Posted on Fri 19 Jun 2026 at 10:30 by
Anthony Foster UNIVERSITY COURT
The University Court met over the last fortnight and agreed the University budget and the Students’ Association grant. The Students’ Association would like to thank the University for their continued support. Here are the facts and figures of the year ENSA_ImpactReport_2026.pdf
ENSA BOARD
Our ENSA Board met this week. Staff were in attendance to talk about their year and what plans they have moving forward. The Board is a great sounding board for us all and it was a productive meeting. It was also nice to see two new sabbaticals in attendance, Emeka and Blessing, joining Austen and new University Court representative David Scott.
STAFF MEETING
Each Wednesday we have a half hour diary meeting with everyone to see what has gone on the week before and coming up in the next week. It helps us avoid repetition, making sure we sing from the same song sheet and identify if there can be some joined up thinking between departments.
That is followed by the Senior Leadership Team and a Planning Meeting in the afternoon which covered on mental health agreements, onboarding, governance, policies, ENSA booklet content, excellence awards review and graduations. Everyone is quite busy but we know at one point in the week we can catch up for an hour and a half and make decisions to move the organisation forward.
We got to catch up with the catering team and how we can support them and I also attended an EDI meeting. What struck me is what a culture change it will make with the staff and sabbaticals working together to take complete ownership of that change. In the last few weeks we have done blind interviews and provided people coming for interview questions in advance to avoid anxiety and allow for people to consider their answers and communicate in the best way they can.
REFLECTION
When I first came to the organisation, nearly two years ago, I took time to speak to everyone individually and got to know them and their thoughts about working for ENSA and what we could achieve together. I hope what I was told in that moment and the contribution they have made since that seed was planted (to me) has helped us be a better organisation that will continue to improve.
WHAT NEXT
Evans is flying the Napier flag in China (check out his socials for all the latest), Chika is taking a well earned break with his new daughter after an amazing year. Sport will be given time to develop with a team dedicated to it. We also have some news on additional funding which I hope Austen will be able to share with you soon. We’ve put some new funds into a dedicated Societies and Community staff member who can help support and develop societies. The role will also look at ways we can work with community groups across Edinburgh that align with your objectives. Interviews are for that role on Monday.
One last Five Things For A Friday before the summer break next week. See you then!