GSU President, Anuj's wins of the year!

1) Safety & Security at the University of Greenwich campuses 

Worked closely with the University's Head of Estate and Facilities to assess vulnerable areas on our campuses, aiming to guarantee the complete safety of our students throughout all university locations. 

The University is reassessing risk evaluations to adapt to the evolving world. They are examining the necessity of body-worn cameras for all security personnel, considering the use of stab vests, evaluating the effectiveness of our current CCTV system, exploring modern solutions, assessing the potential need for a 24/7 monitored CCTV system, updating the access control system, ensuring a visible patrolling team across all campuses, and engaging in discussions with law enforcement to be present on campus for incident response. 

2) Sports at Greenwich 

With a large student population at the Greenwich campus and limited chances for students to socialize and make new acquaintances beyond the classroom setting, Anuj initiated a campaign to introduce sports activities to the Greenwich Campus. 

Following numerous discussions and collaborative efforts with the University, sports facilities, such as table tennis, foosball and other sports equipment have been arranged at the Greenwich campus.  

 3) International advice services Drop-Ins for Medway/Greenwich

In March 2024 Anuj ran pilot drop-in sessions with the University’s International Student Advice Service for International students. Due to overwhelming demand, the University has agreed to continue these into the next academic year, providing International students with the opportunity to have one on one consultations with the highly trained team. 

4) Working Hour Campaign 

This has been an important campaign for Anuj. The campaign aims to end the Student Visa working hour cap, which sees non-EU international students unable to work in paid employment beyond 20 hours during term. Data from GSU's cost-of-living research shows that international students have significantly less expendable income to live on and are more likely not to be able to pay for their essentials. This puts international students faced with stark choices of taking on further debt, working illegally, or dropping out of their courses. 

The campaign is still underway, and here are some of the accomplishments to date: 

• Supported by Students’ Union leaders across the UK 

• The campaign has received coverage in various press outlets. 

• Engaged in a discussion and debate at the 2024 National Union of Students (NUS) Conference. 

• NUS has collaborated as a team to advance this initiative, and has made this campaign one of their top priorities in the Manifesto for Our Future 

• Recently received an invitation to participate as a panellist in the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on student and work affairs at the parliament 

 5) Self-Certification Extenuating circumstances policy 

Collaborated with the Head of the Registry to work on the operational work and implement the Self-Certification Extenuating Circumstances (ECs) policy, addressing how students face unforeseen situations requiring extension certification. 

The policy allows self-certification for ECs as acceptable evidence for a maximum of three claims per year. In recognition of the increasing pressures both on the NHS and the cost-of-living crisis on students having difficulty obtaining medical evidence. The policy allows consists of grace periods of two calendar days on assessments submitted via Moodle to allow for the impact of short-term challenging circumstances for students' ability to submit work. Bringing forward the deadline for the submission of an EC claim from 14 calendar days to 2 calendar days, aligns the University more in line with the rest of the sector 

6) Employability week 

In collaboration with the University’s Employability team, executed a week of impactful workshops aimed at empowering students for career success, with an attendance of around 250 students.