Your City Big Elections Campus Countdown Student Experience
Students’ Association Magazine Issue 2
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Meet the Editors, Callum Doig Rebecca Weinberg Hi! Welcome to the latest edition of the SA magazine, which has mostly been put together by myself and my classmate Callum Doig. As 2nd year HND Journalism students, this was a great chance for us to gain some valuable work experience, and learn what it's like to work in a newsroom setting (something is always going on in the SA space). We attended some very cool events (I especially enjoyed spending all my spare change on Mario Kart at GameCon), and talked to some interesting people; we hope you'll enjoy reading about it all. I have really enjoyed the opportunity.
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Students’ Association Team
Contents Big Updates
Event Reviews
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Big Elections (Students’ Association)
24-25 Access All Areas
6-9
Campus Countdown
10-11 Spotlight On... Director of Student Experience 12
16-18 Fairtrade (Charities and Fundraising) Student Pride (Equalities)
Gender Equality Month Women in the Spotlight
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Women in Football
27
Dr Bike
28
Creative City Game Con
29-33
13-15 Refresh (Clubs and Societies)
20
Orienteering
College Updates
Ask the First Minister
Student Executives
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Sports Clubs 22-23 3
Big Elections, Presidential Team 2016-17 to get involved, giving them the chance to change things for the better.
This year’s Student Elections kicked off with a ‘Question and Answer Event’ on the 7th of March where the candidates were given the opportunity to fight their case to win the votes of as many students as possible. Voting opened on the 8th of March and students had until the 10th to cast their vote. The candidates campaigned in the days leading up to the elections to generate as much support as they could.
Since this year is such an important time for the newly elected president - considering so much is changing with the college - it seems only fitting that the election and results ceremony receives the same kind of attention. This year, CitySA has teamed up with Glasgow Caledonian University Students’ Association, University of Strathclyde Students’ Union and the Students’ Association of the University of the West of Scotland to take part in Glasgow’s Big Elections 2016.
At this year’s Q & A the candidates spoke about their plans for the following year, the new building and what was in place for international students to ensure that they are fully involved in college activities. Current president, Ian Gilmour stressed the importance of having someone who knows the structure of the college and how it works, especially with the move to the new campus. The Vice Presidential candidates spoke about enhancing the student experience and improving the relationship between students and the Students’ Association. Each candidate took the time to encourage HND second year students to vote, reminding them that it gives them the chance to highlight any problems that they had in their courses to ensure that improvements are made for the new students joining the college.
This has been the biggest election ever for CitySA generating 1,498 votes, breaking our last record of 1,183! On the 11th of March the results were announced at the Big Elections event held at the University of the West of Scotland Students’ Union where congratulations went to our current president, Ian Gilmour being re-elected along with the new Vice President (Learning & Teaching), Jatinder Singh and Vice President (Social & Activities), Jamie-Lee Gooding.
Candidates also spoke about the benefits for students who are considering becoming class reps and how they planned to encourage other students
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Ian Gilmour Student President
Jatinder Singh Vice President Learning & Teaching
Jamie-Lee Gooding Vice President Social & Activities 5
Campus Countdown with Janis Carson “In terms of progress, the South East wing, which is a lot of the classroom space, is locked down and finished. So, carpets, furniture, walls: complete. The other wing on the West has walls, raised floors, doors, but no carpets, no furniture, and no paintwork; the back of the site is still concrete and mud, so we’ve got a furious program right through from here to August.”
There are only 110 days left until the new City Campus opens, and anticipation is definitely building. Janis Carson is the Vice Principal for the New Campus and Estates, and from the moment she began to talk about the City Campus updates, her enthusiasm and love for this project was immediately obvious.
“The new building is going to have fantastic industry-standard learning facilities. There’s going to be some really amazing classroom space, some amazing new resources, and we’ve managed to retain all of our specialisms so we’ve got a dozen new training kitchens, a bakery, television production, radio production… real state-of-the-art facilities.”
“We opened our Riverside campus back in August last year, and it’s been a great success.” “Now, you can’t miss the building that’s emerging on Cathedral Street. It’s four times the size of the new Riverside campus, so it’s an enormous space. We will move all of our remaining buildings into the City site, and it will be complete on the 15th of August this year – 2016.”
“We’ve got a real section of an aircraft cabin, Sports Scotland-standard sports facilities, a huge construction hall… We’ve sort of got everything we already have, but it’s now industry standard, brand new facilities.”
Janis tells us that the new campus is progressing really well and that it’s basically four separate building jobs split into four zones. 6
exciting opportunities that the campus has to offer will inspire students and staff to work to their full potential.
City campus is also going to combine a lot of fun and creative elements to make the college stand out among others. Janis talks about the various leisure and commerce facilities that will be available.
“It’ll feel like a big corporate headquarters, as well as feeling like a real state of the art learning environment, so I think what we really hope is that everybody will raise their game, it’ll be a real catalyst for raising standards and making people proud to work here.”
“When you go in, the atrium space will have a phenomenal wow-factor, it’s a huge space. There’s a grand staircase going up two levels, and there will be a model British Airlines Dreamliner plane hanging above the atrium with 13 clouds that are lights.
She looks forward to seeing the project completed, and has relished the challenge it provided her with.
“There will be a courtyard that’s open to the air, so inside the building you’ll be able to go into a space that’s open to the air with a big seating area. The refectory and the catering facilities will be able to break out into that space, and there’s a terrace right along there, so you’ll be able to go and sit outside with your coffee as well. The courtyard space also has a garden down on the ground level that will have 12 mature trees planted in it.
“I’m very upbeat, I’m really looking forward to it. It’s been an amazing journey. It’s challenging and daunting as well, but we just have to keep momentum up. I wake up in the middle of the night and think of furniture and cabling and concrete. In a way, I’ll almost be sad when we move in because the challenge will be over, so then it’ll be onto the next project.”
“We have all of our commercial student outlets right on Cathedral Street, so we have a commercial hair salon and nail bar. We’ve got what we’d call “City Market” which is a fishmonger, butchers, and bakers, all run by students. We’ve got a training restaurant, all right on Cathedral Street so it’ll look like a shop front, whereas at the moment we do some of that commercial work but it’s all tucked away in different places in the college, rather than being where the public can see it and right on the front. Anyone from the public can go in, so it’s a real retail experience.”
And finally, don’t worry about the big move! The Students’ Association will be working closely with Janis over the upcoming months in order to ease the transition, and respond to any queries or anxieties students may have about the change. “I understand that there’s anxiety in times of change, there always is. We’ll do everything that needs to be done to familiarise students with the building and make it work for them. There will be a lot of working with the Student Engagement team to get student feedback, and I’ll be able to answer questions.”
Janis hopes that all of the new facilities and 7
Campus Countdown FAQ Q: Will there be gender neutral bathrooms in the new City campus? A: Yes! During the planning for the new campuses, Janis held numerous focus groups with a range of students. She tells us that the biggest theme which came through from these meetings – particularly from transgender students – was about having the ability to make choices, and avoid social stigma.
Q: What will be done to remember the old campuses? A: Many things are being done to preserve the good memories students and staff have had in the old buildings. Janis goes into more detail:
All of the gender neutral toilets in both Riverside and City are – and will be – self-contained. There will also be huge banks of male and female toilets.
“We’re in the process of demolishing the old nautical tower at the moment, and people see it as quite an iconic landmark in Glasgow, it had a particular shape with its planetarium on the roof. There are people who worked at the college for a long time, or who have been associated with Glasgow for a long time, who are sad to see it go.
Q: Will there be an adequate amount of lifts? A: Yes, there will be plenty of lifts in the new building. There will be around seven lifts situated in each ‘core’ area which operate in the usual way. The main lift lobby in the centre will have eight lifts which include a brand new lift management system.
I have something called a Community Benefits Strategy, so I’ve managed to fund a whole load of curriculum projects, and some of them have been about taking reclaimed material from the site and doing creative things with it. For example, the demolition material from Allan Glen’s was used to inspire a jewellery brief in a design class, where they took copper wires, circuit boards, bits of glass, and created jewellery. We took some of the trees that were felled from the site, the wood was dried, and made into furniture by students, which we hope to bring back into the new building.
“When you walk up to the lift there’s an iPad-type device. You say “I want to go to level five” and it will say “Take lift B”, and then you go to lift B because you know that’ll get you to level 5 quicker.” Janis explains. Exciting!
The Product Design students also designed a time capsule for Riverside, and we put a lot of our curriculum, music, bits of jewellery, newspapers, the first textbook from the nautical college, everything we could think of into this time capsule which went beneath the pavement at Riverside, with a plaque there stating that it’s to be opened in 50 years time. We’ll do the same for City.”
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Spotlight On...
Director of Student Experience Gillian Plunkett Learning Support, Student Engagement and the Students’ Association, you cannot avoid us” Gillian says.
Gillian Plunkett was recently appointed as the new Director of Student Experience. After working in the college sector for over 20 years, Gillian has plenty of ideas on how to improve the student experience at our college, and a huge amount of enthusiasm for her new job.
“We’re in a really good position, because of our involvement with students, to say what works for students and what doesn’t work for students. The college wants to create a Student Experience Strategy that sits right alongside the Learning and Teaching Strategy, so that the two things can communicate.
But, first of all… what exactly is Gillian’s job? “The area that I cover will still be called Student Services but my job will be to focus on the student experience at the College. The idea is that the ‘student experience’ looks at building a relationship with students that lasts, through improving all of the interactions that the College has with a student and not just one service area. So right from the beginning when you hit our website, you should have a good experience, through to graduation and beyond.
If a teacher or a lecturer thinks that you need support from us, they’ll dip in and say that you need support with your funding, or accommodation, or that you’ve been kind of quiet, and we do it the other way around: we help students to have their say through Finger on The Pulse and the CADMs, so it goes back and forward like that.” Gillian explains. The majority of Gillian’s job involves communicating with students and staff, but since there are over 28 thousand students in our college, she can’t talk to all of them individually.
“For example a HND student might apply, six months before they start, spend two years here, then have six months before they graduate. It’s a three-year investment in their time, and we want them to leave here thinking “that was a fantastic experience”, so they can tell everybody what a fantastic college City of Glasgow College is. That’s what my job is: it’s really quite wide.
Most of the student feedback she receives is through the Student Engagement team, using student focus groups and the work of Class Reps. So, if you fill out a Finger on The Pulse survey, it’s very likely that Gillian will be using your comments in order to improve the services provided.
“Student Services is in a unique position to improve the student experience our services cover Admissions, Student Funding, Student Advisors, 10
You Said We Did
How has Student Experience improved using the feedback from students over the years?
Students provided information about the VLE which was captured on their Finger on the Pulse sheets.
“Every year we set ourselves challenging targets to improve our services. If they feedback from students are lower than expected then, we try to do something about it. For example, we’ve surveyed students on their experience with the admission system for quite a few years now, and we’ve improved response times and the interview experience by about 10%.
The information has been collected from the Faculty reports, and students have been invited to a “You Are The Expert” My-City focus group. Students studying barbering were struggling to recruit male clients for their practical work. A series of Barbering Pop Up Shops have been organised to bring the barbers directly to students across the College Campuses.
“With so many applicants each year (27,000) we don’t always get it 100% right but our 2015 survey said 83% of applicants thought the admissions experience was excellent or very good.
Monday 25th of April, Townhead SA Space 11.30am to 1.30pm
“The most important survey in the College is the First Impressions Questionnaire which gets filled out around October. The college takes that really seriously; it goes everywhere, so the Board of Management see that report and will ask us why some students weren’t satisfied and what we are doing about it.
Tuesday 26th of April, Rogart Street Campus 11.30am to 1.30pm Thursday 5th of May, Riverside SA Space 11.30am to 1.30pm Friday 6th of May, NHS Campus 11.30am to 1.30pm
“We develop action plans and strategies, so that we can say ‘This is what we’re doing to make that better next year’.” Gillian feels strongly about young students being forced to take out student loans in order to get through their years of college. She has been working hard to try and improve further education bursaries, and supports the NUS President Vonnie Sandlan who has been bringing attention to the matter in the Scottish Parliament. She hopes to work with the Students’ Association to campaign for an increase in further education bursaries, and she also believes it would be beneficial to grant the Students’ Association more support for clubs and societies. 11
Ask the First Minister Young people from all across Scotland attended the Ask the First Minister event at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange. 16-17 year olds were given the chance to quiz the First Minister, hosted by Young Scot Chief Executive, Louise MacDonald. The event was part of the Scottish Government’s ongoing work to ensure that young people are at the heart of decisions which affect them and their education. This event follows work undertaken last year that saw young people from across Scotland sharing their experiences of education and ideas for the future, at events in Edinburgh, Inverness and Oban. The First Minister opened the floor for questions from the young people in the audience, and encouraged them to challenge her if they felt their questions weren’t answered fully or adequately. Questions ranged from education to transgender issues, with a lot of discussion around reducing the discrimination against the LGBT community. There were some young people who questioned the level of support in place for students with learning difficulties, particularly dyslexia, and how the Scottish Government intends to improve the ability of teachers to cope with helping students overcome these difficulties. Other questions covered issues such as the housing problems in Scotland and the immigration laws which affect foreign students. The First Minister answered the questions as fully as possible and appeared to genuinely take on board the concerns of Scotland’s youth.
Ian Gilmour (Student President) & Shaunagh Cooke (Sports Volunteer) were asked to give feedback on the Q&A event
Although there wasn’t enough time for the First Minister to answer everyone’s questions directly, each audience member was given the chance to leave a question in a box and promised an answer by email as soon as possible.
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Student Executives
Refresh Clubs & Societies
“We also invited Renaissance, who are the hairdressing and beauty students at the college. They offered beauty treatments, and the barbering students offered free haircuts for people.
You’re probably familiar with the Fresher’s Fair organised by our college at the start of each academic year (the event where you leave with about 3 bags filled with freebies), but did you know about Refresh?
“The Library staff and Student Support team came along as well, to let students know about the different services that they offer.”
Alyson Burns is the Clubs and Societies Officer for the Students’ Association, and she – along with Ruta (Vice President of Social and Activities) – organised the Refresh event this year, at the start of February.
Alyson was pleased with the good turnout at each Refresh, with around 300 people showing up over the two days it was held.
Refresh is designed to be a mini version of Fresher’s, but with more focus on what’s available within the college itself, rather than external companies (so there was no free pizza this time, sorry).
“It was really successful, and definitely something I’d like to do next year - maybe we can make it bigger and better. “
Alyson spoke about it in more detail:
Keep an eye on the Students Association’s social media for details about future events!
“There was an event down at Riverside on the 9th of February and there was an event up in the SA space in Townhead on the 11th. We wanted to promote the clubs and societies that the College has to offer. 13
Refresh Townhead
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Tues
English Speaking Group
13:00 - 15:00
Students’ Association, Townhead
Wed
Tourism Club
16:00-18:00
Room TH238, Townhead
Thu
Pool Club
16:30 - 18:30
Students’ Association, Townhead
BE PART OF SOMETHING
SPECIAL Come along to our
TOURISM CLUB Are you interested in travel and tourism, networking and socializing with other students and professionals and meeting new friends?
Every Wednesday 4pm - 6pm at Townhead Campus Room TH238
Visits to Scotland’s • tourist attractions • convention centres • travel companies • sporting events STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION 2ND FLOOR
CITY CAMPUS TOWNHEAD
For more information please contact:
shane.thomas@cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk | 0141 566 4140
/City.LGBT lgbt@cityofglacol.ac.uk
www.citysa.co.uk
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Student Executives
Fairtrade Charities & Fundraising
Fairtrade Fundraising
Design students. One of which was to create a design for the recipe booklets that would make the recipes easily identifiable as organic and Fairtrade; the other was to make a promotional poster for the plasma televisions. Agnieszka Ramian (Digital Media for Design) and Daisy Williams (Graphic Arts) were selected as the winners for these competitions.
It is important for our college to support charities to ensure that we are doing our part to help those less fortunate. So far this year the college has taken part in the Fairtrade Rice Challenge. There is also a sponsored Half Tough Mudder run, and Fairtrade Festival planned in the coming months.
A Fair Trade award ceremony was held to celebrate the students’ outstanding achievements and the support given by the Events volunteers Natalie Frew, Albana Mustafa and Yasher Mohammed.
Fairtrade is about better prices, good working conditions and fair terms of trade for farmers, workers and their families. Something that City of Glasgow College support fully, which is shown in the on-going work to promote Fairtrade in our organisation. Fairtrade Rice Challenge The Fairtrade Foundation has set a nationwide challenge for organisations to sell 90kg of rice – this is the amount of rice that needs to be sold to enable a Malawain farmer to pay for a year’s education for one child. The college participated in this challenge last year, and decided this time around to get more students involved. A series of competitions were set to encourage students to participate, and City of Glasgow College successfully completed the 90kg Rice Challenge, raising almost £370 in the process. The first competition was the cookery challenge, where the college’s Cookery students were challenged to create an exciting, yet cost effective recipe that would be attached to the bags of rice being sold. The winners of this challenge were Adeleh Bahram Monajami (ESOL), Chris Action and Bernadette Mackellaig (both from Professional Cookery). A further two challenges were then set for the 16
Half Tough Mudder The college is currently recruiting a team to take part in a sponsored 5 mile run through the Half Tough Mudder obstacle course on the 26th June to raise money for Fairtrade. Think you’ve got what it takes? For more information contact DavidRhys Dunn, Charities and Fundraising Officer: sacharities@cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk The participants will be put to the test and are encouraged to help each other through one of the most challenging obstacle courses, and power through 8km of mud in as little time as possible. You can support the team and encourage them to complete the Scottish Half Tough Mudder on the 26th of June by donating whatever you can to https://www.justgiving.com/David-Rhys-Dunn 17
Coming Soon!
CitySA are delighted to announce that we will be holding a “Fair Trade Festival” on Thursday 28th of April from 1-4 pm at Glasgow Green 5-a-side sports complex for students and staff.
Activities will include: Zumba; Tug of war; Raffles; 5 a-side football tournament and lots more!! If you would like to register a team to take part in the 5 a-side tournament, visit your nearest Students’ Association Office, and collect a registration pack. Each pack has to be completed and returned by Monday the 25th of April for 12 pm.
Deputy Principal, Alex Craig has given students permission to be excused from class to attend the event – as long as their lecturers grant them permission to do.
Each player will pay £2.00 to take part in the tournament with all money being donated to Fair Trade.
There will be a variety of activities and competitions with all money raised being donated to Fair Trade. 18
Student Executives
Student Pride
Equalities On the 24th February, City SA hosted a Student Pride event for the first time to honour LGBTQ+ History Month.
Coming Soon!
Stall holders came along to the Townhead Students’ Association to highlight their services, these included Terrence Higgins Trust (a gay sexual health service which operates throughout the UK), City of Glasgow College’s LGBTQ+ Society, Saltire Thistle FC and LGBT Youth Scotland. Each organisation represented different factions within the LGBTQ+ community.
Spin to Win
Jan Irvine from the BBC documentary Transsexual Stories was also invited to speak about her experience of transitioning to a female body, and her life as a transgender woman. The event included a visual display of LGBT representation within sport, and a timeline of LGBT visibility throughout Britain’s history, entitled “Voices and Visibility”. The timeline detailed the laws passed and important LGBT figures who have been recognised. Equalities Officer and LGBT Society member, Andrew MacPherson, commented on the event: “The event went very well, we engaged with a number of students. The talk from Jan was the pinnacle of the event, and it’s an event that I would like to see happen annually. Hopefully it will grow into a highlight of the Students’ Association calendar.”
Drop in to the Towhead Students’ Association on Tuesday 3rd May between 11.30am-1pm for Spin to Win with Capital FM, for your chance to win boxes of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts! 19
Gender Equality Month
Women in the Sp tlight
Women in the Spotlight was an awareness raising event as part of the Gender Equality month celebrations. Students were able to drop in to the Students’ Association to meet representatives from women’s organisations in Glasgow and beyond. Those who attended were able to get involved in a variety of different formats with information stalls, workshops and competitions in place to raise some interesting questions and encourage thoughts on how we can further strengthen gender equality. CitySA also host Women’s Society every Wednesday from 4.30-6.30pm in the City Campus Charles Oakley, Digital Lecture Theatre where we discuss women’s rights with a creative and alternative twist! This is a space for women to meet, discuss interests, women’s issues and create opportunities to socialise. For more information contact: Ruta Simonyte, Vice President ruta.simonyte@cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk 20
Gender Equality Month
Women in F tball pressure – “playing for Ranger’s was quite intense as they are in a very competitive league.”
Sports Coaching and Development students Rachel Halbert and Lauren Kelly play football for Queen’s Park F.C., and are also members of the City of Glasgow College Women’s Football team.
Although Lauren and Rachel feel that they get treated differently for playing football, they are no longer bothered by the comments because of their achievements and they both intend to play for as long as they can. They face a lot of stereotypes but also receive a lot of encouragement. Both girls’ main group of friends are from football and Lauren says her other friends love it too, they love coming to see her play - even if she does get a little too competitive at times!
Rachel who is now on the second year of her HND, is the college team captain. She has helped make the squad more structured and encouraged other women to join. City of Glasgow College Women’s Team Being part of the team is an important factor for both Rachel and Lauren, although the college team don’t train as a group, whenever they get together there’s always good banter.
Rachel and Lauren told us that they don’t feel they are treated differently in college; they are respected by the men in their class, and have the same opportunities as them. In school however, the sport’s opportunities for girls were severely lacking. The boys were offered scholarships, to go pro-youth or attend football summer camps. The girls had to find their own scholarship if that was what they were looking for.
The women’s team was competing in the Scottish Student Sport Cup, which is an extremely competitive competition with teams from colleges and universities in Scotland. City of Glasgow College are now out of the Cup due to losing a quarter final against the very successful University of St. Andrews 1st team. Before this, City of Glasgow College overcame Edinburgh University in the last 16, beating them 5-0. The women’s team also took part in a recent 7’s tournament hosted by the University of Glasgow. Out of the 5 teams taking part City finished 3rd and pulled off an incredible upset by beating University of Strathclyde 2nds in their final game.
They both expressed their gratitude that the media is beginning to cover more aspects of women’s sport but also noted that the battle’s not even half way done. Women’s sport has a lot more to offer, and it deserves the same attention as men’s sport. The women’s college team is always recruiting and if you are interested then you can get involved.
Women in Football
For more information contact: Andrew Kirk, Sport’s Co-ordinator andrew.kirk@cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk
Rachel played for Ranger’s F.C. for a season before joining Queen’s Park. She says Queen’s Park is more relaxing, and doesn’t feel like she is under as much 21
Current Sport Clubs Timetable
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Men’s Basketball team
Men’s Football team
Women’s Football team
STUDENTS FREE COACHING Are you...
interested in obtaining a coach education or a certified referee qualification? passionate about coaching a sport but do not possess any accredited qualifications to do so?
Whatever the sport and whatever level, please contact the sport co-ordinator Andrew Kirk for information about upcoming courses and funding opportunities. For more information please contact: andrew.kirk@cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk
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Access All Areas, North Hanover On the 25th of February, Ian Gilmour – our student president – held a pilot run for the Access All Areas scheme. I joined him for a tour of the North Hanover Street campus, where we sneakily invaded the roof among other usually restricted areas, with the help of James Wilson, Industry Academy Curriculum Head for Creative Industries.
possibly name it all, but it was very interesting to see. They even have a recording studio separated by a glass window, where students can record professional voiceovers. For the big finale of this first tour, James took us up to the roof, where we were treated to stunning panoramic views of Glasgow’s city centre and beyond. We were able to see all of the other college campuses, as well as Celtic Park stadium and a snow-capped Ben Lomond. Some people on the tour were actually able to see their hometowns.
Access All Areas is an idea that was set up by Ian recently as he feels it’s important for students to be able to see all that their college has to offer before we move into the new, bigger campus in August. As the current campuses, including North Hanover Street, are being sold or demolished, this will be your last chance to see all of the hidden sights the current campuses have to offer.
Since everyone on this tour thoroughly enjoyed themselves, we’re sure you will too. Ian plans to set up many more Access All Areas tours before the closure of the campuses in the summer. For future tours, Ian has big plans.
On the debut tour, James showed us the television studio on the 13th floor, which is normally only accessible to Television Production students. It boasts state-of-the art cameras and lighting, with a layout similar to that of a breakfast TV programme. I was given the honour of sitting in the presenters chair as James briefed us on the studio.
You could be given the chance to visit Riverside campus to see a preview of the new build, and experience their very own ship simulator, used for nautical studies. Townhead campus will also be explored, which has a training restaurant and an air cabin simulator along with various workshops. There’s also more to be seen in North Hanover Street campus, with glass blowing and photography studios still to be discovered.
We were then taken to the control room, which gave us a bird’s eye view of the studio. James showed us how the students are able to control the lighting, and the huge collection of clocks and screens which they use to monitor a program as it runs. If he had told me it was a studio for professionals, I honestly could have been fooled; it was very impressive.
For more information on upcoming tours, drop by the Students’ Association on the 2nd floor of Townhead campus. Alternatively, contact us or keep up to date on events by using this information:
We followed James to an audio studio, where he showed us lines upon lines of faders, which are apparently able to move by themselves, as if they’re operated by ghosts. All of the equipment is so specific to radio and TV students that I couldn’t
Phone: 0141 566 4140 Email: citysa@cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk Website: www.citysa.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/cogcsa Twitter: www.twitter.com/city_sa 24
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The Race Is On
Well done to the winning team pictured above!
To get the year started, the new 1st year Marine Engineering students participated in an orienteering race around Glasgow Green. The students were split into 4 teams and were asked to reach 18 markers on their map - these points were marked from A to R. The teams had to take a group selfie when they reached these points but they had to resemble the letter of each marker. Starting at 1pm at the Riverside Students’ Association, the students set off to take some hilarious and creative photos. With the weather on their side, the event was a great success and had some friendly competition and team bonding all round for the student’s on their first week at college. 26
Dr Bike Is Back Students at Riverside took the fantastic opportunity to give their bikes a new lease of life by getting them serviced for absolutely no charge courtesy of Uni-Cycle’s very own ‘Dr Bike’. Glasgow Bike Station is a charity that promotes cycling and recycling. Their volunteers recycle bikes for the community and their fully qualified instructors provide cycle training and maintenance skills. You can find The Bike Station at 65 Haugh Road, Glasgow G3 8TX, call them on 0141 248 5409 or visit their website at http://www.thebikestation. org.uk City of Glasgow College Riverside Campus received the nationally recognised Cycle Friendly Employer Award for Scottish organisations committed to increasing cycling. 27
Creative City
Game Con
On the 8th of March, I got lost in the heat of the competition at GameCon, held in the Townhead Students’ Association.
There was also a prize for “most loyal player”, consisting of a Starbucks hamper and a £40 make up voucher (snatched up by me!).
As part of the Creative City festival (a festival which is run by Creative Industries students), a group of Media and Communications students organised the small convention, which was open to all students between 10 am – 2:30 pm.
Lauren Pearson, who was part of the organisation team, watched longingly from the sidelines, encouraging people to have a shot of the tournament: “I absolutely love Mario Kart. It was my favourite game growing up, and I’ve had every version of it. If I was allowed to take part, I would win… No, I probably wouldn’t on Rainbow Road, but I would definitely try my best.”
The main facet of the event was the highly competitive Mario Kart Wii Time Trials, staged on the treacherous Rainbow Road. It cost a pound for each shot, and a lot of students got involved in the heated battle for first place. There were also various consoles set up, allowing students to play games like FIFA, Injustice, and Need For Speed.
At the end of the tournament, the first prize went to Joshua Jolly, with a record time of three minutes and five seconds;
Amazing prizes were on offer, with first place winning a £100 stereo and a £50 GAME voucher, second place winning a £60 tattoo voucher, and third place winning a £17 box of Thorntons chocolate and a £40 make up voucher.
“It was great, roll on the next one.” Congratulations to all of the winners, and let’s hope for similar events in the future. 28
Updates The WorldSkills UK Scotland Celebration of Achievement event was held in City of Glasgow College, Riverside Campus on Wednesday 2nd March. This event was held to recognise and celebrate the amazing success of WorldSkills Scotland College Competitors at the regional heats, and the The Skills Show held in Birmingham. City of Glasgow College is ranked the Number One College in the UK (WorldSkills) having achieved nine medals, including five golds, at the The Skills Show – you can read our update in our last issue. Professional Cookery and Hospitality Achievements Professional Cookery and Hospitality students show they are among the best in country after bringing home silver and bronze from two of the nation’s most prestigious culinary competitions. The renowned Country Range Student Chef Challenge recognises the most talented full-time student chefs in the UK; and Springboard Future Chef encourages young talent into a career as a chef. Under the leadership of lecturer Robbie Phillips; Nicolle Finnie, Charles Quiambao and Claudia Cozariuc, took third place in the Country Range Student Chef Challenge.
Immense Events Over £500 was raised for Shelter Scotland at a recent festival themed gig held in Stereo Café Bar. This fantastic evening was organised by Immense Events, a team of City of Glasgow College students who are in their second year HND Events Course. The four members are Alan Dunlop, Courtney Haetzmen, Ashleigh Green and Chelsea Gaffney.
Courtney McDowell, who studies at Rosshall Academy while also enrolled on the Professional Hospitality course, finished second in the final of Springboard Future Chef 2016. Claudia Cozariuc also won a silver medal at the prestigious Association of Pastry Chefs Desserts competition beating full time pastry chefs from across Europe. 29
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FASHION
Herald Photoshoot at Riverside Campus
This page Black and white jumper, £39, Topshop. Black and white stripe and floral intarsia knit midi skirt, £45, Preen Edition at Debenhams. White laser cut clutch with gold insert, £28, Principles at Debenhams. Grey snakeskin effect pointed flats with black bow detail, £46, Topshop Opposite page Ivory and black asymmetrical striped shift, £79, Pied a Terre at House of Fraser. Nude and black pointed toe heels with black bow, £35, Principles at Debenhams. Black tote bag, £55, John Rocha at Debenhams
c FASHION
STYLING: EVA ARRIGHI PHOTOGRAPHS: KIRSTY ANDERSON
PARALLEL LINES
STOP TRAFFIC AND TURN HEADS IN BLOCK STRIPES
Black and white asymmetrical stripe shift, £30, Therapy at House of Fraser. Nude and black striped handbag, £59, Florelli at Debenhams. Camel and black strap detail shoes, £49, Topshop
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One City One City was held in Riverside campus on 24 March and kicked off with staff and students showcasing a variety of the many skills and courses that go on at the College. Over 70 different activities were on offer and up to 1400 people took part in these across three separate sessions. Thirty members of staff held workshops, the highest number to do so, and many of our students gained valuable work experience in helping to organise and run the event.
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International Students Visit Millport
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International Students Bowling Trip 33