Glasgow University Students Representative Council

Hi everyone, I hope you’re all settling in well to semester 2, it’s been a cold few weeks but hopefully most of the storms are behind us! It’s time for another update from me, and we’ve been busy as usual at the SRC so read on to find out more about what’s been going on…

Spring Elections

Nominations for our Spring Elections are now open until the 22^nd of February and we have 41 positions up for grabs from School Representatives, to undergrad and postgrad College Convenors, Welfare and Equal Opportunities Officers and, of course, our 4 full-time sabbatical roles. I first got involved with the SRC in my 3^rd year at University, and before that I didn’t have a lot of knowledge about what was involved or what the SRC even did and I certainly never imagined I’d be the President one day! Being part of the SRC opens up so many opportunities to you and is a fantastic way to give something back to other students. Whether you’re someone who likes fighting for change, have a strong interest in equality, or a particular interest in organising events and campaigns – there’s a role for you. Council is for everyone, it doesn’t matter if you’re a postgraduate, a parent, a carer, a home student or all the above! The SRC is here to represent all students, and we welcome everyone. Being involved in the SRC has been the best part of my time at University and I am so enthusiastic about encouraging others to get involved! If this sounds like something you’re interested in and you want to know more, you can head over to our Election Pages to find out all the information about how to nominate yourself, what’s involved and all of the key dates. You can also look through past manifestos if you want to get an idea of what other candidates have pledged to do. If you’d like to chat more about elections please just get in touch at president@src.gla.ac.uk.

Brexit

Brexit could spell disaster for universities across the UK so I’ve been involved in a lot of discussions with other student representatives, the press, University senior management and students here at Glasgow about the impact Brexit might have and what can still be done to try and minimise that. I’m certainly no expert on the intricacies of the Brexit negotiations, but there are some really fundamental parts of the student experience at universities which could be severely impacted by Brexit; things like Erasmus and student exchanges, student visas, student finance and fees and EU research grants that fund huge amounts of ground-breaking research at Glasgow. The Principal and I will be taking part in a Facebook Live event on the 4^th of March at 4pm to answer any questions that students and staff may have about Brexit so please do tune in to that and ask us anything – there’s no such thing as a silly question when it comes to this!

Generation Identity

Some of you may have read in the news before Christmas that some posters were found on campus advertising the far-right group Generation Identity. These posters were identified by the University Security team and were removed as soon as they were found. The security team also informed the police as well as myself and the University’s senior management team. Groups like this have absolutely no place at the University of Glasgow and the SRC will continue to make sure that all of our students feel safe and welcome here. I want to assure all students that the SRC condemn this behaviour and it will not be tolerated. If any student sees any materials or graffiti that they’re concerned about please email me and I will notify University Security immediately. If any students are worried about anything at all related to hate speech or extremist views, please get in touch with myself or the

Gilchrist Postgraduate Club Refurbishment

I didn’t want to end on a negative note, so here’s something fun that I’m really excited about! If you’ve been in to the Gilchrist Postgraduate Club recently you might have noticed that it looks a little bit different with a cool new industrial vibe! The Gilchrist was created by the SRC as a space for postgraduate students on campus which has been open for a number of years now, so we wanted to give it a bit of a makeover. My favourite thing about the refurb is that we’ve had the seminar room re-decorated and renamed it “The Wee G”. It’s a really fantastic space for our postgrad students to book out for events and it’s also available for SRC affiliated clubs and societies to use! It’s fully open for use now but keep an eye on our Gilchrist Facebook Page for information coming soon about our official launch event to celebrate the Gilchrist’s new look.

Keep checking the SRC social media accounts for information about upcoming events and campaigns, and as always, if you’d like to find out more about any of my priorities just get in touch at president@src.gla.ac.uk