These last few months have been both crazy and exciting, with all our student groups enthusiastically getting back to in person activity, with matches, shows, conferences and competitions, as well as much more, all back in full swing. This has of course brought much work to me and the Opportunities & Development team, with all the approval and finances that come with activity.
Because of this influx of activity (which is great!) there has been significant incentive to iron out the processes around managing societies. If you’ve spent any time trying to run a society or event, you’ll know that its not simple, and the process often doesn’t seem the most straightforward. Historically, these processes have been endless and complicated, and a focus of the last few months has been making them just manageable, with a view to make them efficient and easy to use over the rest of the year. Specific changes we’ve made include
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Starting online and in person drop-in sessions for students to ask questions and get instant responses from the team. These have been incredibly successful with improving response times and keeping our email inbox under control! The in-person ones have unfortunately had to be paused due to the increased concern around COVID safety, but we will be working hard on the online ones to make sure everyone can still get the help they need.
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In part due to these drop-in sessions, credit card requests have become a lot more efficient. If you did a credit card request pre-pandemic, you will know the struggle of trying to book a slot to use the cards! Now, with an increased number of members of the team having a card, this is a lot quicker and easier.
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Room bookings have become more efficient, with the waiting time much reduced. There have been so many rooms booked, sometimes there are zero rooms left to be booked! The team will always try to offer an alternative space where possible.
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We have been working hard on how the team handles risk assessments, and now have the capacity to review them properly to make sure your activity is as safe as it can be! Don’t be surprised if you’re asked for more detail in the RA – we are just trying to support your group to be aware of the possible risks. If you ever have questions about what to include, the drop-ins can help you!
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The keen-eyed among you will notice that the Helpdesk has moved downstairs to the ground floor. This will hopefully make it more accessible. We’ve got great plans for the desk, so be prepared for a surprise when you come back from Christmas… You can pick up your parcels from there, as well as keys and key cards for accessing rooms. We’re also hoping to extend its opening hours soon!
Beyond the day to day support of societies, I’ve also been working with Move Imperial and the Sports management group on ensuring that Imperial Athletes is as effective partnership as it can be. This has involved meeting with several clubs about current issues to see what we can solve now, as well as running the IA Town Halls to get visions on what IA should be, as well as directly identifying issues that need to be fixed for next year.
There has also been significant planning about what the staff team within Opportunities & Development should look like. In order to support groups as much as we can, we are restructuring a bit, to clearly define which role does what. Expect to see some new faces around soon!
Finally, there has also been opportunities to work outside with College to support wider interests. This has involved being on the decision panel for the Presidents Community Fund, a fund that considers small to medium scale projects to improve the community on our campuses, and specifically encourages student-staff cocreation. I have also sat on the newly created Enterprise Lab Student Advisory Board, which aims to give student input into what the Enterprise Lab does, but also helps directly connect societies to the lab and its resources.
Have a great break and we can't wait to see you all in Term 2!