Arts SU is your Students Union, and you automatically become a member once you join UAL!
Anyone can sign up to a student-run society, play for a sports team or campaign to improve their college.
During your time at UAL, Arts Students' Union is a network to make friends, learn new skills and have fun.
Meet your Arts SU Sabbatical Officers, and find out more about their goals for this academic year!
Eleanor - Activities Officer
What's your name and job title?
I’m Eleanor and I’m the Activities Officer for Arts SU!
What did you study?
I graduated from BA Fine Art: Photography at Camberwell College of Arts this year!
What is your role as Activities officer?
My role as Activities Officer is to represent sports clubs and societies within the union and to the university, to look out for their interests and work out ways they can be helped an improved! I also work closely with our creative opportunities team to ensure we’re offering the best professional development opportunities to students. I’m also the Link Sabbatical Officer for Chelsea, Camberwell and Wimbledon so I sit on lots of different university committees to offer student perspectives and hold the university accountable!
What are your goals / priorities for this academic year?
My two main aims for this year:
COLLABORATION! Students learn so much from each other! Whilst running the LGBTQIA+ and ArtsFems societies I ran a collaborative exhibition that untied these two groups, it was an amazing experience and we all learnt a lot from each other’s skills. As Activities Officer I want to encourage collaborations like this and support students with their projects!
ACCSESSBILITY! During my time as a student I struggled a lot due to my disability, especially attending Camberwell College of Arts which is one of UAL’s most challenging campuses for people with mobility issues. I want the university to commit to making all their sites accessible. We don’t deserve to be ranked 2nd in the world for Art and Design without disabled artists and designers.
How can students and staff get in touch with you, or get involved with your projects?
I have lots of projects going on all year round! E-mail me activities@su.arts.ac.uk or follow me on Instagram @activities.artssu!
Tell us a little known fact about yourself!
I’m the first person in my family to attend university!
Pinky - Welfare Officer
What's your name and job title?
Pinky Latt, Welfare Officer for Arts SU
What did you study?
I graduated from MA Dramatic Writing at the Drama Centre London (CSM)!
What is your role as welfare officer?
My role is to challenge UAL to improve every aspect of student welfare – from student services to harassment/discrimination policies to liberation events for minority groups. I typically work closely with the SU’s Advice and Policy team to identify ways of improving university procedures (such as Extenuating Circumstances) so that justice is served to students! I’m both LCF link officer and bonus link for CSM’s Drama Centre. As a Drama Centre graduate I’m well-placed and personally invested in representing the concerns of fellow students at a rocky and uncertain time.
What are your goals / priorities for this academic year?
Here are just a few of the things I’m working on!
Increased financial support for international students! I’m lobbying UAL for more funding based on need rather than academic merit.
Student-led mental health support! I’ve partnered with the charity Rethink and together we’ve recruited and trained students to become paid workshop creators and facilitators, focusing on concerns relevant to UAL students (e.g. “mental wellbeing and being an artist...”) They’ll be delivering these workshops all over UAL starting January!
Continued sexual consent and health awareness. Consent training is being rolled out to sports clubs before they go on tour, plus I’m working with UAL to make online consent training available for all students. I’ve also organised the “Demystifying the Vagina” workshop, which ran very successfully at CSM as part of Wellbeing Week!
The “Kind Campus” project, in collaboration with Student Services – this is a long-term strategy to improve student wellbeing. Some things we hope to achieve include setting up a central helpdesk for all student enquiries and reforming crits to abolish discrimination from tutors! We’ll also be conducting focus groups for international and BAME students and other liberation groups to get a picture of students’ concerns straight from the source!
How can students and staff get in touch with you, or get involved with your projects?
Email me directly at welfare@su.arts.ac.uk!
Tell us a little known fact about yourself!
I aspire to have a pet tortoise.
Amber - Campaigns Officer
What's your name and job title?
Amber Goneni, Campaigns Officer
What did you study?
I’m taking a year out before third year, this is my DPS year. I study Ceramics Design at CSM.
What is your role as Campaigns officer?
As campaigns officer my role is to work on my own priorities as well as supporting students to run their own campaigns. I also cover the environmental, this year this has manifested in working with the university, specifically the sustainability department.
What are your goals / priorities for this academic year?
My priorities fit into three areas.
1. To support the cleaners in their campaigns to be brought back in house / better working rights at UAL and the creative industries as a whole.
2. The environment - to make fighting climate change embedded into ArtsSU and UAL’s core. Also to help bring to light the amazing work already happening across all colleges.
3. To support and encourage UAL students to become more political and socially engaged. There’s an awful lot going on in the world currently, UAL students should be right in the middle of helping the world become a nicer, more inclusive and greener place.
How can students and staff get in touch with you, or get involved with your projects?
My email is: campaigns@su.arts.ac.uk so always feel free to email. I also understand emails aren’t always the most useful way to discuss complex topics or first introductions so also please get in touch if you’d like to go for a coffee.
Tell us a little known fact about yourself!
In year 5 I played Father Christmas in my primary schools Christmas production. Still one of the proudest moments for my mum.
Anita - Education Officer
What's your name and job title?
Hello my name is Anita Waithira Israel I am your current Education officer and I am here to represent you!
What did you study?
I was a photojournalism student at LCC and my educational experience prompted me to run for education officer during my third year. I made some of my best memories studying at UAL, however, as a black student I was marginally underrepresented and sometimes found University was a frustrating and lonely experience.
What is your role as Education officer?
Decreasing racism and ensuring equality for black and brown students is at the core of my work. University shouldn’t be a daunting experience for students and having immediate mental health support in place is essential. Students pay nine grand or more per year, so why is it still so expensive to study? Lowering material and course costs is a priority! I want to make studying a stress free experience for you.
Over the past year I have listened and used the student voice to deliver on some of these key wins.
The SU ‘Cost Of Study’ report has been used to Form the Cost Of Study steering group and decrease student spending by implementing a materials swap, low cost course modules and a materials fund.
Worked in partnership with UAL to produce the second Decolonising The Curriculum Zine. A platform for staff and students and of colour to share their experiences and their practice. The zine has made a huge impact on teaching pedagogy and influenced much of the work being done to decolonise the university structure.
Lobbied the university through committees and presented our attainment gap report at various forums. Through this, the governors committed to building mandatory, face to face anti-racism training. You can read our attainment gap report here: https://www.arts-su.com/campaigns/liberate
Launched a successful campaign to reopen the only student union bar, across fourteen sites! You can find out more about the Darkroom Bar via our Instagram page: @darkroom_bar
How can students and staff get in touch with you, or get involved with your projects?
If you would like to get involved or simply want to have a chat about what else is happening around you, please contact me via education@su.arts.ac.uk