Student Communities Zone (26th October 2017)

Arun Aggarwal (AA) introduced and welcomed those in attendance. Apologies were sent by the PGT Officer (Inga Franzen), International Officer (Harris Constantinou), Equality & Diversity Officer (Lii Mohamed) and Flora Noble (Union Present). 

In additional Scott McCarthy (Chief Executive) and Renee Johnson were in attandance.

AA discussed that the zone will be looking to meet twice a term to reflect on projects and issues which affect the zone. AA asked the committee what they would like to achieve whilst in their role.

Nico Kinch Hernandez Sanchez (NS - Open Place Member) discuss that he wanted to use his position to offer his experiences to clubs and societies, in particular to those clubs and socs who have issues booking space. Stephen Gore (SG - VP Sports) highlighted that his zone will be working on this, in particular around after 6pm bookings in the Cube. 

Venezia Georgieva (VG - WSA President) advised that WSA now has a full committee. VG advised that she would like to see communication about WSA publicised further to show what students in Winchester are involved with. 

Giles Howard (GH - PGR Officer) advised that his committee one remaining place on his committee. GH advised that the committee will be meeting shortly to set their objectives for the year ahead.

Divyansh Dixit (DD - Clubs & Societies Representative) explained that he wanted to use his role to help identify issues around handover of clubs and societies. DD explained whilst some handovers are great, some students groups are left with very little information. DD advised that it would be good to review the handover pack student groups recieve to ensure that information is as clear as possible. 

DD added that it would be useful for a handover pack to include what each committee role should be focusing on for the year ahead and a clear point of contact within SUSU on who they should be contact regarding any questions. 

AA and DD discussed that to improve the process of handover, a meeting with each president should be held to go over such questions. DD advised that this event should be 'attractive' to make people want to come i.e. a social. 

Vikash Dodhia (VD MedSoc President) advised that advertising AGM's for sub societies of MedSoc worked well as this would advertise each role of a particular society and what was entailed whilst holding this position. 

Scott McCarthy (SC Chief Executive) advised that he wanted more advocates for the Students' Union and that the more this could be developed, the more impact we could all have. 

AA advised that during his term he wanted to ensure the Students' Union was being more efficient. Aswell as working on Business as Usual Project AA advised he would be focusing on a Diversity Review of the Students' Union which would look at the make up of the Students' Union core staff and of those in leadership roles amongst the student body. 

AA added that he wanted to hear about the successes of our Clubs & Societites so that the Union can do more to promote/celebrate our students' achievements. 

DD advised that during his time in the role he wanted to offer his experiences of being in Clubs and Societies’. DD added that he aimed to improve links between clubs and socs with the Students' Union. 

Kim Meng Ronson Tan (KT Open Place Member) advised that he wanted to use his experience of being an international student to help other students who are new to the UK. NS added that during the summer both he and KT were pre-sessional helpers and found that utilising different platforms of communications such as WeChat helped in terms of engagement. NS added that using such an approach, along with his own experiences could ensure a 'better' approach to campaigns and projects. 

Renee Johnson (RJ Open Place Member - elected during meeting) advised that she wanted to bring diversity to the zone. RJ highlighted her own perspectives as 1st year undergraduate will allow the zone to engage with more students through the Student Communities Zone. 

VG discussed that as WSA President, she wanted to show WSA students that the Students' Union care about them. VG discussed that she would like to see WSA students represented at Highfield and to improve representation of students at WSA. VG discussed that the shuttlebus is accessible to all University of Southampton Students' and advised that students should take the time to visit WSA. 

AA added that for the next zone meeting, he would like to do this at WSA.

VD discussed that he would like to see MedSoc utilise Students' Union facilities. Additionally VD would to improve comms between MedSoc and the Students' Union. VD advised that spaces such as the Library and the Common room are good spaces in which the Students' Union can access. 

GH discussed that his committee will be looking to offer activities across university sites as opposed to just Highfield. GH added that he will be looking host activities aimed at PG students at WSA. 

The committee discussed how the zone can collaborate together. 

KT discussed that for Malaysian students, it can be difficult to make new friends as friendship groups have been established much earlier on. 

DD discussed having large Union events such as 'Strictly Come Bollywood' to attract student groups and students to come together. DD advised that such large events can bring student communities together. 

Renee Johnson was elected as the open place member for the zone. 

Update from USMC

To this date we have carried out our Club Fair event. It was basically a day where clubs set up booths and have a membership drive. Prior to that, we allowed clubs to be formed and we have successfully established 16 clubs. We also carried out a Mascot Designing competition and we have received a total of 8 designs. There will be a judging day for the mascots that is to be held on the 2nd of November. The judges will consist of the lecturers and the staffs. We are also getting votes from the students to gauge their favourite design. The votes will be tallied on 29th October. The designs can be seen on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/usmcstudentsassociation/photos/?tab=album&album_id=752572161598082

 As for upcoming events, there will be a T-Shirt design competition for our annual university T-shirt and an Open Mic event (we will be collaborating with the Music Club).

Date of next meeting TBC