Semester 2 Officers’ Final Address
15 May, 2017
Hi Guys,
No doubts you’re all well and truly in exam preparation mode. We wish you all the very best of luck with your end of semester exams. All of the hard work you put in will all be worth it in the end.
It’s hard to believe that this is our final Address of the current academic year, and as the present Students’ Union Executive. What a year it has been, and continues to be. We look forward to continuing to represent you all until the 31st May. It is beyond a pleasure to represent you the students of CIT. Together Everyone Achieves More rings true to how we feel about this year. We thank from the bottom of our hearts every single student and member of staff within the Institute who has engaged with us this year. The Students’ Union’s operations are very much like a production, we’re lucky enough to be the face of that production, but as anyone who’s been involved in any production knows, the ‘front of house’ are doomed if the rest of the crew aren’t performing to just as high a standard. We’d especially like to thank our excellent SU Support staff, Vicky, Mick, Keith, Fiona and Mella for their endless advice, support and all-round excellent work, we couldn’t have got through the year without them. We feel incredibly lucky to work as a part of such an energetic and dynamic team.
We couldn’t be happier with what we’ve achieved this year as a team, which is far greater than we originally envisaged when we took up office last June. Have a plan, aim high, and to be optimistic, while realistic is key. Most of all, always remembering why you wanted to be a representative and who you’re representing is of paramount importance. That was easy this year because even if we do say so ourselves, CIT students are a great bunch.
USI Congress
The Union of Students’ In Ireland’s (USI) Annual Congress took place this year from Monday 27th March – Thursday 30th March. Every delegate did themselves, CIT and the SU proud. CITSU presented five motions, which we felt were relevant to CIT and the national third level environment, as well as to USI as an organisation as a whole. All of these motions were successfully passed by Congress (Consisting of 340 SU Officers and students from the length and breadth of the country).
Shane, Rej and Ruth who represented the Executive at Congress would like to take this opportunity to commend and applaud our delegation for their excellent work and participation throughout the week.
CITSU’s reputation remains strong nationally, and was further enhanced throughout congress. May this long continue.
At the Annual Congress the USI Officer Board was elected. The Officer Board 2017/18 will consist of the following:
President: Michael Kerrigan
Academic Affairs: Oisín Hassan
VP Welfare: Niamh Murtagh
VP Campaigns: Amy Kelly
VP Equality and Citizenship: Síona Cahill
VP Southern Region: Michelle Byrne
CITSU very much look forward to working with the newly elected Officers, for the best interests of students nationally and locally. We wish all of them the very best of luck during their respective terms in office.
Union Council Awards 2017
The Annual Union Council Awards were held this year on the evening of Thursday 27th April was a great success, marking the outstanding contribution of our Class Reps, as well as presenting a cheque to the value of €6121.61 (Main Raise And Give Beneficiary 2017) to Cork City Hospitals Children’s Club. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Union Council members for the continuous work for their classes, the SU and the Institute as a whole this year. You have all been truly outstanding, true ambassadors of CIT.
Many thanks to the SU Support staff for their co-ordination of the event. We especially acknowledge and are extremely appreciative of the attendance of Dr Barry O’Connor (Registrar & Vice President for Academic Affairs) and Dr Dan Collins (Academic Administration and Student Affairs Manager), who represented the Institute at the ceremony.
Eclectic Picnic
On behalf of the SU and CIT Arts Office, we would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who contributed to the mini-festival event Eclectic Picnic on Thursday 6th April. Events of this nature are hugely important to student engagement. It was great to see so many students and staff members present throughout the course of the event. Hermitage Green and The Elation certainly kept everyone well entertained. A varied range of food options were available, and as always the ice-cream was certainly a big hit.
On behalf of the SU and Arts Office, we would like to thank the following people and/or departments, without whom this event would not have been possible and certainly would not have ran as smoothly: Mick O’Mahony and Keith Brown (SU), Kevin Tuohy and Sharon McCarthy, (Arts Office), Kevin McCarthy, Adrian Kissane, Mary O’Shea (Building & Estates), Frank Hanley (Student Resources Manager), Geraldine O’Sullivan, John and Mags (Student Services Company), Barry O’Sullivan (Technical Officer), Rosanne (Goldfish Events) and Des Mahon (Sound).
It’s hard to believe this event was only in its third year, we’re sure it will be an event on the calendar for many years to come, given its over-whelming popularity with both students and staff.
BICS (Board of Irish Colleges Societies) 2017
The SU were so proud of CIT Societies who represented CIT at Board of Irish College Societies (BICS) Awards ceremony on April 13th. We particularly congratulate The Game and Guilding Society And CIT Musical Society who were recipients respectively of Best Society and Best Event in a small college Awards. A special mention to Aoife Kelliher (Societies Officer) who is very much the oil which keeps societies running as smoothly as they do. It has been a pleasure for the Students’ Union to work with Aoife and Societies throughout the course of the year.
Exam De-stress Campaign
Exam De-Stress Week is running from May 9th – 11th. We all know how stressful exam time can be. In order to try and reduce the stress even a little bit we have loads planned for this week. Some treats we have instore for you all are: Free fruity, tea & coffee, FREE Massages, Puppies, and even more surprises each day. Be sure to call over to the Students’ Union in the Main corridor from 12-2pm Tuesday – Thursday and also check the timetable for dates and times of our other events. Remember to keep calm, drink plenty of water and get a good nights sleep. #CITSUBelieveInYou
We wish all students well with their end of semester exams and always remember YOUR SU is here for YOU!
It has been a great honour and privilege for us to have represented you, we owe a great debt to all the students who elected us to our positions. We will be forever grateful for the opportunities which have been afforded to us through our respective roles.
Best wishes now and always,
Shane, Rej, Ruth, Dave, Rebekah and Dan
Proudly YOUR SU Executive
