With the arrival of the new Student Affairs Committee (SAC) this week, this week marks the end for the 2009/10 team.

The positions of Student Union President, Media Officer, Education Officer, Campaigns Officer and Activities and Participation Officer (APO) comprise the SAC and will be replaced this week.

However the outgoing SAC look back with pride on their year in the UCLan Students’ Union.

Former Students’ Union President, Beth Woodthorpe-Evans, spoke of her biggest achievements as President of the Student’s Union. She said:  “One of my biggest successes this year has been truly establishing the Board of Trustees, and also recruiting three new trustees.

“The Town Takeover campaign was also a huge success for the union as a whole, but something I personally felt so proud about too. I hope that the union will continue to have such a positive impact on students’ lives, be vocal and passionate in protecting our students rights.”

This year’s election saw a record vote count of over 2,500. The election has been one of the most heavily contended elections ever seen by UCLan Students’ Union.

Outgoing Media Officer, John Crossley said: “Pluto has come on leaps and bounds this year, as has Frequency. I’m not entirely convinced by the demand for PS-TV – a lack of interest and volunteers has meant we haven’t been able to get it off the ground this year.

“I love the Union, and all I can say is that it’s been an amazing journey and I’m very sad to be moving on.

The outgoing Activities and Participation Officer, Tom Bailey, said his time as part of the SAC was a “life changing experience.”

“I am most proud of a very successful international orientation programme working towards an international forum,” he added.

“We have also managed to introduce around 8 more societies this year which is fantastic as it gives students an option to get involved with the SU if they don’t like the sporting side of things. I have had one of the best years of my life doing this job.”

By Hannah Breeze

Deputy News Editor

The new SAC from left to right: Laura Hicks, Ross Herridge, Michael Palmer, Keron Knight and Sam Sandilands

Today sees the start of a new era as the incoming Student Affairs Committee assume office for the first time.

Incoming members Michael Palmer (President), Sam Sandilands (Education Officer), Laura Hicks (Campaigns Officer), Ross Herridge (Activities and Participations Officer) and Keron Knight (Media Officer) all take over from July 1.

After months of waiting since winning their positions in the Students’ Union elections in March, the team started training for their new roles two weeks ago with the outgoing committee.

However more training and courses are booked as the team continue to prepare for the start of term in September.

This period has now come to an end and the incoming committee are looking forward to taking over.

Michael Palmer, the new student President expressed his excitement about the forthcoming year.

“First of all a big thank you to all the outgoing SAC for their tremendous help in the last two weeks and the in-depth handover process. We’ve got NUS training over the summer which we’re looking forward to,” he said.

“We’re also looking forward to September and welcoming all the new and returning students and representing all students from UCLan.”

Ross Herridge, who replaces Tom Bailey as Activity and Participations Officer, said: “It’s been a very good idea to have two week handover process to let us get a feel of how things work. Now we’ve met all the staff around the union it feels more homely rather than being the new kids.

“I’m very excited especially after the last two weeks which gives an idea of things to come. Our first thing will be to welcome the international students and make them feel at home,” he added.

Next week sees the new committee and other staff from the SU go on a residential trip to plan for the year ahead.

By David Stubbings

News Editor

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