This November, your Elected Officers, have been working hard to make sure you’re loving life at Herts. Here are this month’s updates…

From Your President

Over the past few months, I’ve been hearing your feedback and advocating for real change across campus. Here are a few key updates:

• • UNO Bus Improvements: All intercampus UNO buses are now free, and timetables are being aligned for placement students. I’ve pushed for better driver training, punctuality monitoring, and early timetable sharing with UNO to reduce delays.
• •  Student Finances: Returning students with blocked StudyNet accounts have been unblocked, and a new student payment plan will launch in Semester B to prevent academic disruption due to debt.
• •  Campus Facilities & Belonging: I’ve advocated for improved lecture spaces, reopening EleHouse as a social area, and better accommodation services including free society memberships and more food options for students in College Lane and De Havilland.

These are just a few highlights! For a full update on all actions, please see the detailed email from myself sent on Wednesday 10th December.

From Your Part-Time Officers

Ritvik, Business Students’ Officer

• • Ritvik is working to improve access to career opportunities by reviewing UH Careers services and identifying gaps raised in Herts Unfiltered. Alongside this, he is examining the personal tutoring framework across schools and gathering insight from SCOs and academic reps to better understand student expectations and where experiences vary.

Judith, Creative Arts Students’ Officer

• • Judith has been progressing work on supporting students by developing a budgeting brochure - “guide to life” template, outlining typical living costs and key financial considerations, which can be updated for each academic intake. She is also focusing on enhancing employability for CTA students, drafting a Study Buddy Scheme, and exploring employer “talk events” to give students insight into work culture, expectations, and portfolio standards. Alongside this, she has been liaising with CTA leadership and technical teams to extend studio and workshop hours during peak periods, proposing temporary adjustments to make better use of underutilised morning slots for early evening access, helping students’ complete coursework and practical projects more effectively.

Lorena, Disabled Students’ Officer

• • Lorena has shifted her focus from staff-only accessibility training to improving the overall learning experience for disabled students. She is embedding active learning methods to increase engagement and support diverse learning needs. In addition, she is reviewing all pre-arrival communications to ensure information provided to students is accessible, supportive, and helps set them up for success.

Mariangel, Health, Medicine & Life Sciences Students’ Officer

• • Mariangel attended the Winter Warmer event on 27 November to provide HML students with a social, wellbeing-focused break. She is also collaborating with the HML Placement Learning Advocate to organise a support group for placement students, offering a space to meet peers and share experiences. This event is scheduled for 10 December in Hutton Hall. 

Hassan, Race Equity Students’ Officer

• • Hassan is focusing on improving engagement among mixed-ethnicity students by recognising the role of faith in student life. He has met with the part-time chaplain to discuss extending prayer space access, especially during Ramadan and Jewish holidays, and is exploring plans for a full-time chaplain. He is also meeting with Black student societies to understand declining engagement and co-developing solutions, including creating a social media promo team, running collaborative events, and developing a consistent weekly social media strategy to promote both events and support services.

Shafquat, Law & Education Students’ Officer

• • Shafquat has been working with the Graduate Success Team to clarify the placement process and ensure students understand available support. He will be promoting upcoming career-focused events, including “Get Your First Post in Teaching” on 19 January and Career Employability Day on 29 January, while exploring steps to help students navigate the career development framework within their schools.

Aadarsha, LGBTQ+ Students’ Officer

• • Since joining in mid-November, Aadarsha has completed his training, familiarised himself with ongoing projects, and begun shaping his action plan. He is prioritising the creation of safe, culturally aware spaces for LGBTQ+ students, particularly in the Business School, developing a research-informed, intersectional framework to guide inclusion work, and addressing cultural queerphobia through targeted education and harassment-awareness training. He is finalising actions to support these priorities, with the full plan expected by mid-December.

Nibir, Physics, Engineering & Computer Science Students’ Officer

• • Nibir is addressing challenges in SPECS, including inactive societies and academic support concerns. He has asked SCOs to engage society committees to rebuild events and activity and is exploring a peer mentoring scheme for the school. Alongside this, he is working with UNO and SCOs to collect student feedback on bus services, improving communication and visibility of existing benefits, and supporting UNO in resolving issues raised by students. 

Shruti, Women Students’ Officer

• • Shruti has been reviewing motions from the previous student council and receiving detailed handovers from SU staff. She has been liaising with the Dean of Students to raise concerns about the lack of promotion for the ‘Speak Up’ campaign and has asked for a plan and timeline for how it will be promoted, offering her support if needed. In parallel, she has created a short, informative video about “Speak Up” for SU channels, scheduled to go live mid-December. She also attended the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence event to represent women students.

A detailed action plan tracker for all officers was submitted at the Student Council (3^rd Dec) and will be attached in the minutes on the Herts SU website so look out for them.

Best wishes,