Welcome back to another monthly update from your President Team! Now that we're fully settled into our roles, we've been extremely busy starting work on our planned projects for the year and making connections with various teams across the university and beyond.

What have we been up to?

At the start of the month we, alongside our Senior Leadership Team, headed to the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol to meet with other Student Leaders from across the Southwest. Throughout the day we had the opportunity to talk about how we can work as a collective to support students across the region. If you'd like to find out more about this event, check out our recent Instagram post

You may have noticed that we have been increasing our presence on the UPSU Instagram page over the last month or so. One of our joint aims is to increase our visibility, and ensure that you know who we are and what we are up to. Social media is a big part of this aim, with Poppy largely taking the lead on this, so do go and check out what we’re up to on Instagram, and let us know if you have any suggestions! If you’d like to find out more about our joint goals, read our article here.

Emily has begun to work alongside various teams across the university to help put together student facing AI guidance. We know that many of you are sceptical about AI usage, and unsure of when you can and can’t use it. This guidance will help to give more clarity, and will hopefully help to reassure you about the use of AI at university. More to come soon!

We have also all been working on individual Faculty Handbooks, aimed at giving you an overview of how your faculty is structured and who to pass feedback to. We believe that it is important for you to understand your faculty and representation structures, so you know who to go to if you ever need help. 

The three of us headed down to the Marine Station to learn more about university’s partnership with The National Centre for Marine Autonomy and watch the British Firework Championships. This was a great opportunity to learn more about what Plymouth has to offer, and make connections with people across the university. 

Who have we been talking to?

We kicked off August meeting with fellow Sabbatical Officers from Arts University Plymouth and Marjon University. This was a great opportunity to talk about joint priorities and how we can work together to serve all students across Plymouth. Various issues were discussed, such as student accommodation and collaboration opportunities, and we can’t wait to explore these further throughout the year. Watch this space! 

A-level results day saw us talking to students Sam and Charlie about their experience coming to university via Clearing. We were able to talk to them about why they chose Plymouth, what their favourite thing about the university is, their experience with clubs and societies and their top tips for new students. It was great to chat to them both, and has definitely got us excited for talking to more students in September! You can find our videos with Sam and Charlie here and here.

We’ve also been busy talking to the Vice Chancellor, Richard Davies, and the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Education and Student Experience, Chris Bennewith. Both Richard and Chris are extremely invested in improving student experience, and we look forward to working with them throughout the year. 

What events are coming up?

Our event planning has stepped up a gear this month, and we have many exciting events planned for the upcoming year! Aside from all of the Fresher's events that are coming up in September, we have a lot planned for the rest of the year. 

As we mentioned in our previous update, at the start of October we are launching Faculty Mixer events. These will be an informal opportunity to make friends and get to know your wider faculty in the comfort of your SU space. Students are the main focus of these events, and we hope that they will be able to increase the sense of community between programmes and schools. The events will take place in the SU, running from 5:30pm-7:30pm Each Faculty will have their own event: 

• Faculty of Health (hosted by Vriti): Monday 5th October
• Faculty of Science and Engineering (hosted by Poppy): Tuesday 6th October
• Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business (hosted by Emily): Thursday 8th October

Not sure what Faculty your course is in? You can find out here. We hope to see you there!

Emily has been busy working on the Wellbeing Fair, which will be taking place in the SU on 6th October, from 11am-4pm. This event is aimed at giving you an overview of what wellbeing services are available to you, both across the university and throughout the wider city. Various organisations will be attending with stalls in the Main Room, with activities also taking places across the day in The Den. Keep your eyes peeled for more information, and let us know if this is something that you would like to get involved with. 

As well as this, we are also working alongside our Faculty Equality, Diversity and Inclusion teams to help run a World Menopause Event on the 14th October. This will also be held in the SU Main Room, and will be an opportunity for students and staff to learn more about the menopause, and how they can support those navigating it. Plans are underway for external speakers, research talks and informal networking, just to name a few. We can’t wait to see you there! 

Finally, both Poppy and Vriti have started thinking about events for 2027.  Poppy has begun planning both a Postgraduate networking event and a STEM fest for 2027, and Vriti has started to put together plans for an International Women’s Day event March. More details to come soon.... 

Make sure to keep an eye on our Instagram account and SU website to find out what we are getting up to throughout the month.