HISA PERTH; HERE FOR YOU!

Hello! I am the new HISA Communications Intern, Will Derries

To ensure that HISA Perth are communicating with you - our students, as best they can - they have appointed me as the new Communications Intern. My remit is to ensure the student body is kept informed by posting regular updates and information on our social media channels, through emails, and other marketing communications methods - making sure that the student body doesn’t miss a beat!

So, to introduce myself, I am Will. I come from a small village just outside Duns, in the Scottish Borders, and I study BSc (Hons) Audio Engineering. I joined the team at the start of November and got involved as I wanted to promote the great work that HISA Perth do within Perth College UHI and the University of the Highlands and Islands, and to help them reach our students! I’d love to hear what you would like to see on social media, feel free to email hisa.perth@uhi.ac.uk or message us on our social media channels, to share your thoughts!

HISA (Highlands and Islands Students’ Association) Perth exists to make sure the Student Voice is heard at a local level, within Perth College UHI, and at a regional leveI. I also work closely with colleagues at HISA Communications to ensure we are as effective in our messaging as possible!

In this role, I really want to help increase our flow of communication, and give you the opportunity to be involved in the fun activities we have planned! I want to do this by use of different platforms, using videos, Instagram stories and news on what your officers get up to on a daily basis! I’d like to ultimately achieve a sense of satisfaction from the role and a sense that I’ve helped people enjoy their student experience during their time here at Perth College UHI.

We’ve got some fun content and activities planned in the next few months and, as ever, the officers at HISA Perth are working hard to ensure that you are being represented both at Perth College and UHI.

A brief snapshot of what we are on offering includes:

Online drop-in sessions, for an hour, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. These are run by your student officers (Alex, Michaela or Cameron) and offer you the opportunity to discuss your issues with them directly.
Regular quizzes - with varied rounds - taking place over Webex and run by your VPAW, Michaela, with the chance to win some prizes!
Our Annual OBI awards: recognising Outstanding, Brilliant and Inspiring people within our community (March – May)
‘ReFreshers’ - which will take place in January and February
Black History Month
Burns Day
LGBTQ History Month
Women’s History Month
Mental Health Awareness Week

It has to be said, my first few weeks have been fairly busy! I’ve met with the Chief Executive of HISA; each of the Regional Officers; the Local Officers; staff here at Perth College UHI; and HISA Perth. I’ve written this blog post; replied to your messages and comments, as well as posting lots of content on all of our platforms; exploring the use of Instagram stories; and being increasingly active on Twitter!

Also, I have put together a comprehensive list of Clubs and Societies available to Perth students - and produced posters for each of them - and I helped promote our twice-weekly drop-in sessions, as well as working on a load of very cool stuff that you’ll get to see soon!

We are very fortunate to have a presence back on campus during these strange times, with someone in the office in the Webster building the majority of the time. If we are not in the office, or are closing early, we will post this across our social media platforms. Of course, our direct messages are always open, as are our emails.

We look forward to seeing you, virtually, at an event soon!

Follow us on social media to keep up to date on what we’re up to, and how you can get involved in:

You can also email us at hisa.perth@uhi.ac.uk