OUSU has received £2000 in funding from the National Union of Students to run a programme for students with leadership potential.
Run in partnership with the Ruskin Student Union, the programme will aim to aid the development of leaders in skill areas including community engagement, student representation and equality issues.
OUSU Vice President for Women, Yuan-Yang told Cherwell, “The aim of the bid is to diversify student leadership; currently, only 25% of JCR Presidents are female, and Oxford University can do much better.”
She added, “I’m delighted that we have a programme to increase the political skills and participation of political minorities. More importantly, the programme will equip current leaders to transform obstacles to participation in their institutions, and be able to develop a diverse range of future leaders.”
The programme will be designed and co-delivered by Tracy Walsh, a leadership development trainer, who is the current head of Leadership@Ruskin and a seasoned coach for trade unions across the world. Whilst applications for the programme have already closed, students who are interested in hosting a workshop in their college will then have to opportunity to open it up to their Common Room.
One second year Law student commented, “It seems like a really good initiative, but it would have been nice to have a bit more publicity about it. I’m sure there are lots of students who would have liked to apply, but didn’t know that it was available to them.”
