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► President
Hi everyone,
I’m Gary Coates and I’m your President for the academic year 2009-2010.
What Do I Do?
The role of President is to be the figurehead of everything to do with the RSU.
I represent Roehampton students at the highest level within the university, to the media and to the wider community.
What Meetings Do I Sit On?
Within the University itself, I sit on University Council, which is the highest governing body, responsible for deciding the university’s’ strategic future and the university’s’ portfolio both nationally and internationally.
I also sit on University Senate,which is the body responsible for implementing many of the strategies put in place by Council.
Aside from those, I am a member of several academic bodies that focus on the level of service the University provide in terms of academic quality. My role here is to provide input regarding what students’ needs are and give feedback on new policy ideas. I am also in the process of creating a student-led body that focuses on academic quality and the student learning experience.
I also report to the Students’ Union Council (SUC), a body that is open to any student to attend and is held every 3-4 weeks, where policy initiatives are voted on and issues from different student groups are raised.
This is just a taster of my involvement within in terms of meetings and as you can probably tell, I am given a fantastic platform to make students’ opinions heard, so make sure you tell me what your opinion is!
My role in the Union
Aside from sitting on meetings, I am responsible, along with the three Vice-Presidents, in formulating Student Union policies and focusing on the strategic direction of the union, something that is usually dictated by what we promise in our manifestos and also in response to the ever changing needs of students.
I am also ultimately responsible for amending and updating the RSU Constitution, something that is a continuous process. If you would like to suggest any constitutional amendments, please contact me and we can go about making that change.
As I have already said, I am the figurehead of the Union, meaning I present the RSU to the media, on open days, in local events and at national events. This also includes representing us to the National Union of Students (NUS) and using this as a way of creating links with other universities both in and out of London. I attend the NUS Annual and Regional Conferences and report back to the SUC about the goings on.
I am also responsible for assisting in issues for International students, Mature Students, Teacher Training Students and Post-Graduate Students. All of whom have their own elected part time officer as a first port of call.
Programme Reps
This is another area that I cover, more information on my intentions for the coming year can be found below.
My Manifesto
All four sabbatical officers in the Union have manifestos that are their way of being held to account by you, the students. If we decide to re-run for election or our position is under question during the course of the year, our manifestos are a way in which students can ‘check up’ on us.
Here are the main objectives I have promised to deliver this year:
1. To review and improve the Programme Rep system currently in place.
In universities all across the country, Programme Reps are a key part of ensuring the quality of teaching and learning is consistent. They also act as an invaluable link between the SU, University and the student body as a whole. This is something that is not currently working as effectively as it could within the Roehampton context.
2. Commitment to the continued improvement of security services on campus.
Currently, there is no visible gatehouse for either Whitelands or Froebel, I will work with the University to ensure a specific timetable for the installation of these is finalised and that security services are professionally delivered throughout the year.
3. Implementation of ‘No Platform’
With the recent electoral success of extremist group the BNP, many fascist organisations are recruiting on university campuses and spreading their lies and messages of hate without being held properly accountable. A ‘No platform’ policy would dis-affiliate the Union from any such views and give us as a union the legal right to prevent any applications from such extremist groups to use our services and venues as a platform to preach messages of hate. ‘No Platform’ is also a policy that has been implemented on by the NUS on a national level.
4. Reducing the Unions’ and Universities’ environmental Impact
Although technically this is an issue that our welfare department is required to give its attention to, I believe this is a great problem that affects us all and needs our immediate attention. Renewed campaigns on effective recycling and looking at the Universities’ energy structures in conjunction with our Environmental Officer and VP Welfare will help us on the road to this.
Hopefully this has given you a good idea about who I am and what I do, there is a lot more to it as well!
If you ever want to find something out or talk about any issue, whether it has been mentioned here or not, please, please, please come and talk to me! In the meantime, look out for me out and around campus (I’m tall with dark curly hair, not hard to miss), send me an email on gary.coates@roehampton.ac.uk or ring me on 020 8392 3221.
P.S : I am NOT Mika, so don’t ask!
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