC). An extensive refit over the summer has given the site a facility fit for 2008 - indeed, I enviously remaked that the Library services there were better than those on the main campus.

While I'm on the subject, I should probably mention that the official opening of the new facilities - imaginatively named 'The Green Room' - is on the 16th October, and that myself and as many members of the Exec that I can drag along shall be in attendance. Any excuse to dress up, ay? With luck there'll be some photos I'll be posting too. Too quote the VPW: "Looks like the p-a-r-t-y of the century".

Returning to a more serious note; the new facilities will further my opportunities to reach out to the students on the campus. Already my first Guild-Outreach is planned for the 15th October within the entrance to the OLRC. This will consist of the Guild having a stall where it can talk (and listen) directly to the students. The first shall be about introducing myself and the Guild to the students of Selly Oak Campus. Following on from this, the second Guild-Outreach a fortnight later will be when I start collecting nominations for the Selly Oak Campus Committee (or SOCC for want of a better acronym.

It is my goal to have a functioning campus committee up and running by the end of Semester 1. Wish me luck.

The Institute Visits

In the last week, visits were paid to both the Shakespeare and Ironbridge Institutes on my behalf by the VPDR. Much as I wanted to go myself, lecture timetables did not facilitate it. My thanks go out to Hannah for her work here.

Nonetheless, important feedback was gathered from both visits, which I (with assistance from the whole Executive committee) shall very shortly be looking into. Even better than that, on Friday the Guild received a reciprocal visit from a number of Shakespeare Institute PhD students. I took this opportunity to speak with a number of them and hear their concerns. Foremost among these was the relative isolation the face through being at the Institute. The limited rail services between Stratford and the main campus do not make it easy for them to access the facilities here - access which is essential for their projects.

In the past, a shuttle bus service existed which helped someway towards alleviating this issue. Now this no longer exists leaving these students with little alternative but to limit their access to the main campus or pay the high prices for overnight hotel rooms in the city. When one considers that the Postgrads at the Shakespeare Institute are paying around £9500 in fees, plus up to £800 a month for accommodation, it seems only fair that they should demand value for money. It is my belief that the university should step in to help solve some of these issues. The University of Birmingham prides itself as a top university, and while there is no denying its academic status, some would argue that more could be done to assist those postgrads who have made the commitment to study at the Shakespeare Institute.

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On a related note, the rest of the Executive committee shall now be subject to a gentle persuasion from myself and the VPDR, with the intention of getting them all to visit these institutes.

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(The visits to the Shakespeare and Ironbridge Institutes were carried out by the VPDR on the 6th and 8th of October respectively)

The Summer of '08

Now where did that go?


And more importantly, what did I do with it? Obviously a long summer is both good and bad for a Non-Sabb. Good because I could get on with a lot of actual planning for the year ahead without having to worry about my course. Bad because with no real students around, there are limits to what noticeable



So what did your beloved SSO get up to over the summer? Well, from that which I'm actually allowed to talk about; rather a lot. With, admittedly rather a lot of time on my hands, I managed to lay much of the groundwork for my priority campaign for this semester: Increasing representation and democracy on Satellite Sites (with particular focus on Selly Oak Campus). More detail on this in later posts.



Other links have been successfully established with students and staff on all sites.



Further work is being undertaken at my request on expanding the distribution of Redbrick to addition locations.



Unfortunately (for me at least) I wasn't around for Freshers week; course commitments come first after all. Hopefully though, with plans well set in motion, plenty can be achieved over the course of the next semester.

(Updates to follow)

Selly Oak Campus in Pictures

As promised, some pictures from my recent tour of Selly Oak Campus:


^ Your SSO makes note of the communal facilities available to students on the site. This currently consists of a lot of hard seating (as seen). The ongoing refit of the ORLC does promise some new soft seating however.

^ Two noticeboards exclusively for the Guild. We like to keep them under lock and key you see. The Jobzone board (to the right in photo, and below) was something I was pleased to see, and which I hope will continue to be updated during my year in office.

^ George Cadbury Hall: Evidently work is taking place. I've no idea what at the time of writing but will endeavour to find out. This is a fine old venue and it would be fantastic to see it made available to students.

(Thanks to T. Goff for providing these.)

The First of August

Ok, so a few days have passed since then, but it didn't slip my notice at the time. Now I can drop the annoying "elect" from my position title. Now is the time to get on with the job.

Wish me luck.

Selly Oak Campus

On the morning of Wednesday 16th July 2008, under the wing of predecessor Tom Goff (SSO 2004-5), I went on a fact finding mission to the University's Selly Oak Campus. While the site remains fairly quiet at this time of year, I found the visit extremely useful in identifying issues and planning for the year ahead.



Some of the sights were fairly promising. For example, an area of the ground floor in the Orchard Learning Resource Centre is undergoing an extensive refit. The space, formerly allocated for books, is to become a general 'common room' area with comfy seating, WiFi, and interactive information screens - whatever they are. This space is to be imaginatively renamed the Green Room.



In other SOC news, it would seem that George Cadbury Hall is undergoing some sort of construction work. I have no idea what at the present time, but will endeavor to find out. The fabulous old building is ideal for performing arts and it has long been hoped that various drama societies such as Article 19 would one day be able to use it for their own performances. Once I find out what is actually happening there, I'll be in a better place to assess the situation.



Not all that I saw was entirely positive though. One issuue that has already been drawn to my attention at this early stage is the poor provision of prayer space for Islamic students on the site. Whereas Selly Oak Campus has it's own Christian chapel on site, all that exists for Islamic students is an area of undesignated space on the top floor of the ORLC. There is also no space for storing prayer mats or any other associated facilities. This is a matter on which I intend to consult the Islamic students of Selly Oak Campus, in addition to the Guild's ISoc, in the hope of finding a solution acceptable to all parties. I intend to keep you posted on this issue.





Unfortunately I haven't got hold of any photos taken on that day. You'll have to make do with this one of Archibald House - the base of the sprawling BBC empire which is also to be found on the campus. It is a lovely building though, and reason enough to visit this Satellite Site.

Handover(s)

All of last week was officially set aside for 121 handovers. In my case this mean't being given an in depth briefing on the role by former SSO (2004-5) Tom Goff, with assistance from his successor Laura Morris (2005-6). I am incredibly gratefully to both for the two and a half hours or so that they gave last Monday, even if the staff of the Selly Sausage didn't look to pleased at the length of time we were on the premises.

Handover is an essential part of the training process and has given me a great deal of thought and direction in approaching my role in the coming 12 months. I believe that a good handover can make the difference between hitting the ground running in September; or fumbling around still wondering what you're meant to be doing come December. Therein lies my gratitude.*

With this in mind, I have been looking forward (not prematurely I hope) to next year. One of my manifesto pledges, and indeed one of the indicators of my success as SSO, is my ability to find a successor. This is why the good work must start now, if I am to inspire the students of Selly Oak Campus - or wherever - to run for SSO next time around, I need to make it clear what the Guild can do for them and why it remains relevant. Satellite Sites Officer has always been an uncontested position in Exec elections and that is something I am anxious to change.

Because no matter how successful (or otherwise) I may be this year, without someone to handover to, any anchiements can so easily fall by the wayside. For Satellite Sites students to really get a better deal, they need long term commitment from the Guild and long term commitment from a number of SSOs

Cheers, and best wishes to all SSOs, past and future.


* to avoid overlooking anyone, I should also mention that other predecessors, in addition to members of the outgoing exec, have also given their assistance in the past few months.

Exec Training

Obviously Exec training was highly productive....

For those not in the know, the ominous purple figure represents the University (in a purely metaphorical way of course) whereas the red blob is the Guild existing in abstract form as an entity, ready to defend the students (not shown). The seamine, I believe, was an afterthought. Personally I would have seen to it that Satellite Sites were represented in this metaphor, but:
(a) there wasn't enough play-dough.
and (b) given the scale we were working on, some of them would have needed to be constructed in the next room.

On a serious note though, this exercise did enable us to think, in an unconventional way, about our role as officers, and the Guild's role as a student union. I think it would be fair to say that the majority of the student body think of the Guild as Joes, Subway, Spar, and not much else. This is a real shame and will probably be one of our biggest issues as an Executive team over the coming 12 months. Student apathy is one reason for all of us to really give 110% to our roles - if our acts as officers are both positive and noticeable, they can only be beneficial in raising the Guild's profile.

Secondly, one thing that struck me most during training was that the Guild has a whole floor I barely even knew about. The average Guild member will probably know very little about departments such as finance, marketing and R&D. If anything, the most contact they will have with Guild staff will be Student Development - "the coalface" as I've heard it referred to. This is doubly tragic since not only are they all essential to how the Guild operates, but some, such as R&D are a powerful symbol of what the Guild stands for.

If there's one thing I've learned from Exec training, it's that we, as officers, are privaleged to know just how much the Guild as a union is capable of. Now it's our job to take this message to our members.


...even when they're only formed of yellow playdough

Satellite Sites Officer

"What's that when it's at home"

This was by all means representative of the sort of comments I heard whilst out on the campaign trail during that glorious month of February. Poor ignorant students I thought, if only they knew. That said, the job title doesn't make it obvious what I'm for. One doesn't have to be Steven Fry to work out what the Womans Officer or LGBTQ Officer does, but Satellite* Sites? What are they?

The Guild defines Satellite Sites as being "locations, other than the main Edgbaston Campus, where University of Birmingham students are based". These sites consist of a diverse range of locations with very disparate issues. I'll list them if I may:

- Selly Oak Campus
- the Medical School
- the School of Dentistry
- Nursing
- The Ironbridge Institute
- The Shakespeare Institute

Then comes the part where it's hard to follow - students on placements, both industrial and international, medical students on placements in hospitals, and so on.

So what am I for?

The role of the Guild's Satellite Sites Officer is to build links with all of these sites and ensure that the students based upon them don't miss out on the full student experience, simply because of their location. With that in mind, I aim to make a positive difference to the lives of students on Satellite Sites - but then, you know that bit already.

Cheers all.





* For the record, 'Satellite' has two 'l's and a single 't' at the end. dictionary.com will confirm that. Just thought I'd clarify.