Hello,

It is fair to say that you've had a lot of emails from me this year, so you may be pleased to know that this will be the last one! Today is my last day as President here at Salford SU, and I wanted to say thank you and goodbye.

This year has seen turmoil in the higher education sector unheard of in recent years; it has been punctuated by announcements and policy shifts from government, followed by demonstrations and campaigns by students and their unions up and down the country. We were proud as Salford students to take our place among the 500,000 others who took to the streets of London last November, and disappointed by the government's decision to cut funding and increase fees for students next year.

Away from the funding debate, my fellow Sabbatical Officers and I have dealt with hundreds of issues raised by students this year, some non-academic issues like car parking rates, and financial bursaries, and some academic issues like academic misconduct and feedback time. We drew up a 'Salford Bill of Student Rights' based on student feedback, and presented it to the University with a set of recommendations, which we are pleased to report, they have accepted and are working towards. A full report on our main campaigns and achievements can be found here: http://www.salfordstudents.com/voice/content/726363 so please take a look!

Finally, can I please say thank you to all of you who came to our events, responded to our surveys and emails, voted in the elections, took part in a campaign, or just stopped to say hello when we were around on campus! This is a great Students' Union, but it can only stay great with the support of students, and we need your ideas and input to move forward.

For those of you who are finishing University this month, I wish you the best of luck for the future, and for those of you here over the summer don't forget the new team start tomorrow so if you need anything do not hesitate to get in contact.

I wish Caroline and the new team the best of luck for the year ahead.

Regards,

Ricky

http://www.salfordstudents.com

I remember getting off the train at Salford Crescent, I remember attending my open day at the University, I remember the green campus and the proximity to Manchester was why I wanted to attend Salford.

Five years later I am still here.

Two years too many some would say, but my final two years have been as Vice President and President of your Students’ Union. I stood on the manifesto for President on the key points below:

Campaign to keep the cap on tuition fees 

Year round timetables

More Student Social Space

Longer Library Opening Hours Off Peak

Two Day Activities Fair and Fresher’s Ball

Promote religious diversity and interfaith groups

I am proud to say that as a team; including the officers I have worked alongside, Students’ Union staff members and students’ we have managed to achieve all of my manifesto points.  

This year has been different; not just about ticking my manifesto points off; honestly it has been the most challenging year of my life.

One of the proudest moments was at about 5:30am on the 10 November 2010 when a very tired and grumpy Ricky came onto campus to be greeted by 400 students to go on the National Demo.

It was an honour to march with thousands of students on the streets of London against an increase in fees, sadly we did not win the battle and it was heart wrenching to watch the vote go through, but also to watch the scenes of violence as the story unfolded.

The Union has certainly changed over the last five years, the Union I remember was all about the 15 hours, the Pav and that was about it. The Union now more than ever is actually delivering for students’ on a daily basis. Whether that is about campaigning and lobbying for change, training course reps, providing academic advice, getting involved in a student activity group or a cheeky pint in Yours Bar, the Union now means something to each and every student at Salford.

I want to say a massive public thank you for all the support, advice and guidance I have received over the last two years.

This does not just include the officers, and staff within the union but my close friends who have had to hear about it every minute I am awake.

It has been an honour to be your president over the last year and a truly amazing year it has been. I wish Caroline and her team the best of luck for the year she has ahead. Good luck to you all in your exams, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your time at Salford.

I certainly did!

Ricky Chotai

SU President 10/11

It has been about one month since I last blogged where I reposted my final email to the faculty of health.

So what a month since then ... the new team are now officially in and settled into their new roles.

Pictured from left to right:

Jim Dale - VP for Science, Engineering and Environment

Caroline Dangerfield- VP for Health and Social Care

Ricky Chotai - President

Christabel Brown- VP for Arts, Media and Social Sciences

Maros Kravec - VP for Business, Law and Built Environment

This year is going to one of the most pivotal  years, we have seen in the Higher Education Sector since the introduction of fees for University Students.

There are two reasons for this, we shall hear the outcome Lord Browne Review, and the public sector cuts.

The Browne Review is the review that is looking at the methods of the different ways Universities can be funded for Undergraduate Teaching. The Guardian did a very good run down of the different possible outcomes. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/jul/20/university-fees

The public sector cuts, are going to hit Universities hard and Salford by no means will be escaping them. 

That is the picture nationally, however what we doing at Salford Students' Union about these issues.

Firstly lets look at the funding, NUS which is the National Union Students' will be having a massive demo about this, this year. The demo will be headed up by the Vice President Higher Education Usman Ali (former Salford SU President 2 years ago). We will have more details soon and  we will be doing events on campus, but also asking as many of you to come on the demo in London to show the government and everybody on where we stand at the possibility of higher fees for students. 

Public Sector Cuts – Now this is a tough one, over the next few years the University is going to have to do a lot more, with less. As a Students' Union we firmly believe that whilst we understand that cuts may have to happen, however any that are detrimental to the student experience we really should oppose. As students we pay a minimum of £3000 pounds for our courses a year, whilst a lot more for Postgraduate courses. We must ensure that we are getting value for money.

I think that is enough doom and gloom.

Welcome Week 2010

We are already planning Welcome for September 2010, there is loads to do but things are starting to come together and can honestly this will be the best two weeks of your life.

We have so many great events over the two weeks, and for all the new students will be an opportunity to find out what your union does. Our activities range from student media, student activities, to student representation.  In the mean time keep an eye on our website http://www.salfordstudents.com/welcome  and make sure you join our facebook group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=17359979849

Come and Get involved in YOUR union

I have been involved in the Students' Union, for 5 years now and I got involved for two reasons I became a course rep and I got involved in the SU Radio Station Shock Radio (www.shockradio.co.uk).

The majority of Salford Students have no involvement in the union and this is something that I personally want to see change over the next year. Over the last few years, things have got a lot better more course reps, more people involved in Student media, more people involved in Clubs and Societies. As a Union we really offer a wide range of activities however the main thing we do is being your voice to the University and creating change for the better.

Whether you come and get involved in any of the activities I listed above, the best thing you can do is tell what you think. 

Whether that be about the University or about the SU itself and how we do things.

Remember that ugly photo at the top of the post? One of them is your vice president (Unlucky huh) and represent students in your faculty. Don't forget me, as SU president feel free to get in touch  any time, on any issue. My contact details will be at the end of this post.

The Union is not about what me and the rest of team what to do, it is YOUR union. We were simply elected to make the changes that you want to see made in the University or in the SU. 

So if you have an idea for welcome week? Think we should be doing more for student reps? Feel the University does not support you enough with your studies?

Come and see us, we are all based in University House on the Peel Park Campus.

If you can't come and see us get in touch. 

My contact details are;

Email: president-ussu@salford.ac.uk

Mobile:07540222310

Tel: 0161 351 5413

Twitter: www.twitter.com/SalfordPres

You can even add me on Facebook and contact me on there http://www.facebook.com/salfordpres

Feel free to get in touch if you got any questions, big or small I should be able to point in the right direction. 

I really am looking forward to the year ahead, I think it is going to be awesome.

Thanks,

Ricky

SU President

Dear All,

There have been questions about why one year we were fighting to save the Pav and the year after the choice was made to close it for good.

What happened last year?

This time last year the University told the Union that the Pav had to be closed at the end of last year.

This then sparked the “save our Pav” campaign that was spearheaded by last year’s team which I was also involved in. The motivation behind the campaign was the view that the University’s request was quite simply an attack on the independence of the Students' Union particularly when the trading figures projected that although trade had decreased, the Pav was still a commercially viable venue at that point.

And now?

The easiest way to explain the change in thinking is to look at the figures. Below are the figures for the net financial contribution of the Pavilion to the Union since 2005 (calculated by taking the surplus generated by the bar and subtracting the net cost of putting on entertainments)

2005 ₤56,416

2006 ₤66,131

2007 ₤95,457

2008 ₤61,676

2009 ₤28,462

2010 ₤565 (projected)

2011 ₤(3,000) (projected)

As a result of trade falling a further 30% this year, the Pav will just about break even. Next year the Pav is estimated to make a ₤3000 loss. This loss would have to come from cutbacks in other areas of the Union. Also, from 1 June the Union will have to register as a charity. The Charity Commission takes a negative view of charities that run loss making trading activities that are not connected to the primary reasons for the charity’s existence. The Trustee Board took this into account in its decision making process too.

The new venue??

This time last year, the University promised not to close The Pavilion until a replacement venue was available on campus. Since those discussions took place, substantial cuts in higher education funding have meant that the University has had to reconsider its investment options. The development of a new venue got as far as costing out initial drawings. However, those schemes came back costing around the ₤1 million mark. In addition, the venue would only have held 200 people and would have had to operate at absolute capacity from day one to generate a very small financial return. The University’s view was that the level of investment was not justifiable to impact on a small sample of the University population, nor when it would generate such a small financial return.

The Future??

The loss of the Pav is sad, however as a Students' Union we will move on and it gives us a real opportunity to look at the offerings of entertainment on campus.

Next year we will be having a Freshers Ball and we are looking at tie ins with clubs in town. 

This however is your opportunity to have you feedback please join the group The Pav is closing... what entertainment do you want next year? http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=122573974434875#!/group.php?gid=122573974434875&v=info

and if you are not on facebook please get in touch by email VPHSC-USSU@salford.ac.uk

The Full Press Release from the Union can be found at http://salfordstudents.com/files/PAV_FULL.pdf

Ricky

Vice President Health and Social Care

(President Elect 2010/2011)

Yesterday the Sunday Times published the following article, in which it details of some of the outcomes of Lord Browne review which is due to to report in Autumn.  

John Pert who is a member of NUS's Executive Council has provided some good insight and analysis on his blog. 

What does that mean for Salford Students and what will the Students Union be doing?

The leaked outcome of Lord Browne's review suggests various methods of raising fees, one of those suggested is to double the level of fees and then start adding an extra £1000 a year until we see a 'true market'. 

This is an absolute disgrace, students across the country have not seen any benefit of the current system in where students pay fees by taking a loan to pay fees upfront, further more the Times article suggests that 'the subsidised interest rate on student loans would go'. This would be a massive blow for students and what is the fee level that achieves a 'true market' £20000? £30000??

This is issue is not just limited to home students, you can guarantee that Universities across the country will use this as an opportunity to raise fees for international students as well.

We must remember that currently none of the proposals reported in the Times are confirmed, however as students at Salford and nationally we should be ready for what is likely to be the outcome.

The National Union of Students (NUS), agreed at conference that we would be holding a National Demonstration on this very topic and we will be making sure as many Salford Students go to it to ensure the voice of students is heard by the MP's that run our country.

Locally we will be continuing to lobby MP's in the local area to ensure that when this comes to the house of commons, we ensure that they have heard both sides of the argument.

We will also be lobbying our Vice Chancellor Martin Hall, to ask him the very questions I have posed in this blog. Can he show to the student body any benefit they have seen since the introduction of top up fees? Does he support a 'true market' for fees that will  price out so many students from Higher Education?

What can you do?

As I am sure you aware on Thursday the country will take to the polls and this is your opportunity to have your voice and use your vote.

Over the last week we have been working with NUS on the Vote for Students' Campaign.  The campaign is very simple to ask MP's and prospective MP's to sign up to the following pledge 

“I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament and to pressure the government to introduce a fairer alternative” 

The results of all the people that have signed the pledge is available online http://nus.org.uk/Global/FULLVOTEFORSTUDENTSLIST280410.xls and I urge you that when you cast your vote this week you consider who has and who has not signed the pledge.

Politically the next year is going to be a huge challenge not just in the area of tution fees, but also some of the proposed public sector cuts we may see. You will be seeing the Students' Union doing a lot of work over the upcoming weeks and months.

If you have a keen interest in the subject of this blog post send me an email at vphsc-ussu@salford.ac.uk and I can keep you upto date in all the union is doing.

Ricky Chotai 

Vice President Health and Social Care

Tel: 0161 351 5424 | Mobile: 07540222310 

Web: www.salfordstudents.com | Twitter: www.twitter.com/SalfordVPHSC

NB Thankyou for John Pert from the NUS NEC for alerting me to the link.

Original Post Located @ http://salfordstudentsunion.blogspot.com/2010/05/fees-review-leak.html

If you popped into the Students' Union last week you would have noticed that none of the Sabbs were about. We were all at the NUS National Conference in Gateshead.

Myself and Matt go automatically as President and President Elect, Jim, Joe and Alan Bailey came as they were elected delegates in March.

On Thursday was the election for the Vice President Higher Education and former SU President Usman Ali was up against six other candidates.

Below was his speech to conference how why he should be elected!

I have never seen Usman speak so well before.

There were late nights and early mornings campaigning for Usman during breaks and all the hardwork of everyone pulled off and he was elected.

I am really looking forward to working with Usman next year, on some of the key issues that will be affecting our movement nationally. The key one being the Browne review and the outcome of that.

At Conference, we passed policy to hold a National Demo and you can guarantee we will be getting involved with that.

The good news will hopefully set to continue as Alan Bailey is running unopposed for the open place officer for the NUS LGBT Campaign. 

It is awesome that next year we will have two former sabbaticals on the National Executive Council of NUS!

I am sure one of the others will be blogging about the full details of conference soon.

Original Post @ http://salfordstudentsunion.blogspot.com/2010/04/usman-ali-becomes-nus-vp-higher.html