On behalf of everyone at ULU, we welcome you to our annual summer training for sabbatical officers, part time officers and activists in London. It’s brilliant to have you here. We want you to use ULU Training 2013 (#ulutraining13) to learn, discover and debate. It will be a forum to share skills and experiences but also, importantly, begin to make plans for the upcoming academic year. Over the next three days you will be amongst officers and activists from London only. As well as being active locally, in your own Union, it is crucial we take a step into London wide organising around student opinion. The training provides the opportunity to develop working relationships with officers and students that will be doing very similar work to you in the same area. When we get together across London, whether it is for housing or cuts, we are extremely powerful - we should use this collective strength! The workshops and sessions throughout the three days are reflective of the priorities of ULU this year. From exploring the challenges and opportunities for small and specialist colleges to engaging students in the workplace to the support needed to help sports clubs and societies flourish - we have made a concerted effort to design the sessions around your local needs and plans, we’re making it loud and clear that we want to work with you this year. We will be dedicating a day to discussing the creation of a Pan-London Students’ Union and ways to lobby local councils and governmental bodies in the city. We really hope you enjoy the three day training and look forward to working with you over the next year.
Michael Chessum, ULU President
Daniel Lemberger Cooper , ULU Vice-President
Susuana Antubam, ULU Women’s Officer
Monday 29th july 10:30 Registration and Refreshments 11:00 Welcome and Introductions 12:15 Break (tea and refreshments) [Upper Hall]
12:20 Workshops
1) Defending the Right to Resist (SQUASH Housing Campaign) [Room 3A] 2) How Does ULU Work, and What Can It Offer Your Students’ Union and Members? (Michael Chessum, ULU President) [Room 3A] 3) Sexpression LDN (Susuana Antubam, ULU Women’s Officer, Sexpression Representative & Abortion Rights UK) [Upper Hall]
13:35 Lunch and Caucuses [Upper Hall]
1) Welfare (Sidonie Bertrand Shelton, Royal Holloway Education and Welfare Officer) 2) Liberation Campaigning (Susuana Antubam, ULU Women’s Officer) 3) International Students (Faithais Yanez, Birkbeck International Students’ Officer)
15:00 Workshops
1) The Rise of the Far Right: The Threat of Fascism to Our Campuses and Communities (South London Anti Fascists Campaign (SLAF) [Room 3A] 2) Student Media and Communication: Developing Strong Campus Radio Stations, Newspapers and Magazines, and Communicating with Members and Stakeholders (Oscar Webb, London Student Editor 2013/14) [Room 3D] 3) Sports and Societies in London: How to Help Them Flourish and ULU’s Mission 2013/14 (ULU Student Activities Department, Daniel Cooper, ULU Vice-President) [Upper Hall] 4) NHS Campaigning: The National Picture, London, and Campus Health Centres (‘Unite’ Trade Union Health Section and MEDSIN (national student health charity)) [Malet Suite]
16:30 Break (tea and refreshments) [Upper Hall] 16:45 Workshops
1) Small and Specialist Colleges within the University of London: Challenges, Opportunities and Forms of Support (Matt Withers, President of Central School of Speech and Drama SU, and Diana Sousa, IOE SU President) [Room 3D] 2) LGBT Liberation (Maryam Din, NUS and Student Pride) [Room 3A] 3) International Students’ Rights: Immigration, Fees and Life in London (Shreya Paudel, Former Middlesex SU President and Arianna Tassinari, NUS International Students’ Campaign) [Malet Suite] 4) Housing in London: Rents, Conditions and the London Student Tenants’ Union (Michael Chessum, ULU President) [Upper Hall]
18:00 - 18:20 Report-Backs From Workshops [Malet Suite] 18:25 Dinner and Caucuses [The Gallery Bar]
1) Education and Academic Affairs Caucus (Areeb Ul, KCLSU Academic Affairs Officer) 2) Student Activities Caucus (Daniel Cooper, ULU Vice-President)
19:30 - 21:00 Evening Plenary [Malet Suite]
Introduction to ULU Exec and Areas of Work, Q&A
21:15 Social: QUIZ! [The Gallery Bar]
Tuesday 3oth July Pan-London Students’ Union Meeting Day 11am Plenary [Malet Suite]
Pan-London Project, Introduction and Progress Update, Discussion
12:00 Break (tea and refreshments) [Upper Hall] 12:15 What Will the Pan-London Students’ Union Do? [Malet Suite] Strategic Themes: 1) Lobbying GLA and the Mayor’s Office 2) Social Justice 3) International Students’ Rights 4) Liberation campaigning 5) Media and Activities
13:30 Lunch [Upper Hall] 14:30 Pan-London Students’ Union: Structure and Funding [Malet Suite] 15:45 Break (tea and refreshments) [Upper Hall] 16:00 - 16:20 Feedback from Sessions and Amendments [Malet Suite] 16:30 - 17:45 Democratic Meeting: ‘Super Senate’ [Malet Suite]
Focussed on: 1) A Name – or an Interim Name – for the Pan-London Union 2) A Collective Conception of the Project’s Remit 3) A Strategy Document Focussing on a Number of Key Areas, including: Social Justice and Housing; International Students; Liberation; GLA Priorities; and Media and Activities 4) A Set of Funding Options for Unions for Consultation 5) A Set of Preliminary Structures for the Pan-London Union, including the Election of Another Working Group/Executive, and the Next Steps for the Organisation
18:15 - 19:15 ULU: What Are We Fighting to Save, and How Do We Fight To Save it? [Room 3D]
19:30 - 20:30 Dinner [The Gallery Bar] 21:00 Social: All Star Lanes Bowling [Victoria House, Bloomsbury Place, London, WC1B 4DA]
wednesday 31st july 11:00 Refreshments [Upper Hall] 11:30 Workshops 1) Students’ Union Governance and Development: Making Your Union Green (Natasha Gordonitski, ULU Ethics and Environment Officer) [Room 3E] 2) Disabled Students’ Liberation (Thomas Ankin, ULU Disabled students’ Officer 2013/14) [Malet Suite] 3) Community Housing Campaigns (Hannah Webb, ULU Housing & Community Officer and UCLU Sabbatical) [Upper Hall] 4) Black Students’ Liberation (Maham Hashmi-Khan, ULU Black Students’ Officer) [Room 3A]
13:00 Lunch and Caucuses [Upper Hall]
1) Student Media (Oscar Webb, London Student Editor 2013/14) 2) Environment and Ethics (Natasha Gorodnitski, ULU Ethics and Environment Officer 2013/14)
14:00 Workshops
2) Anti Fossil Fuel Campaigning in London and on Campus (Natasha Gorodnitski, ULU Ethics and Environment Officer) [Room 3E] 3) The New Higher and Further Education Environment: Investigating Policy and Campaigning (Liam Mcnulty, ULU Campaigns & Engagement Coordinator) [Malet Suite] 4) Hollaback ULU: Tackling Sexual Harassment on Campus (Susuana Antubam, ULU Women’s Officer and Hollaback London Representative) [Upper Hall]
15:15 Break (tea and refreshments) [Upper Hall] 15:30 Workshops
1) Students, Rights and the Workplace: Organising on Campus and in Our Work Places (Jamie Green, Vice-President Royal Holloway SU and 3 Cosas Campaign Activist) [Malet Suite] 2) Postgraduates: Officers, Campaigning and Life in London 2013/14 (Ben Towse, UCLU Postgraduate Officer and Amber Homes, IOE Vice President) [Room 3E] 3) How Do We Fund Education? Panel Discussion (NUS, UCU and National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts) [Room 3A]
16:45 Break (tea and refreshments) [Upper Hall] 17:00 – 17:30 Closing Plenary [Malet Suite]
what is a caucus? This year at ULU we are very keen to set up online and offline networks for sabbatical officers, activists and part time officers in their specific portfolio or areas of work. These networks are to share information, best practice, enable everyone across ULU to remain in touch with each other easily and coordinate an event or activity across London. For example, there would be an online network, which one could email into, for welfare sabbaticals/activists/Part time officers in London to ask advice on a particular welfare concern that has arisen at an individual college. There would also be a page on the ULU website with all the contact details of the people involved in each area. The reasoning behind this is that officers across London share similar kinds of work and student issues, and we recognise that it is extremely useful to have points of contact amongst officers to ask advice but also to collaborate. We would like to kick this off with a series of “caucuses� at ULU training, dotted throughout the two days. These small get-togethers are each open to all but with a focus on sabbs/officers, activists, to attend, who work in a specific area. We will be holding numerous caucuses: on international student matters, welfare, education, postgraduate issues, ethics and environment, liberation, sports and societies and small and specialist colleges. There are a number of caucus leaders who will make themselves known throughout the training. The short meetings (lasting 20 or so minutes) will be used for people to meet each other, introduce their work areas for the year and begin to plan for the year ahead. Each of the caucuses will be taking place in the Upper Hall area on the third floor. Feel free to attend as many as you desire, but please do send a representative from your campus to each of the relevant caucuses.
ULU training rooms First Floor: The Gallery Bar Second floor: Malet Suite Third floor: Rooms 3A, 3D & 3E, Upper Hall