Week 8: An Update from the Sabatical Officers

Tito Molokwu, General Secretary

This term, I have raised students’ questions to the LSE Investments Subcommittee at the annual investments meeting. I’ve successfully lobbied LSE to put microwaves in every common room — this project is now underway! I also ⁠chaired the Black Student Experience Working Group, where we are now creating a guide to improve Black History Month 2026, and the LSESU Executive Committee, where the Sabbatical Officers have strategised to improve LSESU campaigns around topics, such as the cost of living and divestment. This term, I will continue to work with the Executive Committee on mental health and trans rights on campus.

Isabel Howe, Welfare and Liberation Officer

Over the past month, I have met with three academic departments about consent culture practices, ensuring that departments are providing clear pathways for reporting incidents and making support widely known. I also advocated for an extra student representative on the Investments Subcommittee of LSE Council at its first AGM in order to inject further student voice into decisions surrounding ethical investments. Another highlight is that I helped  LSESU rank no.1 of WonkHE Weekly News twice — first for leading the campaign to disaffiliate from NUS UK, and second for my statement about self-swabbing evidence kits and the risks they pose.

Nooralhoda Tillaih, Education Officer

This term, we held Departmental Experience sessions and found two key priorities.

Firstly, students want to be able to access the Departmental newsletters of courses they take, especially Joint Honours students!  Secondly, students prioritise high-quality Departmental Newsletters to get the info that is most relevant to them. We are currently analysing these insights. Additionally, an update on new Reasonable Adjustments Policy for students: until now, LSE only had a Reasonable Adjustments process and a Disabled Students’ policy. However, LSE has now produced a Reasonable Adjustments Policy. This could not only impact your assessments, but also our day-to-day learning environment — more info coming on the LSESU website! Finally, some clarification on religious observance process for students: if, due to the observance of a religious holiday, you are unable to sit exams on specific dates, you should contact the exams team as soon as possible, and before the publication of the course-by-course timetable, to discuss possible arrangements. The process is outlined on the LSE Exam Timetable webpage.

More details as follows:

1. Fully launched this LSE Department wide campaign!: Our Departmental Experience sessions on March 4th were fabulous! Thank you to all the students who discussed with us and shared their experiences. If you came to the focus groups, we’re currently analysing the insights you gave us. 
   Key Actions:
   – Students want to be able to access the Departmental newsletters of courses they take, especially Joint Honours student!
   – Students prioritise high-quality Departmental Newsletters to get the info that is most relevant to them. 
   In this next phase, I am communicating with senior staff at LSE on the next steps on how we can develop opportunities to tackle the challenges that most concern you.  
2. Provided an Update on New Reasonable Adjustments Policy for students!: Until now, LSE only had a reasonable adjustments process and a Disabled Students’ policy. But LSE has now produced a Reasonable Adjustments Policy. This could not only impact your assessments, but also our day-to-day learning environment. 
3. Clarified Religious observance process for students: If, due to the observance of a religious holiday, you are unable to sit exams on specific dates, you should contact the exams team as soon as possible, and before the publication of the course-by-course timetable, to discuss possible arrangements.  
   The process is outlined on the LSE Exam Timetable webpage, as follows: https://info.lse.ac.uk/current-students/services/assessment-and-results/exams/exam-timetable 

Sachin Bhopal-Myers, Activities and Communities Officer

This term, I have worked on a new Cost of Learning project. I am currently researching the impact of different initiatives for the Cost of Learning, and soon will announce a survey for students to fill out and share their concerns. I have also been working on the RAG Vintage Shop renovation project — after securing the initial £50,000 from LSE to renovate the space, we soon realised this was not enough to make the project a success. As such, I worked with LSE Estates to secure an additional £45,000 for the project, bringing the total up to £95,000! Design plans are underway, and the space will soon transform into a flagship vintage clothes outlet with sustainability and charity at its heart!