Science Challenge Returns and Other News
Monday 21 Jan 2008
The Science Challenge is back
The Royal College of Science Union (RCSU) are now announcing details of the 2008 Science Challenge. You can win a Wii by just signing up for their mailing list and win £2500 for writing 800 words for the competition itself! The Rector, Sir Richard Sykes, will be launching the event next Tuesday (6:30- 7:30pm, LT 220 in Mech Eng) and will give some hints on how to answer this years challenge. The organizers promise an interesting evening including surprises and free nibbles and drinks! If you wish to win a Wii see their website at
www.rcsu.org.uk/sciencechallenge and click the Wii button.
National Student Survey
First of all I would like to apologise to those of you who are not final year undergraduates as this information will not really apply to you. The National Student Survey is an opportunity for all final year students studying at UK universities to give their opinion on their time at university. The survey contains questions on all aspects of your student experience and will cover issues such as assessment and feedback, learning resources, teaching and whether or not you felt satisfied with your experience of Imperial College London. All final year students will be contacted asking them to complete this survey and I urge you to do so as it is a very useful tool for highlighting anything you have been unhappy with so that the College has to take action to improve things for continuing and future students. The results of this survey are very important as they will go a long way to directing the work of College and your Union’s academic representatives in 2008/09 so please take the few minutes required to fill it in.
NUS Regional Conference
More info about my favourite student collective! The next meeting of Regional Conference for NUS London will take place on Wednesday 30 January at City & Islington College. Imperial College Union is entitled to send another 8 delegates so if you would like to come along please drop me an email at president@imperial.ac.uk. Topics for discussion include Higher Education Funding, the NUS governance review and you will also get the chance to wreck up the elected NUS sabbaticals for things that they have (or have not) done.
Graduate Students’ Association Elections – Nominations now open
Nominations for the positions of GSA Chair, Treasurer and Secretary are now open. A member of staff has been recruited by the Union to support the work of postgraduate representatives and the Faculty Union’s so those of you who are elected to these positions can expect a great deal of help and support as you help direct and organise academic representation to the Graduate Schools or social events for Imperial’s sizeable postgraduate community. Nominate yourself online at www.imperialcollegeunion.org/vote before Friday 25 January if you wish to stand. If you have any questions regarding the commitment involved for any of these positions don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Union Council
Union Council is empowered to set policy (what we think about issues which affect us all as students such as top-up fees, academic boycotts and environmental measures on campus) on behalf of the Union and gives the student body an opportunity to question and direct the work of the Deputy Presidents and I. The next meeting will take place 21 Jan at 6.30pm in the Union Dining Hall on the first floor of the Union Building. I would recommend that anyone who has a particular interest in what views our NUS delegates will argue for on behalf of the student body should come along as this will be one of the items available for discussion. For those of you who are really keen papers and sabbatical reports for this meeting are available for all members of the Union to read online at www.imperialcollegeunion.org/committee.