General:

• USI are finalists for 3 awards at the Social Media Awards Ireland for: Best Non-Profit/Organisation Twitter account,  Best Business Twitter Campaign and Zero Budget Social Media Campaign. See the full list of finalists here.

Policy and Campaigns:

• The Vice President for Academic Affairs met with the Higher Education Authority as part of an early-stage consultation into the HEA’s new strategic plan to 2021

• This week, consultations were held regionally in NUIG (Galway Region), Waterford (Edmund Rice Resource Centre) and Dundalk (at the Dundalk Outcomers Centre). If you would like to particpate in the final youth consultation tomorrow (Saturday 20th) in Cork, please email equality@usi.ie!

• The Vice President for Welfare signed the Healthy Ireland network charter on behalf of USI. The launch was held in Dublin Castle and was addressed by the Taoiseach, Minister for Health and Minister for Health Promotion. See the full statement here

• The Vice President for Welfare and Vice President for the Southern Region traveled to Thurles to meet with Tipperary County Council on the funding of higher education and to support the publicly funded model. The presentation was well received with a motion going through in the coming weeks to support USIs campaign for publicly funded education.

• This week, USI partnered with Amnesty International Youth and the Irish Congress of Trad Unions in a sit out of solidarity with Ibrahim Halawa, whose trial, as the sit out continued outside the Egyptian Embassy Dublin, was delayed for the 24th time. We will continue actions on this and will update members as we progress

• The Vice President for Academic Affairs met with the NStEP project partners to plan for the organisation of future NStEP trainings, including the selection of trainers

• The Vice President for Welfare attended his last HSE Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy meeting where he gave an evaluation for USIs work on sexual health. From the meeting their was active commitment to support USIs goals and further collaboration on projects in first term and for SHAG weeks going forward

• The Vice President for Equality and Citizenship attended a networking seminar organised by Trocaire, gathering student environmental activists leading college divestment campaigns in Dublin on Monday last, and we will be providing further support to the campaigns on divestment in the coming months.

• USI met with theIrish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) to discuss future research collaborations exploring the education and skills received in third-level for student nurses and midwives