A group of York students has won the opportunity to have their very own I-phone application developed after winning The App Challenge final, held at the Ron Cooke Hub on Wednesday, January 18.
YUSU Welfare officer Bob Hughes has warned students to be vigilant after a student loans phishing scam has been revealed.
Her Majesty the Queen will be visiting York on Maundy Thursday, 5th April, as part of the 800th anniversary of York’s Charter for the traditional “Royal Maundy” ceremony.
A flood caused by a heating system “failure” forced the university IT services to shut down many essential systems on Sunday night, causing problems for many students on the eve of their exams and assignment due-dates.
One major suggestion is to split the current position of Academic and Welfare Officer into two separate sabbatical posts.
The current workload of the position is described by the report as "so extreme that it was unhealthy for the post holder" and failing to split them would actually be detrimental to the Officer's health and their effectiveness.
YUSU President Anne-Marie Canning said: "We've seen Academic and Welfare Officers self-implode and on the verge of a nervous breakdown."
It has been suggested that one aspect of the role is always neglected. Canning stressed the need to "give academia the position it deserves in the Union".
Grace Fletcher Hackwood, former Academic and Welfare Officer, was one of the main opponents of this division, arguing that the two roles are so closely linked they cannot be split.
Another recommended change is to join the roles of the Societies and Communications Officer and the Student Development and Charities Officer into one new position: Student Activities Officer.
This move would allow the separation of the academic and welfare role while still maintaining the number of sabbatical officers at six, which is amongst the highest of any university according to Canning.
In line with these suggestions a new constitution will be put forward. It is hoped that the whole process will help the Union become simpler for students to understand, feel a part of and contribute to.
And the constitution will be voted upon by the students in week 9, assuming it has passed by all other voting bodies first!
The merging of Socs&Comms with Student Development&Charities would also be linked with greater staff input in things that are currently excess work for the sabbatical officers. There are plenty of more faces to this than just the two bits being outlined here, however, and I suggest that anyone interested reads the full report.
I would strongly urge everyone to support this move. The splitting of A&W is essential to the continued good academic performence of our uni. At the moment, the 'academic' side of A&W has been well and truly neglected due to people like GFH believing the two positions are intrinsically linked. They are not. Splitting the roles and combining Socs. and Coms. and Development and Charities will allocate help where it is most needed. This is YUSU reacting to students (for a change) and we should congratulate them for that and support the moves.
Dan Taylor
Amy - do you think the title of this article is really representative of the issues?
Anyway, head over to www.yusu.org/governance for more information about the piece of consultancy we had done and for more information about how to get involved with the changes and have your say!
Anne-Marie president@yusu.org
Also - we'll be on air on URY at 2pm today to chat about the split of AcWelf!
well YUSU has received criticism so doesn't that make the headline correct?
Well Yeah, but its criticism from a report YUSU commissioned, it would be a pretty pointless exercise if it didn't make recommendations.
Aren't they the same recommendations that Nads made in his campaign?
Exactly, Jen. And I think the title is apt for the article, frankly. The phrase "serious changes" suggests the status quo is untenable, indeed the very comissioning of a report suggests change was expected in the first place. I think Nads' campaign can be seen as prophetic at the very least!
Dan Taylor
Splitting the role isn't something that Nads came up with. It's something that's been being thought about for a couple of years now. Indeed it was something I was very much in favour of during my (unsuccessful) run for AcWelf last year. Institutional memory is appalling. :(
Unsurprising they were criticised really - consultants don't make money by telling people everything's fine.
But only Nads proposed it in his election campaign, without the endless surveys etc...
Lets be completely frank here...
Firstly - YUSU commissioned this report and as such is taking steps to improve its structures something that it can only be commended for. This isn't a kneejerk reaction. The reaction was taken at the end of the summer term last year and the money was allocated in the budget for it.
Secondly - splitting the Acwelf post has been around for ages. Indeed it was one option given in a report commissioned 3/4 years ago that wasn't taken up (a staff member was employed at that stage). Most Unions across the country have done it and you won't find anyone who has pushed it more than I have over the past 12 months - indeed if I'd have had my way it would have been done this year.
Thirdly - Nadz campaign did go for the acwelf split but didn't cover everything the document suggests by any stretch of the imagination.
Fourthly - The only body the constitution HAS to go to is the UGM but I imagine it will be consulted on at a number of other bodies.
Fifthly- it would be fair to say that 95% of the changes/suggestions in the publicly available report were discussed, mooted and suggested last year by the sabbatical team and other officers. However some people felt it was appropriate to have an external consultant come in to review processes. Rightly or wrongly this has provided external critique of systems and ways of moving forward.
Lastly - whatever your opinion may be on most of the above points there is a clear direction for YUSU to move forward on - some areas in my opinion are not quite right and the report shows a slight lack of comprehension on them but everyone will have slightly different opinions.
I'm sure you said something about leaving student politics alone this term, Dan...
Danny Stacey
Nadz said he'd split Academic and Welfare. Yes. But very little else was suggested by him - and Tom Scott (elect) said he'd listen to the recommendations of the report so it's all a waste of time arguing. Lalala.
There's more chance of Dan Taylor joining the International Solidarity Movement than him giving up student politics! It's his life! Oh, and crying like a baby during Derwent getting crushed on the rugby pitch.
Can we keep this on topic - it's not about Dan Taylor or Nadz. Whatever happens the changes will have to be implemented by Scott and the new executive committee.
I hope this doesn't take priority over cutlasses.
Dan - Grace saw first hand that the two positions of Academic and Welfare were intrinsically linked, and the report does not disagree with her view. It is time constraints that mean that one side of the position is concentrated on over the other. If the position were to be split then the two positions would remain linked by officers working closely together as outlined in the report - Grace was by no means as wrong as you say she was.
Whilst I have had many discussions over this issue with Grace, some on areas we concurred and some on areas it didn't. I do believe that as time went on, especially once in post, she felt they were not as linked as she previously believed. If she disagrees I apologise and stand corrected, however this is my recollection.
However the two posts are not as intrinsically linked as a lot of people believe. The academic work of the officer is on a higher level than the individual most of the time and is that of policy and academic development. Yes this has a direct impact on student welfare, but so do all areas of the union. Indeed increasingly the Welfare role is taking that form (higher level co-ordination, consultative and policy work) as well and deals with less with 'face to face' welfare as time goes on.
Yes conversation needs to take place between the two but no more than some of the other officers. Indeed where the positions have been split there tends to have been more communication between the President and Academic and the President and Welfare than the academic and welfare officers themselves.
Surely combining the Socs&Comms and Charities&Development roles would lead to the same level of overwork and associated probable negligence that is the problem of the current AcWelf position?
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