Meet your 2025/26 Elected Officer Team

Earlier this year, you voted for your 2025/26 Elected Officers and they’re ready to begin their official term!

We’re excited to welcome Blessing, who was re-elected, and to welcome Simba, Verity and Charday to the team. We’ve also made some changes to the Officer roles to bring more clarity, better support and a stronger connection between the Officers and the wider student body.

Let’s meet the new team and hear what they’ve got planned for the year ahead!

Simba Dube | Inclusion Officer 

Hello, my name is Simba and I am your new inclusion officer. 
This year I will focus on reducing the barriers students face in academics, development opportunities and welfare support. I hope these efforts will help students achieve excellence in all areas of university life. I look forward to working with you all.

Civic University Initiative

• Creating a dedicated portal connecting students with paid project opportunities in Portsmouth.
• Establishing partnerships with local organizations seeking diverse student talent.
• Implementing a recognition scheme that rewards civic engagement on your transcript.

Cultural Connections Program

• Spearheading the revival of the bar as a cultural hub with international themed events.
• Launching a Cultural Calendar with student-led celebrations beyond token observances.
• Creating dedicated funding for liberation societies to host cultural showcases.

Survive & Thrive - Cost of Living Support

• Establishing "The Pantry"—a dignified food security program for students in need.
• Negotiating flexible accommodation payment plans with university housing.
• Implementing a "cost of living crisis fund" for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Breaking the Attainment Gap

• Developing a cross-cultural mentorship program pairing students across backgrounds.
• Advocating for flexible degree pathways with micro-credential options.
• Creating project-based learning opportunities for underrepresented students.

Portsmouth All-In-One App

• Consolidating support services, academic resources, and social opportunities in one platform.
• Ensuring multi-language capability and accessibility features.
• Providing targeted notifications for events relevant to underrepresented groups.

Verity Knight | Welfare Officer

Hey, I’m Verity, your new Welfare Officer for 2025/26! 
I am super excited to start working with you all and to make some positive changes to the student experience!

Providing Immediate Mental Health Support

• Signposting doesn’t work, let’s get you seen and heard.
• The current system has students feeling like a burden, this needs to change. Despite requests for better policies by students, the university has done minimal to address these.
• I would like to implement a clear, unified system so that students actually have no wrong door.

Mandatory Welfare Training

• You should feel confident in who you speak to.
• As president, I’ve seen limited welfare training for committee members. The UPSU Knowledge base lacks any welfare protocols or guidance, this implies a lack of priority for student welfare.
• Mandatory enhanced welfare training for all committee member. Work further with sexual violence liaison officers, complaints team and union staff to provide a robust knowledge base. On top of this holding further retraining / opportunities through the year to progress further welfare issues.

Visible Support for International Students

• Your funding is important to them, why aren’t you?
• International students pay significantly higher tuition fees, yet many report feeling unsupported and isolated upon arrival, suggesting the university values funding over student well-being. I want to work improve financial support for international students. Whilst also, building a stronger sense of community international students. I recommend organizing events, in partnership with existing clubs, to maximize outreach and create a welcoming environment.

Making a Stand Against Sexual Violence

• Protecting you against violent crimes.
• Portsmouth has one of the highest rates of sexual violence and the university has minimal protocols to this, leaving students feeling vulnerable and victmised.
• I will collaborate with the local authorities to improve security in student populated areas.I’m going to introduce free university wide self-testing kits (from enough to end rape) to implement social deterrence and empower victims allowing them to take control of their own response and ultimately reduce potential social stigmas.

Charday Stone | Opportunities Officer

Hi! I'm Charday and I'm your Opportunities Officer for the '25/26 academic year!
I'm really excited for what the year ahead has to bring and all of the changes that we're aiming to bring in. I'll see you, along with the other Elected Officers, around Campus!

Open University Buildings on Weekends

Finding a quiet place to study shouldn’t be difficult. By opening more buildings on weekends, such as Park and Portland Buildings, and extending Eldon’s opening hours, students will have additional study spaces, reducing library overcrowding and ensuring a comfortable, quieter environment for learning. This will allow students who prefer a familiar working environment to thrive and ensure accessible study spots and resources for everyone.

Free First Aid Courses

Earn your First Aid Certification while gaining valuable life skills that boost employability, confidence, and opens doors to new opportunities. By collaborating with the First Aid Society and Paramedic Students, we’ll provide them with teaching experience and qualification opportunities. This benefits not just those taking the course, but also those teaching it, and potentially even lives in the community!

Additional Career Support

Job hunting can be daunting, but the right support makes all the difference. I’ll work with the Careers and Employability team to offer workshops and 1-to-1 sessions on job searching, applications, and essential employment documents, ensuring students feel confident and prepared.

Extended Ravelin Sports Centre Opening Hours

Late-night study sessions shouldn’t mean missing out on staying active! Extending Ravelin’s hours to midnight daily gives you more time to unwind! Whether it be going for a swim, hitting the gym, rock climbing, or playing squash. Work around your schedule, without compromises!

Blessing Okafor | Education Officer

Hiya! It's me again, but now as your Education Officer. 😊
The past one year has been amazing, evidenced by incredible results that we your Officers of 2024/2025 achieved. As a new chapter begins, I look forward to achieving more than I did in the last one year. 
Let's make more changes and improvements that will make our University better.

Condensed/Block Timetabling 

I am committed to ensuring that the University implements condensed/block timetabling for undergraduates as well. This will enable all students to have time for writing assessments, engage in extra activities that boost mental health, do part-time jobs, and other activities of interest.

Mentorship Scheme

I am committed to seeing that the awarding gap that exists between our PGM students when compared with their white peers becomes very narrow. Therefore, I am working hard to introduce a mentorship scheme that will be delivered by a global Arbitration Academy for our PGM students who are interested in Arbitration.

Embedding Employability in the Curriculum 

Embedding employability in the Curriculum is one of my visions for our students. I will work closely with CES and the Faculties to ensure that this is achieved.

Better Integration of Digital Learning

Artificial Intelligence is an important area of mastery for every graduate. I will work closely with the University to ensure better integration of digital learning in our university. Embedding this in our courses will help students get ready for the future.

New Rep System

Support the growth of the New Rep System (Course Rep). If elected as the Education Officer, I will commit to ensuring that the newly introduced rep system meets students expectations and functions efficiently.