September: Officer Address
07 October, 2013
Dear Students,
Hi everyone! A big, friendly welcome to all those of you who are new students and a warm welcome back to everyone else. We at CIT SU have been working tirelessly over the summer to ensure that your experience here in CIT is one of significant enjoyment and benefit. A list of CIT SU goals and objectives for the forthcoming academic year and are set out as follows:
STUDENT UNION INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (SIMS)
The goal of this project is to strengthen the continuity from year to year, as due to the transitory nature of the SU and officer turnover, information and projects can sometimes fall through the cracks. SIMS will support the office of President, VP Education and VP Welfare, Communications, Entertainments and Projects so that duties are executed in an optimal fashion. This is to be accomplished by implementing an IT solution that enhances the diversity and quality of information available to the officers. It will allow the Executive to be more efficient in identifying, developing and closing projects by providing the officers with a user friendly, interactive interface which maps the political landscape within which the officers operate.
PROTEST – 1ST OCTOBER
Minister Quinn is looking to raise fees a future €250 while simultaneously slashing the maintenance grant on which the vulnerable depend. October 1st will see Limerick IT, IT Carlow, Waterford IT and IT Tralee land close to 2,000 students here in CIT. We will then march onwards to the city centre while adding UCC students to the overall numbers on the way. On the day the message to the Government will be that the students of this country will not be taking this lying down. There will be similar sized protests taking place in Sligo and Dublin.
CLASS REPS
Class Reps are responsible for organising class events such as class parties, paintballing or whatever activity your class may be into. For example, mechanical engineers may want to attend a drifting event! More importantly, Class Reps (on behalf of the class) are responsible for liaising with lectures to communicate any information that will improve the learning experience. They also act as a vital channel of communication between the student body and the SU Officers. The Students’ Union will be providing an overnight training session in a secret location where those who are elected Class Reps, will be shown the ropes.
LIBRARY
Exam time is when the library is utilised beyond its current maximum. With more and more students working part time jobs just to keep their heads above water, CIT needs to move with the times. We will be working towards opening the library as a study space seven days a week at exam time.
STUDENT FEEDBACK
Students are the key stakeholders in CIT yet feedback from students on the modules they study is scarce. Continuous student feedback is essential to ensuring that quality of the student experience is constantly maintained and advanced. For this reason CIT SU will be calling for a facility that allows for college wide semester by semester feedback.
VP WELFARE – WELFARE CAMPAIGNS
The role of VP Welfare is to deliver an educational and awareness programme throughout the year, which will help students to manage personal issues that they may be faced with such as sexual health, mental health, accommodation, finance, safety, bullying and addictions. VP Welfare can offer a variety of information on various welfare issues and also information on support services available to students. The VP Welfare can offer students plentiful information and discuss services which can support them, but it is important to state that they are in no way a counsellor. It has been a very busy summer preparing welfare campaigns. In the weeks to come we will be looking for some of you to be a part of the Welfare Crew. As part of the Welfare Crew you can help out the Students’ Union during various Welfare Campaigns, the first one being S.H.A.G. (Sexual Health and Guidance) week in October, it is going to be exciting so it is something you can look forward to. If any of you are interested in being part of the Welfare Crew, please email suwelfare@cit.ie. It is going to be an exciting year.
MENTAL HEALTH
This year Mental Health is taking high priority with lots of various initiatives aimed at promoting positive Mental Health and to get students talking about their Mental Health. This is something that affects every one of us and it is important that we look after ourselves and others around us. Look out for Please Talk logo and events, Mental Health Reform, See Change, Pieta House and various campaigns and events on campus. This year we are also hoping to achieve the Suicide Aware Amber Flag award and start drafting a Mental Health Policy for CIT. So keep watch because there will be a lot going on.
Remember, everyone here in the Students’ Union are here to support you so if you have any problems or just want a chat, feel free to call up to us or contact us. We wish each and
every one of you the best of luck in the coming year and can’t wait to meet you all.
