Week One – 20th to 24th June

My first official engagement during handover period was a meeting with Education Minister Bill Rammell. He has only recently been appointed to the office, however, he was happy to take on board our concerns about lack of student representation in areas. He was also keen for NUS to get involved with the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) campaign to give better and more effective communication to prospective students about what financial support they will be entitled to under the new 2006 regime and also how much they can expect to pay. We were happy to help with the campaign although had to stress that NUS’ policy is still that of free education.

QAA steering group – I met with some staff members who are on the group that takes quality forward. It was my first meeting and we talked at length about the September “Quality Takes Time” event on 7th September for more details go to www.officeronline.co.uk/quality

Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Collaborative Provision Audit (CPA) Day. Sounds complicated…but really it’s a new process that looks at the quality of teaching and the student experience of students who are studying a higher education course which is accredited by a university and delivered in a college sometimes over the other side of the world. You can find more about this at our website too. Anyway, this day was spent explaining to officers involved in the process. It was a joint day between NUS and the QAA.

Encounter Conference - This is an annual conference that is held to share information and have discussions around education. A whole host of issues are discussed. This year it was in Cork and I had the pleasure of going over to Ireland to speak at the event. I spoke about student involvement and the value of high quality teaching.

Week Two 27th June – 1st July

This week began with National Executive Committee (NEC) induction. It was an amazing two days. I think its crucial that although the NEC come into the movement for different reasons that we still work together and learn more about each other. This is the way that we can deliver more to our members and ultimately meet the students needs.

Post Qualification Admissions (PQA) Advisory group – This meeting took place at the DfES in Westminster and is a group that is working towards recommendations about allowing students to make more informed choices about their future by making it easier to apply to university after you have you’re a level results.

The rest of the week was spent trying to organise the office and clear out age old paper work from filing cabinets. We are due to move over the next few weeks.

Week Three – 4th to 8th July

Aldwych Handover – Aldwych is a group of students’ unions of the Russell Group of universities. As VP Education I am invited along to the meetings of the group. This is a really good opportunity to consult with unions on issues that affect them. I was asked to comment on issues such as National Student Survey (NSS) and an interesting presentation on Widening Participation (WP) by my new colleague Veronica King (VP Welfare). The elections took place at the meeting (unfortunately I missed) and a new committee were elected. Congratulations to all!!

Manifestos to Action (EAST MIDLANDS) – This was my chance to meet some more new officers. I had the pleasure of meeting our new East Midlands team of sabbaticals.

Emergency NEC Meeting – Holloway Road.

Thursday 7th July – I would like to pay my respects to those who lost loved ones in the attacks that took place on London on the 7th July. Thankfully all staff and NEC were accounted for.

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