Student Manifesto for Provost
Edwin Clifford-Coupe
This isn't something that's very exciting, but might interest some. Through the Union I'm running a Student Manifesto for the Provost project - form now until April/May we'll write a document that we want him to sign up to. I'm hoping it'll be things like 'attack the government's funding model openly', 'don't fuck up Carpenters' and so on. I'm getting together a Steering Group, and I'd prefer to have good people on it.
If you're interested, here's the details. You'll need to email me on e...@uclu.org if you want to get involved.
Let me first explain the process of the development of the SMP document. As said, the starting point will be existing UCLU policy, such as policy against rising tuition fees, the removal of the UCL Health Centre, or the terrible treatment of International Students by the UKBA. Added to this will be student feedback and opinion from various sources, such as the National Student Survey, the Student Barometer and issues being taken on by StARs, which we are collating now. We hope this will provide us with a skeleton document.
Meanwhile, UCLU will be assembling a Steering Group for the project, comprising Union Councillors (Faculty Representatives and liberation officers), UCLU Trustees, Halls Representatives, Student Academic Representatives (StARs), and ordinary students, such as yourselves.
The role of the Steering Group will be to steer the SMP document and the wider student consultation. Its first meeting will be in the afternoon of Thursday 28 February. After this, we will be consulting with students more widely; all students will be able to feedback their views on specific points of the draft SMP document as well as suggest new points for inclusion.
And so, I write to you all to ask if you would like to put yourself forward to join the Steering Group for the SMP project. As said, the first meeting will be in the afternoon of Thursday 28 February. After this, it will be the role of the Steering Group to help promote participation in the consultation. You will need to commit to attending a few more meetings between now and the end of term, when the consultation will close. After this, I will collate the responses and seek to put together a final document. Approval will be sought from the Steering Group at a further meeting, and then at UCLU Council on 30 April.
If you would like to put yourself forward to be on the Steering Group, please write back to me by 12noon this Friday (22 February) with a short statement of why you want to and believe you can represent students on this body. To make sure the Steering Group is diverse, and thus reflects the student experience more broadly, I request that you include details of your gender and ethnicity, although you are of course under no obligation to do so. We will seek to select a broad range of students at different levels and types of study.