Interviewing the Faculty Union Presidents

LUKE KANCZES – ROYAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE UNION (RCSU) PRESIDENT

How have you improved the RCSU since last year? The biggest thing that’s improved this year has been The Science Challenge. Thanks to Paul Beaumont’s work as Science Challenge Chair we’ve managed to secure sponsorship and really revive the event from last year.

What’s a day as the RCSU president like? Studying part-time and organising RCSU events full-time.

Why should people get involved with the RCSU? Getting involved in either the RCSU or one of the departmental societies is not only a great CV boost but it also means you meet a tonne of new people, make loads of new friends and get a few free tickets for events.

What’s been the highlight of your year so far? Sitting on the stage on commemoration day and watching a bunch of my friends graduate right in front of me was probably the highlight of Imperial so far.

Do you feel the faculty union presidents should be sabbaticals too? Personally I don’t think the RCSU President really needs to be a sabbatical position. Maybe in a few years time that’s something which should be considered, but right now the role isn’t large enough to be a sabbatical.

Why wasn’t CGCU involved in your ICSM v RCSU pub quiz? We did ask them if they wanted to be involved and they didn’t get back to us.

When will we see more collaboration with the CGCU? We’ve got our Tri-Union Boat Party coming up on March 14th which is with both the RSM and CGCU.

What’s been the key to ensuring the success of the string of events you’ve held this year? Planning them early and ensuring they’re good value for money I think has been the key.

Is RCSU really the only unpaid faculty president? There are only three faculty unions, the RCSU, the CGCU and the ICSMSU and of these the ICSMSU is a sabbatical position and the CGCU President receives some money for their work. The RCSU President traditionally does significantly more than the CGCU President, but is completely unpaid. To be honest though I don’t really think it should be a paid position.

How have you delivered on your manifesto points so far? My main manifesto point was to bring back the RCSU beer festival, which we did at the RCSU Oktoberfest last term. This wasn’t quite on the scale I’d have liked but with the Union’s new responsible drinking policy it was really the best we could do. Hopefully this will become a yearly event and will be something next years committee can build on.

What would you say to people intending to run for your role? The main thing I’d say is to think about whether you think you can spare the time. It really is a big commitment but easily the best thing I’ve done in my four years at Imperial.

JACKY KWAN – CITY AND GUILDS COLLEGE UNION (CGCU) PRESIDENT

What do you find most interesting about your role? The most interesting part of being in this role is the opportunity to meet with lots of different people. It is amazing to have the opportunity to discuss ideas with Directors of Undergraduate Studies, Heads of Departments and sometimes with the Principle and even the Rector! This role also allows you to meet with distinguished alumni within the vast C&G network. I have been learning an enormous amount from talking with them and I benefit hugely from it.

How have you improved the CGCU’s presence at college? We produced 1,000 CGCU handbooks this year to educate students about CGCU, our traditions and embrace our identity as Imperial Engineers. In addition to that, the executive committee, the dep reps and dep soc chairs have organised short 30 minute long lectures at the beginning of the year in each engineering department to inform students who the reps are and what we do.

Do you feel the CGCU’s run events more competitively against the RCSU this year? Yes, most certainly. In addition to the traditional events, such as club nights at Archangel and the London Brighton run, the flagship freshers’ event – the Welcome dinner at Café de Paris was bigger and better than ever before. We had a fantastic attendance of more than 600, supported by students and staff, testing the capacity of 700. This event marked a start of a series of fantastic events and this is something that the CGCU is determined to carry on - to bring better and more affordable events to the engineering students.

Does the rivalry between faculty unions extend to the CGCU offices? A significant part of the competitive rivalry originates from Mascotry. For those who are not familiar with the topic, the practice of Mascotry revolves around stealing the mascot of our rivals which include the Medics, Scientist and Miners. Then holding them for ransom where the money is given to RAG. A popular location of the Mascots hiding place is inside their respective union’s office. The CGCU exec committee has to keep an eye out for suspicious scientists and miners lurking outside the CGCU office!!

What’s an average week like in the CGCU office? A typical week largely consists of representing the engineering students at lots of different areas: academically, professionally and socially to the college, union, alumni bodies and external companies. This comes in in the form of lots of scheduled meetings and calls. In these meetings, I voice the students’ views on important topics and discuss and decide the engineering faculty union’s position on the matter.

I am also responsible to manage with admin requests from the CGCU management group, i.e. requests from engineering departmental societies and engineering clubs on a daily basis.

Why should people get involved with the CGCU? If you have always wondered what it’s like to be involved in such a successful organisation and to be involved with the organisation of huge events then this is your chance! It is great fun to be on the committee and is a really rewarding challenge. Especially those in 1st and 2nd years don’t be shy to apply!

What advice would you give to someone who was thinking of running for a CGCU position? CGCU is by far the biggest faculty out of the three and as President you are ultimately responsible for approximately 6,000 students, 44% of Imperial. The President must ensure the large executive committee is run smoothly through regular meetings, and they should try to get the most out of exec members. As President you oversee all of the different subsections of the committee including events, industrial relations, alumni relations, finance, engineering representation and sport. This means that the President will be heavily involved with all aspects of the faculty union from securing and managing relationships with sponsors and companies, arranging contractual agreements for events, budgeting and maintaining a strong relationship with the college, union and alumni. The role requires a natural leader who is very good at building strong relationships and managing their time effectively, it is very demanding however extremely rewarding and a great honour which opens doors for you!

SUZIE RAYNER – IMPERIAL COLLEGE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE STUDENTS' UNION

Do you feel the faculty unions aren’t equal in that your role is the only sabbatical position? Inevitably the faculty unions become unequal because of my sabbatical position. I think ICSMSU are lucky because by having a full time officer, we are able to achieve a lot across the board just because we have more time and faculty contact. That’s not to say I think they should be unequal, I would highly support the other faculties getting sabb presidents.

How have you delivered on your manifesto points so far? Fortunately a lot of my manifesto points were also aims of the college/ICU – improving the ‘completion of the circle’ with regard to feedback from students to faculty and vica versa was a key aim and has been addressed from all sides.

Do you feel there’s more prestige associated with being ICSM President than the other positions? I am proud of having had the opportunity to held the position, so I suppose there must be to some extent! Being the ‘face of the medical school’ is amazing.

Being ‘Queen of the Reynolds’, how have you fended off attempts to close the bar? We have worked closely with the new CX campus dean, Building Managers, ICU commercial services, Security etc to ensure that we are all abiding by union rules and the law and to find ways to enhance our working relationships. I think communication has been a key factor in this. We fortunately haven’t had any real bar-closing-attempts this year!

Is the experience gained from running the ICSMSU worth taking a year out of the lengthy medical degrees? Mostly. A year is a long time, and for someone who loves medicine, you do sometimes miss it. However, the skills I have gained (people management, super efficient admin) will help me a lot in my F1 year and beyond.

What would you say to people on the fence about standing for nominations right now? Do it, the SU experience is a hugely enjoyable one and really does give you skills you won’t get elsewhere. Don’t be scared of competition, contested positions allows the electorate to decide who is best for them at this time, so you shouldn’t worry if you aren’t successful.

What’s a day in the life of an ICSM committee officer like? Hugely variable from position to position – generally there are so many responsibilities flying around that we are trying to keep everything running smoothly day to day and ‘changing the union’ from time to time. Having new ideas is great, but remember maintenance is essential too.

How has the ICSM responded to claims of excessive alcoholism? We have made huge changes over the last few years to our bar and edited events to counter this. Similarly, by running welfare campaigns we try to increase people’s awareness of alcohol and its risks.

Do you feel the drinking culture would deter non-drinkers from running for a committee position? I don’t think so, I certainly know of many people who have been involved with the union who are ‘non-drinkers’.

What has been the highlight of your year so far? I don’t really have one highlight as yet – working with a fantastic team within both ICSMSU and ICU and growing ICSMSU as a whole. If we manage to get funding for a Reynolds refurbishment, that will be it!