NSU Annual Report 2010/11

Annual Report 2010/11

Contents Page Page 1 - Glossary - Introduction Page 3 – Constitution, Bye Laws and Strategic Plan Page 4 - Staff Student Consultative Committee (Course Rep System) Page 5 and 6 - Student Protest Page 7 - Student Feedback and Student Written Submission Page 8 - Elections Page 9 - National Union of Students Conference Page 10 - Career‟s Fair and Big Book Buy Page 11 and 12 - Sports and Societies Achievements Page 12 - Blood Drive and Landlord Scheme Page 13 - Freshers and Returners and Give it a Go Page 14 - Union Awards Night 2010/11

Page 15 - Union Finances and What has happened to NSU this year? Page 16 - Conclusion

NSU Annual Report 1 Martin Cornbill 13th

June 2011

Glossary NSU/The Union/Students’ Union Where used will refer to Newman Students‟ Union NUC/The University/Newman Where used, will refer to Newman University College NUS National Union of Students Sabbatical Officers The two elected Sabbatical Officers of the Students‟ Union. These Officers are elected every year into the positions of President and Vice-President and are accountable to students through General Meetings. They are also members of the Board of Trustees of Newman Students‟ Union. Staff Student Consultative Committee (SSCC) / Course Reps Student representatives at course and programme level. Voluntary Part time Officers There are five elected part time officers of the Students‟ Union. These Officers are elected every year into the positions of Activities Officer, Democracy Officer, Education Officer, Sports Officer and Welfare Officer and are accountable to students through General Meetings. They are also members of the Board of Trustees of Newman Students‟ Union.


June 2011

Introduction It has been a challenging year for the student movement nationwide, with severe cuts to education, the rise in tuition fees and broken promises by political parties. This report will look at how Newman Students‟ Union have been involved in the nationwide problems as well as local topics directly affecting our students for example: course representatives, student feedback and student activities. We will also look at the challenges that have faced the Union this year as well as reviewing our annual activities; including student elections and awards night. Martin Cornbill Newman Students‟ Union President 2010/11


June 2011

Constitution and Bye Laws Under the Charities Act 2006, all Students‟ Unions need to register as a charity. The first steps NSU needed to complete included writing a new Constitution and Bye Laws. The National Union of Students had a suggested template for a Students‟ Union Constitution which we used as a guide, to accompany the Union‟s main Constitution we have eight additional Bye Laws. All these documents were thoroughly constructed and were taken to students and sub committee‟s of the Newman Board of Governors to obtain feedback. The Constitution was passed by students on the 17th February 2011 and again with minor corrections on the 14th March 2011. It was then ratified by the Board of Governors on the 15th March 2011.

Strategic Plan The Union‟s previous strategic plan expired in 2008 and so this year we have produced a new Strategic Plan for 2010-2014. The document is ambitious; is driven by utilising student feedback from previous years and allows the Union to continually develop over time. After consultation with groups of students, they were pleased with the final outcome and that successive executive teams will have goals to achieve rather than starting with a blank canvas every year. The main targets in the strategic plan for the next few years are:

Hold a referendum on a key student topic/issue To achieve a bronze award in the Green Impact Students‟ Union

awards scheme

Have a stronger presence on moodle and create discussion boards, which can assist with the Union‟s representative and democratic procedures

Voter turn out up to 25% of the student body within the next three years

Provide relevant events for mature and part time students

Official signing of the Constitution on 8th April 2011 with Peter Lutzeier NUC Principal and Martin Cornbill, NSU President.


June 2011

Staff-Student Consultative Committee The Staff-Student Consultative Committee gives students the opportunity to feedback and comment on their course, through a representative. To enhance the University‟s staff knowledge of the system, our Democracy Officer, Josh Clare and Education Officer, Gemma Simpson, presented workshops during the University‟s staff training day to raise awareness of what the system is and how beneficial it can be with University staff involvement. The NUS Vice President for Higher Education, Usman Ali, also attended the training day and gave a presentation to the staff on the „Importance of Course Reps‟. This has led to a vast increase in the number of course reps not only being elected in lectures, but being elected within the deadlines set out. This has previously proven to be a challenge, one that we have now striven to overcome. With continued support from lecturers we hope to improve on this further. As a Union we have made significant improvements to the way in which reps are elected and trained; a considerable part of this is due to the efforts of the Democracy Officer. Previously reps have been trained on an ad-hoc basis over the year, in groups ranging from just six to sometimes as few as one - this has always been very inefficient. Due to the early work put in by the officer over 50% of reps were trained at our first „Course Rep Training Conference‟ on Graduation Day, chosen specifically to allow ease of attendance since there are no lectures held on that day. The training day consisted of a range of sessions including break out groups and guest speakers. The speakers covered a broad range of topics, encompassing the skills necessary to be an effective Rep, to the C.V. benefits that would benefit Reps, thereby allowing reps to see what they can gain for both their academic courses and personal advancement. Notable outcomes that have been commented on include, that reps attending meetings are now raising more topical „issues‟ in a professional manner on behalf of their fellow students. This has also helped to change the image of the role to one that students‟ want, rather than feeling encumbered with. In just one short year the course rep system has moved forward in leaps and bounds and is the most representative it has ever been.


June 2011

Student Protest A major campaign in Semester One was about the cuts to education and we are delighted with the passion and concern shown by our students over this topic. On the 10th of November 2010, a full coach of Newman students and a few local Further Education Students from Fircroft College in Selly Oak took part with over 50,000 other students in the National Demonstration. The behaviour of all Newman students was impeccable and all protested peacefully.

Two local demonstrations were also organised on-site at Newman, one was initiated by a class of students who wanted to show their concern about the cuts, and the rise in fees, whilst the other was Union led on the „Day of Action‟ - Wednesday 8th December. Leading up to the day – students wrote their future debt (before the proposed fees increase) and a message on a balloon as to why fees should not increase. As you can see on the next page, these were then used to gently block a main route through the University. We are pleased with the conduct of our students as they got their message across in a peaceful manner; many of these students were getting actively involved for the first time.

A selection of the Newman Students‟ who went down to London to protest on the 10th November.


June 2011

We also enabled students and staff to send letters of protest to their local MP, as a number of our students were on work placement on the „Day of Action‟ (10th November) but were still keen to get involved. There was an opportunity to sign up to the petition and with a variety of helpers we gathered over 550 signatures from students and staff. We received between 200-220 replies from MP‟s.

On the day of the vote in Parliament regarding Student fees, the President and Democracy Officer went to London to lobby MPs and managed to talk to some of the MP‟s who had received letters from Newman students and staff. Our visit to London led to the Union being contacted by the Birmingham Mail and the opinions of the President and Democracy Officer appeared in the 10th of December edition.


June 2011

Student Feedback The change from terms to semesters has caused much debate amongst students. As a Union we felt it was important to gather substantial student feedback on this. Through targeting and visiting selected classes, groups and canvassing around the University, we have gained over 1000 feedback forms from a wide range of students. As a prominent issue it was important to actively seek out students‟ views and make it accessible for students to comment, rather than waiting for them to come to us. Our report on this matter is nearly completed and will be available from the SU before the end of the academic year. Student Written Submission This year the University was audited which resulted in the Union writing the Student Written Submission, this allowed us involvement in the Quality Assurance Agency process. In the Submission we focussed on a few key areas of the Institution and sought our member‟s opinions. This was done by going out and talking to an array of student groups as well as asking our Course Representatives opinions. We also used the results from the National Student Survey (NSS – final years) and Internal Student Survey (ISS – Level 5 students). With this research, the submission was completed and the Union was able to make recommendations on behalf of the student body. We are pleased that the University has taken on board our comments and are working with the Union to focus on the recommendations made in the document to improve the student experience.


June 2011

Elections

This year, after consultation with the NUS, we held our elections earlier in the academic year. We changed the format of our elections handbook and had a dedicated elections committee which worked extremely hard. Although we were disappointed with the number of candidates it was encouraging to see independent students campaigning to persuade people to vote, which we hope can continue next year. The percentage of students voting in our elections was above the national average but unfortunately 3% below our strategic plan target.

Elected Officers for 2011/12 Josh Clare – President Sarah Kelly – Vice President Ian Barber – Academic Officer Martha Guy – Societies Officer Sarah Addly – Sports Officer Jonathan Mullinger – Welfare Officer The roles of the Democracy Officer, Activity Officer and Student Governor are vacant but since elections took place we have had four students express interest in running for the Democracy Officer role in the by-elections this October and we hope to fill all positions. We were very pleased that 5 people were nominated for sabbatical roles, especially having 3 women candidates, as these positions have been predominantly filled by male applicants in the past. Our target was to have three candidates for each sabbatical role and we hope this can be achieved next year. Originally there was interest from between 10-12 potential candidates; however work commitments prevented some of their campaigns, resulting in their decision not to stand. The number of candidates for voluntary roles was disappointing. We feel due to semesters leading to a shortened academic year and therefore condensed work load, this opportunity may not look desirable to students taking on roles in addition to their studies. With this in mind we are exploring, with the University, the possibility of an accredited module for voluntary roles. We hope that with this in place we can improve the number of candidates in next year‟s elections.

Candidates Back (left to right) Josh Clare, Ben Nicholas, Jonathan Mullinger, Ian Barber Front (left to right) Natalie Squire, Sarah Kelly, Natalee Powers, Martha Guy, Sarah Addly


June 2011

National Union of Students Conference The President and President elect attended the 2011 National Union of Students Conference. We are allowed one delegate, with one observer position and after discussions with our regional organiser; we felt it would benefit our student body that the President elect automatically had the observer position this year. At the conference the President had the opportunity to vote in the election of the NUS Executive which he felt would benefit our students the most, for example some candidates expressed their commitment to working with smaller institutions.

Listening to Lembit Opik speak to the NUS conference, he apologised for the behaviour of some of his Liberal colleagues and hoped relations could be rebuilt between the Party and the student movement.


June 2011

Career’s Fair

The Careers Fair was jointly organised by Melissa Clarke, Jacki Barnett, Harriet Richmond, Nicola Chater and the Students‟ Union. This was an opportunity for students to meet employers for part time work, graduate jobs, volunteering opportunities and obtain skills to help the student‟s employability. This took place on March 1st in the Dance Studio‟s and we estimate that between 350-450 students attended over the three hour period. Using the feedback from students we are already in the process of organising two fairs for Semester 1 in 2011, one teaching and one non teaching. We are extremely pleased with the success of this and hope it can be an annual event that attracts more employers and students to attend. Big Book Buy Campaign

This was launched by the Democracy Officer, Josh Clare, which offered each student a vote, either electronically or in person, to choose a book they would like purchased for the library. The top 10 books were bought by the Union; the University very kindly also bought an extra copy of the top 10 books, meaning there will be 20 new books in the library for students next year.


June 2011

Sports Achievements Sports have made good progress this year with the Sports Officer Sarah Addly really encouraging the captains to work together to show a great team ethic. Forums have been held to discuss areas in which things can be improved for next year and we are working more closely with the P.E.S.S. (Sports studies) department to try and involve more students playing for the teams we currently have and to try to develop new ones. Teams have worked hard to contribute more to sport and are always looking at how they can develop. Notable achievements this year are:

Gaelic Football raised double the amount required of annual team funding in just one week, allowing them to purchase additional equipment for the team. The team also competed at the 2011 National Championships in February.

Netball, after gaining promotion last year, finished 3rd in their new

league

Judo competitor Jack Webb won a Gold medal at the 2011 BUCS Championships

Societies Achievements With the elected Activities Officer resigning from the post very early in the year, societies faced a difficult start, but thanks to the hard work of the society committees and their work with Martha Guy who was elected Activities Officer in the by-elections, some have had a very good year. At the request of our societies we have reverted back to societies having their own officer for next year. The role of the Activities Officer will revert to event organisation and the post of Societies Officer has been reinstated to aid societies and their development. Notable achievements this year are:

CU has offered many services to the University community this year – a few of these were: Random Acts of Kindness (Christmas & Easter), I-Journey Day, Twilight Toasty and Cogs Week (Key issues week)

Attitude Dance Society performed a show entitled „Give my Regards to Broadway‟

Fitness Fun have offered students a variety of non competitive sporting/fitness events

Raise and Give raised over £1800 for various charities


June 2011

LGBT has made good connections with other local groups Although MaDSoc (Music and Drama Society) have not produced a show this year, they still have provided students the chance to show off their creative talents. Open mic nights have been provided as well as organising the Bin Bag Ball in conjunction with Women‟s Badminton. This year we have had three new groups affiliate themselves to the Union to run as a society these were the Acting society, Attitude (dancing society) and the Islamic society. Blood Drive After requests from students last year to enable them to donate blood at Newman we were pleased to have had two „Blood Drives‟ on site on November 29th and March 18th , which were initiated by NSU Welfare Officer Emilie Spooner. These were a great success with over 30 new donors being sourced and we have already been offered dates for the next academic year and are looking forward to the third instalment.

Landlord Scheme The Union has started research into a Landlord Scheme with The University‟s Accommodation Manager. We are doing this to provide students who are seeking housing in the local area, access to pertinent information which they may not receive when talking directly to landlords.

The Blood Drive van in the staff car park on the 18th of March


June 2011

Freshers and Returners Weeks NSU feels that during these two weeks we should promote a variety of activities as throughout this time people have different interests. On both Wednesday nights we went to Walkabout on Broad Street, included in the price was travel from Newman to town as we wanted to ensure students arrived at the club together. This night was used as a chance to highlight the importance of safe drinking which was done in the bar beforehand. Both Friday nights held in Senses Bar were also huge successes with a combined total of over 500 people attending. In addition, we provided a wide range of activities including a quiz, karaoke and a games night. Another prominent event was a comedy hypnotist who entertained nearly 100 people who attended.

‘Give it a go’ Give it a go was a new initiative for 2010/11 run by the Vice President to offer trips to students who didn‟t usually get involved with on site events. Some groups of students who we felt were key to reach were international students, mature students and student parents. The first trip organised on Halloween was a “haunted house ghost tour” around Aston Manor House. Unfortunately this was the only trip that took place in 2010/11 due to the Vice President resigning from their post; alongside other Union commitments; The Executive Committee felt it would have been a struggle to offer a high standard of excursion for our students. We do hope that next year this concept will continue. It is in our strategic plan and it would be very beneficial to our students to have a wider range of activities available to them.


June 2011

Union Awards Night 2010/11

Our Union Awards Night was again held at Bartley Green Social Club, this annual event is becoming the highlight of the academic calendar for all involved in the Union. Following a recent revival of the awards night, it is now in its third consecutive year. The event this year attracted more students and University College staff than it ever has before. We believe this was partly due to the awards included this year being more wide ranging than in previous years. This year, along with the continuation of our Sports and Society awards, saw the inclusion of Academic Awards for our student reps and University Staff Awards. Also, due to some students working particularly hard for the Union as a whole, the award for „Union Person of the Year‟ was introduced. Eligible students were those who were highly active students who were involved in several areas of Union life.

„Union Person of the Year‟ award winner Vicky Hobbs – also with her Badminton player of the year award too!

Lauren Chaplin – „School of Human Sciences Students Rep of the Year‟ receiving her award.


June 2011

Union Finances For the financial year 2009/10 NSU predicted to break even in the budgetary estimates. A surplus of £10,066 for the financial year was achieved, this was down to a variety of reasons, including a reduction in our spend on sports transport thanks to clever sourcing of transport routes by our Activities Administrator and our teams willingness to take public transport to matches. Our general housekeeping has been consistently good because NSU was aware that our professional and NUS fees were set to increase in 2010/11. For example:

We are currently updating our financial software to enable us to comply with Charity Registration reporting requirements.

The 10/11 training allowance was under budgeted so a proportion of the surplus has been used to better prepare the 2011/12 Executive.

This year we have been aware that we would not be immune from the institution cuts and we have tried to make savings to offset this. In addition there will be a surplus in the wages budget due to the resignation of the Vice President 5 months prior to the end of their Sabbatical year. What has happened to NSU this year? This year the Union has been audited and we are working towards the recommendations identified. Already the structure of our trustee board for the next academic year and the way we present our budgets has changed. We are satisfied with the audit and although we have already improved in some areas we look forward to improving further over the next few years. Due to the high percentage of students who have purchased NUS Extra Cards this year (over 35%) we have featured in the NUS Spotlight magazine, which promotes best practise amongst Students‟ Unions. Selling NUS Cards gives the Union a good opportunity to reach out to students, which can lead to some students becoming more involved.


June 2011

Conclusion It has been a very productive year for Newman Students‟ Union with many notable achievements from all areas of the student body. Even with the time constraints of a shorter academic year, we have offered a variety of events and activities to the student body and improved some of our key areas dramatically. There are challenges ahead, especially with the increase in fees; students will not be expecting to pay more for less or even the same. I feel that with a new constitution, bye laws and strategic plan we can look forward to these challenges and develop as a Union. I feel proud to have been Newman Students‟ Union President this year as the students of Newman have showed us that they care about national and institutional issues. Thank you to:

The 1000 plus students who filled out a semester feedback form

The 500 plus students and staff who got involved with our letters to MP‟s campaign

The 49 people who came to London

The 9 students who ran in the NSU elections

The 302 students who voted in the NSU elections

The 79 people who were course reps this year

The 120 who participated in NSU Sport and NSU Societies this year

The 80 people who donated blood at the blood drives

The 1,013 amount of students who have purchased an NUS Extra card this year

All students in attendance at Student General Meetings

The students who have participated in Elections Committee, Halls Committee, University Panels and The Institutional Audit.

NSU Annual Report 2010/11

Documents

Transcript of NSU Annual Report 2010/11