A photograph of a student asking a question at the Annual Members Meeting 2022

Your Officers

Your Full-Time Student Representatives (Sabbatical Officers) are involved in work that covers all aspects of student life. Their job is to ensure that the work of Arts SU, and of the University, reflects the wishes of the student body.

Student Leaders

Your Student Leaders, commonly known in Student Union's as Sabbatical Officers, are elected in the spring each year by UAL students and are paid to work full-time for a whole academic year from July until June.

Your Officers meet regularly with key decision makers at all levels within the university and are members of important committees where they can effect change for UAL students.

Officer Priorities & Themes 2024 - 2025

Every year, your Sabbatical officers will create individual priorities from their elected manifesto. These priorities are then categorised into themes that Arts SU will focus on for the year ahead alongside our additional campaign work, such as passed student ideas! 

Cost of Living Crisis

Cost of Living & Cost of Study continues to severely impact many of our students, with some choosing between buying art supplies or food. It’s increasingly clear that more support than ever is needed for students to access creative education. We will build upon our campaign last year and aim to trial new measures with your support.

We will:

  • Explore the possibility of providing a list of trustful providers of private halls to students who can’t secure rooms in UAL Halls
  • Open a secured platform for UAL students to share information about housing accommodation

We will continue:

  • Our Cost of Study initiatives to help with material and degree show costs such as art material give away and Sabbatical Officer Degree Show fund
  • Our free food parcel events, and expand them

We will lobby UAL:

  • To trial funding 16-25 railcards for commuting students 2024/25
  • Implement bursary or scholarship for international students from specific countries.
  • Introduce funding for undergraduate design and media students LCF
  • Review of Hardship Fund funding application and highlight hidden course costs that is be barrier to students creating projects
  • Improve student support services for low-income background students facing financial hardship
Careers and Employability

This year, we want to strengthen professional development opportunities for UAL students by encouraging engagement with resources that bridge academic learning and industrial practices. We want to ensure students can build transferable skills that extend beyond their degree and prepare them for the professional environment. Particularly, for international students which require additional support to address the unique barriers they often face.

We plan to:

  • Create a research report about graduate destinations and how students feel about employability relevance on their course
  • Collaborate with the re-thinking employability team at UAL and support their baseline offer proposal to be embedded into the curriculum
  • Support student lead initiatives through clubs and societies around professional development
  • Build on International student support through tailored professional development with the aim of expanding opportunities through interdisciplinary workshops, while also collaborating with UAL.
  • Enhance professional support for UAL students by encouraging participation in development resources to help students translate their learning into industrial practice, build skills beyond their degree focus, and gain an understanding of industrial working modes.
  • Advocate for rights and support for international students to be able to sell their artworks or products while studying at the university

 

Inclusivity and accessibility in education

We will continue in building previous work of creating an environment at UAL where all students, regardless of background or ability, have equal opportunities to learn and succeed. Key strategies include supporting students with disabilities, eliminating barriers and promoting diversity in the curriculum.

We will work with UAL to:

  • Build effective strategies on eliminating attainment gap that persists for Home Black, Asian and Global Majority students, following the APP Strategy.

  • Expand long term initiatives on decolonising the curriculum UAL-wide and student support services across CCW campuses.

  • Embed the UAL Social Purpose Strategy in the institution.

  • Create a Gender Support fund to support trans students with gender affirmative care

  • Form long-lasting mental health for students in collaboration with the UAL Mental Health Services team

Community building

Creating spaces of community and cohesion will be an integral part of our work. We plan to work on academic projects, social networking events and enrichment activities to draw together students from across the colleges, and working with various UAL teams to link up with them. We want to ensure that students from all cultural, racial and financial backgrounds, as well as from different levels of study, all feel that they are all part of one UAL-wide community. We'll be aiming to build community through our spaces and representation.

Liberation periods that we'll be working on this year:

  • Black History Month in October ​
  • Disability History Month in November - January
  • Student wellbeing in May  ​
  • LGBTQIA+ History Month in February ​
  • International Women's day in March
  • Multicultural celebration in May & June
  • South Asian Heritage Month in June - August ​

Other ways we will be representing the diverse student body:​

  • Ensuring inclusion of Postgraduate students in Welcome events​

  • Working on professional employability development for International students

We plan to:

  • Engage the UAL-wide community by creating networking environments, including hosting events for both general and specific groups, such as the Postgrad Welcome Mixer, workshops, Buddy meet-ups, and interactive sessions on various themes.
  • Develop professional development skills amongst student artists through exhibitions by Arts SU and by fostering sharing of inspiration with peers.
  • Further build student community at LCF after its year move to East Bank through championing student led activities, events, poster board, and creative and showcasing opportunities for students.
  • Continue working on improving the sense of community both on-campus and UAL-wide by helping facilitate student-led initiatives through sports clubs and societies.
  • Promotion and creation of social spaces across CCW for students to create community and sense of belonging
  • Organise Arts SU's first ever Intercollege Championship to foster greater student participation in sports.

What do your Officers do?

Your Officers are elected by you, accountable to you and exist to represent your interests as a UAL student. As your full-time/paid representatives, the Full-Time Officers:

  1. Deliver campaign pledges to create change across UAL, in accordance with the manifestos they were elected on.
  2. Contribute to various UAL meetings on behalf of students, relaying your views and advocating for your interests (Executive Level and College Level) .
  3. Work with UAL staff on recruitment of senior positions, developing University strategies and processes, allocating budgets to student support/wellbeing/community and overarching decision making.
  4. Chair termly academic Student & Dean Forums in every college at UAL.
  5. Faciliate and co-lead student led iniatives with Arts SU staff.
  6. Support and work with over 1,200 student representatives (course reps, school reps, society and sport committee members, part-time officers).
  7. Undergo duties in their Trustee role of the Arts SU charity & business.

And many other ad-hoc tasks and projects.