Congratulations, UAL Students – you’ve made it to the end of Term 1. It’s time for a well-deserved rest, so grab a mince pie and stick on Home Alone, or just put your feet up over the Holidays!

At the beginning of the Academic Year, Arts SU outlined our four Campaign Priorities for the Academic Year, led by your Sabbatical Officers:

·        Decolonising & Inclusivity

·        Targeted Accessibility and Support

·        Community Mobilisation & Development

·        International Student Support

This term, your Sabbatical Officers have been hard at work representing your interests at senior-level University committees and campaigning for the changes you want to see, alongside running events and initiatives to improve your UAL experience. It’s been a fantastic term with a lot of amazing wins already, and we can’t wait to get stuck in to Term 2. Check out our wins this term, and find out what’s coming next below.

What have we achieved so far:

·        We curated a Black History Month Exhibition (Moving Forward) at CSM Window Galleries, which featured the work of 13 UAL students/graduates. Your Sabbatical Officer Team then organised and facilitated an Artist Tour, Discussion and Crits session, which was very well received by the student community!

·        We lobbied UAL to make Disability Awareness Training mandatory for all UAL Staff Members, and will be rolling this out to all Arts SU staff and student-volunteers, to ensure that our working practices are accessible and inclusive.

·        We all know that studying at UAL can be expensive, with lots of hidden costs. Your Activities Officer, Armani, held a two-day giveaway of art supplies and resources at CSM, with 250+ students attending to grab some free goodies!

·        We lobbied UAL Regulations Team to have Racial Trauma added to the Extenuating Circumstances list.

·        We consulted you, the Student Body, on our response to the UCU-UAL Strike Action, which you mandated to support. We held two informational sessions to keep students informed on the strike, before supporting our students to get involved, through picket lines, petitions and lobbying. More to come on this next term!

·        Our Education Officer, Rachel, launched the Modernising Course Resources project, holding two Pilot Sessions at CCW to open conversations around Decolonising UAL between students and staff.

What’s up next term:

·        We are currently planning LGBTQ+ History Month, with an Exhibition and Event Programme in the works, to ensure that are LGBTQ+ Students feel supported and represented at UAL.

·        We are working with Disability Services on a research project aiming to make UAL accessible and inclusive as standard. This project will also offer paid work to our student representatives.

·        We are organising a Campaigns & Advocacy Fortnight in January/February 2022. We will be partnering with external organisations such as Black Cultural Archives and Migrants in Culture, in order to give you the tools, training and support to further the issues you care about.

·        We are working with UAL to produce accessible guides to Extenuating Circumstances and seeking support at UAL.

·        We will be lobbying UAL for a disclaimer around how your data is used, should you self-identify in a liberation category.

·        We want to prioritise International Student Support, looking at how best we support our International Students throughout and beyond their time at UAL.

You can learn more about Arts SU’s Campaign Priorities for the 21/22 Academic Year here, or alternatively you can keep up with your Sabbatical Officers by viewing their Airtables.

Thank you for a fantastic term, and we can’t wait to see you in the New Year!