Officer Trustee's year in review 2024/25

While we hope you’re enjoying the summer sun, we’re here on campus getting things started for next year! Your Officer Trustee's (OTs) are in the midst of their final 2 weeks of service and are preparing your incoming team to be ready to hit the ground running.

We hope you’re all having a great summer and we can’t wait to see you all back on campus soon. As we move out of the new year, let’s hear from your amazing outgoing officer team on how it’s been going...

Camille – Union President

2023/24 - 2024/25

When I began considering running for Union President for the first time over two years ago, I asked one of the then-officers if he felt that he was actually making a difference. I wanted to know whether the role would help me with the simplest version of my aims: do some good.

Reflecting on that conversation two terms later, I’m happy that some good was done. My favourite bits of good were: negotiating first-year rents down from a 30% increase in one year to a 16% increase over three, a beautifully re-vamped Beit garden, and a drafted proposal to take to UKRI urging for an immediate increase to the London allowance in our PGR students’ doctoral stipends.

I am particularly proud of having created a conduit for conversation between university senior leadership and students regarding university investments. Not an easy conversation to chair, but an important one. I hope the university will continue to engage openly with the student body, on this topic and more.

A special thank you to all the wonderful students and ICU staff I have had the pleasure of working with. I think we have done plenty of good this year!

Steph – Deputy President (Finance and Services)

2023/24 - 2024/25

July 31st, this will mark the 731st day since I first started as your DPFS and the final day of my term.

Since developing the union’s sustainability strategy last year, I’ve been working closely with our staff and the officer team to implement this. There's still a long way to go, but I’m happy to say we’ve made good progress already. 

I've also relaunched the strategy in a more digestible format for our students, so hopefully you've had the chance to take a look and figure out how you would like to get involved.

Bringing together the first cultural celebration event at the union has also been a rewarding experience, and seeing our students come together for this occasion is something I won’t forget. I can’t wait to see what the next event will be like as we bring more of you along on the journey. And of course I can't forget the biggest Summer Ball we’ve had yet!

But for now, it is goodbye from me. And, goodbye to the DPFS role as we undergo changes here at the union following our democracy review.

Over and out, from your DPFSteph <3

Christian – Deputy President (Clubs and Societies)

2023/24 - 2024/25

This year has gone so fast, and it’s been a wild ride! Behind the scenes, I’ve spent the year working to improve processes and services within student activities, including working with club and society volunteers to develop a faster, simpler and more effective activity proposal form for next academic year. This change will give committee members more time to focus on what really matters, rather than drafting long event proposals.

I’m also proud to have overseen the second year of the Student Experience Fund, which has witnessed a 23% increase in use since last academic year. The fund has provided invaluable support to over 1000 students at Imperial. I hope to see the fund continue to grow and cement itself as just one of the many ways in which the union is working to increase access for as many Imperial students as possible.

Alongside ICU’s work on sustainability, I’ve developed the clubs and societies sustainability framework, which will provide a foundation for all student groups to strive to be leaders in, and advocates for, sustainability at Imperial.

Emina – Deputy President (Education)

2024/25, returning for 2025/26

The unbearable stuffy office air and buzz of fans makes me realise my first year as DPE has already come to an end - and what a year it has been!

I am a bit biased and would say that the DPE has the most *exciting* projects - I’d go for this role too, if I were you. Just to name a few highlights, this year saw us making progress in tidying up the mitigating circumstances policy (thank you to everyone involved!) as well as addressing the big assessment and feedback elephant in the University through student shapers and rep feedback.

Communication with reps and approachability is something we’ve definitely flipped the tables on. Through Nico and I’s Sherfield drop-ins and prioritising 1:1s with senior reps, we’ll definitely be keeping these in our calendars for next year!

It’s been an immense privilege working with this year’s Officer Trustee team to improve the Imperial student experience, and I am more than excited to see what heights we can achieve with next year’s OT quartet!

Nico – Deputy President (Welfare)

2024/25, returning as Union President 2025/26

This year as DPW has been hectic, full on, and very rewarding!

I worked with the team to prioritise increasing the Union’s communication and presence across our campuses.

I co-led rent negotiations with Camille to ensure housing costs don’t block access to Imperial. I pushed for higher pay and better conditions for student staff, influencing university policy on recommended working hours. I also contributed to the implementation of the mental health strategy and the design of new study and breakout spaces.

I advocated for more prayer rooms and support for our diverse student community. I also worked with Lilia, ICSMSU President, to propose increasing paid mentorship opportunities for underrepresented students.

Finally, I began work on establishing how ICU will calculate its baseline carbon impact and worked with the team to define the scope of what falls within our reach for delivering positive change.

I'm really happy with what we've delivered this year and looking forward to continuing to work for you!