New Pro VC of education
Myself, Mari and Holly were all selected to sit on the interview panel for the new pro vice chancellor of education and while there were many great candidates we are happy to announce that our personal favourite Kristyan Spelman Miller is our new pro vice chancellor of education and we look forward to working with her in the future.
Covid Support Fund
I was invited along to discuss the exact financial aid given by the Covid support from a student perspective and along with the residence life team and student services managed to come to an appropriate amount to give back to anyone who applied depending on the tier they were assigned. From what I have heard this went down rather well with students and the hardship fund was still accessible for those who needed further funds.
Students, Alcohol and Drugs Conference
Myself and various members of the SU and University attended the Students, Alcohol and Drugs conference held by SOS-UK. This was an incredibly helpful event that brought forward some fantastic ideas around harm reduction which I hope to try to start to get implemented within the university before the end of my term. Furthermore, a drugs and alcohol team has been established within the university by the residence life team to try to implement the policies talked about within this.
Sarah Everard, Nicole Smallman, Bibaa Henry Statements with form
Following the horrific murder of Sarah Everard, we released a statement which can be found here along with a survey asking women to anonymously come forward with their own experience of feeling unsafe or threatened in order to show how widespread and common the problem is not only nationally but locally at Keele as well. We also released a following statement found here talking about what we are going to/have been doing to try and tackle the issue at Keele SU as well as the disparity between what happened to Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry two black women who were murdered under the same circumstances but received very little media attention compared to Sarah Everard.
Relationships and Sexuality Education
Thanks to the always fantastic Natasha Craven we have managed to organised 3 workshops for all students on, Sexual Orientation and Gener Identity Awareness Training - Healthy Relationships, Consent, and Boundaries - and LGBT+ Inclusive Safer Sex for All Ages Bodies and Sexualities. The first of the three sessions happened today from 2-4 and was incredibly insightful and well attended.
PMDD Campaign
As was motioned by the previous UGM we held a week long PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) Awareness week where we posted a total of 5 posts with the topics of; What is PMDD?, What is the difference between PMDD, PME and PMS?, What are the treatment options?/ Where can I find support/a doctor who can help treat PMDD?, How can I support someone with PMDD?, and PMDD Peer Support. All the posts can be found on the student life page.
Goodbye
This will be my last UGM report since next year I will be returning to Keele as a counselling master's student. Despite the fact that this year has largely involved me staring at my laptop from my bedroom I have really enjoyed my time as your welfare and diversity officer and I hope to see many of you in person on campus over the next year.