Confessions of a Postgraduate Rep

I apologise for my lack of blogging recently, I have been very busy sorting out my new crib ready for the academic year. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of hosting Ieuan Smith. Ieuan is a special fellow in that he is actually  a president. You see Keele have their own postgraduate students union. That's right, they have a student's union just for Postgrads. It's a stark contrast to what we have here at DMU and it's interesting to see what other universities do and to notice that they have the same problems that we have. What I found most interesting was the number of PHD students who are dignosed with depression after they graduate. The current study labels this number as high as 50% which is far too high for my liking. So I am now thinking about how to put a campaign together so that we can support PHD students during their 3 years+ at uni. Today meanwhile, I was sent my induction for my postgrad course. Where I had to do a variety of modules to learn about life a...

Ah A-Level results day, home to cheesy jumps, tears, lots of drinking and the funny student we make viral. This year's winner of the PG Ledge aware is the certain Wigan individual who decided live on TV to to celebrate/calm his nerves/drown his sorrows by drinking live on Good Morning Britain I have been nice enough to share the video from Good Morning Britain's Youtube channel for your viewing pleasure. However I am new to the flask viewing party as I have been in a little clearing cave from 6:45 this morning. That's right, it was all systems go as myself and 199+ students and staff manned the phonelines from 7am to 8pm. I answered all sorts of questions from explaining what courses people could do with their UCAS Points to guiding students to our accomdation services. It was quite interesting to learn about the clearing process as it's something that I personally am very unfamilar with (since I got an unconditional offer all those years ago) and it was fac...

It's amazing, how quick time comes around. It seems like just yesterday that I was sending the last couple of emails arranging contacts. Now I'm going on wonderful adventures to meet my fellow officer folk. My first adventure began at Leicester train-station as I waited for my train. I was then entertained (and I use that term loosely) by a nice snoring man however Jackasnory left at Loughborough. I then arrived at Nottingham train station before catching the tram to Nottingham University. One thing I must comment about Nottingham's campus is that it is absolutely gorgeous. There is a massive lake where you can go boating and a little mini-golf on the outskirts. It is a very pretty place for certain. After admiring the scenary, I had a lengthy conversation about all things Postgaduate, SU and #TEFGolds (turns out they are a little bit more subtle than we are). I also got to sit down with a member of their activities department who explained to me how they get post...

Well, today I had another busy day as an officer, which contained lots of training and meetings.  My first appointment was at the Greenhouse where I had part 2 of my clearing training (you can read about part 1 here ). This was more focused on the telephone aspect of it and was incredibly quick which was a little bit of a blessing given that I've had issues with my DSU log-in (there's a hint of irony about that statement). Hopefully, it shall be fixed before results day as I really don't like the thought of having to update the SCUBA microsite at 5 o'clock in the morning. Given I had a 2-hour gap between my first two meetings, I got bored very easily (which explains why I'm always here, there and everywhere) and so decided to go upstairs to the officers. However, only the activities team were there (until Sam and David came in halfway through) and there is only so long that I can talk to them before I become annoying. Having decided I was close to that limit, I ...

Guess what folks it's time for another Transition Tuesday. Every Tuesday from now until September, I am going to highlight a different element of DMU and DSU to helps with transitioning new students to the University. Consider it as ways that we help the young blood, because let's face it, we were all them at one stage. Today we are looking at New to DMU. What is it? New to DMU is a 3-day residential that take place at the start of September. It is specifically designed for new undergraduate students who have declared to the university that they are on the autism spectrum.  The residential has a variety of activities including budgeting workshops, the chance to plan and cook a meal away from home and introductions to lectures and seminars. There is also a variety of leisure activities including trips into the city centre, meals out and evening activities.  You will also have the option to stay in Bede Hall for two nights to fully experience the university l...

   If any of you have read one of my previous entries then you will know that I have recently started to do some training to help out with clearing here at DMU.  However some people might be unsure exactly what it is and because of this, I've decided to write a student friendly option to explain exactly what will happen. You will need Your UCAS ID number (this is available on your track page). Your A-Level/BTEC Results.  A mobile/telephone Contact details (in the case of a call back).  What to do  Ok. So you arrive on August 17th and discover that for whatever reason, you didn't get accepted for your first choice or insurance. Firstly, this doesn't make you stupid far from it. Secondly, what ever you do, don't panic. You can still secure yourself a place at university if you remain calm and act fast. Log onto DMU clearing and have a look at the available courses and the points required for your chosen course. For this example, I'm goin...

It's time for a new segment in my blog called Transition Tuesday. Every Tuesday from now until September, I am going to highlight a different element of DMU and DSU to helps with transitioning new students to the University. Consider it as ways that we help the young blood, because let's face it, we were all them at one stage. Today we are looking at My Unipal.  What is it? My Unipal is  a peer to peer mentoring scheme ran as part of the DSU that has new students matched with somebody who has been at the University for at least a year. You will be invited to exclusive events where you can meet other new students and will be able to ask you mentor for advice, whether it's what society to join or how to go about getting an extension. The service is free of charge and available to all new students, regardless of whether they are a undergraduate, postgrad, full time, part time, mature, under 21, living at home, living away from home, UK or International. This sounds...