Year of Change 08 - 09!  Why is this year being branded the Year of Change? – Simple, there are several reasons and I hope you’ll bear with us as we go through them and tell you, our Members, as to why you should get involved in your Union this year, at a crucial time for HUU. Firstly, we are putting a new constitution to the general membership to vote on in week five. HUU is campaigning for a Yes vote, why? – We need this governance review to pass, in order to register with the Charity Commission and to have structures that meet the needs of a 21st Century Union. Anything that needs to be changed easily has been placed into the Bye-laws, leaving the bare bones of the constitution purely about the Governance of HUU (currently a deregistered Charity). This Governance review will also lead to a huge internal restructure of student and Sabbatical roles, making us more representative and better able to voice the concerns of Hull and Scarborough students. Check it out at the Governance review mini site. Secondly, The University of Hull is currently recruiting for a new Vice Chancellor; whoever is appointed will have a direct influence on the support and funding HUU receives, myself and the VP Academic Representation have already had a meeting to present the criteria the Union wants to see in the new VC and we’ll keep you informed at the developments at this crucial time. Thirdly, UEC are also determined to transform HUU into an active, campaigning Union where everyone –whether involved or not- takes ownership of their Union, their education and their student experience. We’re reaching out to students we’ve never reached out to before – mature students, part-timers, post-grad students and student parents. We’re also putting Liberation at the heart of the Union, fighting discrimination in all its forms and promoting underrepresented groups. We’ve galvanised our Campaigns committee, moved our NUS delegate elections and applying pressure like never before on the University to truly deliver for our students. Our priority campaigns for Semester 1 are: Housing, ‘Broke and Broken’ – the NUS Higher Education Funding campaign, and Increase the Subvention (the grant given from the University to the Union). The Union is massively underfunded, it is vital for all students we can increase the funding from the University to the Union. An increase in funding will improve the money available for the AU, Societies and for us to pioneer the informal education we provide and do a lot more for student services and student development. We’re also changing our policy making structures, bringing back the General Meeting once a term, with referenda on the issues that matter to you being held once a semester. We’re holding lots of weeks of activism this year; Fairtrade fortnight, RAG week, Black History Month, Housing week to name but a few. We’re running a big talent night to showcase all of HUU’s talented students to the University and are bringing back the RAG parade – a carnival-like procession of floats going from the Uni, down Newland Avenue and around the city centre; this will pitch societies and sports teams and voluntary groups against each other to see who can raise the most. The winning team or Hall will receive the RAG trophy. These are just some examples of the campaigns, activism and representation HUU is leading on this year. We want to pioneer a collective approach that sees all students working together to deliver for one another – it’s never too late to get involved, email me at huu-president@hull.ac.uk, see Esther in the Student Activities Office, see Barry in the Campaigns office or Benno in the AU office. This year promises to be an exciting one, I hope you choose to be part of it. Helen HUU President 2008/9 |
