Postgraduates get a new student officer position

King’s College London’s Student Union passes an amendment creating the Postgraduate Vice-President officer position.

The Students Union held their 2016/2017 annual general meeting on Waterloo campus last Thursday evening. Around 30 students, mainly SU staff officers, met to vote on various amendments and give updates on the SU’s activities over the year.

The SU voted to pass two amendments to their contract with the College. Around 150 members of the Union cast their votes online and in person. The combined amendments give the ability to both create an extra officer position and designate it as Vice-President for Postgraduate Studies.   

SU President Ben Hunt said that the meeting had been a real success. Although he noted the physical turnout was lower than expected, he said that online votes increased this year.  

The new VP for Postgrad position will sit alongside already existing SU officers like the VP for Welfare and Community and the VP for Education. This brings the total number of trustee officers up to six.  

At the event, the current officers gave their annual reports, highlighting a number of positive things the SU has achieved over the past year. Momin Saqib, VP for Activities and Development, noted his role in the creation of the Global Lounge for students remaining on campus during the Christmas break. Mahamed Abudullahi, VP for Welfare and Community brought up the support the SU has given to anti-Yarl’s Wood and anti-Istanbul Convention demonstrations.  

Mo Wiltshire, Chief Executive of the KCLSU Senior Management Team, gave a rundown of the developments the SU has planned for 2017/2018. Big changes include the planned move from Macadam Building to Bush House. This move will double the Union’s current space.

The new Union space will have facilities including a cinema, performance spaces, and a DJ setup. Bush House will also have an expanded prayer room.

Ben said that he hopes the Union will continue to expand its engagement with minority students over the coming year. He also said that the new VP for Postgrad studies position will ensure more is done to protect access to postgraduate-level education.