A year ago, as I prepared to begin my journey as RSU President, someone asked me a simple but profound question:

"What kind of president do you want to be?"

At the time, I honestly didn't have a definite answer. I knew I wanted to serve students well, but I also knew that leadership isn't defined by titles or promises, it's defined by actions, consistency, and the impact you leave behind.

So rather than focusing on what I wanted to be called, I focused on what I wanted to achieve.

My Priorities

From day one, my priorities were clear, and with your help and support, these are some of the things we have been able to get done this year:

1. Affordable Student Accommodation and Swift Maintenance

Housing is one of the biggest pressures on student life, and it was one of the first things I set out to fix. We pushed for creation of more affordable housing on campus. Thankfully, the University Estates was also thinking in this direction. So Newman Twin Room accommodation was born, a shared room accommodation where students can stay in a pair and at a cheap price, so more students could access affordable housing without compromising on quality. Additionally, we worked to make the  Maintenance SLA (Service Level Agreement) become available on the ServiceDesk, giving students a clear, reliable timeline for when repairs would actually get done, rather than an open-ended wait. In our quest to ensure that communication and response to student issues is improved, the ServiceDesk team built a system to enable ticket monitoring and escalation, so that issues no longer sat forgotten in a queue but were tracked and pushed forward until resolved.

2. Creation of More Student Jobs

Financial pressure is real for so many of us, and access to work should not be a struggle on top of everything else. We emphasized to the Careers team, the importance of working with companies who are genuine about providing opportunities for our students during job fairs at the university. This was improved upon in the Job Fairs ran on campus this year, connecting students directly to internship and job opportunities. At RSU, we expanded the range of RSU student jobs available on campus, including Event Crew, Marketing and Comms Assistants, Campaign Assistants, FreshDesk Assistants, Student Panelists, and Survey Superheroes. These roles gave students flexible, campus-based income while building real experience for their CVs.

3. Flexible Academic Guidance for Students

Every student's academic journey looks different, and support should reflect that. A core part of my priorities this year was pushing for more flexible academic guidance (especially for masters and international students), so students could get help that actually fit their circumstances rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

4. Transparency and Action on Student Complaints

Students deserve to be heard, and more importantly, to see action follow from being heard. We introduced the Open Forum initiative where students could raise concerns directly and see them addressed openly, rather than disappearing into silence. More importantly, we turned these concerns into campaigns to bring about change and continuously update students on the status of actions being taken on their concerns. To mention a few campaigns that arose from the forum, we had the 24/7 study spaces on campus, more accessible laundry rooms, university digital map, weekly food menu update across campus, bus service improvement campaign and many more.

5. Student Talent Promotion

University life isn't just about lectures and deadlines, it's also about culture, creativity, and celebration. We introduced the Masquerade Ball and hosted the Celebration of Cultures events, giving students spaces to showcase their talents in music, dance, photography, DJing, event anchoring, modelling, fashion design, etc and celebrate the diversity that makes our community what it is.

6. Basic Need Support (Cost of Living)

With the cost of living weighing heavily on students, we worked to ease that burden wherever we could. This included negotiating a Bundle Price across campus with Elior (University’s catering provider). Similarly , The Hive operated by the SU introduced series of meal deals so that students could buy more with less. Another reason why we are running the Bus Service Campaign is to make transport more accessible and affordable for students. We also organised Clothes Swap events so students could refresh their wardrobes without extra cost.

7. A Union That Protects Student Interests at All Times

Behind the scenes, a huge part of this role was representation. I represented you at 12 committees, locally and even nationally at the UK Parliament. Behind every meeting were countless hours of preparation, including reviewing more than 6,500 pages of committee papers (some of which I contributed to), to properly understand the issues at hand, ensure your voices were informed, represented, and advocated for effectively. It wasn't always visible work, but it was some of the most important.

Looking Back

Of course, not every challenge could be solved in one year, and there is always more work to do. But I leave this role knowing that every decision I made was guided by one question:

“How does this benefit students?”

As I reflect on this incredible journey, I’m grateful to everyone who trusted me, challenged me, supported me, and worked alongside me. To the RSU staff, my fellow officers, student leaders, volunteers, societies, university colleagues, and every student who shared an idea, concern, or word of encouragement; thank you.

Leadership has been one of the greatest privileges of my life, and serving as your SU President has been an honour I will always cherish.

So, returning to the question I was asked a year ago—what kind of president did I want to be? I think that question is no longer mine to answer. Instead, I’ll leave it to you, our amazing students, to decide:

What kind of president was I to you?

Thank you for an unforgettable year.

Ódàbọ̀,

Joshua Oluwarotimi Kayode,

RSU President 2025/2026.