My Leaving Speech

Last Monday I made my leaving speech to Guild Council. Below I have reproduced it in full (besides the parts which I ad-libbed). Looking back I realise there is so much I didn't say and so many people I didn't mention - so if your feeling forgotten then my deepest apologies.

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Hello Guild Council,

I have in the past heard many leaving speeches at this Guild Council. They’re usually a nice opportunity to thank all the relevant people and sometimes make serious remarks about this organisation and how it must move forward. I’m probably going to stick to this script.

Firstly I want to thank Jen. She has been a dedicated and committed President. I will always think back to how this year it would usually be the two of us, last in the office, working late. You stayed committed to your aims throughout the year and your ability to deliver what you promised should make you proud.

To Sparky, I never really knew what the VPS did before this year. You have been the consummate master of your domain. Thanks for all the funny videos and emails that you forward on. I still don’t really know a lot of what you do, but you do it well.

Hannah, I have known you the longest out of everyone else in the team and it has been a pleasure to be a sabbatical with you. You have been a crucial part of the team, speaking a lot of sense in the meetings I’ve sat in you with and you have also been crucial at signing of the expenses which the Telegraph will never find out about. Thanks for that!

So now Oggy, Mr. Incredible just about does you justice. Few other sabbaticals in the history of the Guild can leave with as much to their name. You have also given the Guild a set-piece campaign this year to be proud of. Best of luck finishing your degree next year. I’m sure from the backbenches you will give next years team something to emulate and aspire to.

On to Rich, mate you should be proud. You have taken on your role with a passion no-one else could match. You put Development in Student Activities and Development. Guild Awards and Get Involved are a credit to your hard work and achievements.

And finally Hollie, our wandering VP Welfare. I hope she is having fun in South Africa. Hollie has taken the job of Welfare by the scruff of the neck and she too can be proud to have delivered. A Nightbus that is now running, a jobs agency on campus and a decent voter registration drive as well. I know she was disappointed to miss the last Guild Council.

I would also like to do a vote of thanks to the Guild staff, some of whom are here to night. In many ways you carry this organisation and for that you should be proud. I’ll be giving them all my thanks later.

So usually a leaving speech should be an opportunity to reflect. They do say you should never forget where you’ve come from…

I came on to Guild Council half-way through my first year. This was one of my first interactions with the Guild of Students and over the years I would faithfully attempt to represent the History department.

My initial activities lead to a spurt of motions to try and reform Guild Council itself. The fact that, if an Officer doesn’t submit a report they would face a censure, that was down to a motion that I proposed. All officers now have blogs, and this was started following a motion that I proposed. And the fact that we have electronic voting pads and got rid of the old card votes – that was decided after I proposed a motion calling for the voting on Guild Council to be made more accountable. However, in my third year I realised Guild Council was failing. Because even though we tried to change the edifice, the structure, it was apparent that would never be enough. As a Guild Councillor I focussed too much on the structure and maybe we forget the students who we were trying to represent.

Someone once said: “The trouble with organisational life is that people become obsessed with changing the edifice rather then the lives for which the organisation was designed around.” I have in the past been guilty of that, as has Guild Council. I hope that can change.

Guild Council should now be playing an even more crucial role because the road ahead is bumpy. We are looking at an increasing marketisation of higher education, a commercialisation of education. We need to adapt to face the challenges of the 21st century. The challenges facing the Guild are now crucial but it is equally crucial that you do not forget the students that you are here for.

But the challenges we face will not be solved with one meeting in one night. Change will not always come if you wait for some other Guild Councillor or if you wait for the Officers. You are the ones you've been waiting for. You are the change that you seek. Never doubt your own ability to make the change with a few emails to the Officers and a motion.

I ran because I wanted to make some of those changes. It was natural that I would want to run for education, and given the choice again I would change nothing.

This organisation has a single objective:
“To promote the educational purposes of the University of Birmingham through the promotion of the common interest of the student body.”

I often feared that we invested in other aspects of our work, the social intercourse perhaps, and lost sight of our overall aim.

That is what I have worked to rectify this year. I was able to progress the brilliant work of my predecessor and continue to enhance the Student Rep system. Student Rep names are now online, the training has been improved, we have a new strategy which builds upon the new policy that was introduced over a year ago – and eventually we will get there. Student Reps can one day be brilliant, though to coin a phrase, it takes a little patience.

Also I have tried to enhance the quality of the representation that this organisation does. As part of the quality assurance audit of the university this year the Guild had to produce a written submission on the quality of the learning experience at the University of Birmingham. This meant using statistical data, focus groups, Student Rep minutes and writing a detailed report. And the shocking thing was that this is something that we have no record of ever doing before.

My frustration is that when it comes to representation, this organisation has been amateurish, ill-resourced and pretty useless.

However, based on the back of that single report we have the university addressing key issues like the availability of core texts in the library, assessment feedback and hidden course costs.

Representation should never be seen in an end in itself. Too often we see representation as a question of communication and merely sitting on the appropriate committee. The purpose of representation is too secure educational and institutional change.

And the sad thing is I have barely had a question on either of those pieces of work all year. It pains me to say that as a body, that body which I was once a proud part of, Guild Council is ill-equipped, irrelevant to all but itself and not fit for purpose. Guild Officers are not held to account, and students are not engaged in what this body does.

My frustration amounts to one simple question: why do we do it that way? Guild Council we need to challenge ourselves more. Why do we have a Guild Council, what do students really thinks about their experience at university, what is the purpose of societies? These are all questions we should be talking about more often. In one of my more memorable speeches to Guild Council I claimed we were the modern incarnation of British steel; a nationalised industry that was prone to stagnation, potentially lacking dynamism. That is the role of Guild Council, challenge the status quo and make the Officers justify their actions. If Guild Council should do anything, it should be able to do that.

As I said before, those things can change. But it is now the job of you to make that happen.

I leave the Guild fairly happy – I’m content that what I’ve done this year has in many ways helped push this organisation forward.

I want to say a couple more thanks,

Tom Guise, everything I just said about Guild Council is now his problem and I wish him the best of luck.

To some of the non-sabbs; Emma, Chris, Pippa, Suzy, Siobhan, I’ve enjoyed Guild Officer Group meetings this year. Thanks for proofreading my motions and being great members of the team.

To my successor Brig, I think your going to be great. You understand the challenges going forward and are smart enough to work out how to solve them. I can’t promise you the next year won’t be hard for you, in fact I can only promise you blood, sweat, toil and tears. Despite that I’m going to do my best to get you ready during handover and I’m sure you’ll love it.

And finally a very special thank you goes to my girlfriend Kat. Thank you for listening to my drone on and on and on about the Guild. Thank you for putting up with my erratic diary: promising you lunch and then cancelling on a regular basis, and thank you for being a confidant who I could trust with everything. (Basically thanks for not talking to Redbrick…)

Which leaves me with one final exhortation to make…

You can make the change, but make the right change. Don’t forget the students we are all here to represent. It’s easy too, we’ve all done it! We get fixated on personal goals and ambitions and loose sight of the wider purpose, loose focus on what actually matters. Ask that fundamental question; why do we do it that way?, think about the students who you represent and be brave enough to stand up and make the change.

That’s all I really have to say about that!

So that’s it for me... My time on Guild Council and pretending to be a student ends. I hope I made a couple of worthwhile changes while here and I exhort all of you to try and do your bit too.

Thank you, that’s all folks!

Do you want to take part in a consultation on the library refurbishment?

Do you have an opinion on how the Main Library could be improved?

Are you willing to spend an hour one day next week discussing your views in a focus group?

You will be paid £5.75 to take part in an hour-long focus group. These groups will run on Monday 8th, Tuesday 9th and Thursday 11th June from 1.00pm - 2.00pm. Please note that the focus group on Thursday 11th June will be for Postgraduates only.

All focus groups will be held in the Library I-lounge on the ground floor. A free lunch will also be provided.

Please e-mail t.marley@guild.bham.ac.uk with:
1. your name
2. programme
3. whether you are an Undergraduate or Postgraduate
4. what year of study you are in
5. which day you are able to attend (10th June is compulsory for Postgraduates).

Use your voice: Vote!

This Thursday it is the European Elections. It is absolutely crucial that students' vote whilst they are studying. As residents of Birmingham we are 28,000 strong. However, for our opinions and interests to be taken seriously it is essential that we use our democratic right. Why would Birmingham City Council or the government take notice if students do not choose to vote? The truth is students often do not vote and often students can get overlooked.

So make sure you get your voice heard and vote this Thursday.

For more information about these elections go here.

What is WebCT like these days?

Since the migration of WebCT to the new Blackboard Managed hostings which I blogged about previously I have heard significantly less complaints about WebCT. They say no news is good news so I assumed this to be the case. However, today someone mentioned that there were still concerns with the system and I was hoping to get some feedback..

So what is WebCT like right now??

Student Rep strategy

This year I been working to develop a new strategy for the Student Rep scheme. This is to build on the new policy that was introduced last year.

The priorities will probably be:

• Student engagement with the Student Rep Scheme
• Recruiting and developing our Student Reps
• Reporting structures (Making sure that something happens when Student Reps raise a concern)
• Sharing best practice

A good strategy is very important because it can provide a direction for the scheme over the next few years. Hopefully we will have a draft together by June.

How do you want to see the Student Rep Scheme improving? Give your ideas as a comment or email me t.marley@guild.bham.ac.uk

Bursaries and Scholarships

With it being nearly two weeks since I last blogged I wouldn't be surprised if people assumed I had walked out of the office for good.

Bursaries are a constant source of heartache for bleeding heart liberals like myself. In the past there were significant under spends on the money that was earmarked for student support. This has been the case at the University of Birmingham before now and I decided to conduct a little investigation.

Every university in the England and Wales has an 'Access Agreement'. This is an agreement between the institution and the Office for Fair Access regarding how the university will provide extra bursaries from its 'additional fee income' (the extra money that it got from top-up fees) and what outreach activities it will run.

Check out the Access Agreement for the University of Birmingham here.

In 2006-07, the first year of the new bursary scheme, the University of Birmingham pledged to spend £1,796,000 but underspent by £380,000.

However, the situation has improved. In 2007-08 the underspend equates to 0.1% and this year £3,078,000 was spent on bursaries and scholarships. In addition to this £254,000 was spent on additional outreach activities.

Despite this the University are concerned that students who are entitled to money may not be recieving it. if you think you may be eligible then check out the website here.

Library refurbishment

Yesterday I attended a meeting which was discussing proposals for a major refurbishment of the Main Library. This is currently at a very early stage - it is not officially a 'project' yet as it is still required to go through the required committees. Those behind it are intent on creating a library that will be fit for the needs of students in the future.

I intend to provide more information to Guild Council about these exciting developments soon. Until then I want to hear your suggestions for what you want in the main library redevelopment..

More group study spaces?
Smaller computer clusters?
Air conditioning????

Easter

So I'm back in work today after the Easter vacation. Today has been designated a 'house-keeping' day, officially the Guild is closed and we are using this opportunity to catch up on admin (and blogging). I am however back in the the thick of it! This week I will be working on putting together a draft for the Student Rep strategy and helping with preparations for the Higher Education debate on the 6th May with the new Vice Chancellor, Professor David Eastwood. I will be attending the Learning and Teaching Committee, Academic Policy and Regulation Committee and Educational Enhancement Group.

What do you want to see me working on this term? - leave any suggestions in the comments section...

More from NUS conference

The NUS have just put up a video of some of the speeches by delegates from the University of Birmingham.



Hat tip to the Welfairy for beating me to it!

David Lammy visits the Guild

On the 8th April the Minister for Higher Education, David Lammy, popped into the Guild of Students for a chat with the Officers. We discussed a range of issues including fees, issues facing international students and also the role marketisation has played in the US higher education system. Find out more about his visit here.

NUS conference

From Tuesday to Thursday this week I was at NUS conference so I thought it worth doing a little report.

National Conference is the policy-making body of the National Union of Students. This year we discussed a raft of policies on higher education funding, student employment, and the student experience in general. This conference was themed as "Students in the Recession" demonstrating that, this year at least, NUS is relevant to the world that it exists within. There were also a series of elections. Find out all the detail from NUS conference here.

Birmingham was quite well represented this year. Myself and Fabian Neuner (President-elect) took speeches on a policy regarding assessment feedback. Hollie Jones spoke on employment rights, Jen took a speech on something (can't remember what though) as did my successor Brigid Jones.

Although it was technically a secret ballot I am happy to be held accountable for who I voted for in the elections. I voted:
- President: Wes Streeting
- Vice President (Higher Education): Aaron Porter
- Vice President (Welfare): Ben Whitacker
- Vice President (Society and Citizenship): Susan Nash
- Vice President (Union Development): Richard 'Bubble' Budden
Amusingly they all got elected!

I am not really sure what else to write about the conference but I would be happy to answer any questions in the comments section.

(some) Student Rep names now online

A long standing intention of mine has been achieved as we now have (some) of the Student Rep names online.

There is still a lot of work to do on this though. I would estimate that only 25% of the names and email addresses are available. Unfortunately a lot of the Student Reps did not give us permission to pass on this information. This is something we will try to rectify next semester. I also realise that some of the big schools will have to be broken down into departments and it would also be useful to have the year of study of the Reps. For the College of Medical and Dental Science we will also need to ensure that the names of CAWC members (Reps for the MBChB) and the BMedSCi SSC are listed.

Any further thoughts would be much appreciated!

Joke post: Potter Puppet Pals

To alleviate the intellectual rigours that fill my day I have decided to post another Joke post.

Enjoy!



After watching the trailer for the sixth Harry Potter film yesterday I am actually quite excited....

Feedback on exams...

1) Do you get it?

2) Do you want it?

please leave any comments or thoughts or alternatively email me at t.marley@guild.bham.ac.uk

Guild Awards

Last night was the 2009 Guild Awards.

I would just like to say a big-well done to Rich Walker, the Vice President (Student Activities and Development) for organising and hosting the event. I was sitting next to Edward Peck (head of the College of Social Sciences) and Brendan Casey (Director of Academic Services) and they were both hugely impressed with the array of activities and events that we have in the Guild of Students.

Also I would like to give a congratulations to Anna Speed who won the best Student Rep award!

The video-report!

The QAA come to town

Previously I have talked about the QAA Institutional Audit that will be taking place at the University of Birmingham. This is a very important process for the university. Institutional Audit and its result will be seen as an endorsement, or not, of the quality of the degrees which students receive.

Just over a week ago the audit team came on a Briefing Visit. They used this opportunity to talk to three sabbatical officers (me, Jen and Hollie) along with five Student Reps about our experience at the University of Birmingham. The auditors had read and questioned us on aspects of the Guild's written submission over the hour and a half. We discussed a range of issues including Enquiry-Based Learning, the my.bham portal and the Student Rep Scheme.

The QAA main audit visit will run from 27th April to the 1st May. The auditors have expressed an interest to talk to more students, both undergraduates and postgraduates, and I have emailed Student Reps asking for people who are available. Of the six meetings which the QAA will conduct two will be with students. The aim for the auditors is to follow up with university staff on what the students say. This highlights the importance which the QAA attach to student involvement in quality assurance and enhancement.

Turkey farmers vote for Xmas

BBC News have conducted an anonymous survey of vice-chancellors in England and Wales and found two-thirds would like to see an increase in the cap on variable fees.

I can sympathise with the concerns of these vice-chancellors. For the UK to maintain its world leading position in Higher Education we must invest in the sector. Currently only 0.9% of GDP is invested into HE, below the 1.1% average for the OECD, and the government should do it's bit to cut the spending gap.

Guild Council took a position against any lifting of the cap earlier in the year. Despite the reintroduction of grants, fees are still a barrier to widening access. Fears of escalating levels of debt will only deter students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Piling more debt on to graduates during a recession would not be a smart move. Also if the cap is lifted the graduate premium (the amount extra a graduate earns by benefit of going to University) would be further whittled away and undercut the incentive for many students to attend.

Lifting the cap would also accelerate the marketisation of Higher Education. Students would be more likely to make their decision on which University to attend based on the price, and not the course that is right for them. This would undermine the culture of Higher Education and be detrimental for both students and staff.

But then what did we expect from the turkey farmers?

Joke post: All the leaves are brown...

I thought I would inject some comic relief!

My Guild Council Report for March

It has been another busy month in the life of your Vice President (Education and Access). In an attempt to enhance accountability I have increased the number of blogs I am making. To date I have written twelve blog posts since the last Guild Council. I intend to keep this pace up and invite all comments, queries and suggestions. www.tommarleyvpea.blogspt.com

• I have held a Student Rep forum and a Postgraduate forum recently to ascertain the views and concerns of those groups. Attendance was not as high as I would like though both were new and I am looking for ways to improve them in the future.
  
• I was part of a School Quality Review team for the reviews of Theology and B Med Sci.
  
• I attended the Scholarship Board and we discussed increasing the availability of scholarships for postgraduate students.
  
• At a meeting of the Quality Assurance and Enhancement Committee I raised the issue of extensions for candidates in Guild Officer election. That committee is also taking the lead in preparations for the QAA Institutional Audit.
  
• I have attended various plagiarism meetings with students who have been accused of plagiarism.
  
• I was invited to a meeting with senior University staff to discuss contingency plans for any potential UCU industrial actions, including potential actions short of a strike.
  
• I am now on the working group to revise the Code of Practice on Reasonable Diligence. We hope to have a new Code of Practice for the next academic year.
  
• The Learning and Teaching Roadshows that are held by the Univeristy are currently underway. These are used to spread best practice across the institution and I attended the Engineering and Physical Sciences event to provide input. I hope to attend more in the future.
  
• I have been coordinating the Guild’s delegation to the NUS Lobby of Parliament on 18th March. We will be sending over 10 students to Parliament to lobby MPs.
  
• Work on improving assessment feedback continues. Watch this space for more info in the future…

The issue of experience

The relative experience of different candidate can be an important determining factor for voters. Take for example the recent US election. Obama had some experience in the State and US Senate though this was far outweighed by John McCains experience. Funnily enough McCain actually had some experience 'changing Washington' and had put his name to major overhauls of campaign finance. However, the mind-boggling inexperience of Sarah Palin, the Republican Vice Presidential candidate, was simply in another league. The very fact that Palin was literally "a heart-beat away from the presidency" (not letting us forget that McCain was also very old) was a major concern for many voters.

See this clip below for a justification of Palin's foreign policy experience.



Yes you heard it... Alaska is close to Russia.... That says it all.

So what is the value of experience when you are running for elected office? Some champion their experience and point out they have the know-how to fulfil their manifesto promises. Your experience may demonstrate you have been campaigning for students for a period of time. It may also be shown that you can get results.

Alternatively, the lack of experience can be used to show that you are an insurgent or an outsider, willing to go in and bring Change. This tactic certainly worked for Obama. The reasoning goes; if you have been on the outside you can see objectively how things can be improved and you have not been corrupted, you are part of no clique or faction of power.

In the Guild Officer elections all the candidates have very differing levels of experience. Some may even feel they are more deserving of a position. In almost every other walk of life if you demonstrate effectiveness and commitment to a cause then you will proceed. Only in the world of elections can a 'less-qualified' individual beat a 'well-qualified' individual. The real criteria that we are looking for in our potential Officers is their ability to gather votes. Surely the only experience that counts is in the ability to run an election campaign?

But then in any democracy the voters know best... surely?

£800 honey..

Yesterday I took part in a shortlisting exercise for students who had applied for the Honey Pot funding.

The Honey Pot provides financial support for undergraduate students on work placements during the summer vacations. They can be awarded up to £800 to cover costs such as transport, accomodation and for those travelling abroad visas and vaccinations. There was a great variety of applications from those looking to do humanitarian placements in Africa to those undertaking research projects at the University of Birmingham. Every application I viewed was of a high quality and the Honey Pot scheme, which is provided by the Careers Centre, is very commendable!

Best of luck to all those who put an application in.

"Birmingham is confirmed as top research player in the region"

So says the headline of the latest news story on the University of Birmingham website:

The Higher Education Funding Council for England announced today that it will award the University of Birmingham funding of £44.6 million for research, placing the University top in the region and 11th nationally.
This is the first award of funding that reflects Birmingham’s performance in the Research Assessment Exercise 2008 - a UK-wide survey of research quality - which ranked 89.9% of the University’s research as being “world-leading” or “internationally excellent”.

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, Professor Michael Sterling, said:

“At the University of Birmingham, we are committed to carrying out research that has global impact; that is agenda-setting; that changes lives. This award recognises that the quality and quantity of research activity undertaken at Birmingham is delivering just that. This confirms the University’s position as a major international research player and the biggest in the region.”

I can't argue with that!

I have now received my ballot paper... tough choices need making

If you are on the main campus or live in halls you cannot fail to notice there is an election on. Various peers will be making impressive pledges, the viability of their claims something that is open to dispute. Students will be harassed while their harassers nothing short of messianic, even by Obamamaina standards. And fundamentally, every candidate proposes Change; of the what, where, when and why of the Guild. I should not be so cynical as I was messianic once.

Being a Guild Officer is hard. I know many of the candidates and their supporters assume otherwise (and I probably did too). You are constantly balancing the expectations of a student body, attempting to meet you manifesto promises and, certainly for myself, reflecting on the organisation to try and make it better. These elements are often not in sync and as a Guild Officer you have difficult decisions, this job is literally a roller coaster.

It was always my aim after the election to do a series of blogs deconstructing the role of democracy within the Guild. As it is the first day of voting I thought I would play my cards now.

In 1790 Edmund Burke, the farther of conservatism, published his Reflections on the Revolution in France. This shaped the way many viewed the French Revolution. However, it is also a political doctrine and one from which we can learn important lessons. His text was written at the onset political turmoil in France. Burke provided a critique of Liberalism, the belief that abstract notions can inform our reality, and signalled his belief in gradual, organic change as opposed to revolutionary overhaul. He pointed out that the masses could not always be trusted and that there is value in order and tradition.

Burke would point out that as a Guild Officer (ie a representative) you are not a delegate of the people. By this you do not do simply what people ask. Your own judgment is important and sometimes representing students means you don't listen to the voices of those students who are in closest proximity. Tony Blair once said: "the hardest thing in politics is not saying yes, it's saying no" and that is an important skill for any Guild Officer to have.

So when you decide to vote, don't vote for the Officer with nice promises or who promises to listen and 'do everything that students want'. Personally I have one question: would they be brave enough to say no to you?

If the answer is yes then I think we have a winner...

With this in mind I point you to the GTV hustings of the two candidates for Vice President (Education and Access): Brigid Jones and Timm Smith!

A quick message from the NUS Vice President - Aaron Porter

The National Union of Students has recently taken to video-messages.

Here is one about the National Student Survey...




If you are a final year undergraduate and not filled in the suvey yet then make sure you do!