Free coffee in Student Café

A coffee machine has been installed in the Student Café (in the basement) providing FREE coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Please make use of it while work on the kitchen continues...

Welfare Adviser

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Hutty, the Courtauld's first ever Welfare Adviser! The Students' Union has been campaigning for over a year for the Institute to employ a qualified adviser who can assist with all welfare needs, from health, to finance to immigration. Chris starts his new post on Monday 20th October, and will be present on Monday's and Friday's.

Saturday Freshers' Party

Please buy your tickets in advance to book your place at the Freshers' Week Party on Saturday. The few remaining tickets will be available to buy in the temporary student cafe (through the book library) between 12pm and 2pm tomorrow.

Freshers' Fayre

Please visit our Freshers' Fayre taking place downstairs in the (regular) Student Cafe this afternoon from 2:30 - 5pm. This is your chance to get information about our clubs and societies, hear from our affiliated organisations and find out what's happening at ULU and the NUS. See you all there!

£ PARTY - TONIGHT!

Please come along to our legendary in-house party where this year it only costs £1, yes ONE POUND with all the drinks generously provided by the Students' Union. It starts at 8pm and will finish at 11pm. Unfortunately it's not possible to bring non-Courtauld guests to this one.

See you later!

Hello all undergraduates!

All the new first-year undergraduates are enrolling today. Well done, you've made it!

Website

I hope you like our brand new website! Please bear with us over the next couple of weeks while we're formalising all the details... Thanks.

Clubs and Societies

Thank you to everyone who has made suggestions for new clubs and societies, it's great that so many people have such fantastic ideas. So far the new postgraduate students have suggested life-drawing classes, a book (strictly fiction!) reading group, a women's committee and a Jewish Society. I am hoping to make arrangements with the students who have propsed these ideas in the next week or two (after we've got over Freshers' Week!) so say tuned for further details.

If anyone has any more suggestions we'd love to hear them.

Postgraduate Welcome

I think everyone will agree that the past couple of days have gone really well! All the new postgraduate students have enrolled and the Students' Union provided daytime refreshments as well as evening activities for everyone to get to know each other. Drinks last night at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese was a great success and thanks to everyone who came. It's been lovely meeting you, and thanks for all the nice things you've been saying...it's much appreciated.

Campaigns

Check out the new Courtauld Students' Union website for updates on how we're campaigning to improve the student experience at the Courtauld. Website coming soon...

Freshers' Week!

Stay tuned for Courtauld Students' Union Freshers' Week 2008! There will be events for all students with the week culminating in the first Courtauld party of the year!

Accommodation info online

Our new website — under construction — will have a blog dedicated to accommodation. No longer will offers of spare rooms clog up your email accounts; instead these will be uploaded to the blog and you'll be able to check the website at your leisure. Alternatively you'll be able to subscribe to our RSS feed to keep up to date.

Small and Specialised Colleges

To state the obvious, the Courtauld is a unique institution. As a single discipline college with a small intake of students, it has very different needs and concerns to far larger universities. Similarly, the Courtauld Students' Union operates in a different way to say Kings' College SU. We understand that Courtauld students have very particular academic requirements, financial circumstances and welfare needs. Whilst the Courtauld Students' Union respects and responds to these specific matters, the University of London Union (ULU) - to which we are affiliated - needs to do more to accommodate students from Small and Specialised colleges. So this coming year, one of the new Vice Presidents at ULU, Sharn Kalsi, will be in charge of strengthening ULU's relationship with Small and Specialised unions like the Courtauld. I will be working closely with her to oversee the development and maintanance of this relationship to make sure that ULU offers services applicable to Courtauld students. Myself and other sabbatical officers from Small and Specialised unions will be meeting with Sharn later in August to discuss how to work effectively with ULU over the coming year and beyond.

Hand-over complete!

Alas it was Lizzie's last day as President yesterday. We have completed an incredibly productive month of 'handing-over' the Students' Union. I would like to say thank you to Lizzie for all her hard work for the entire year gone by. I've got a lot to live up to!

I'm currently re-arranging the office. Fun.

NUS Training

I'm currently sitting at a computer at the University of Hertfordshire on a break from my 'Active Political Leadership' training, run by the NUS. In short, I have been learning about different leadership styles and the scenarios in which to implement them. The numerous workshops I am undertaking are giving me the opportunity to put theory into practice by actively developing the skills I will need to bring out the best in the Courtauld Students' Union.

Still two more days to go...!

ULU Summer Training

I've just returned from my three-day ULU residential training at Royal Holloway. Firstly, the weekend gave me the opportunity to get to know other sabbatical officers from the other University of London colleges, and secondly, it introduced me to the operational structure of ULU, giving me to chance to evaluate its significance for Courtauld students.

This year ULU will be making a concerted effort to re-engage with its affiliate unions following some years of underachievement. This means that students will be given the opportunity to decide what they want ULU to be. Whether you want to see more clubs, societies and sports provision or increased visibility and engagement with affiliate institutions, it is you, the students, who can determine what changes are necessary. I will therefore be consulting with you over the first few weeks of term to make sure that the specific priorities of Courtauld students are met.

I was also involved in a debate about the future of Higher Education funding (in preparation for the forthcoming 2009 government review); and I was consulted about the proposition of a London-wide NUS commission (beyond the University of London). I also shared ideas and forged allegiances with fellow officers from small and specialised institutions whose unions face similar tasks to the Courtauld SU over the next year.

Hand-over and training

Lizzie Swarbrick and I are currently 'handing-over' the Presidency of the Students' Union. Together we are assessing potential concerns, highlighting required skills and thinking through significant issues which I will encounter in the forthcoming year. My time with Lizzie is to help prepare me for the year ahead, whilst allowing me to evaluate my own ideas, strategies and opinions.

Tomorrow I am off to Egham for ULU training at Royal Holloway for three days. The conference will officially introduce me to University of London Union politics and will give me the opportunity to think critically about how Courtauld students can interact with, and benefit from, the wider student network across the capital. Upon my return I will update you on what I discovered...

CSU website on the way...

The Courtauld Students' Union website is currently under construction and will be ready for the beginning of the forthcoming academic year. It will incorporate elements from this blog, our Facebook and Flickr web presence as well as a a whole host of useful information and ways for students to get involved and have their say. We aim to make it the one stop shop for everything you need while studying at the Courtauld — from information about upcoming events to the latest info on what's going on in London right now. Stay tuned...

Introducing...

Hi everyone,

As promised, I intend the Students' Union committee to operate transparently so that everyone can see what we're doing and how we're doing it. This fabulous new blog will keep you up-to-date with all the activities of the President and the committee so that you can see how all our actions, campaigns, motions and events are managed from start to finish.

Special thanks goes to Owen for imagining and realising this blog.

Welcome!

This is the first post of the new Courtauld Students' Union blog! The SU will be reinvigorating and consolidating its web presence during the Summer which will culminate with the launch of our brand-new web site for the start of the new academic year.

Be sure to check back here for updates from the SU executive committee about what we're doing to represent your views and make your time at the Courtauld as fun and as worthwhile as possible.