Rose Franchi was elected the Activities and Development Officer last summer and has since made it her mission to support societies in the best way she can. Since taking up the role, Franchi has fulfilled most of her objectives from her original manifesto and adapted the others so that she can achieve her goals before the end of her second semester.
Originally, Franchi set out to improve communication for students in general, but primarily societies, as well as providing support for committee members through increased access to digital training. Additionally, she aimed to improve accessibility and inclusivity for postgraduate students.
So far, Franchi has made changes to help societies and make support for them more accessible; one of her first projects as Activities and Development Officer was to install storage space for student groups to store their personal belongings relating to society activities, like sports equipment. She has also been working with Alison Romaine, the Education Officer, and Lissi Abnett, the Postgraduate Students Officer, in order to increase the support available to postgraduates.
One of Franchi’s proudest moments as Activities and Development Officer was the Activities Fair during Freshers’ Week: “I’d been working on the Activities Fair throughout the summer and seeing the fruits of your labour was really cool. Going out and speaking to loads of student societies, getting to know them and putting names to faces was really cool. To see the whole building just buzzing with activity was one of the highlights of my year for sure.”
On the flip side, the UCU strikes last semester undoubtedly had a serious impact on the student body, and learning how to navigate this period was one of the more stressful moments of the role.
“It was quite hard work as a team figuring out how we could best support students with that,” Franchi said. “I remember that being quite a difficult time but we got there in the end and I hope that our stance and what we offer to students during the strike periods have been helpful and useful.”
Looking to the future, Franchi is hopeful that she can continue to fulfil her original goals and offer even more support to students. She hopes to run society support sessions, providing more in person networking and collaboration for student groups, as well as organising more postgraduate events.
In the meantime, Franchi is looking forward to Society Showcase Week (commencing 27th February) which will enable societies to exhibit their talents and activities. With the upcoming elections in mind, Franchi offered a word of advice to her successor: “Be confident in your decisions – you were elected for a reason.”