Joe Hicks: Student Officer

After being voted in by Student Council, I've been working on getting to grips with the workings of the Union, one of which being the creation of this blog to keep people up to date with what I've been up to.

So far I've been finding my way around the offices, talking to other Officers in more detail about their projects and how I feel what I want to achieve can fit in with their aims.

Coming in pretty much halfway through the year has given me the opportunity to jump in right at the deep end, with a team of equally enthusiastic Sabbatical and Student Officers.

More in depth reports of my activities will follow soon, but for now I'll leave you with the manifesto I presented to council...


Joe Hicks – Manifesto for Student Officer Position:

So far this year, I’ve come from being a new student to the University, to being involved with student representation at Course Rep, Business School Liaison Rep and Student Trustee levels, in which I believe I have succeeded in putting students opinions forward, and encouraging students to become more involved with the Student’s Union’s representation system.

I feel these experiences have given me a comprehensive understanding of the operations of the Student’s Union, and opportunities to put forward changes in the interest of students; with an officer position, I feel that I could continue to represent the student body with a more active role.

One of the major concerns which has arisen from my current representational roles is that of communication with students; something I will direct my efforts to improving given this position. I’m keen on taking the initiative with regard to helping Liaison Reps and Course Reps improve their contact with students; something I have begun to do within the Business School via a poster campaign with Reps’ photos and contact details, which has been received as a great suggestion both by the Faculty Board and other reps I have spoken to.

I’ve had other students suggesting communication could be improved; as a Student Officer, I feel that I would be able to concentrate on making this happen across the whole of the Student’s Union.

I have been involved in assisting the SU team over numerous events during the past few months; such as the Board of Trustee’s AGM, in which I chaired a number of motions submitted by students.

This is another aspect I wish to concentrate on maintaining and moving forward with should I be elected as Student Officer; I’m a confident, articulate speaker who’s very approachable and understanding, yet determined and tenacious when it comes to getting the best for students – attributes I will continue to employ in supporting the Student’s Union.

I feel as well as having my own ideas of how I could work for the benefits of the student body as an Officer, I’m very interested in assisting the other Officers in their projects and campaigns; for example, in my aims for improving communication with students across the board, I would liaise with the other officers support of their own projects, such as the Course Rep system in which I feel I could offer assistance and synergy. I also have interests within the Sports Societies’, Media Crew and RAG – other areas of the Union in where I could offer my skills.

I think I could also work well with the VP Communication and Media Officer in their operations, in an effort to further implement contact with students via different sources of media.

All in all, I believe I have a lot to offer the Officer team; I would love the opportunity to have a more dynamic role within the Student’s Union and be able to fully represent and work for students to the best of my abilities.