There is a brilliant programme of sessions lined up for OU Students Association Conference this weekend. With many interesting speakers including an exclusive Q & A; we also will have student consultations, lots of fun workshops and many opportunities to socialise.

As part of the important work of the Students Association we need students to be involved with voting on Conference Business, this involves looking over the Association's most important reports, accounts and other documents and casting your vote as to whether you think they're all in order. We know there are many calls on an OU students’ time, so we've made the process as simple as possible. Students can take as much time as they can spare to read the documents, raise any questions if they want to and then cast their votes before Wednesday 24 June.

Once the Business is out of the way, students will get the opportunity to attend as many or as few of the online events we have planned as they like. We have a range of activities and sessions covering different areas, like Education, Inspirational, Wellbeing and Networking as these were the things Conference Steering felt we needed to include to make the weekend as fun and useful as possible.

We understand that it may be hectic to try to attend everything, so we have tried to offer a variety so students can pick and choose the most relevant in order to maximise their own conference experience.

We have a range of things to attend, starting with the OU Expo, which will incorporate advice and chats from the Library and Careers Services. We have networking events throughout the whole weekend, but Friday evening will have specific sessions focused on Faculty and Area to get students talking with others in the same boat. And to round it out, we have a virtual pub, with spaces for all, and it will even have dedicated breakout rooms to accommodate a range of interests.

We start Saturday with an opening session from leaders at the University and the Association. We then have a range of student consultations on things that affect us all, like flexible study, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and the online experience. We have a range of speakers, including Vice-Chancellor Tim Blackman and the amazing Professor Brian Cox who are both hosting question and answer sessions where they will be answering questions set by students.

We will be speaking to the Association’s Central Executive Committee, other appointed Reps and showcasing Societies throughout the day in order to encourage students to take up volunteering opportunities on behalf of the Association. We have a series of activities like Zumba, Yoga, Comedy and Arts sessions as well.

We close the weekend with a welcome to the new elected officials at the Association, a celebration of the newest recipients of Honorary Life Membership (HLM) award, which recognises those people that have gone the extra mile for the Association. We also have some more talks, including one with Professor Monica Grady. Amongst other things to round off the weekend we have a massively popular workshop from the Psychology Society, and a Literature Panel speaking to two wonderful authors. We also have a session with our support Groups, like Disabled Students Group, Plexus and the new BAME group.

Throughout the weekend we will be hosting a few challenges by OU Fit Club and the OU Photography Club too. So please, come along, get involved and enjoy yourselves.

Anca Seaton: Vice President Community, OU Students Association

Cinnomen McGuigan: Societies Chair, Students Association

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