Sabbatical Team Priorities 2015-16
It has been a brilliant first week in office for us all – there is so much to get our heads around, but it has been wonderful to receive so much support from everyone and we’re determined to start on the front foot by starting to tackle some major issues immediately.
With that in mind, we spent our first team meeting picking out ten major issues to act as a collective manifesto for us all, which you can hold us accountable to and check out our progress over the year. It’s crucial that we work together as closely as possible – for example, issues that affect postgraduates are NOT just for our Postgraduate Officer to work on!
1) Mental health awareness.
We should be campaigning on this all year round, not just during exam season. We’re looking to expand Feel Good and make it a termly initiative, as well as running an ‘It’s OK’ campaign during Freshers.
2) Fair pay for postgraduates.
Postgraduate Officers have battled for this in successive years – it simply isn’t right that postgraduates who teach are paid so poorly, and regularly not paid for preparation and marking time. We will continue to build on the pressure exerted by previous Sabb teams and work to change this.
3) 24/7 Library, all year round.
Out of the top 10 universities in England, we are the only one not to have a year-round 24-hour library. Warwick students overwhelmingly voted for this motion in an All Student Meeting earlier this year by the largest-ever majority – it will mean more flexibility as to when you can study.
4) A proper Freshers’ Week, free of lectures and seminars.
This was something I spoke to a lot of people about during Elections Week and I am determined that it is in place for the 2016/17 academic year. Students want and deserve a proper induction - it is eminently achievable, and last year’s team already made lots of progress on it.
5) Free Wednesday afternoons.
It’s not right that students should have to choose between studying and playing sport on Wednesday afternoons, which are supposed to be kept completely clear. Sport brings communities together and has a hugely positive impact on mental health and wellbeing.
6) Women/BAME/Disabled Students’ Leadership conferences.
As an all-white male Sabbatical Officer team, we have a massive duty to put structures in place to make sure that future teams are more diverse. We will be putting on these conferences during the year to encourage more women, disabled students andstudents from BAME backgrounds to run, inviting leaders from across the student movement to inspire the amazing talent at Warwick. Our fantastic Liberation Officers will be crucial in making this happen!
7) Compulsory recorded lectures.
We have made a lot of progress on this over the past couple of years, but compulsory recorded lectures will mean that learning is more accessible than ever before – especially for disabled students whose needs and difficulties with getting to their contact hours are sadly often overlooked.
8) Cost of campus accommodation.
Last year’s team did brilliantly in negotiating Cryfield as the lowest-priced accommodation in the Russell Group. But it does not stop there – we must make sure that the cost of living remains affordable for students from all socio-economic backgrounds.
9) Improving bus services.
Following last year’s Bus Survey, we are now represented in meetings with local bus operators Stagecoach, National Express and Travel de Courcey. We’re looking to get more late-night buses put on, as well as working towards Swift cards (a bit like Oyster cards) so that you can get on whichever bus comesalong first. We will also create a ‘Record and Report’ form for late buses, to implement refunds where necessary.
10) Cutting the costs.
The announcement in the recent Budget that maintenance grants will be scrapped from September 2016 represents a direct attack on students, especially those from low-income backgrounds. We have a responsibility to work with NUS and other SUs around the country on a national scale to fight against this and work with local MPs to have this issue properly debated in Parliament.
We all have our own projects which we were elected on, ranging from scrapping Erasmus fees to creating a Sports Speaker Series – but the above are projects we can all work on together and be held accountable for as a collective.
We’re also looking forward to meeting up with the Part-Time Officers in September. You’ll see their faces around campus a lot more this year, and we’ll be working together really closely to help them deliver their amazing projects and ensure that student representation is as broad and diverse as possible!
Myself and the Team look forward to hopefully delivering some positive outcomes!
Isaac Leigh,
President
