We hope that the first weeks of term have been good and that you have settled in. 2024/2025 is a major year for the Students' Union. Being able to go to university is an amazing opportunity, and we should be able to get all that we can out of it. However, we know that student life is becoming more complicated and that many parts of day-to-day life, whether as a student or just a person trying to live, is getting harder.
That's why the SU exists - to support students, to help them make the most of their time at university, and to make change for students. To do that as best as we can, we need to change how we engage with and listen to students, and a major part of that process is going to be reforming the democratic structures of the organisation.
Our current structure has been in place - with minor changes - for a very long time. Student life is vastly different to what it was; Covid, cost-of-living, online learning. Students are spending less time on campus, are having to make difficult decisions about what to prioritise in their lives, and the Students' Union needs to catch up and recognise that.
That's why we're going to be doing a thorough review of what students expect from us, how they want to be involved in what we do, and what we need to look like to make that happen. We are asking you to all get involved in these initial steps as you are all involved and contributing to making students' lives better, and we need your input to go further.
We are running some in-person and online sessions the week beginning the 30th September that we'd like you to sign up to via this short form. As thanks for taking part, we're offering a prize draw for people to win one of three hoodie bundles from the Students' Union shop for everyone who takes part!
If you have any questions, please email jeremy.harvey@stir.ac.uk to find out more!