Interview with Deputy President (Finance & Services) Ravi Pall

What has been your biggest challenge?

The biggest challenge in my role is definitely the constant battle to provide students with all the services they want. It’s tough to not be able to cater for everyone, or when you put plans in place to do so, it takes time to mature. Ultimately, I’ve realised that it’s not possible to please everyone, but the best that you can do is try and be fair to as many people as possible.

What is an average day like?

I get to the office at either 9am or 10am, depending on how busy my day is. Mondays and Tuesdays tend to be the busiest as I’ve got quite a few meetings and obviously I’m constantly dealing with day-to-day issues with services in the Union and also financial issues with Clubs & Societies. There are a lot of forms to sign and regular meetings I attend to help steer the Union’s customer service, and various internal projects.

What have you enjoyed most about your job?

The thing that I’ve enjoyed most this year is the launch of Metric and FiveSixEight. The Union has changed so dramatically since I was a 1st year and being able to contribute to that positive change has been really fun. I’m really proud to be a part of the beginning of what is sure to be an incredible next few years with regards to our commercial services. All these venues are sure to play a key role in our plans for the Summer Ball 2011.

What have you enjoyed least?

I guess it’s the flip-side of that same coin. The delays and hiccups with the club and bar were really frustrating. Mostly because there’s a limit to what you can do when, for example, you find asbestos. But I think in the grand scheme of things, they were just little road-bumps. We’ve picked up well since the launch, and are in fact doing better than we originally thought.

What is your biggest regret so far?

I’m not sure if I would call it a regret, but I wish I had known how long it takes to get things changed around the Union. Sometimes is can be quite demoralising when you come into work and you are faced with the same issues as a few weeks ago. The key is to stay focused on the bigger picture. If you get bogged down in petty issues, you can miss important milestones in the projects you have started which are here to improve the student experience.

Do you have any advice for anyone considering running for your position?

If you’re thinking of running for Deputy President (Finance & Services), I would talk to Club chairs and treasurers, and learn how the union finance system works. The more experience you can get and the more you can prepare yourself, the better. The system can be a bit daunting at a first glance, but once you understand it, it’s very easy and efficient. I would also advise going over to the Reynolds building on Charing Cross campus. It’s one of ICU’s commercial outlets, and has in the past been overlooked. It really does help if you can talk to as many students who are active in the Union’s operations to get a better understanding of the culture and procedures involved.

Have you delivered your manifesto promises?

I promised quite a lot of things and I think I have delivered on most of them. Of course, I can’t take all the credit for those, the Union has been improving on so many fronts over previous years and obviously Metric and FiveSixEight were begun before I was a sabb. But the only promise that I think I haven’t managed to deliver is a cashless payment system for the bars; it turned out to be unworkable.

What will be the most important challenge for your successor?

I think that my successor has to ensure that Metric and FiveSixEight remain responsive to the needs of students. We need to keep helping Clubs & Societies put on nights in Metric and make sure that we don’t let the time, effort and money invested in the refurbishment go to waste. They also need to continue the work that has begun to revolutionise our club finance system. It’s a big task and we’re reaching the end of it but it will fall to my successor to follow it through to the very end.