You’ve bought your freshers’ tickets from them, you’ve partied in their on-campus nightclub and you’ve probably had a drunken accident somewhere near them. Guess who? That’s right; it’s your students’ union and they are here to enhance your student experience. 

With the nights out and on and off-campus services come seven Full Time Officers who are a student elected team who are here to represent you and students’ needs.

President Zahid Raja, 24, is more often known for his parody videos in which he is surrounded by men in leopard print tops and short shorts to support campaigns for student reps and the SU elections. But when off camera, Zahid means business; this year he aims to achieve five points on his manifesto including freezing drink prices in JC’s and free broadband for every student.

“Students should expect to see huge changes. We’ve successfully challenged how the University perceive students. You should expect lecturers to involve you in the design and delivery of your course.

CONTROVERSIAL

“Similarly, there will be expectations on you – your University Education isn’t something that just happens to you, you need to actively engage with your learning and the teaching that you get. That means drink water after a night out and make sure you turn up to lectures (9k a year is A LOT of money to be pissing away!)”

Medical Sciences and Humanities student, Zahid, has announced the controversial plan to restructure the Full Time Officer team by making two of the positions redundant. Zahid explains: “Basically, to be straight up with everyone – we can’t afford to have seven Full Time Officers anymore. Not with an ambition to deliver what we do over two campuses.

“We don’t want to be in a place that some students’ union’s have previously gotten themselves into by ignoring financial issues – some in mild cases having to choose between their bar and their advice centre, others having to go cap in hand to the University.

TAKING ACTION

Becoming the president of the Students’ Union requires a large skills base; being social, organised, committed, critical and understanding. This year in particular is going to be a tough challenge; the QAA institutional review, the logistics of the second Bay Campus and a restructure.

“I felt that I was the best person to lead us through this and decided to go for it. What I would say to anyone reading this is that YOU can do this job too and you would be amazing.

“Let go of anxieties around being experienced enough or tough enough (you get training for all that) and focus on what changes you would like to see in the University, your Union or the student community in which we live.

“This is the perfect opportunity to ask some fundamental questions – why do we have the number of officers that we do? What do they do? and what should they be working on? What are the priorities for Swansea students and how do they mesh with the changes that are on the horizon over the next decade?

It is only when these questions have been answered that we should even think about the roles that Full Time Officers occupy.”

In early September, Education Officer, Swansea Singh was advised and then actioned to resign from his role in the students’ union. This took the Full Time Officer team down to just six roles:

“I think it’s pretty lucky that I was Education Officer last year – it means that we can work around his resignation and at the same time, produce some good results for students.

“We will work on the principles behind his manifesto points as a team.”

MONEY FIRST

A balance of nights out and studying is a difficult measure to strike instantly. This may be the first time you are learning to manage your finances away from home and equilibrium of food vs booze can be a big decision to make. Zahid explains why you need to consider this: “Bills first, booze later. Seriously though, debt isn’t fun or nice. Also, watch what you post online. It will definitely come back to bite you in the future!

“In five years I genuinely have no idea where I’ll be or what I’ll doing. This job is truly amazing in one sense – it opens a lot of doors from the experience you gain, so I’ll have to wait and see.

“If I could be any person, I’d be Voldemort. He’s not really a person, but he’s still great fun.”

The Waterfront has compiled a manifesto checker so you can see the progress of the officer team throughout the year. Visit waterfrontonline.co.uk/manifesto-checker