Hi all! October has been a busy and exciting month, and I wanted to share what I’ve been working on for you. Every conversation, meeting and decision has been driven by one goal, helping you love life at Herts.

Here's a round-up of what's been happening:

Student Finance

• Every student who contacted me regarding a finance block has now been unblocked from Canvas
• A new policy has been agreed: Returning students with less than £5999.00 outstanding fees will be unblocked from Canvas with a graduation block applied instead
• I am continuing discussions with the Student Finance Team to launch a new Payment Plan as soon as possible

UNO Buses

• I gathered your feedback, created a report and met with UNO Buses to demand:
  • Clarification on why issues are ongoing
  • A clear action plan and timeline for improvements
  • Stronger prevention policies especially for the start of each year
• A follow-up meeting with UNO Buses and the University is scheduled to push for immediate solutions. Our SPECS Officer, Nibir will also work alongside us to support commuting students
• Important reminder, Inter-campus travel is free on ANY UNO bus between College Lane and de Havilland when you show your student ID. If you are wrongly charged or refused service, please report bus number, time and date to myself and Nibir. You can find our email addresses here

Campus Safety

• Met with Geri from the Dean of Students team to discuss reports of safety concerns and theft incidents
• Promoting awareness of support services, including Speak Up
• Raised the urgent issue of broken streetlights with Estates, repairs are now logged and being prioritised

Teaching Quality

• I’ve been speaking directly with students to understand:
  • Access to drop-in support
  • How up-to-date lecture capture is
  • Engagement levels in sessions
  • Additional support students want
• Responses are being compiled into a report.
• I've requested from the Academic Experience team for monthly check-ins with Student Reps to review teaching quality and module observations where issues are identified.

Accommodation

• From next week, I will be speaking with both on- and off-campus students (alongside SCOs and Part-Time Officers) about:
  • Cost and value for money
  • Service quality
  • Facility improvements

Sense of Belonging

• Proposed new Semester B initiatives to SLT and Community Events team to boost engagement, including:
  • Model United Nations with a gala night
  • Science Fair for future innovators
  • Festival for Creative Minds
  • Cultural celebration events

Timetabling

• Following widespread concerns, I requested evidence from SCOs on:
  • Courses spread over 4-5 days
  • Days with only 1-2 hour commitments
  • Intake and cohort-specific struggles
• Thank you to Charmagne for arranging an urgent meeting and to SCOs for submitting 20+ programmes affected

Campus Catering

• I met with Aramark to push for:
  • Better pricing & value meal options
  • More diverse menus
  • Removal of poorly rated items
  • Student food focus groups and surveys

Multi-Faith Spaces

• Positive feedback on Cricket Hall as a Jummah prayer space
• Advocated successfully for portable ablution facilities at de Havilland (Thanks Charmagne!)
• Continuing work with faith communities to improve support

Collaborated Student Support

• Thank you to Andrew Lewin MP for working with Herts SU to address student issues and explore solutions together

Meeting with the Vice-Chancellor

• We discussed the urgency of improvements for commuting students. The VC has now renamed the working group to A Campus That Meets the Needs of Commuting Students. Key areas being pushed are:
  • UNO Buses aligned with timetables (arriving 15 mins early)
  • Affordable, extended-hours catering with fair portion sizes
  • Short-stay, affordable on-campus accommodation for commuters
  • More social spaces with activities across campus

Academic Support Visibility:

• Meeting held with Mark Holloway regarding:
  • HAS support improvements
  • More student job opportunities on campus
  • Proposed expansion of the Student Proctor Scheme to all Schools
  • Working with SLE & CTA alongside Part-Time Officers

WTF Week:

• Thanks to everyone who joined us as part of our WTF is Herts SU week. Here are some of our findings:
  • 29 events, 5 days, 3778 student participations
  • 57% didn't know about the SU before campaign
  • 100% now understand how the SU supports them
  • Events was the most discovered service!

Student Voice:

• All the above initiatives are driven by your feedback. Through SSF and Students Reps:
  • We are identifying key issues school-by-school
  • For some Schools, timetabling is fine, other's need urgent change
  • Pushing for:
    • Earlier timetable releases
    • Clear communication of changes
    • Reduced unnecessary campus travel

Got Issues on Campus?

• Got feedback about student life? Share it in our quick survey here

This November, my focus is on turning your ideas into action, so keep the conversations coming! I’m always here to listen, collaborate, and celebrate our community’s progress together.

All the best,