..to London and to the University of Wales Trinity Saint David ... my name is Abi Jenkins and I am your students’ union president for this academic year. As students of the university you are automatically members of Trinity Saint David Students’ Union and it is our job to represent you and to make sure that you have all of the support that you need during your time studying here. Our situation is a little bit special given that we are spread over such a huge geographical area, however, with good transport links and the wonder of modern technology we are still able to offer you advice and support in a number of ways. The following pages will give you a little bit of information into what we can offer you as well as some important contact details for me and my team. I look forward to meeting you during induction and at various times throughout the year, please don’t forget that whatever you need we are only a phone call away.
Best Wishes
Abi
Abi Jenkins TSDSU President 2013/14
It may be that you have read this far and are wondering what your students’ union is and what it is here for! This section aims to address that but please do contact us for more information. The students’ union is here to make sure that you have the best student experience possible and that you are fully supported during your degree with matters regarding your education, you wellbeing and your welfare. There is a team of full time officers that leads the union and they are elected by students once a year in the spring. These officers are based on the Carmarthen and Lampeter campuses but can be contacted by you at any time and you will find their contact details in the back of this guide. All of our work is directed by students through our elected representatives, you have course reps on your campus and this year we will be working towards building a better relationship with the London course rep structure so that we can assist with the support that this provides. In addition to this we have elected part time officers on the Lampeter and Carmarthen campuses that are also accessible to you via the website. These officers have specific areas on which they focus, those areas are:
Students with Disabilites
Student Engagement Officer
Culturally Diverse Students
Women’s Officer
International Students
LGBT Officer
Environmental Officer
Mature and Post Grad Officer
HOW WE WILL TO YOU:
While the university has made some brilliant progress on the welfare provision at our London campuses there are times when students need some advice from someone outside of the university loop. This is where the union’s welfare officers can play their part in giving you someone to chat to about a wide variety of issues.
Whether you want help with housing, visas, mental health, sexual health, support needs or general wellbeing the welfare officers are available by phone, email or video conference to point you in the right direction and to make sure you receive quality and sound advice.
Obviously the miles between our campuses make communication difficult, however, we are not easily defeated and we promise to provide you with the best representation we possibly can despite this! There are a number of ways that we will communicate with you and that you can use to communicate with us over the space of your time here. Firstly we have the website, you can find this at www.tsdsu.co.uk within the near future the website will have a tab specifically for TSD London students and so we will be keeping it updated with important new and information that affects you. In addition to this you are most welcome to join in with any online competitions that we have as well as surveys and campaigns. Secondly we have our social media presence, if you are on Facebook or twitter you can contact us on the main pages @tsdsu and Trinity Saint David Students’ Union
Obviously the university deals with education as that is why we are here, however, there may be occasions when you want to speak to someone independent of the university for advice on issues relating to your academic work. The students’ union education officer is always at the end of the phone
or email to support you through a variety of issues. Resits, extensions, feedback, appeals and course representation are all part of the education officers role and so please do not hesitate to contact this year’s officer if you want advice or support in any area relating to your academic life.
Or you can contact your president through this method Abi Jenkins @TSDPresident In addition to this we will be installing television screens on the London campus where we can display important information to you and there is hope that at the Oval campus we will have area where we can meet you in person as well as display important information and sell merchandise. Finally, coming soon will be our new ‘Vocaleyes’ platform, this is like an online forum where you can submit ideas on what you would like us to work on. You can then rate each other’s ideas and the most popular ones will be actioned. The platform will have a London specific section and so keep an eye on the website for the launch of this brilliant tool!
Abi Jenkins
President tsd.ac.uk Supresident@
1
07807 28749
Isaac Powell
Education sueducation@tsd.ac.uk
07807 287131
Dan Doyle
Welfare @tsd.ac.uk suwelfarecarm
07807287545
Flora McNern y W elfare suwelfarelam p@
tsd.ac.uk
07807287336
Lampeter Office:
01570 422619
Carmarthen Office:
01267 237794 www.tsdsu.co.uk
TSDSU HANDBOOK 2013