Your new Student Officer Team have just completed their first month at the Students' Union. Find out about what they've been up to and how they've represented the voices of Sheffield Hallam Students.

Sheriff - President

Refugee Scholarships

A few years ago, your Officer Team lobbied the University to provide scholarships for refugees. After a long period of discussion and negotiations, we have finally received confirmation that refugee students will be placed as a priority group along with care leavers and estranged students - receiving up to £2000.  I was really proud to see the end result of a proposal that has been worked on by Hallam Student Officers for a number of years and it was great to work alongside the University on this positive move! Well done to all previous Officer teams who worked hard to make this happen.

Representing Students

In March 2019, Sheffield Hallam students overwhelmingly voted in favour of a referendum on a package of 14 changes to the Students' Union's Articles of Governance. We are now working to implement the changes with the University and SU but unfortunately, the University have not yet approved all 14. In particular, we are being asked for further discussions on one recommendation which would place the Students' Union President as Co-Chair of the Students' Union's Trustee Board - a practice which we have researched to be true in 75% of Students' Unions across the country. In my view, the recommendations were voted by Students as a package, and for the University to reject one of these would mean ignoring the voices of our students. We will keep you updated on any advancements.

Faizan - Activities Officer

Manifesto Planning

I have met the Societies and Activities team to discuss ideas I have for improving provisions for our Societies, and I'm looking forward to working with them in the next twelve months. I've also met with other staff members across the Students' Union to discuss my ideas for events and campaigns across the year.

Students' Union

I attended the SHSU HR Strategy Meeting to discuss how the Students' Union supports its staff, and I received recruitment training so that I can sit on interview panels for interviews of full-time staff positions. I also attended an information day for prospective Hallam students who are on the autistic spectrum alongside the SHSU Volunteering Team, ensuring that new students are aware of the support on offer from the University and Students' Union.

Societies

I've started to make plans for a Societies drop-in session with me where committee members can seek advice and support for developing their Society. I also had the opportunity to meet the Activities Officer at Sheffield Students' Union to discuss our ideas and how we can work together in the year ahead.

Lauren - Welfare and Community Officer

Mental Health

I met with Student Wellbeing at SHU to talk about the mental health aspects of my manifesto. The Student Support Team were really positive about my ideas and have offered support for future events. I've also planned a Mindfulness event for October as part of our Give It A Go programme.

Lad Culture

I met with the Students' Union Researcher to develop plans for looking into LAD Culture on campus - I've also been in touch with someone at the University to develop a joint approach to this project. I'm currently drawing up plans for a campaign on tackling lad culture at University and can't wait to work with students on this!

Ellis - Sports and Physical Activity Officer

Support for Sports Teams

I'm improving the process for advertising weekly sports fixtures to make it clearer to students. When fixtures are finalised in August this will be rolled out to students via the Team Hallam website. I also met with the SHU Active team to discuss collaborative events, and how we can reward the contributions of those involved in sports at Hallam this year.

Prince Harry

Your Student Officer team were invited as VIP guests to observe the visit of HRH Prince Harry to Sheffield Hallam University on Thursday 25^th July. It was a great moment for us as Student Officers to observe his visit and we were pleased to see a celebration of the work of our students as the Prince noted the work of the SHU Racing Team and the advancements of VR technology taking place at the University.

Andrew - Education Officer

Academic Interests

I've met with a number of SHSU staff this week to see how I can implement a new series of Academic Drop-In Sessions. These will be bookable on the Students' Union website and will allow students to access informal support and signposting to services in the SU and University. I've also caught up with the University's lecture capture team who have confirmed that they have some budget to improve lecture capturing for students next year.

Student Support

I met some students this month who faced issues with their academic experience at Hallam. In particular, we spoke about the BME attainment gap, and the Student Advice Centre in the HUBS was able to support them further. I have also begun plans for an event focused on de-stressing academic life for students, and will announce further details for this soon!