So what have I been getting up to in July?

Many people assume that as there are no students around the summer is a quiet time in the Guild. This has certainly not been the case. Throughout the month of July the officer team for 08-09 have been receiving training. This has included a behind the scenes tour of the guild building and sessions with the various departments. This week I attended 'Active Political Leadership', a training event run by the NUS. This was an intensive course in skills which are relevant to running a students' union.

On Friday Baroness Amos officially opened the Amos Room in the Guild of Students. Lady Amos is an alumni of the Unversity of Birmingham and was the first black female cabinet minister.

Below are a few pictures to give you some idea of what has been going on.

Why I ran for election

This is a question I get asked on a regular basis.

On the right is a picture of me making a speech at a hustings event outside Avanti. My speech was about whether students are getting value for money in their time at the University of Birmingham. Although they pay fees of over £3,000 they still question the quality of feedback on their work, why they feel they do not get enough contact hours and why there are not enough core texts in the library.

I was a Student Rep and a Guild Councillor for history. Those were the kind of issues I used to raise. Now as Vice President I will campaign on those same issues and more.

My aim is to create a vibrant and responsive Student Rep system. Representation should exist at every level (from the lecture theatre to the Vice Chancellor's office) but it is in every school and department where students should feel empowered to be able to have an impact on the issues that affect them.

My election website

When I was running for election I created a website to display my policies.

Check it out here.

Feel free to pull me up on any of my promises which you feel I am not working on...

The Manifesto

My new blog

Hello and welcome to my blog. As the Guild's Vice President (Education and Access) it is my job to represent students to the university on academic issues. This blog will be a forum for feedback on what I am doing and the education campaigns that the Guild is running.