Charlotte’s Blog – 09/04/18

So it’s April, Mid-Easter break and the sun is finally out!

Deadlines and exams are

approaching with speed – if you find that things aren’t going as planned, please do remember to use our advice and support service, you can book an appointment here https://www.yorkgsa.org/students/welfare/arrange-an-appointment-with-the-gsa/ .

The last term has been a tricky one: adverse weather, Industrial action and a general shortage of teabags in the Vanbrugh College nucleus.

This has meant that the strikes (predictably!) have been a huge focus for me, ensuring that you receive the information you need. There’s been a lot of debate on the issue, and thanks for all of the input you’ve given me; it’s given us a really strong Postgraduate student voice to present to the university. Unfortunately, this means that some of my other projects have been put on hold – but hopefully to resume with the arrival of summer.

If you do have any concerns over the way the strikes have affected your programme, or upcoming assessments, please do email me (president@yorkgsa.org) or speak to one of our advisers – we can only hope to fix problems that we know about!

To Happier News:

It’s Goose Breeding season! (no, seriously, the fluffy cygnets are adorable – although the geese get vicious in late spring). I’m looking forward to this summer term, and I’ll shortly be representing the Post-grads of York at National level, at the NUS PG section Conference. I’ll write up a report of this and send it out, but please do let me know if there are questions you want me to be asking!

Over the next term we’ll also be launching our new policy submission process, so that you can better feed into our council, as well as a network for Graduate Teaching Assistants, to help share best practice and identify common issues.

Here’s what we have in the calendar:

The GSA Postgrad Futures Day is on the 26th April – do come along and find out what we’ve been up to, and we’ll provide the food and drink.

Our summer trips are starting again! We’re heading to Whitby (during Whitby Goth Weekend) on the 28th

And DeStress Week is coming up next week, including guide dog puppy lounge, bottled water and fruit giveaways, dedicated talks, free head massages and more.

For now – Good Luck with your assignments, exams, dissertations and thesis!

See you all on the 26th for the AGM!

Charlotte