It’s that time and it’s the final update of my 25/26 elected officer term.
Read on to find a summary of what I’ve got up to in my final term as Vice President Education and Welfare (Uxbridge and Aylesbury).
Areas of focus:
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Campus Consistency: We’ve had lots of great ideas and suggestions of events and activities at the Aylesbury Campus! From Go-karting, theme park trips, escapes, keep the ideas coming! Thank to this feedback, we were able to arrange for ‘The Works’ to visit with their Ice Cream Bike to offer free ice cream on Monday 29th June at the Aylesbury Campus. If you have ideas, be sure to reach out to surecactivities@bucks.ac.uk.
Parking at the Uxbridge Campus is still in strong discussions with the university’s estates teams and the SU President. We hope the pilot scheme launches soon and hope to be able to provide update on this too. Alongside this we are continuing discussions with university estates and facilities around temperature controls and ensuring that these thermostats are fit for purpose in the rooms. If you are experiencing any issues with these, be sure to reach out to the facilities team to log a report. You can do this here: https://bnu.topdesk.net/.
There’s also lots of work at the Nottingham campus, to improve your student experience. From better classroom facilities, larger spaces, and more to come. Please keep sharing your feedback with the team sunottingham@bnu.ac.uk. Keep sharing your ideas! A huge thank you to everyone who got involved with the ‘gardening campaign’. It was great to see so many of you getting stuck in to build, plant and arrange the plants, raised beds and pots to create your greener areas on site too.
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Mental Health and Wellbeing advocacy: We continue to raise awareness, share resources and encourage conversations around mental health. Do you know you can find self-support cards around the campuses? Check out the areas by the SU Offices, Quiet Rooms, and microwaves too. There are key awareness dates across the year, but mental health and wellbeing is conversation for everyday, not just the awareness dates. Remember to take 5 for you and if you need or would like support, reach out to the range of support services on offer to support you.
Also please feel free to make use of the garden spaces we’ve got available. Being outside does boost your morale and mood, but if you need to get stuck in with a task or looking for something to take your mind off things, get stuck into the gardens. Whether that is watering, pruning, harvesting or just tidying, take moment to just be in the gardens (Rusty’s Retreat in High Wycombe, and the Garden in Nottingham).
I also want to share that we presented a paper about teaching practices and example of good teaching practice and examples of less good. This paper was well received, based directly on feedback about the student experience. The comments were good, and these comments have been used to support with the teaching practice and pedagogy.
I also want to remind you about raising and logging any issues if you are experiencing any issues with any area of your course, reasonable adjustments or the MyBNU app or Blackboard. Remember to share as much detail as possible.
I also met with the Artificial Intelligence Working Group, and this was a great discussion about AI at BNU and what mechanisms will be in place moving forward but also what support and guidance will be offered to ensuring supportive processes and also maintaining academic integrity process too. This work has been handed across to SU President Jeanmarc to keep momentum moving forward.
The on-campus activities calendar for 25/26 has come to end. This build on your feedback about wanting to see more on campuses during the day, particularly around lunchtime hours. A huge thank you to everyone who took part across the 63 events across the year! But don’t worry, the fun hasn’t stopped! You can still find out what activities and events are taking place via the what’s on page and the specific pages for the Uxbridge and Aylesbury campus. You can also get involved with activities within the local area. If you have any suggestions of what activities or events you would like to see, please reach out to surecactivities@bucks.ac.uk.
Be sure to check the What’s On page to see what other activities you’d like to get involved with too!
These past few weeks we’ve been handing over to the elected officer team. We’ve spent days on visits to other Students’ Unions, talking through ideas, campaigns and other aspects too. From meeting other individuals and introducing to new members too, it’s been a great few weeks and there it’s lots to come too!
That concludes this final update. Be sure to check out our socials (@bucksstudentsunion and @buckssuvpew_au) for any quick updates and to see the day-to-day announcement. Don’t panic if the username suddenly changes on the Instagram account – this is reflecting the job title change and handover to Feba Shaji George as your Vice President Student Affairs and Campus Experience.
I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me in the past two years. It’s been an absolute honour to serve as your Vice President Education and Welfare (Uxbridge and Aylesbury) for past two years. I know that Feba is going to do a fantastic job as your Vice President Student Affairs and Campus Experience.
Thank you for everything.
Thank you for best two years. All the best with your next adventures!
Bethany Jackson (Vice President Education and Welfare, Uxbridge and Aylesbury, 24-26)