Goksu, your Students' Union President, shares insights from a day in her life
Hi, I’m Goksu, your Students’ Union President. I’m part of your Sabbatical Officer team at the Students’ Union. As a team, we work full-time for a year to represent your interests.
The Sabbatical team is made up of six officers elected to lead the Students’ Union. All your Sabbs are elected for a term, which is a year-long contract. We work full-time, earn a graduate salary, and get 12 months of seriously good experience! As a Sabbatical Officer, you start at the top, and help to steer the whole direction of UCL. There's huge investment into your development, and loads of support available.
As President, I’m the Chair of the Board of Trustees, whilst also being one of the Directors of the Students' Union, as it's both a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. I lead the Union’s strategy on finance, commercial services, sustainabiliy, national influencing and student democracy, so my day can look incredibly varied.
Day to day, I sit in SU meetings and UCL committees, helping to lead (and give the student view) on things like accommodation costs, investments and appointments, academic regulations, and a lot more. I am the spokesperson of the Union and lead the Union's relationships with UCL's President and Provost.
As President, I’m also a Trustee of UCL and sit in UCL’s governing council as an ex officio member. Being a Trustee is highly rewarding, and provides valuable experience that you would typically gain further along in your career. Being such a big Students’ Union with a turnover of over £17 million, it’s a really dynamic, fun and busy environment to work in.
Being in this role has been an incredible opportunity for me to grow my skillset in project management, strategy and organisational behaviour - all developing my understanding of how an organisation operates. It's incredible representing students and making sure their voices and concerns are heard at the top of UCL, making a real change.
One of my highlights in the role so far has been securing much more funding from UCL for our gym, as well as for Students’ Union small works
All areas of student life, from clubs, societies and networks to the whole the Students' Union, are led by an incredible group of student leaders, and you can be a student leader too. Any student can be a Sabb, from any year of study - no need to wait until you finish UCL to take up the role (even though I did!).
The Leadership Race has started, and in March, everyone votes to elect new student leaders. If you’re interested in putting yourself forward, you have until March 10 to do so.
Wishing you the best of luck!