impact report 2013-2014 - 1
COVENTRY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ UNION
IMPACT REPORT 2013/14
Sabbatical Officers for 2013/14
External Trustees Anil Majithia Prof Ian McNay Dr Valerie Cox Tim Holmes
External Director of CUSU Services Ltd Ernest Petrie
1100
Ross McGroarty
Patrick Agholor
25% +
.I
NCR
S EA E
Pat Noon
Ryan Beasley
.. ... . ...
Matt Stone
F. . . . . .
Chidimma Okoye
O
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from 2012/13
student reps
Our purpose is to be a student led, active organisation that engages with, empowers and represents the interests of the diverse student population at Coventry University
Introduction
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81% satisfaction
IN NATIONAL STUDENT SURVEY
Coventry University Students’ Union (CUSU) continued to provide a wide range of services for its members in 2013/14 with strong student leadership. CUSU maintained its position in the top ten students unions in the UK with a satisfaction rating of 81% in the National Student Survey. We received a strong rating for our governance and management from an independent auditor and we were rewarded with a significant increase in grant funding from the University for the year 2014/15. More students than ever were engaged with CUSU, participating in increasing numbers in all of our membership services and made a step change in our
communications to our members with a change of web site design and greater emphasis on social media than ever before. Our membership increased with an agreement by our Board of Trustees and the University to include students at the Coventry University College as full members of CUSU with additional funding and office space. Our commercial services continued to be strong with sales and advertising; our NUS Extra sales remained in the top 5 in the UK, we gained sponsorship from the Fargo Creative Arts Village for our Freshers Week 2014. We reviewed the operations of
the CUSU venue Hush during the year for greater efficiency and effectiveness. CUSU continued to campaign on behalf of students on campus and the wider context with notable achievements in the growth of course representation and the ‘I Love My Course’ campaign and the against the Immigration Bill respectively. CUSU remained focussed on the representation of students’ interests led by students. All the CUSU staff have made a tremendous contribution in the last year to the progress made and our thanks go to them.
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Representation for Students by Students
student elections
17,000 votes cast
4000
by
65%
65
students for
158%
candidates
CUSU saw a huge increase in students taking up the role of course and faculty representatives who are actively involved in improving the students’ teaching and learning experience. There were 1100 students who were course representatives, senior course representatives and Deputy Faculty Chairpersons supporting the sabbatical officers and other members of the Executive Committee team. This was an increase of 25% in course representation from 2012/13. Each Faculty held a conference for its course representatives in each term and we were able to track, for the first time,
Students vote at the 2013/14 Annual General Meeting held in the Sports Hall
the impact student representatives had in their academic areas. In addition, there were active student representatives in the professional support services of the University, including: the Library, Estates and IT Services. The annual elections for the Executive Committee and Student Council saw a dramatic increase in participation with the number of candidates and voter turnout, putting CUSU in the top quarter of students’ unions for election participation. There were 17,000 votes cast by 4,000 students for 65 candidates in the Executive elections; increases of 65% and 158% respectively and
a 66% increase in the number of candidates for the elections. The governing body of CUSU, the Student Council, was reviewed and an enlarged membership was approved to increase participation from a wide range of student groups from international to disabled students. The Annual General Meeting of CUSU maintained the position of being the largest SU meeting in the country with over 600 students attending.
Societies
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The commitment to a multi-faith council bore fruit, creating links with the Cathedral based multi faith forum, and raising money for the Coventry food bank. The Islamic Society raised ÂŁ9,000 for charity and other
societies held prestigious events for the Chinese New Year, the Diwali Ball and many other high profile events. Special mention to the Sports and Societies Manager and the Societies Co-ordinator, Sam Gill and Natalie Goulder, who won the University’s Equality and Diversity Award for their work to encourage the growth in the diversity of societies.
2630 97 members in ies
Participation in CUSU societies continued to grow with a sharp increase in the number of societies formed over the year. There was a 34% increase in societies’ membership to 2,630 in 97 active societies. We focussed on increasing the number of academic societies to 18 in the year and nationality based societies continued to increase reflecting the multinational makeup of our membership.
soc iet
Societies fair 2014
34%
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6247 8976
Supporting & Advising Our Members
STU DE NT
S
advice centre dealt with
SES
SIO
NS
OVER
The advice service for students (SUAC) is independent, free and confidential. SUAC continued to provide high quality support to a large number of students in the year and recruited two new staff. Through SUAC we improved our links with the local community, to benefit our members through work with police on personal safety and crime prevention. We provided advice for the first time to students at the London Campus and to the CU College students. The Advice Centre continued to provide free, independent and confidential advice
A student receiving advice at the CUSU Advice Centre
and representation to individual students. We recruited two experienced advisors in the year and dealt with 6,247 students in 8,976 advice sessions. Representation at University hearings for disciplinaries, professional suitability and academic conduct was for 589 students. SUAC also advised over 300 students at the London Campus and managed to get 189 housing deposits returned from landlords to students. SUAC has been at the forefront of our work
with community stakeholders, including safer neighbourhood groups and residents’ organisations. We continue to work closely with other advice services in the city including the Citizens Advice Bureau and Coventry Law Centre.
Sports Clubs
impact report 2013-2014 - 7 A number of sports clubs achieved local and national success. Our Karting Club won the national Universities Championship; Cricket, Men’s Volleyball and Women’s Badminton gained promotion in the Universities’ Leagues; while Karate won 3 individual gold medals at the British Universities Championships. Funding from the Football Association to support coaching development was gained and a large Sport England grant for promotion of sports activity on campus was obtained in partnership with the University for a three year programme of activities. With nearly 1900 sports club members and 42 clubs we had greater participation than ever before.
42 1900 SPORTS CLUBS
Coventry University Women’s Rugby team competing in BUCS 2014
MEMBERS
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Breaking Barriers
CUSU campaigning through sport: the CUSU Rugby Union 1st team played the Birmingham Bulls RFC, the West Midlands gay rugby team, in May 2014. This was part of the CUSU campaign for LGBT awareness, the two teams played the inaugural match for the Nigel Owens trophy cup at Coventry RFU ground; with thanks to Coventry University for financial support for the event.
Birmingham Bulls RFC played CUSU Rugby Union 1st team to campaign for LGBT awareness
Volunteering
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1200 STUDENT VOLUNTEERS
89
community organisations
13
coventry schools
Over 1200 students were engaged in volunteering in the local community in the year. This involved working with 13 Coventry schools and 89 community organisations. 40% of student volunteers were non UK students and 14% were postgraduates demonstrating that volunteering attracts a broad range of students. Noteworthy projects were the Gen2Gen scheme in partnership with the City Library to help the elderly get internet wise; sports clubs supporting sporting activities in local schools; and an Ancient Greek project with primary school children.
Student volunteer helps to paint a local school
Working with Others
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1
Student volunteers helping out in the local community
st
L E V E L OF NUS QUALITY MARK
CUSU is aware of working with external stakeholders from NUS to the local community. In all areas we have continued to develop our external partnerships. We have been invited to contribute to best practice on appeals to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for HE (OIA); we
were the lead students union for the HEFCE project for Postgraduate Engagement; we gained the first level of the NUS Quality Mark for students unions; and we have worked with the Coventry City Community Forum.
CUSU as an Employer
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94%
of staff committed to organisation ethos We have continued to strive to be a good employer and the Board of Trustees have put in place policies for dignity at work, anti-bullying, whistle blowing, training and development for all staff, equal opportunities in recruitment and selection and job sharing and career breaks; and finally we introduced the NEST pension scheme for all CUSU staff. We were very pleased with the results of the staff survey which said that 94% of all staff were committed to the ethos of the organisation to serve the student membership. We value the contribution all the staff of CUSU has made in the year to deliver high quality services to our membership. What progress we have made and success we have is based on the commitment of our staff.
CUSU Staff Away Day with the Sabbatical Officer Team, June 2014
Our staff also volunteer their time and engage in the national student movement and local community charities. 2 of our staff are governors of local schools; one member of staff supports a Disabled Basketball team; another is Co-Chair of the Coventry Community Forum and Deputy Chair of Coventry Independent Advice Services; we have a coach and manager of an under 10’s football team; one is a Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of another students union; and staff have delivered reports to the HE Academy, and British Universities’ Sports Association (BUCS).
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CUSU Awards 2014
Award winners at the CUSU awards night in The Hub for 2013/14
FACULTY AWARDS BES Student of the Year........................................................Naomi Smith HLS Student of the Year.......................................................Diana Avram AD Student of the Year..................................................... Leah Freeman EC Student of the Year................................................... Rakan Qaimary SOURCE Journalist of the Year..................................................................... Zain Ali Presenter of the Year.................................................. Richard Hardman REPRESENTATION Course Rep of the Year..............................................Sarah Summerville Service Rep of the Year................................................Edward Manning Senior Course Rep of the Year...............................Caroline Kozemczak Deputy Faculty Chair of the Year........................................Naomi Smith
STUDENT LEADERS CUSU Change Maker.........................................................Toby Morrison Councillor of the Year......................................................Gabriella Miron VOLUNTEERING School Volunteer of the Year.......................................... Nuala McKillop Community Volunteer of the Year........................................ Lydia Smith Community Volunteer of the Year............................Leanne Raymond Student- Led Volunteering Project of the Year................. Lucy Hanlon Student Volunteer Team Member of the Year.............Ruksar Jehangir
CUSU recognises and celebrates the importance of the outs Our members’ commitment is also a great opportunity for th
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SPORTS & SOCIETIES Sport - Best Male................................................................Michael Burke Sport - Best Female.........................................................Becca Manford Sport - Best Sport............................................................................ Cricket Most Improved Sport............................................................... Equestrian Societies - Best Male.................................................. Vithushan Vasanth Societies - Best Female............................................................. Lucy Cole Societies - Best Societies.....................................................Hindu Society Most Improved Society..............................................Economics Society
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO CUSU - 6 AWARDS Glenn Owusu Abroah Toby Morrison Diana Avram Andrew Daley Rakan Qaimary Vithushan Vasanth CUSU STUDENT OF THE YEAR Vithushan Vasanth
standing contributions our members make to our success at our Annual Awards Night. hem to learn, grow and gain experience to take with them in their careers.
Campaigns
14 - impact report 2013-2014 CUSU is a campaigning organisation to improve the student experience and raise awareness amongst its members on issues that affect them directly or indirectly. Included in the last year of campaigns were: World Aids Day, One World Week, Black History Month, Disability in Sport, Housing Rights, Anti Immigration Bill campaign, I Love My Course and more. Elected student officers, members of societies, ordinary student members and CUSU staff all contribute to the success of our campaigns.
The ‘Black History Month’ campaign
4,000 students voted in the CUSU elections for student officers; in the top 20% turnout of all universities in the UK
We asked students for their opinions about our Freshers Welcome Week
Students in the Hub campaigning for ‘I Love My Course’
The ‘Say No to the Immigration Bill’ campaign
Finance
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Income
2013/14
2012/13
(000’s)
(000’s)
* Pending final audited amounts
Block grant from Coventry University 854 52.1% 788 48.0% Project grants from Coventry University 125 7.6% 99 6.0% Trading Income 563 34.3% 878 53.5% Inter-company income 0.0% 0.0% Other Income 98 6.0% 84 5.1% Investment Income 0 0.0% 0 0.0% Total Income 1640 1849
Expenditure Income
2013/14
2012/13
(000’s)
(000’s)
976
54.6%
913
51.0%
Other operating expenses 779 43.5% 1125 62.9% Depreciation 34 1.9% 26 1.5% Total expenditure 1789 2064 Surplus -149 -215
Investment Income Other Income Inter-Company Income Trading Income Project Grants from Coventry University Block Grant from Coventry University 0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
Coventry University Students’ Union, Coventry University, The Hub, 4 Jordan Well, Coventry, CV1 5QT Telephone: 024 7765 5200 • Web: www.cusu.org • Facebook: www.facebook.com/CoventrySU Charity No: 1139462 Company No: 07366779