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What does your job actually entail? What do you see as your main responsibilities?
Like many of the other non-sabbatical roles, the job is to represent a group of students whose needs differ from the average Cardiff University student. In my case, the major issue is working out the best mode of communicating with the thousands of students up at the Heath who traditionally haven't had much input into the students union.
What do you think the job demands in terms of personal attributes or skills?
Empathy and diplomacy are pretty essential to this job but the majority of healthcare students will have these anyway! (I hope!!!)
What do you enjoy most about the job?
The positivity and support from the rest of the Exec means you can achieve much more than you thought you could do on your own.
What are the challenges/obstacles you face?
The original lack of infrastructure for communications between the thousands of students makes the job all the more difficult.
What have you achieved since coming into your position?
I've asked the students at the Heath what they thought of the facilities and union involvement at the Heath, and fed these thoughts back to the Union. Hopefully creating a much easier way for healthcare students to get their voice heard.
What's next?
To try and see where the day-to-day running of the Students' Union can be more open to the input of Heath students, maybe through changes to Student Council arrangements and some way of students on placement getting their point heard.
Would you recommend your role? If so, why?
I'd happily recommend the role, and want to encourage as many people from the Heath to stand for this, and for all the other positions in the Union. Getting more Heath students involved in elections and the Executive Committee can only be a good thing. I really hope course commitments and placements don't put the best people off going for the roles.
