ANNUAL REPORT 2020-2021 WWW.CARDIFFMETSU.CO.UK
CONTENTS
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PAG E 2
Conte nt s
PAGE 10 - 1 2
PAG E 3
Glossa r y O f Terms
PAGE 13 - 1 4
Cov i d -19 P hys i c al
PAG E 4
Exe cu t ive Su mmar y
PAGE 15 - 1 8
Cov i d -19 S o c i al
PAG E 5 - 6
Sa bba t ica l Off icers Summar y
PAGE 19 - 26
S t ud ent Vo i ce & Rep res ent at i o n
PAG E 7
C hie f Exe cu t ive Summar y
PAGE 27 - 35
S t ud ent Exp eri en ce
PAG E 8 - 9
Covid-19 O ve r view
PAGE 36
2021-2022 Ac t i o n P l ans
PAGE 37 - 43
A p p en d i ces
Cov i d -19 Fi nan c i al
GLOSSARY OF TERMS Annual Repor t 2020/21 – ‘ the repor t’ Students’ Union – ‘SU’ (as we are writing about our organisation we will also reference the ‘SU’ as ‘ we’ ‘us’ ‘our ’) Sabbatical Off icer – This refers to the ‘President’ and ‘ Vice President’ who are the off icers elected by the student body. SU Representative – ‘Reps’ Quality Assurance Agency – ‘QA A’ Quality Enhancement Review – ‘QER’ Postgraduate Taught – ‘PGT ’ Postgraduate Research - ‘PGR’ Associate Deans of Student Engagement – ‘ADSE’ Transnational Education- ‘ TNE’ Student Staff Liaison Committee’s- ‘SSLC ’ Learning, Teaching and Student Engagement Committee- ‘LTSE’ British Universities and Colleges Spor t- ‘BUCS’
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Cardiff Met SU Annual Report is an opportunity to reflect
the proposed areas of focus for the 2021/22 academic session.
on the work of the Union over the past twelve months. The
The report reflects on the actions and recommendations f rom
2020/21 report looks back on a year dominated by a global
last year (Appendix 1) to highlight the distanced traveled and
pandemic and has been shaped using student feedback
where work still needs to be done.
collected throughout the academic year. The report highlights the breadth of work undertaken by the SU staff team and all
In order to ensure this report is representative, the actions
involved within the SU’s representative structure. This report
and recommendations have been shared with the student
aims to represent the wide variety of opinions f rom across
representatives at all levels of the structure for consultation.
the student membership and uses a range of data sources
SU School Reps and Part-Time Off icers were also able to
f rom both formal and informal feedback mechanisms.
comment on drafts throughout the writing process.
A non-exhaustive list of sources includes:
This report enters the University board and committee structures where the SU ask the University to respond to the
•
SU School Rep Repor ts
recommendations and work in partnership to create an action
•
SU Par t-Time Off icer Repor ts
plan to implement in the next academic year. The report
•
Student Staff Liaison Committee (SSLC) Minutes
is also submitted to the University Board of Governors. The
•
School Learning & Teaching (L&T) Minutes
completed SU Annual Report was considered and approved
•
University Sur vey resul ts
by the SU Board of Trustees in May 2021.
•
University Board and Committee Minutes
•
SU Society member feedback
•
SU Spor t member feedback
•
Cardiff Met Award par ticipant feedback
Each iteration of the SU Annual Report highlights areas for
future
development
for
both
the
University,
as
recommendations, and for the SU, as actions. The report has been built around the themes we have seen most f requently
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f rom our membership and in turn, these have helped to create
Will Fuller Director of Student Engagement
SABBATICAL OFFICERS SUMMARY Challenges, change, and a chance to be better. How better to describe the last 16 months for us as a SU. In our last SU Annual Report, I wrote about the chance to grow, adapt, and remain a current and supportive SU for students here at Cardiff Met; I believe that is exactly what we did. For a small team, the last year has shown the huge impact that we can have on student life, and that diamonds really are made under pressure. Not everything has worked how we would have liked, not everything has been a 100% success, but every project has been an opportunity to learn. It is forced us out of the standard method of ‘doing it how it was done before’ which was a blessing in disguise, as we realise
campaign shaped by our students, designed to tackle the myths and stereotypes around sexual misconduct that made such a huge impact was really my proudest project. To see staff and students stand together to support such an important message was really inspiring and it was a huge honour to co-lead the campaign. Another highlight for me is the opportunity to feed into the No Detriment Policy, and to be an advocate for students in that room. It was especially important to us as a SU that no student’s academic career was negatively impacted due to the ongoing pandemic, and I f irmly believe that the NDP, phase 1,2 and 3 managed to provide that support.
most appropriate and eff icient ways of collecting feedback
My time as a Sabbatical Off icer has been an absolute rollercoaster, of which I never want to get off. From the moment i wrote my manifesto (Appendix 2), it has been incredibly rewarding, challenging and eye opening into what a small team can achieve with a common goal in mind. It’s nearly the end of my sabbatical term, but only the start of
and ensuring that it is listened to in the respective decision-
what Cardiff Met SU can really achieve.
how our services can be better for our members. The importance of our student voice structure has really come to the foref ront this year, and the need to f ind the
making
environments.
As
Head
of
the
Representation
Structure, it has been an absolute pleasure to work with our Representation team this year, they are incredibly passionate, resilient, and adaptive and have really shaped my role as Vice President over the last two years. When thinking about my standout moments over the last
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year, the #NotanExcuse campaign is my f irst thought. A
Keira Davies
SU Vice President
SABBATICAL OFFICERS SUMMARY It has been a great opportunity for me to represent students at Cardiff Met this year. Seeing how well students have undertaken their roles as SU Reps has been incredibly encouraging and they have brought new and exciting ideas to improve the student experience and they have shaped how the SU faced the challenges of this year. Student voice and engagement in higher education is so important, and this year is presented many tests due to Covid-19. We have worked hard to provide extra guidance and support for students and their voice has informed many discussion including
feedback
on
personal
tutoring,
important
topics such as wellbeing and mental health, and access to digital facilities such as laptops. This year has been an unprecedented time and we have managed our f inances as an organization carefully to ensure we are able to provide for students this year and into next year. We have also been grateful for support provided by the Welsh Government including f inance directly for use by the SU. As the year has progressed, we have seen the positive impact of the student voice and the ways we can work positively with University and I am proud to have worked hard to deliver on my promises as SU President in this academic year 2020/21 (Appendix 2).
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Midhun Pavuluri SU President
CHIEF EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The work of the Students Union, its sabbatical officers and representation
experience and support over the year. Ensuring the damage to any
team normally follows a traditional cycle throughout the academic year.
academic experience has been minimised has been a major challenge,
Induction and training followed by Freshers events and recruitment
and we have increased the social media and messaging from the SU over
of the course reps, the support for our clubs and societies through to
this period to ensure that we keep members as up to date as possible.
major events such as Varsity and the Summer Ball. Our School Reps are vital to the representative role that the SU plays The past year has been a challenge in so many ways in delivering
in university life and whilst we were able to provide them with a
support and services to our representatives and our students, working
comprehensive, socially distanced induction training plan for them
in a virtual environment with limited face-to-face engagement. It was
their contact with their student cohort has been limited .This challenge
particularly pleasing that the Welsh Government and the Education
has been addressed with closer working relationships with their staff
Minister recognised the importance that SU play in supporting students
liaisons to ensure that issues raised by students have been addressed.
and provided additional funding to ensure we were able to continue to provide advice and support throughout this period.
The normal business and the traditional cycle of work has changed , we have had to be agile in delivering support services with less
Wherever possible we have supported our clubs and societies to
staff resources and being unable to physically meet our student
continue to operate throughout lockdown periods and the constant
members which has been one of our key offerings to students.
changing environment of social interaction. Frequent updating of risk assessments has taken place as changes have been announced
As we look forward to next year, the SU has invested in additional staff
has allowed our students to return to activities as soon as possible
resources to provide its members with advice and academic representation
and we have provided support and funding to ensure our clubs
services. We will also be focussing on re-building our student societies,
supported their members with virtual training and well-being
our community engagement and volunteering in the next academic year
sessions when they could not use the sports facilities on campus.
giving students to opportunity to have as wide a social and developmental experience to support the academic programme.
Across the Higher Education sector it has been recognised that societies have suffered in particular with members unable to meet up and enjoy the social activities and we have experienced this with the reduced engagement from students following a number of years of growth. The day-to-day business of being a sabbatical officer has changed to
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reflect the increased focus on working in a partnership approach with the University to ensure students had the best possible academic
Mike Davies
Chief Executive
COVID-19 OVERVIEW SU COMMUNICATION
This year ’s SU Annual Report looks back on a year like no other. Dominated by a global pandemic, the 2020/21 academic year forced the SU to react, respond and operate in ways that it never has before. Working remotely as a team, f ighting for student rights, looking after member wellbeing, communicating clearly, running virtual events and as always, ensuring student feedback and representation was at the foref ront of everything we do. This year ’s repor t reflects on the challenges & oppor tunities that have arisen f rom new ways of working and looks at what we want to keep for the future.
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The
aim
of
our
communications
and
use
of
the
SU
Representation structure is to create open lines of dialogue with members to ensure we accurately reflect their opinions. This year, key areas of feedback included: campus and facility closures, changes to academic deliver y, housing, mental heal th and wellbeing, digital provision, appropriate study space and f inancial worries. Throughout the year, we wanted to ensure that members knew that we were working hard for them on these areas, when much of our work was diff icul t to see. Using our social media platforms, student emails and by writing to members, we were able to explain how their feedback had shaped our work and the key areas of focus as an SU when looking to protect students f rom the negative impact that the pandemic caused.
COVID-19 OVERVIEW STUDENT WELLBEING IN A PANDEMIC
NO DETRIMENT POLICY - PART THREE
The pandemic affected students in a mul titude of ways,
SU m embers ma de th eir voices h eard an d were clear
physically, mentally, f inancially and often, dispropor tionately
that a ca demic pressure an d con cerns about gra des were
when compared to the wider population. Through our
n egatively impa c tin g many students an d th eir experien ce
contact with members, three themes emerged early on in
this year. Despite initial resistan ce, through collaboration
the pandemic which required par ticular attention. Academic
with th e wider student body, in cludin g public petitions,
quality, including the need to access course specif ic spaces,
th e SU successfully fought for th e reintroduc tion of th e No
inconsistencies in online deliver y quality and the lack of
Detrim ent Policy.
social learning all featured highly. Communications and clarity
SU
Vice -President
an d
SU
Policy
&
Procedural
those
communications
f rom
Advisor were h eavily involved in ea ch sta ge, f rom initial
reduce
conversations in March 2020 with th e latest iteration bein g
the
University
to
uncer tainty and stress. Finally, mental
heal th
and
specif ically design ed for th e 2020/21 coh or t .
burnout
being the cost of a good grade
With regular communication between th e SU, Registr y an d
and a summar y of the feeling
th e PVC for Student En ga gem ent , th e policy in cluded th e
f rom
the
aforementioned
option to resit an d resubmit , am en dm ents to mitigatin g
issues
were
all
to
circumstan ces an d an improvem ent on th e 2 % gra de uplift
meetings
rulin g. Our aim through out th e process was to ensure that
and discussions to shape the
th e gra des of students were n ot n egatively impa c ted by
changes that students wanted
th e pan demic an d th e ann oun cem ent of th e policy pleased
to see.
m embers an d relieved a lot of stress an d anxiety.
University
9
Th e
of
inputted
board
COVID-19 FINANCIAL RENT REBATES
WELSH GOVERNMENT FUNDING
Durin g th e Cardiff Met campus closures, many students
Throughout the pandemic, the University received funding
based in th e University a ccomm odation took th e decision to
f rom the Welsh Government and HEFCW to extend support
return h om e. As a resul t , students were payin g for halls th ey
for students. Funding was earmarked for increasing capacity
could n ot use, due to th eir course bein g taught completely
in SU and Universities, for the provision of advice and support
onlin e. Th e University took th e decision to refun d all
services, to provide further support to those with disabilities
students wh o were n ot usin g th eir a ccomm odation for th e
and caring responsibilities and to help address digital poverty.
tim e that th eir course was onlin e but th e SU also received
Funding was also provided to improve support and services
many emails f rom students in private a ccomm odation.
for self-isolating students, students in f inancial hardship, for investment in mental health and well-being strategies and
To ensure parity of experien ce, th e SU applied pressure on
to extend Universities’ contracted services with providers of
private halls providers an d lan dlords, an d after substantial
mental health support. The SU have contributed at meetings
collec tive pressure f rom th e SU, th e University an d several
throughout the pandemic to positively affect the ways in which
oth er institutions, Unite Student Accomm odation also
funding was used at Cardiff Met and ensure it had the greatest
a greed to refun d students for 6 weeks.
impact on the student experience. This year was also the f irst time that SU had received dedicated funding to support
In a ddition to this, th e SU Sabbati cal Off icers co -sign ed a
themselves f rom HEFCW, and this enabled us to continue to
letter to lettin g a gents an d lan dlords f rom all Cardiff based
fund existing initiatives, create new initiatives and maintain
SU, requestin g information on h ow th ey would suppor t
SU activity.
students through out th e year. We also created a letter for m embers to downloa d f rom th e SU website to sen d to th eir lan dlord or lettin g a gen cy, askin g th em to be un derstan d th e
a dverse
situation
students
f inan cially as a resul t of Covid-19.
foun d
th emselves
in
The Welsh Government has recognised the important role that the Students Unions have played in providing support during the pandemic. - Kirsty Williams MS, Minister for Education Oct 2020
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COVID-19 FINANCIAL DIGITAL POVERTY FUNDING
SU COMMUNITY CHEST
HEFCW funding received by the University allowed for the creation and promotion of the Digital Poverty fund in consultation with the SU, Student Services and Library & Information Services. This funding provided much needed support to students who did not have appropriate access to equipment that they need to succeed when studying at home. Since the creation of the fund, over £30,000 has been allocated to students to support the purchasing of laptops, webcams, headphones and other specialist IT equipment.
Utilising some of the SU’s share of HEFCW funding, the SU Community Chest was created. The initiative allowed student groups to apply for £500 funding to create projects based around improving student community and positive wellbeing. A particular success of this campaign was the launch of the SU Sport Netball club’s ‘Met Mindset Project’. The project helped players to understand and cope with the pressures that surround performance, academic study and external influences.
RENT SUPPORT FUNDING
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Many students depend heavily on part-time work to make up their income in sectors that were severely impacted by the pandemic. Members told us how they were struggling f inancially after losing jobs and how this was impacting their ability to meet rent payments outside University owned accommodation. Alongside the pressure on letting agencies and landlords, a support fund was created using HEFCW funding that allowed students to apply for support with their rent and bills. The SU, in partnership with the University, helped to shape the purpose of the fund and to promote it to members. Stage one funding supported widening access students in line with the funding remit f rom Welsh Government. A second stage was also created, open to all students via a short online survey, with the weekly payment dates implemented to ensure the support reached students in a timely manner.
This initiative was well attended by club members and was made up of six sessions over a six-week period with a PhD student, and f inished off with small group interviews to evaluate the overall impact of the project. This project will form the basis of a case study report to HEFCW on the impact of the SU funding allocation.
COVID-19 FINANCIAL FUNDING SUPPORT FOR SU CLUBS & SOCIETIES The pandemic put a stop to a huge amount of planned activity this year, par ticularly that of SU Spor t clubs and SU Societies. National lockdowns, f irebreaks and social distancing ensured that the large majority of plans were either cancelled or moved into a vir tual space and many members did not receive the same experiences as their predecessors. We wanted to ensure that students, who had signed up to take par t in extracurricular activity at the star t of the year, were not f inancially disadvantaged and that clubs and societies were not put in a diff icul t position, when looking to deliver activity in the f inal term and into 2021/22 as restrictions began to ease. Our SU Vice-President put a proposal in to the University ’s Combined Academic Board, which resul ted in the allocation of £35,000 to suppor t club and society members. This was given back directly to members through a refund of membership fees suppor ting both the students, clubs and societies who had no loss of income as a resul t of this. @FREYADAISYPHOTOGRAPHY
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COVID-19 PHYSICAL BE THE BEST AT YOUR DESK CAMPAIGN
SU SPORT X YOGABILITY
The Be the Best at Your Desk Campaign was developed in
To maintain the physical wellbeing of members during
collaboration with SU School Reps and SU Par t-Time Off icers
the pandemic , SU Spor t par tnered with Yogability to fund
after a discussion at the University ’s LTSE in October.
f ree Yogability memberships for the months of Februar y
Through feedback f rom the SU’s representation structure,
and March. This offered full access to the Yogability online
it was clear that students were unsure how to best learn at
platform, which included nine weekly live streamed classes,
home or be productive whilst learning online. There were
access to a full librar y of over 100 yoga and mobility videos,
also concerns f rom academic staff that students were not
designed to improve flexibility, mobility, strength and help
engaging in online lectures as they would in person. The
de-stress. Classes include yogability, yogability 15, yin yoga,
SU have created ten top tips to assist members in adjusting
pregnancy yoga, vinyasa flow, yoga & mobility for beginners,
to learning digitally. Developed specif ically with Cardiff Met
strength flow, headstand & arm balances tutorials as well
students in mind and including tips on routine, diet, exercise,
as and relaxation & deep breathing yoga. We also worked
hobbies, and study breaks, the campaign was well received
closely with Cardiff Met Active to provide online f itness
by members and University staff alike. The SU School Reps
classes specif ically for our clubs to ensure f itness levels
and SU Par t-Time Off icers also provided fur ther context to
were maintained
the advice given by including their own experiences and
and
how it has worked for them when promoting the campaign.
a
clubs
fel t
sense
of
connectedness, despite
being
spread
across
the
UK
and
fur ther af ield.
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COVID-19 PHYSICAL RETURN TO SPORT AND ELITE SPORT SUPPORT
SU SPORT CLUB CHALLENGES
During the ever-changing landscape of the pandemic ,
The uncer tainty surrounding spor t this year encouraged
advice and guidance on activity made it diff icult for in
clubs to get creative in their provision and look at different
p e r s o n s p o r t t o t a k e p l a c e . We d i d h o w e v e r m a n a g e t o
ways to engage with member.
return 28 out of 35 of our SU Sport clubs before Christmas,
challenges, quizzes and vir tual gatherings, with many also
with the remainder of clubs opting out of a return.
raising money for charity. Cardiff Met WFC players and staff
Many clubs held vir tual
ran 2,021km and raised over £ 1,100 for Cancer Research, whilst Returning clubs were supported by the SU Sport &
Cricket and Hockey came together to raise over £2,800 for the
Societies
Met
Movember charity. Aman Ghandi (Cricket) also raised money
Sport and the University ’s Health & Safety teams to run
to purchase over 50 food packages which were donated
safe, risk assessed, in-person taster sessions for new
to low-income families in Nairobi during the pandemic .
Off icer,
in
collaboration
with
Cardiff
and returning students. Despite the diff iculties this year has presented, many clubs have seen an increase i n m e m b e r s h i p - s u c h a s N e t b a l l , R u g b y, C r i c k e t a n d Football, which is positive as we look to build towards the 2021/22 BUCS season. Several SU Sport clubs qualif ied for elite status under We l s h G o v e r n m e n t p l a n s a n d h a v e c o n t i n u e d t o t r a i n and travel safely throughout the pandemic . Archers Basketball for both WBBL and WNBL teams, Cardiff Met WFC, Cardiff Met FC and a selected list of International Athletics athletes have received support f rom the SU to train, travel and compete safely during the pandemic .
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COVID-19 SOCIAL DWELL WELL CAMPAIGN
SU RESILIENCY SESSIONS
The SU’s Dwell Well campaign was designed in response to
Utilising a proportion of the HEFCW funding given to the SU,
an increase in reported issues in student accommodation on
we ran additional workshop sessions for members focussing
campus, in private halls, rented accommodation and in family
on resiliency in the time of Covid. Led by clinical psychologist,
homes f rom members. An increased amount of time spent in
Dr Jo Soldan, the virtual workshops looked at the unique set of
shared spaces saw a rise in tensions and the need for support
circumstances and unprecedented need to actively maintain
and guidance f rom the SU. The campaign focussed around
resilience and wellbeing in the face of Covid restrictions,
f ive key areas: navigating shared space, dealing with conflict,
quarantine
forming
self-
provided a practical overview of the latest resilience research,
awareness and self-care, and signposting to external links and
and left members with techniques to apply to their personal
support. The interactive guide to student living and studying
circumstances during the pandemic.
and
maintaining
supportive
relationships,
and
self-isolation.
The
informal
workshops
was supported by the University’s accommodation team and sent to large private accommodation companies to better inform students how to live harmoniously in shared spaces.
HOW ARE YOU? CHECK INS Student lon elin ess an d isolation was a par ticular con cern through out th e year an d Th e How Are You ? ch eck ins were design ed specif ically to a ddress key pin ch points of student isolation an d lon elin ess within th e international student community. Fa cilitated by th e SU Student Life Coordinator an d SU Global Par t-Tim e Off icer, ch eck ins were organised for th e Christmas h oliday period an d exam periods an d delivered through Microsoft Teams. Ch eck ins were an oppor tunity for th e international community to speak with th e SU for signpostin g, suppor t an d to create a sense of conn ec tedn ess durin g diff icul t tim es of th e year.
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COVID-19 SOCIAL SU CARDIFF MET AWARD STUDENT SUPPORT
VIRTUAL EVENTS
Th e pan demic restric ted th e usual deliver y of th e Cardiff
With venue capacity restricted and many members repor ting
Met Award, a programm e which requires work experien ce,
that they did not want to mix in public , we created a series of
trainin g developm ent an d on e - to - on e suppor t f rom th e
vir tual events for students, in par tnership with an established
SU’s Trainin g & Achievem ent Coordinator.
events company ‘Live Let Laugh’. We successfully delivered three vir tual events, a murder myster y night, comedy night
With par t- tim e job oppor tunities for students an d m ost
and gameshow night. The murder myster y was well received
volunteerin g oppor tunities severely restric ted, trainin g
with the SU’s Drama Society dressing up and taking par t as
worksh ops on campus unable to take pla ce, an d th e
characters within the event itself. The comedy night was
displa cem ent of Award students, Award conn ec tivity an d
headlined by Harriet Dyer (BBC3, BBC4 , Absolute Radio)
community ha d to be reima gin ed this year. A focus was
and featured Britain’s Got Talent’s Mike Newall and Micky
pla ced on bein g able to maintain conta c t vir tually, whilst
P Kerr. The Gameshow Night gave students the oppor tunity
still en coura gin g an d aidin g developm ent for in dividuals
to win a range of prizes and all events were hosted on Zoom
alon g th e Award pathway.
and f ree to attend.
Microsoft Teams m eetin gs were well received, with th e oppor tunity to arran ge quick ch eck ins alon gside sch eduled diar y catch ups. For students wh o have been isolated an d deta ch ed f rom th eir usual University experien ce, th e oppor tunity to take a few minutes to chat about th e impa c t of lockdowns, un cer tainty an d fears an d to embra ce a shared experien ce whilst on th e Award journ ey was m ost ben ef icial. Regular ch eck ins were been relaxed an d vir tual coffee m eet ups often resul ted in plans bein g set for fur th er developm ent .
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Thank you again for this amazing opportunity. I have grown so much and I’m forever grateful for that. Thank you so much for your feedback, words cannot describe how much I am truly honoured to receive this award - Cardiff Met Award Student
COVID-19 SOCIAL CHRISTMAS & FAIRTRADE ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETS Th e SU’s usual calen dar of physical events was reima gin ed within a vir tual spa ce this year, with both th e Christmas Market an d Fair tra de Environm ental Market m ovin g onlin e. Th e vir tual Christmas market allowed students to navigate th eir way aroun d th e vir tual marketpla ce, selec t pop up stalls to open, browse an d make a purchase via a link to th e suppliers pa ge. A total of 37 stalls were at th e market , many of which were CSAD students sellin g han dma de items, jeweller y, ceramics an d ar twork . Th e SU Vice -President welcom ed guests via a video on th e pa ge an d a Christmas playlist was available to th e student user to listen to whilst sh oppin g. Th e Christmas market was visited over 600 tim es by students, an in crease on th e number of physical atten dees at th e event . In
Februar y,
we
laun ch ed
our
SU
Vir tual
Fair tra de
Environm ental Market to celebrate Fair tra de For tnight . Design ed by th e SU Environm ental Par t-Tim e Off icer, a selec tion of in depen dent , Fair tra de an d ethical busin esses f rom aroun d Cardiff were invited to take par t an d th e event was well received by both tra ders an d students.
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COVID-19 SOCIAL POSITIVE COMMUNICATION Through feedback f rom the SU Representation structure,
Staff have been supported to work remotely with equipment
members told us the impor tance of positive reinforcement
and flexible working practices implemented, with regular
within student communications. During the pandemic we
communication between staff facilitated through team meetings,
have focussed our messages on clear, concise and positive
staff check ins and written communication to those furloughed
information to shout out about positive work that we were
staff. At Llandaff Campus, the transfer of the SU’s bar, catering,
doing for members, and to remind them that they were
shop and Starbucks facilities to the University has seen SU staff
excelling during unprecedented times. Videos of positivity
move over to the University under TUPE regulations and provides
f rom the SU Sabbatical Off icers, SU School Reps and SU
new challenges for engagement for the SU at Llandaff.
Par t-Time Off icers were released to remind members of the suppor t available f rom the SU, to signpost them to other
The effects of the pandemic and subsequent loss of many
areas of the University for relevant suppor t and to encourage
student groups, student activity, social events and a sense of
them to continue on their journey during diff icul t times.
connectedness means the SU will need to be at the foref ront of rebuilding in 2021/22. Many projects built as a response to Covid-19 will continue as we look to improve services including the Virtual
BUILDING BACK FROM COVID-19
Freshers’ Fayre to supplement a physical Fayre, the SU Community Chest to allow clubs and societies to contribute to civic mission of
After a year like no other, it is important that the SU is as visible,
the University and to play a positive role in the community, and
inclusive and active as ever before. Whilst Covid-19, lockdowns
virtual workshops to ensure they are accessible to all members.
and subsequent rule changes have made the year incredibly
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diff icult for everyone, it has presented new ways of working
Through summarising the work of the SU, suggesting
and new opportunities to embrace. Tough decisions have had
recommendations for the University to address and actions
to be made at senior management level, including the use of
for the SU to complete, we hope to be able to build back
the government furlough scheme to protect the long-term
better next year and to return once again as the SU our
future and f inancial viability of the SU.
members want us to be.
STUDENT VOICE & REPRESENTATION Student voice and representation is integral to the decision making processes at all levels of the SU. As a member led organisation, it is vital that our members set the direction and that we deliver on our promises to them. Student voice is also a partnership, between students, the SU and the University and student engagement through partnership working is integral to the culture of higher education.
This year, traditional student voice mechanisms and the SU’s Rep structure have been adapted to exist in digital spaces. Training, meetings and the transfer of feedback through the SU Rep structure have all been adapted with many lessons
learned
and
future
developments
identif ied as a resul t. As we move into the 2021/22 academic year, we will strive to return with the best of all worlds, pre and post pandemic methods to
Ensuring decisions are made with students not for students is a key aim of the SU Rep structure and alongside the University student voice mechanisms and with support f rom the academic schools, student feedback is embedded within the decision making processes with the aim of improving student experience.
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represent members in the most effective and inclusive way possible. The ability to capture a diverse range of voices f rom across our membership to better inform future develops within the SU and University is vital if we are to continue to drive the student experience for ward and to inspire the next generation of student leaders.
STUDENT VOICE & REPRESENTATION SU SCHOOL REPS This year, more than ever, the team of SU School Reps have played a key role in guiding the decision making, activity and progression of the SU. Importantly, the worked efficiently as a cohesive team and felt comfortable as a group to discuss, challenge and report across the five academic schools and to us as their representative body. The work of the SU School Reps has ensured quick and accurate access to student feedback, thoughts, feelings and opinions in relation to the many changes made, and the affect it has on the student experience. As a collective, and within their respective schools, the SU School Reps have achieved an incredible amount during a difficult year: • The CSESP SU School Rep held virtual quiz nights, doodle walls for feedback and rep hang out sessions and worked on the ‘Not All Disabilities are Visible’ campaign, ensuring that the stickers for disabled bathrooms are put up across campuses. • The CSSHS SU School Reps have led virtual SU Rep catch ups, coffee mornings and feedback drop-in sessions, as well as launching their ‘3k every day’ Strava group during lockdown to encourage students to remain active during that time. • Our CST SU School Rep helped to develop the role of Student Coaches within the school and helped to mentor level four students throughout the academic year. • The CSAD SU School Rep worked to ensure feedback from practical courses reached the University to inform the priority course return list and helped to shape our virtual Christmas market by encouraging CSAD students to advertise their small businesses.
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• Our CSM SU School Rep held two quiz nights for the school and brought together a team of SU Reps to pack sweets and popcorn for MetVoice week.
The relationship between SU School Reps and their ADSES have fur ther developed into an extremely eff icient and effective working relationship across all f ive schools, as recognised in the institutional QER repor t. The team have had the oppor tunity over the last academic year to feed into University and SU developments including Vir tual SU Rep training, the No Detriment Policy, the creation of Met Central, work on student wellbeing during the pandemic and the gradual reopening of both academic campuses.
STUDENT VOICE & REPRESENTATION SU PART-TIME OFFICERS Our SU Part-Time Off icers have worked hard this year to create awareness, campaigns and virtual activity within their chosen areas of interest during a diff icult year. Moving activity online, the SU Part-Time Off icers team have helped to promote key SU messages alongside their own activity. Highlights include: • The SU Environmental Part-Time Off icer was instrumental in arranging the Environmental Fairtrade Virtual Fayre, ran a ‘Be Mighty, Recycle- 12 days of Christmas’ campaign on social media and has created a student sustainability guide that will be released alongside the 2021/22 WTKBYG Guide. • The SU Equality & Diversity Part-Time Officer was unfortunately unable to continue within the role and the position was vacant as a result. • The SU Global Part-Time Off icer worked with the SU’s Student life Coordinator to run check ins for international students at pinch points throughout the year. • The SU Wellbeing Part-Time Off icer utilized £10,000 of HEFCW funding to create the ‘Dignity. Period.’ Campaign which involved placing f ree period products in bathrooms on campus and posting f ree period products to students.
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• The UG Swyddog Yr Iaith Gymraeg surveyed Welsh medium students throughout the pandemic to monitor student experience, ran a social media takeover on the SU account to celebrate St. David’s Day and ran a Strava competition to encourage students to stay active.
STUDENT VOICE & REPRESENTATION SU VIRTUAL ELECTION The SU Elections process required a redesign to adapt to campus closures and to ensure the safety of candidates and voters. The SU Board of Trustees took the decision to delay the SU Elections process by two months in the hope that face to face activity would be possible later in the academic year, allowing candidates to be active on campus and to canvass for votes. Working in partnership with the University Estates and Health & Safety teams a new set of SU Elections rules were implemented in the interest of a safe and fair electoral process. Although campus had reopened in time for the rearranged election, student numbers on campus remained low, forcing candidates to get creative and to focus on digital campaign methods. Candidates received specif ic tips and advice on the use of social media and creating a personal brand as part of virtual candidates brief ing, alongside the traditional candidate brief ing. Results were announced on campus with all candidates present.
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Improvements this year included the creation of more centralised Election content than ever before, implementation of new rules around SU Sport and SU Society endorsements and a targeted communications plan that utilised both SU and University channels. These key learnings will be carried into next year’s election where with a planned return to campus, we hope to have a larger voter turnout.
ACTION The SU to continue the centralised promotion of SU Elections to further engage members in the electoral process.
STUDENT VOICE & REPRESENTATION SU REP STRUCTURE REPRESENTATIVENESS In
2019/20,
we
undertook
the
SU’s
f irst
review
SU SCHOOL REP AND SU PART-TIME OFFICER TRAINING of
the
representativeness of the SU Representation structure, looking to ensure to benchmark the representativeness of the SU’s Rep structure against the University’s student data. This data was presented to the Trustees and with the assistance of the University Equality and Diversity Off icer, equality and diversity training was delivered as part of the SU’s Rep Training week. This analysis has been completed again with data f rom 2020/21 (Appendix 3) to track trends and to again ensure that our structures effectively represent our membership. We intend to further develop the training delivered in September 2020 to include unconscious bias training to ensure that SU School Reps are supported to recruit in a fair and open manner.
To account for the potential of not being able to meet for a physical training week, the decision was taken to deliver weekly virtual training for the incoming Sabbatical Off icer, SU School Reps and Part-Time Off icers. Throughout July and August 2020, the SU Vice President and Director of Student Engagement planned and delivered weekly online training sessions, covering areas such as the SU and our services, SU staff members, the SU Representation structure and student voice mechanisms, campaign planning and SU plans for the year. Sessions were well received and put the team at an advantage when the physical training week was able to go ahead. The team completed their training in person with a week of on campus activity at the beginning of September 2020. This included an opportunity to meet in person, meet with key SU and University staff, ref resh the virtual sessions, engage in Trustee training and enjoy a day of team building activities. The success of the summer sessions will be taken forward and implemented in future years to better prepare the incoming teams.
ACTION The SU to deliver unconscious bias training to SU School Reps as part of the SU Rep training schedule.
ACTION The SU to continue a summer training programme for incoming Sabbatical Off icers, SU School Reps and SU PartTime Off icers ahead of the traditional SU Training Week.
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STUDENT VOICE & REPRESENTATION ONLINE SU REP TRAINING With the ability to run a large in person training event stopped by the pandemic, there was a need to move the training provided for
ACTION
SU Course Rep and SU Lead Reps into a digital space in order for them to be effective in their roles. Built using opensource Xerte software, narrated by the SU Vice President to make training accessible and including videos, quizzes and knowledge checks. Online training allowed SU Reps to access the session at a time that worked for them and allowed us to easily train SU Reps who joined in January. The platform allowed 180 new SU Reps to be trained with 90% rating the training as ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ and 84% rating themselves as ‘extremely prepared’ or ‘very prepared’ following the training.
Thank you for the training, it offers a clearer insight into what I can do to represent my course mates and for them to benef it f rom support offered by the SU. - SU Online Rep Training Recipient.
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The SU to develop a second tier of SU Rep training for SU Reps entering their second or third year within the role.
STUDENT VOICE & REPRESENTATION STUDENT LED TEACHING AWARDS Previously
known
as
the
SLTF’s
(Student
METVOICE WEEK Led
Teaching
Met Voice Week is the annual, weeklong campaign run
Fellowships), the Student Led Teaching Awards (SLTA’s) were
during the autumn term by QED, with suppor t f rom the SU,
ref reshed and revitalized this year in partnership with QED and
which aims to promote all the various feedback channels
the School of Art and Design. CSAD students were given a live
open to students at Cardiff Met. Working closely with SU
design project to redesign the awards, with the winning team
School Reps and Academic School Leads, the week focuses
creating the slogan ‘The tables have turned’. The awards were
on celebrating the ‘Met Voice’ and highlighting the impact
delivered online via social media due to the ongoing pandemic
it has on changes made to the student experience.
however the impact that the awards had on both students and staff was still extremely impressive.
SU School Reps organised one-off events, gathering student opinion on impor tant aspects of the student experience,
The SU School Reps, SU Part-Time Off icers and SU Vice President
and showcasing the many ways that students can engage in
were involved in the shortlisting and awarding processes
providing feedback. Most activity was run online this year,
alongside academic, professional service and senior University
with SU School Reps planning activity via social media and
staff. This is an excellent example of the positive partnership
Microsoft Teams.
between the SU and University and highlights the impact this can have on the Cardiff Met community.
Activities such as feedback walls, coffee mornings and drop -in feedback sessions were run vir tually and whilst the impact was limited this year, largely due to the lack of physical campus presence, due to covid regulation, we hope to be involved in next year ’s return of a physical Met Voice Week, which will drive engagement and creativity.
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STUDENT VOICE & REPRESENTATION SUPPORT OF THE QUALITY ENHANCEMENT REVIEW (QER)
SURVEYS
After two Covid enforced delays to the review, the Quality Enhancement Review f inally took place in January 2021. The SU Vice President took the role of Lead Student Representative for the Review visit which was conducted virtually by the QAA. Alongside the previously submitted Student Submission, the SU Vice President and Director of Student Engagement were responsible for contacting students to be a part of the review meetings, to accurately reflect the student experience of the student body at Cardiff Met.
Monitoring survey scores and qualitative feedback is one of many ways that the SU and University can gauge student opinion. The University operate a ‘Survey Season’ where all students f rom foundation to postgraduate level have an opportunity to complete a relevant survey to express their opinion on their experience and to offer feedback to improve life at Cardiff Met.
The review was a success with Cardiff Met receiving f ive commendations as a result and we look forward to implementing the recommendations made by the review team. The SU specif ic recommendation relates to the engagement and training of SU Reps at partner colleges and allows us to continue the work actioned as a result of last year’s SU Annual Report.
ACTION The SU to review arrangements to address variability in partner student engagement, the training of partner student reps and their attendance at the SU partner event.
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‘Survey Season’ takes place between January to April each year, during which time no additional surveys will be administered to eliminate survey fatigue and stress for students. This year, the University have also implemented three ‘Pulse Surveys’ in response to the pandemic and the need to have more touch points without students throughout the year. These have offered a valuable insight into the effect that changes to delivery have had, against the backdrop of an ever changing national and international pandemic picture. As we hopefully return to a more settled 2021/22 year, the SU suggests continuing to implement pulse surveys alongside other student voice mechanisms to continue to monitor the experience of students. This year also saw the introduction of the alignment of TNE survey questions to NSS questions. Pleasingly, the SU scored highly in this survey with 72% of respondents agreeing that the SU effectively represents students’ academic interests.
RECOMMENDATION The University to continue the use of pulse surveys in 2021/22.
STUDENT SUPPORT #NOTANEXCUSE CAMPAIGN
Alongside the multitude of new initiatives and adaptations to SU services across the year as a direct response to the Covid-19 pandemic, many campaigns and SU services have continued to support members in new, non-pandemic specif ic ways. Evolving and developing the SU is important in order to stay relevant for students and we are continually guided by the membership on where to focus our efforts. SU staff have worked tirelessly this year to ensure students remain supported and that important issues are tackled through campaign work. ACTION The SU to review arrangements to address variability Moving into 2021-22 further in partner student engagement, the training of developments are planned to grow the partner student reps and their attendance at the engaged membership, return sport to SU partner event.
campus, increase engagement with TNE students and more.
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The #NotAnExcuse campaign was a landmark piece of work for the SU, looking to tackle the modern-day myths and stereotypes that exist within society regarding sexual misconduct. Designed and delivered by the SU in partnership with Registry, the campaign headline ‘#NotanExcuse’ was created by Cardiff Met students, and was a consistent message during the student forums, run in partnership with New Pathways charity, who provides rape crisis and sexual abuse support services.
I THOUGHT THAT THEY LIKED THE ATTENTION.
The campaign launched on February 1st, 2021, in line with Sexual Violence and Sexual Assault Awareness week. During this time, and forever more, we ask everyone to stand up and covey the same message, that there is #NotAnExcuse. In the first week, there was over 60,000 views of the campaign material over social media, with the hope that the campaign is the start of a change in culture regarding what is acceptable and unacceptable throughout society when it comes to sexual misconduct.
RECOMMENDATION The University to embed the #NotAnExcuse campaign into the induction material given to incoming students.
STUDENT SUPPORT DIVERSITY INCLUSION STATEMENT At the SU we are proud of our diverse membership and welcome all students to Cardiff Met SU. From the support and guidance we provide to events and campaigns, we strive for equality and fairness for our members and staff. Previously, as part of the SU’s Zero Tolerance and Diversity Inclusion Commitment Policy, the SU commit to producing an annual Diversity Inclusion Commitment statement which will outline areas of focus to promote inclusion for the upcoming academic year. This commitment is agreed by the SU Sabbatical Off icers, SU School Reps, SU Part-Time Off icers and signed off by the SU Board of Trustees. This year, we have started the development of an SU Equality & Diversity Inclusion Strategy which will provide a vision of what Cardiff Met SU aim to achieve both for our members and staff. We will seek to increase diversity to ensure we are reflective of the communities we represent whilst championing equalities and ensuring the student and staff voice is present and listened to throughout our learning and working environments.
ACTION The SU to f inalise and launch the SU Equality & Diversity Inclusion Strategy.
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STUDENT SUPPORT RACE EQUALITY CHARTER The last academic year has seen the creation of the f irst Cardiff Met Race Equality Char ter, which both Sabbatical Off icers have been involved in. The Char ter is underpinned by f ive fundamental guiding principles: • Racial inequalities are a signif icant issue within higher education. Racial inequalities are not necessarily over t , isolated incidents. Racism is an ever yday facet of UK society and racial inequalities manifest themselves in ever yday situations, processes, and behaviours. • UK higher education cannot reach its full potential unless it can benef it f rom the talents of the whole population and until individuals f rom all ethnic backgrounds can benef it equally f rom the oppor tunities it affords. • In developing solutions to racial inequalities, it is impor tant that they are aimed at achieving long- term institutional cul ture change, avoiding a def icit model where solutions are aimed at changing the individual. • (BAME) staff and students are not a homogenous group. People f rom different ethnic backgrounds have different experiences of and outcomes f rom/within higher education, and that complexity needs to be considered in analysing data and developing actions.
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• All individuals have mul tiple intersection of those different considered wherever possible.
identities, and the identities should be
This work and the subsequent work as a resul t of the char ter have the potential to accelerate the work that the University and the SU under takes in terms of race equality for staff, students, and the wider community. We will continue to work with the University for the benef it of all our membership.
RECOMMENDATION The University to continue the development of the Race Equality Char ter through par tnership project work with the SU.
STUDENT SUPPORT WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
SU ADVICE & SUPPORT
The SU’s What to Know Before You Go (WTKBYG) Guide was coproduced by students, for students with the aim of improving preparatory engagement with incoming and prospective students in order to ease the transition into university. Building on the success of the 2019/20 guide, the SU worked with QED and CSAD students to bring the guide to life, hosted on the SU website with the online content sent to incoming students by the Marketing and Recruitment team. The guide was turned into an interactive story for students to work through, covering accommodation, f inance, life online, University terminology, travel, familiarity with Cardiff Met and health and wellbeing.
The SU’s independent and conf idential advice and support service is available to any student enrolled on a Cardiff Met course, including those at our local and internal Partner Institutions. The service offers guidance on all aspects of university life including University procedures, academic processes, housing and student wellbeing, and aims to ensure students are fully informed of their options and signposted to the best places to seek additional support if needed.
Plans were in place to follow the WTKBYG guide with ‘Meet the SU’ sessions on both campuses over the 2020 summer period however Covid-19 stopped this from happening and sessions were filmed and released via social media instead. The guide will continue to play an important part in easing the transition of new students, allowing them to create a sense of connectedness and resourcefulness whilst helping them to understand the culture at Cardiff Met. We also recommend that the possibility of expanding WTKBYG into a series of on campus and in city events aimed at supporting student groups who have a high suspension and withdrawal rate.
RECOMMENDATION The University to work with the SU on a series of summer transition activities targeted at supporting the transition of groups with high suspension and withdrawal rates.
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This year, we have been able to appoint an addition member to the service to ensure that the consistently high level of support offered to members can continue. The introduction of the No Detriment Policy saw the overall number of students accessing the service fall during 2019/20 although this number has already been passed in 2020/21, with a large increase in the number of requests for support with housing issues seen during the pandemic. During 2019/20 over 180 hours of staff time was given to student meetings, casework and representation cases and it is hoped that by doubling the staff ing resource in this area, we will now be able to offer more proactive support within the areas of academic processes, housing and student wellbeing.
Academic Year (September to August) 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21* (* Up until Jun 1st)
Total Cases Supported 148 153 200 247 309 229 252
STUDENT SUPPORT SU SPORT The 2020/21 season has been a year full of stops and starts but still saw over 900 SU Sport memberships purchased across 38 different clubs. Covid has had an impact on not only our clubs and their members but has also increased workload for club off icial who have had to to be adaptive to very challenging and continuously changing circumstances. There’s been a lot of behind the scenes work but we are thankful for those committee members, coaches and club off icials for working alongside the SU, Cardiff Met Sport and the University Health & Safety team to get their respective clubs back up and running. SU clubs started the year by engaging with the SU Virtual Freshers’ Fayre, with most clubs benef itting f rom a larger number of student sign-ups. To build on this SU Sport facilitated virtual ‘Meet the Club’ sessions with all our clubs, so new and returning students could put a face to a name and ask those running the club questions. Clubs have been involved in our social media campaigns such as #BeCOVIDSafe whereby we asked clubs to help us emphasis the key messages around how we could keep COVID safe and relaying specif ic guidance we needed to be following at that time. SU Sport organised several ‘SU Sport Kit Drops’ and SU staff dropped over 200 kit packages to various student addresses across Cardiff.
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Over 80 club off icials and club Covid Wardens attended, and we were also able to hold an Emergency First Aid in Sport course in October 2020. SU Sport was able to fund over 80 club off icials to attend the Welsh Sport Association COVID
Awareness Course, which helped prepare those club members for their return to training. As restrictions eased, we were able to help Cardiff Met FC to deliver the inaugural Cyncoed Cup in which over 170 students have been involved in every Wednesday during term three and we worked in partnership with Cardiff Met Sport TV to livestream the event on YouTube.
Through the hard work and collaboration of the SU, clubs and the University, 68 teams (over 1000 students) have now safely returned to training on campus since 26th April and whilst members have been unable to engage in a normal BUCS season, there has been an opportunity been able to f ield four Cricket teams in the outdoor league in term three. Alongside the elite teams, we have also been able to enter students into Weightlifting, Triathlon, Cycling and Tennis Individual BUCS events in term three where Jordan Sakkas, a BSc (Hons) Sport Conditioning, Rehabilitation and Massage student secured BUCS Gold in the 109kg class. Cardiff Met was also shortlisted for two BUCS Awards 2020; Dan Porter Award: Ayah Abdul (Women’s Basketball) and the Digital Engagement Award: Cardiff Met Sport TV.
STUDENT SUPPORT SU SOCIETIES
THE CARDIFF MET AWARD AND TRAINING
The pandemic had a profound effect on many areas of student life and activity, none more so than SU Societies. Without the option of meeting physically, inviting speakers in, holding events or going on trips, a large proportion of our student groups have been inactive during the 2020/21 academic year. This creates a challenge for the SU to continue these societies without active leadership or membership and no opportunity to hand over an active society.
Despite a challenging year, we were able to register 79 students for the Cardiff Met Award with applications still coming in. Whilst the number of Award recipients has fallen slightly, 30 students will still complete their Award journey this summer with 14 of those completing the Award’s extra levels. The Award has adapted to change the focus of the Award towards more continuous development, with Award students choosing to take more time over their development, enhancing their skills in more dynamic and creative ways during the pandemic.
Moving in to 2021/22, it will be vital that SU Societies are seen as a priority as we look to re-engage areas of the membership lost during the pandemic. Societies have the ability to connect not just individuals, but groups of students with each other and the wider community. The SU is committed to working to re-activate and re-generate the SU Society scene at Cardiff Met. ACTION The SU to re-activate and re-generate the SU Society scene at Cardiff Met.
I have found completing the Cardiff Met award hugely benef icial; I have gained knowledge, experience and connections that other wise I would have never made… I am so glad that I decided to sign up, it has been a highlight of my university journey. - Cardiff Met Award Student
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Work experience for many has shifted to the virtual market and students have been involved in activity such as Student Mentors, Telephone Bef rienders to combat mental health stress and loneliness, Vaccination Centre and Test & Trace volunteers. With over 2700 work hours offered in work experience, students are continuing to strive to develop their employability. Award student have attended 125 extra personal development workshops both with the SU, University and external providers with over 110 students attended training delivered by the SU through the academic year. In addition to this, an initial concern of managing training expectations has thrown up unexpected gains, with students attending virtual workshops held in Europe, the USA and Australia at times that suited their schedule. Award students have delivered presentations virtually and reached out to support each other to discuss challenges and solutions which they might not have considered 12 months ago. A unique year has resulted in Award graduates who have demonstrated adaptability, creativity, crisis management and resilience.
STUDENT SUPPORT SU PARTNER EVENT The SU Partner Event was held between the 8th and 12th February 2021 in partnership with the Global Engagement team. Bringing together Cardiff Met students f rom TNE partners, the
event
aims
to
build
purposeful
par tnerships
and
practices with SU Reps at par tner campuses. The event is an opportunity to build relationships, insight, mutual understanding and trust with TNE and local partners and to deliver SU Rep training for the students. This year, due to the complexities of international travel during a global pandemic, the event was held online for through Microsoft Teams, which was used to create an online space for attendees. A total of
to gain perceptions of online learning communities. Staff, external guests and students f rom across numerous schools and depar tments contributed to the event which gave attendees an insight into life at Cardiff Met, a full schedule can be seen below. Hosting an online event allowed the us to reach a wider audience than is normally possible when hosting a physical event al though attendees did comment that an event in Wales is preferable. For this reason, we suggest looking to develop our contact with TNE and local par tners fur ther in 2021/22 through a vir tual SU induction in term one, returning to the physical par tner event in term two, with a f inal check in with SU Reps in term three. It is proposed that this increased targeted engagement will allow us to more effectively capture and represent the voices of our members at TNE par tners.
forty-two students registered for the event, representing thirteen transnational and one local institutions. In order to be accessible to students in different time zones, two hours of live sessions were scheduled each day with offline activity made available through the Teams site. The event focussed on quality enhancement and the quality of student learning experience by using TNE student voice
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RECOMMENDATION The University to support the SU to deliver a virtual induction for TNE and Partner students in the 2021/22 academic year.
STUDENT SUPPORT VIRTUAL FRESHERS’ FAYRE The SU’s vir tual Freshers’ Fayre aimed to create the excitement and oppor tunities that a physical fayre has in an online space whilst still hosting as many of the elements normally found in our physical Freshers’ Fayre in NIAC . Using an interactive webpage laid out in the style of an aerial map and presented the same way as our in-person fayre would have been, students were able to click through the fayre and view pop up stalls for SU Clubs, SU Societies, commercial par tners and University depar tments. A live chat option was available alongside the option to contact us via social media throughout the duration of the fayre to allow students to ask any questions, as they would in person. The vir tual Freshers’ Fayre was visited by 6,481 students on its f irst day (11am – 5pm), and by 7,472 in total. We were also able to use the fayre for a second time in Januar y to welcome the incoming cohor t . This is a big increase on the physical fayre and shows the impor tance of offering students the oppor tunity to access the fayre in a way and at a time that suits their schedule. Moving for ward we will deliver a vir tual fayre alongside our traditional fayre.
ACTION The SU to deliver a virtual Freshers’ Fayre alongside the tradition physical Fayre in 2021/22.
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STUDENT SUPPORT VIRTUAL OPEN DAYS
STUDENT SAFETY SUMMIT
This year, open days m oved into a vir tual settin g with
Over th e last two years, th e SU Vice -President has been a
both th e SU Vice -President an d Student Life Coordinator
par t of th e Cardiff wide Student Safety Summit . Membership
par ticipatin g in live chat rooms with prospec tive students.
in cludes sabbatical off icers, staff m embers an d university
Th e Vice President also pre -recorded a welcom e talk ,
depar tm ents f rom Universities a cross th e City, with local
highlightin g th e student experien ce, SU ser vices an d h ow
police an d coun cil also in atten dan ce.
to make th e m ost of your three years at university. Th e summit m eets m onthly to discuss matters aroun d Lookin g for ward, th e University is lookin g to introduce th e
student safety in th e city, crim e prevention, student
con cept of ‘Open Day, Ever y Day ’, which allows prospec tive
h ousin g, welfare an d wellbein g, an d alcoh ol an d drug
students to a ccess materials, live chats, an d videos any tim e,
misuse, with th e impa c t of Covid-19 dominatin g discussions
anypla ce. We will be lookin g to play a par t in this projec t ,
this year. Issues such as h ouse par ties, antisocial behaviour,
representin g th e SU, our ser vices, an d th e extra curricular
nighttim e safety an d suppor tin g students in th e community
oppor tunities that we can offer applicants.
were discussed an d shared with th e group. Mike Neate, Student Liaison Off icer at SWP also n oted that overall, m ost students have been well behaved an d respec tful of lockdown rules. We will be lookin g to maintain th ese conn ec tions into n ext year, with th e n ext SU Vice President- Student Voice takin g up m embership for th e n ew a ca demic year 2021/22 .
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2020/21 ACTION PLANS ACTIONS The SU to review arrangements to address variability in par tner student engagement, the training of par tner student reps and their attendance at the SU par tner event.
ACTIONS The SU to develop a second tier of SU Rep training for SU Reps entering their second or third year within he role.
ACTIONS ACTIONS The SU to continue the centralised promotion of SU Elections to fur ther engage members in the electoral process.
ACTIONS The SU to continue the summer training programme for incoming SU School Rep and SU Part-Time Officers ahead of the SU Training Week.
RECOMMENDATION The University to embed #NotAnExcuse campaign into the induction period for incoming students.
RECOMMENDATION
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The University to continue the development of the Race Equality Charter through partnership project work with the SU.
The SU to f inalise and launch the SU Equality & Diversity Inclusion Strategy.
ACTIONS The SU to deliver a vir tual Freshers’ Fayre alongside the tradition physical Fayre in 2021/22.
ACTIONS The SU to re-activate and re -generate the SU Society scene at Cardiff Met.
RECOMMENDATION The University to work with the SU on a series of summer transition activities targeted at supporting the transition of groups with high suspension and withdrawal rates.
RECOMMENDATION The University to suppor t the SU to deliver a vir tual induction for TNE and Par tner students in the 2021/22 academic year.
APPENDICES (APPENDIX 1) REVIEW OF THE 2019-2020 ACTION PLAN
RECOMMENDATION
UPDATE
ADSES to meet with the SU in structured diarised meetings to coordinate par tnership work and improve the visibility of SU within Schools
ADSES and the SU meet as part of the Student Voice Group which was created to coordinate partnership work across the University. The SU have an opportunity to update all departments on SU activity. SU School Reps and ADSES meet regularly to discuss schools specif ic issues.
In school structures to be displayed to improve visibility of the SU’s Representation for each School
School specif ic SU Rep structures were created and released on social media and sent to ADSES to be displayed in school. Due to the impact of the pandemic and low student footfall, the effectiveness of the implementation has been limited and as such, will remain for 2021/22.
University and SU to work on identif ying student Reps in This recommendation was paused due to workload priororder for them to continue in Rep roles when arriving at Car- ities associated with the pandemic and will be rolled into diff Met the 2021/22 action- Action: ‘ The SU to review arrangements to address variability in par tner student engagement, the training of par tner student reps and their attendance at the SU par tner event.’ The University and SU to work in par tnership to raise aware- SU School Reps created video content explaining to their ness of Sur vey Season, ensuring student reps play a key role peers the importance of f illing out the relevant survey in orin encouraging their peers to provide feedback during this der to provide valuable feedback during Survey Season. time. The University and SU collaborate on the promotion of student voice initiatives within FE Par tners and Cardiff Met students studying at local par tners an oppor tunity to engage in their SU.
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This recommendation was paused due to workload priorities associated with the pandemic and will be rolled into the 2021/22 action- Action: ‘ The SU to review arrangements to address variability in par tner student engagement, the training of par tner student reps and their attendance at the SU par tner event.’
APPENDICES (APPENDIX 1) REVIEW OF THE 2019-2020 ACTION PLAN
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RECOMMENDATION
UPDATE
The University to take a f resh approach to the timetabling and coordination of Enhancement Week with a focus on improving student belonging and wellbeing in addition to the graduate outcomes
No change or update is available for this recommendation.
The University provide microwaves for student use in all school and SU buildings with adequate safety and cleaning protocols implemented
This recommendation is being implemented as par t of the creation of a commuter kitchen as par t of redevelopments at Llandaff campus.
The University use the post lockdown period to reconsider student parking on both campuses with a view to implanting an improved arrangement in 2020.
At the time of writing in 2020, it was envisaged that the end of the pandemic was near. Unfor tunately, due to the ongoing pandemic , no permanent changes on campus were able to take place al though parking restrictions were relaxed and demand for parking was far lower.
The University ensure that student life and the SU is a key focus of open days with a comparable experience on both campuses.
The University have moved to an ‘Open Day, Every Day’ approach which the SU is involved in.
The University work in par tnership with the SU to develop and deliver training and resources for staff to suppor t student voice and representation.
The SU have a training session on Learning pool and have been involved in University staff inductions.
The University to allocate resource to suppor t students by funding an Assistant Caseworker to suppor t the increasing demand on the Advice and Suppor t ser vice.
The SU have reallocated funding to create a second caseworker position.
APPENDICES (APPENDIX 1) REVIEW OF THE 2019-2020 ACTION PLAN
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ACTION
UPDATE
The SU to take positive action to ensure that the Rep structure is as representative of the student body as possible.
Equality and Diversity training was delivered at the SU Rep Training week f rom the University’s Equality & Diversity Off icer.
The SU to diversify postgraduate representation to include PGT and PGR reps in schools where numbers allow.
Discussions have taken place with the Doctoral Society Chairperson as to how best implement this action with the suggestion that one PGR Rep, aligned to the Society, is appointed with the responsibility of inputting postgraduate research student voice into the SU. We will continue to explore this action in 2021/22.
The SU to develop and pilot a peer- to-peer wellbeing suppor t network in the 2020/21 academic year.
The SU recruited seven Wellbeing Activators and designed and delivered training with suppor t f rom Student Ser vices. Activators attended vir tual workshops to obser ve signs of poor wellbeing al though the effectiveness of this was limited in a vir tual setting. Plans will be amended for the 2021/22 academic year.
APPENDICES (APPENDIX 2)
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APPENDICES (APPENDIX 3) SU REPRESENTATION STRUCTURE - REPRESENTATIVENESS REPORT
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APPENDICES (APPENDIX 3) SU REPRESENTATION STRUCTURE - REPRESENTATIVENESS REPORT
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APPENDICES (APPENDIX 3) SU REPRESENTATION STRUCTURE REPRESENTATIVENESS REPORT
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