MEMBERSHIP DETAILS ENCLOSED
WELCOME TO
YOUR UNION
When you enrol on a course at UCA, you’re automatically a member of UCASU. We’re led by and for students, acting independently of the University to represent you, our members. The UCASU team is made up of elected representatives, a permanent staff team and volunteers. You will have the opportunity to choose and vote for who represents you, from Course Representatives to Union Council, Part-Time Officers or our full-time Presidents. Over the years, we’ve won national awards for our work, and we’re always striving to do new and better things. We’re committed to representing and acting in the best interests of students at all levels of the university, be it locally, nationally, and internationally. There are plenty of opportunities for you to get involved with UCASU – as we’ve mentioned, you’ll have the opportunity to vote in our elections for your representatives, and one day you might even choose to run as a President yourself! There are many more things you can do as a UCASU member, whether it’s starting or joining clubs and societies to meet new people, attending the events and activities we run, or joining one or more of our Identity Communities. You can also enhance your employability whilst you study by becoming Course Rep, or running for a position on Union Council in our Elections. Beyond this, we offer an advice and wellbeing service independently of UCA to support you throughout your studies too. There’s so much more going on at UCASU than we can cover in this guide, so be sure to check out our social media channels (@ucasu for everything) – you’ll catch us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn. You’ll find a UCASU office on your campus, right in the heart of things, so be sure to come and say hello – we’ll be happy to see you!
CONTACT US GENERAL ENQUIRIES
ADVICE & WELLBEING
union@uca.ac.uk
advice.su@uca.ac.uk
01252 89 29 09
07827 316142
ACTIVITIES & EVENTS activities.su@uca.ac.uk
CLUBS & SOCIETIES clubs.su@uca.ac.uk
STUDENT VOICE & COURSE REPS studentvoice.su@uca.ac.uk
GLASSHOUSE EVENTS events.su@uca.ac.uk
PRESIDENT KENT SOL GJØINES
PRESIDENT SURREY FOYSAL MOBAROCK
kent.su@uca.ac.uk
surrey.su@uca.ac.uk
01227 81 73 37
01252 89 26 93
UNION COUNCIL Union Council is made up of a team of 14 representatives who are voted for by you, in the UCASU Elections or coopted by existing Union Council members. There are three Part-Time Officers (PTOs) from each of the four UCA campuses, along with the full-time Students’ Union President Kent and President Surrey. This team of officers are responsible for the direction of UCASU through the execution of policy, promotion of student rights and the development of projects and campaigns to represent you, our members of the Students’ Union.
Union Council meet on a monthly basis, and minutes from those meetings are recorded for you to read – you’ll find them on our website. As a UCASU member, any UCA student is welcome to attend as an observer and meeting dates will be published ahead of time.
For more information about your elected representatives, head to:
UCASU.COM/UNIONCOUNCIL
FOYSAL MOBAROCK PRESIDENT SURREY Hello! I am Foysal Mobarock. I am an international student from Bangladesh, and I am your elected President Surrey for the coming academic year. I am an enthusiastic student myself, as I’m currently pursuing a Global Masters in Business and Management, until September 2022. Whilst in the role of President Surrey, I intend to achieve a range of changes to optimise the student experience at UCA. I would like to expand the current UCA job shop, raise awareness of support available through UCA and UCASU, encourage students to start and join clubs & societies, and improve facilities. I would like to work with regional and global students while also ensuring diversity. My responsibility as President Surrey is to represent the UCA student community and to ensure that all students’ voices are heard. As a community, we should strive to ensure the betterment of each other’s lives. You will find me on the Farnham and Epsom campuses every week. In my role, I will work closely with President Kent to ensure that all campuses are fairly represented. Your Students’ Union is shaped by students, and we are independent of UCA to provide support and make sure that students have the best possible experience during their studies. We need your involvement to be able to best represent you, our UCASU members. I am always here for you, whether you want to speak about academic needs, have a complaint about your course, or whatever else (I’m always free for a normal chat too). You can reach me by email, Facebook or by going to the UCASU office in Epsom or Farnham. I mean it when I say that you can stop me anywhere on campus for a chat, and I’m looking forward to a wonderful year reflecting your voice!
surrey.su@uca.ac.uk 01252 89 26 93
SOL GJØINES PRESIDENT KENT
Hi, hey, hello! My name is Sol Gjøines, and I was a BA Fine Art student on the Canterbury campus. In March of 2021 I was elected as President Kent for the UCA Students’ Union. I had the privilege of being able to continue this work, and in March of 2022, I was re-elected, and I am now in my second and last year as your representative. Being completely transparent, I had little to no contact with your Students’ Union during my time at UCA. Ironically enough, that is one of the reasons I wanted to be your representative the following academic year - to work toward making sure you as a student know how your Students’ Union works for you, and all of the amazing things you can expect from your membership. As such, I aim to make your Students’ Union as visible, approachable, and personable as possible. Working closely with President Surrey, there are many exciting projects and campaigns already in the works to better the student experience. Such as Cultivating Campus Community, Enhancing Employability, Implementing International Inclusivity, and more. We are here for you, the students. Your Students’ Union is a separate entity from the University, and although there is a close working relationship between the two, the students will always be our first priority. Ultimately, we serve as your voice, and I am ready to fight for it! Even if that means ruffling some feathers. ;) As President Kent, I will primarily be located on the Canterbury and Rochester campuses. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with me about any queries you may have, or just to have a chat, either in person or through email. My door is always open! I look forward to another exciting year of representing the student voice!
kent.su@uca.ac.uk 01227 81 73 37
COURSE REPS Our Course Rep system connects you, your course staff and your Union, ensuring you’re getting the very best from your experience at UCA. At the start of the academic year, you’ll have the opportunity to nominate yourself and vote for Course Reps who will act as the voice of students on your course – all with the aim of making positive changes to your learning experience. If you decide to run as a Course Rep, we’ll empower and support you the whole way. There are many benefits to becoming a Course Rep, on top of being the influential driving force for improvements to the student experience, you can: • •
Gain professional skills such as networking, developing stronger relationships with academic staff, and meeting etiquette. Develop your feedback and communication skills by gathering the opinions of students, relaying this information to university staff, and reporting any comments and responses back to the student body.
You can learn more about Course Reps and see the positive changes made at:
UCASU.COM/Coursereps
ELECTIONSELECT Here at UCASU, our core value is being shaped by students, and the student voice is at the forefront of all that we do. One of the ways that we do this is through the UCASU Elections. All UCASU members can stand for, and vote, in our elections, which influences how your Students’ Union is run and informs what we focus on both on campus, locally, and nationally.
Full-time elected Presidents oversee your Students’ Union; they run campaigns and projects based on the manifestos they are elected on to make a difference to UCA students’ lives, whilst working alongside the UCASU staff team and PTOs. As President, you have the opportunity to sit on the highest committees in the university and directly influence UCA senior leadership.
There are a variety of roles and positions within for you to get involved in, and in Term 1, we’ll be looking for Further Education students to put themselves forward for the remaining four PartTime Officer (PTO) positions.
In Term 2, we will hold our annual UCASU Elections, where any UCA student at any point of their studies can run for the full-time President roles, and any continuing student can put themselves forward for one of the eight campus-based PTO positions to sit on Union Council.
Our PTOs hold the Presidents accountable, hear their reports, join Presidents to sit on the Union Council, pass policy, and impact the direction UCASU takes. Part-Time Officer roles are campus-based and can be done alongside your studies, unlike the President roles. It’s a great way to enhance your employability whilst you study, developing communication, negotiation and conflict resolution skills, and working as part of a team of students across UCA to represent the student voice.
For more information about student elections and how you can get involved, visit:
UCASU.COM/elections
Being at UCA isn’t meant to be all hard work, and here at UCASU, we understand that cultivating a sense of community on campus is important – it can make or break your time here. All of the clubs and societies we have (or are yet to have) are ran by you, the students. We have a dedicated member of our permanent staff team to equip you with the skills and support you need to run or start your own club or society, so no previous experience is needed. We have plenty of clubs and societies up and running already for you to join, from Dungeons and Dragons, to Film Clubs and Life-Drawing, there really is something for everyone! If fitness and dance are more your thing, we have exciting opportunities like Boxing, Pole Fitness and K-Pop Dance, which will get your heart pumping. Clubs and societies will usually run Monday to Friday after 5PM, throughout the year. There’s no limit to the number you can join, so you’ll have lots of opportunities to try something new, further your interests and meet new people!
Further information about joining or setting up a club or society can be found at:
Our Identity Communities exist exclusively for students who self-define into one (or more!) of the groups below, which are based on the National Union of Students’ four main liberation campaigns:
BAME
LGBTQ+
For those of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnicities.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans*, Queer, Intersex, and Two-Spirit, and those who may be questioning their sexuality or gender.
WOMEN
DISABLED
For women only, this community is trans-inclusive.
Open to those with any disability, including neurodiversity – this can be self-defined.
We’ll be looking for you to be the voice and represent your Identity Community within the university by getting involved with running events and campaigns at key moments throughout the year, including; Black History Month, Disability History Month and LBGTQ+ History Month, to name a few. Identity Communities will need to appoint Leaders who will determine the direction, as well as organising the meet-ups and activities. Beyond this, it’s down to you what your Identity Community gets up to – you’ll have the chance to connect with others and even across campuses! Discover more about our Identity Communities and how to join at:
UCASU.COM/IDENTITYCOMMUNITIES
ADVICE & SUPPORT You can access advice and support independent of UCA throughout your studies through UCASU. We know that sometimes things don’t go as planned, and there are times when figuring things out, and understanding new academic processes might not seem doable. That’s why we exist, and we’re here to help and support you across a range of areas, including: Academic misconduct & disciplinary procedures Academic appeals Resits and retakes Bullying and harassment Mitigating circumstances
Complaints & incident reporting Sexual health and access to free condoms Facilitating mediation Advocating on your behalf to the University General wellbeing and sign-posting to other services
This is not an extensive list of the support you can access through UCASU and you can always contact our Advice & Wellbeing team for an initial confidential conversation. Our core support hours are generally between 9AM-5PM Monday to Friday, and you can get in touch at:
advice.su@uca.ac.uk
07827 316142
We also have an online Knowledge Base which is full of useful advice and guidance, spanning across mental health and wellbeing to more specialised information regarding changing courses and mitigating circumstances. Check out our Knowledge Base at:
UCASU.COM/advice
Glasshouse is the number one nighttime venue in Farnham, based right in the heart of campus – it’s brought to you by your Students’ Union too! Whatever you’re in to, we like to think that Glasshouse has something for everyone. We host four events a week, from chilled open mic sessions and quiz nights, right through to Ibizastyle foam parties and live acts. Glasshouse is also the home for our Freshers, Halloween and Summer Balls! We release a calendar of events every month, and the best way to keep up to date with Glasshouse is to follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
/UCASUGlasshouse @UCASUGlasshouse
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