Impact Semester 1 2017

DCU Office Of Student Life Biannual Activity Report VOL 6, ISSUE 1; DEC 2017

Letter from Editor MARTINA BROWNE MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS CO-ORDINATOR Semester one is always very exciting. We spend the whole summer with the new SU team, planning our events and campaigns for the upcoming year. This was the second year with an SU team of 5 members, and we can all really see the benefits of having a larger team working actively over all 3 campuses.

It’s great to witness a surge in growth and engagment in DCU and the past semester is only an indiction of the further success ahead.

I’m proud to work in the Office of Student Life, as I work closely with the Union and Clubs ands Societies, who are at the heart of the DCU community. The staff are amazing and actively work hard throughout the year to bring the best events and activities to DCU students.

I hope you enjoy reflecting on our first semester with us in this issue, and we all look forward to seeing and working with you all in the new year!

R E P R E S E N TAT I O N CHANGE OPPORTUNITIES AWARENESS COMMUNITY EVENTS HELP AND SUPPORT

REPRESENTATION

REFLECTING ON NIALL BEHAN PRESIDENT

SIOBHAN NIC THAIDHG ENGAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT

12 weeks in a flash! What a few months we have had at DCUSU. We had been warned that the time literally falls away once you start but never did I imagine that actually happening. I always wanted to be in a position where as a team we would be in an overwhelmingly positive place come the end of semester and I can happily speak for myself when I say that’s become a reality. The various tasks and goals we have set ourselves have for the most part been vigorously attempted and completed.

I had a rough start. I personally found the campaign in March to be one of the hardest things I have ever done. I went through a hard time in the aftermath of my winning. I retreated home to Leitrim for a couple of months. I didn’t want to do my final exams and I didn’t even want to accept my office of Vice President for Engagement and Development. In short, I didn’t want to do anything. I missed hallmark end of year moments. At the time it didn’t phase me. I couldn’t bring myself to walk on campus, let alone attend a student event. It was 24/7. I had burnt out.

I was truly shocked that I had won. I didn’t believe that I deserved the position and couldn’t understand why others did. I finally made contact with those within what I like to call the ‘DCU Bubble’. The day before we were due to start, I decided for sure that I wasn’t going to take the position. After five phone calls, twelve cups of tea with Mam and a new lease of life, I decided to meet with Niall. We decided that I was going to give it a go. I’m still giving it a go and I haven’t looked back since.

Moral of the story: listen to those around you. They can see clearly for you when you can’t. I am so excited by this and the role is right up my street. It is all about getting students involved, something I know a lot about. I want to focus on a few areas, clubs and societies, volunteering, Class Reps, sustainability, social media, the SU brand, the development of the SU and the Irish language.

It has been an amazing semester. I can’t wait to continue to represent all of you for the rest of the year!

The highlights from my own manifesto were definitely the Halloween Ball, Wellness Wednesday and ensuring DCU students’ have access to affordable TEFL courses. These tasks were no easy feat but with hard work and dedication I knew that they would be achieved. I have said to myself that I wanted to be a President who sticks to his word, and hopefully through the implementation of my promises, I am delighted to now be in the position I am.

DCUSU has never seen such rapid change and engagement in our campaigns.

I am excited for what lies ahead - the journey is not close to over, and I really want to finish out stronger than we have ever been.

OUR FIRST SEMESTER BRENDAN POWER ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

PODGE HENRY WELFARE & EQUALITY

MATT DAVEY EDUCATION & PLACEMENT

The passing of time has forever been a matter of debate. Day by day and week by week it goes by and before you know it almost half an academic year has passed. The summer months were spent moving, planning and preparing and before we knew it the semester had already begun. We organised events each and every day for two weeks that would cater to the needs of all students and received overwhelmingly positive feedback.

To say this semester flew by would be an understatement. It’s not until I reflect on it now that I notice just how much went on. Each week there was an event, awareness campaign or some sort of training on.

There was so much that happened that I had planned and even more that I had not; – like the SMART consent workshops that were a huge success, DCU is an official venue for Darkness Into Light, two fantastic campaign weeks, All Halloween Ball and so much more.

Of course everything that has been a success is due to the fantastic team I work with. Not just the other four sabbaticals and the OSL staff, but the entire Executive and every student who helps out. Yes, there have been some major stressful times too, but they come part and parcel of the job and make you appreciate the small wins that little bit more. Of course the highlight of the semester for me is either Mental Health Week or week one when all my old friends were back and we got to meet all the new students.

I’m really excited to get going for semester two and can’t wait to leave our legacy for years to come.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed this semester, some craic. It has been a challenging role that I have really enjoyed and personally there have been many highs this year.

From the social events like the St Patrick’s Campus Graduation Reception, DCU’s first ever outdoor festival, the “All Halloween Ball” and particularly the Drumcondra Grad Ball through to the more academic initiatives run by the SU like the Teaching Abroad Seminar, INTRA Talks and the National Campaign for Teaching Placement Expenses.

Other highlights from the year include the overall increase in engagement and activities run by the SU on St. Patrick’s Campus including SHIFT Day and World Mental Health Day. It has been great to help the student body whatever way I could during this semester and I look forward to doing my best to launch some more of our ambitious plans next semester.

We have overseen an extremely dramatic transformation in SU engagement over this multi-campus university. We have worked well as a team, but like all have had peaks and valleys. The relationship we have fostered with both academic and administrative university staff is probably best shown in the support that was shown for the wonderfully successful Halloween Ball in the All Hallows Campus and will allow for an improved student experience for years to come.

The outlook for the SU is extremely positive and this combined with a new space promises to make it a year to remember.

REPRESENTATION

OLIVIA FORDE

EDUCATION FACULTY REP Hard to believe that Semester One is coming to the end, but they do say time flies when you’re having fun! Kicking off with Orientation Week followed up by Freshers’ Week (my highlight was Bingo Loco) and now coming up to Christmas Week! We’ve had plenty in between for example, Mental Health Week and our first ever DCUSU Halloween Outdoor Festival!! But it’s not all fun and games, and there is so much going on between all the events, and the excitement. From meeting with faculty lecturers and getting to know our Education Class Reps, it has been a full on semester.

CALLAGHAN COMMONS

SCIENCE & HEALTH FACULTY REP This semester as Science and Health Faculty Rep, I organised INTRA Talks for 3rd year science students that went extremely well and were well attended. I have so much more planned for next semester including a 2nd nurses appreciation day so that all nurses can get involved after being on placement. lt’s been a great semester and I can’t wait to get back after Christmas, to begin to plan the Science & Health Ball!

EXEC ALLAN STEVENSON

CAOIMHE NI CHONGHAILE

POSTGRADUATE OFFICER

IRISH OFFICER

Thank you to each and every Post Graduate student that has become involved in representing PGs in DCU. The Postgraduate Society are working hard at creating a PG community in DCU so have a look at what they are up to on Facebook, https://www. facebook.com/groups/dcupostgrad/ It’s never too late to become a representative of your class or research group so please contact me if interested. I’ve had the honour of meeting many PGs this semester and look forward to meeting even more over the coming months.

Táimse chomh ar bís a bheith togha mar Oifigeach Gaeilge i DCUSU agus táim an bhuíoch as an tacaíocht go léir a bhfuair mé. Semester 1 has gone fantastically. Freshers’ week saw the running of some all Irish events including “Pizza agus Ple” a “Pop-up Gaeltacht”, “Club Comhra mor” among others. It’s great to see the student body engaging with the Irish language and I look forward to semester 2, where we’ll be planning seachtain na Gaeilge with some top notch events.

CRAIG MCHUGH

HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES REP Semester one has been a blast! I’ve managed to get through quite a bit so far as Faculty Rep, particularly on the side of further empowering Class Reps through a faculty council and regular one on one meetings. I’ve met so many fantastic people, heard from so many students, registered hundreds to vote, sat in a number of meetings danced naked in front of hundreds and acted as a signpost for many and been part of an executive truly in touch with what students need. There’s a sense of pride within me to be part of such a great team and its with that I look forward to the next semester as Faculty Rep.

EMILIO WILLIAMS DORAN

THOMAS DORIAN

ENGINEERING & COMPUTING FACULTY REP

CLUBS OFFICER

I am honoured to have been elected and serve as a faculty rep. Throughout the semester I have learned some valuable lessons: Virtually all change sought in a university requires compromise, patience and tenacity. If you want to make any change you need to take this into consideration.

It is important that students achieve balance with their academic work, their social life and sleep, with it the world is your oyster.

I would like to thank all those who have allowed me to serve my term and I look forward to next semester challenges and fruits.

Time flies when your having fun and semester 1 has gone with the blink of an eye. In the past few weeks I have learned so much and worked with some fantastic people. I have enjoyed every moment of it from sitting on committees like Exec and Club Life Committee along with attending Class Rep Council.

In this semester I have worked with many clubs and helped them to turn ideas into actions, I have also been putting a number of projects into place which will be launched in semester 2 not to mention GiG week.

Each faculty is represented by elected representatives. They work with their faculty class reps and the Students’ Union to ensure the voices of the students in their faculty are heard.

Club and Society members and Post Grad students are represented by Officers.

All elected officers sit on “The Exec” which is the main student committee in the University and the SU. They discuss the issues that are important to the student body and make decisions to better student life.

EMILY HARDY

BRYAN MULRY

BUSINESS FACULTY REP What a busy Semester this has been!

I have been involved in everything from events and campaigns to ClassRep elections. I was delighted that INTRA Week went so well, where we had 3 times the expected number of students show up to the talks given by 5 Multi-National Corporations who gave the students tips on their upcoming INTRA applications. I am very much looking forward to next semester and rolling out some of the ideas that have been suggested to me by Class Reps.

SOCIETIES OFFICER Semester 1 as Societies Officer has flown by but I have loved every minute of it. I have enjoyed working with the others on the SU and SLC committee and meeting new people from 80 plus societies in DCU. So far this semester we have already had our Clubs & Socs Week, finished the budget applications and had a fantastic Clubs & Socs Christmas Ball. So much has been packed into these 12 weeks between Mental Health Week, Freshers’ Week and the Halloween Ball to name just as few and I really can’t wait to see what semester 2 has in store.

EMMA TUNNICLIFFE

CRC CHAIR As a mature student who is juggling both college placement, my family and social commitments, alongside my chairperson role. It has been a few busy months, but I am really enjoying it. I like that I have a different perspective to bring to the table at Exec, one of my biggest passions is students being actively engaged in their own learning experience and how they can bring about change. I am loving my role and am just looking forward to getting to work with many different staff and students over the upcoming months.

“Class Reps have never looked as good” CLASS REPS “Class Reps have been my main focus for the semester whether I like it or not. I had big plans for this area. We have introduced online voting for class reps which can hopefully improve year after year. A special thanks to Mark Glynn, the head of teaching and learning in helping us achieve this. Class Reps have been trained by DCUSU in Croke Park and have received NStEP training for the first time. The National Student Engagement Programme is a collaborative initiative under development by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), the Higher Education Authority, and the Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI). A working group made up of member institutions and their student reps that took

part in the pilot phase make up members of this group. NStEP aims to train reps and institutions on how to work better together.

Class Reps are sporting delightful pink lanyards, soon pink hoodies and a wonderful new DCUSU class rep handbook. They have never looked so good. We are delighted also to note that we went from having ten postgraduate class reps last year to forty seven this year. The increase in this engagement has been phenomenal. My aim for semester two is to get class group photos for as many classes as possible. It will be just like at school!”

Siobhan Nic Thaidhg, VP for Engagment & Development

CLASS REP COUNCIL

Class Rep council is in full swing and we’re going to have our final meeting of semester 1 in week twelve. We were late getting started, but we are now getting so much covered and are currently having successful meetings. The turnout and engagement from the Class Reps has been fantastic. This year I am trying to get CRC to be more effective with less administrative work and having the sign-in sheet used on entry, this is working very well. Also, the introduction of Google Forms is working well and myself and Helen are looking forward to getting much more 20 mm with its success. work done in semester 2 and hope CRC will continue - Emma Tunnicliffe, CRC Chair

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NETWORKING ABROAD

In August the five of us sabbaticals and Podge Sheehan, the Democracy and Development Officer travelled to Birmingham. We were there to visit Warwick University, Wolverhampton University, the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City University. It was a whirlwind visit but one that was very worthwhile.

We got a chance to visit Students’ Unions on a much larger scale but with a very similar make up. Unlike America, Students’ Unions in the United Kingdom operate in the same way as ours. Officers are elected in the same way. What we noticed across the board was that the SUs often had a commercial side and DCUSU does not. Things like the NuBar and Spar are run external to us. We also noted that support services were often in the same building as the SU. It would be like having Student Support and Development in the Hub. I personally picked up lots of tips regarding their class rep systems. I also found that volunteering often had a designated room or area, something that we lack.

Apart from getting soaked on the last day and losing a few train tickets along the way, we had a very successful networking trip. We hope to host some of our English counterparts in the future to show them what DCUSU has to offer.

- Siobhan Nic Thaidgh, VP for Engagment & Development

NSTEP

The National Student Engagement Programme is a collaborative initiative under development by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), the Higher Education Authority (HEA), and Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI). This year, DCU was selected as one of the pilot institutions in rolling out the programme. Alongside the DCU Quality Promotions Office and other key members of the University, the Students’ Union are looking at how we currently manage student engagement activities, and identify areas for improvement across the University. The National Student Engagement Programme will develop student capabilities to engage at all levels across DCU. This year some of our work includes: • Delivered a comprehensive training programme to almost 200 representatives in how they can best engage in the University processes.

• A working group has been established, co-led by the SU President & DCU Vice-President consisting of both student representatives and staff of the University.

• DCU are participating in three national projects to establish guidelines, suitable for the diversity of the sector, on the project area. These projects are: the Role & Recruitment of Class Representatives, Students in formal system level procedures, strategy & decision making, and Student Feedback Opportunities, Data & Follow Up • To further enhance collegiality and inclusivity amongst our staff and students we will host an engagement workshop (50:50 staff and student participation) in March 2018.

This is a brilliant initiative that the Students’ Union believes is going to strengthen the relationship with the University and ensure students act as partners in decision-making. DCUSU would like to express our gratitude to the Quality Promotions Office for being one of the driving forces behind the programme. While this year’s focus is to lay the foundations of the programme, this collaborative approach to engagement will be of huge benefit for the entire DCU community in the future.

CLC and SLC The Society Life Committee (SLC) and the Club Life Committee (CLC) are committees, elected by you, that represents all clubs and societies in DCU. They allocate funds, provide support when things go wrong and they make sure your club or society has a voice.

Vito Moloney Burke was elected to the SLC for the academic year 2017/18. He writes: The past semester has been an extremely strong one for societies in DCU. Although this is the last full semester without a student centre, society events have been exceptional, and as a result engagement has been through the roof. The usuals such as Dance, Drama and MPS have been on top form once again and produced some of the best events of the semester. The charitable/civic socs have been doing DCU proud as always and continue to make a remarkable impact in the local community – with honourable mentions going to SVP, RAG, Suas and HeadstARTS. Two former winners of the ‘Best New Society’ award, Speakeasy and Mental Health Soc have grown even further and have hosted wonderful events – certainly a motivator for new socs on the scene this year, such as Mi Soc, P&M and Food & Fitness.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as Chairperson of the Society Life Committee to date, and it has been a wonderful experience getting to know even more of the incredible societies that DCU has to offer. One of my favourite aspects of the job is engaging with socs that I may not necessarily have crossed paths with before, such as Psychological Soc, Africa Soc and AIESEC. All of these socs have so many layers and so much to offer that, even as a final year who’s been involved since day one, I’m still discovering so much. So, in saying that, I would suggest that no matter who you are or what you’ve been involved with in your time in DCU thus far; use Semester 2 to get out there and experience new things!”

CHANGE

THE NEW DCU - 2nd Year On The DCU Incorporation Programme is into it’s second year and has seen the coming together of St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, Mater Dei Institute of Education and Church of Ireland College of Education.

One of the Union’s main goals this year was to have representation over all 3 campuses. The sabbaticals developed a roster so that each member will be active on each campus throughout the week. It’s great to see engagement from staff and students alike with the SU on all 3 campuses. The launch of the new OSL space on St Patrick’s campus last year in particular has seen more students utilising the union, as they now have a designated office space to visit and utilise. The SU have worked hard in spreading their campaigns and initiatives over all 3 campuses and look forward to planning more in the new year.

THE NEW STUDENT CENTRE It began with the demolition of the Old Bar, following a great party for Alumni in May 2016 and now almost 18 months later, the new Student Centre is nearing completion. The SU offices were remodelled and refurbished in the Summer months- staff and sabbaticals moved to the OSL space on St Patrick’s campus while the work was carried out.

While there is still work to be completed the new space is fantastic and offers an enhanced working environment and better facilities for students using the services of the SU Helpdesk or meeting with staff.

Meanwhile, work continues on the new structure and with the installation of the precast structures in the past two months, the scale of the new centre

is apparent. It will certainly be a striking presence on the Campus and will offer state of the art facilities for Clubs, Socs and all students. More importantly it will provide a central social and cultural space for students to meet, eat, study, and collaborate on academic work or clubs and socs committee work. The NuBar, Kendall Hairdesign and the Hodges Figgis Bookstore will remain in their current locations. The convenience store will relocate to a new location to the rear of the building and it is planned to have this operational early 2018. Work will then commence on restoring the Venue to once again host events. In the coming months the building will come together with the final works being completed in time for the projected opening date of mid-April.

ALL HALLOWEEN FESTIVAL On the 20th of March - I made a statement that resonated deeply into the minds of those who paid heed. I boldly said that if elected president I would ensure the completion of a Halloween Festival on the All Hallows’ Campus in DCU. All Hallows’ is a relatively new campus to DCU having been acquired in 2015, however to those who are unfamiliar with it, it essentially looks like Hogwarts. No better location to stage the biggest production DCUSU has ever produced.

A festival on the site of an old priests college?

No better task to undertake if you ask me.

More than the challenge alone was the need to follow up an election promise as I have often seen that in years gone by this is all people remember of you. Not only was this goal for the students, it was a personal task that I knew wouldn’t be worthwhile if it wasn’t implemented to the fullest of my capabilities.

As August dawned I knew that already I was behind where I needed to be. This was coupled with the fact that we were still without an Events Co-ordinator and Freshers’ Week was coming down the tracks. Finally we were delighted when Sine McGoff was welcomed to the team and she began to instantly make a difference with all of our event planning. From the Freshers Ball right up to the Halloween Fest, Sine began to hop skip and jump her way to getting all of our events up and running. The backroom work she was doing was mammoth and really indispensable to the overall goal of ensuring these events happened. Without her, there really wouldn’t have been any Halloween event.

As we came closer and we began to promote the event, there were a few hairy moments and worried faces. However thankfully on the night itself there were over 1,200 attendees. After months of planning of bar licences, ordering tents, security, lights, AV, food trucks etc etc etc FINALLY we had our event.

It was everything I could have imagined and more. The level of production was really quite

sublime and everybody remarked about the attention to detail with the spooky lighting illuminating the surrounding area in All Hallows.

The headline acts King Kong Company & Tough Love truly ensured the night was a success.

The feedback for DCU’s first ever festival was incredibly positive and I can only thank every member of the Executive for ensuring its fantastic completion.

The buzz in All Hallows campus was electric with food trucks and a full Halloween vibe in a full sized circus tent from Fossetts circus.

It added that bit of magic that really can’t be replicated in any other fashion - and hopefully will pave the way for festivals to come in DCU for years to come. The engagement of the St. Patrick’s and All Hallows’ campus are definitely crucial points of our work this year and this event was a sublime example of bringing students’ who never would otherwise be there, showing them the beautiful campus and grounds in a novel way.

All students were bused off campus, and by 11pm there wasn’t a sound in the area - and nothing out of the ordinary took place. A great success by all accounts and a highlight of DCUSU 2017/18 - Niall Behan, President

OPPORTUNITIES UANEEN MODULE The Uaneen module is an academic module that recognises and rewards the work done and learning acquired by students within University and outside clubs, societies, community work and extra-curricular activity in general.

The experience and skills gained from exracurricular activity during the third level experience is being recognised and valued more and more by employers. A graduate’s work with clubs, societies and other extra-curricular activity during their time studying is often what sets them apart from other applicants in an interview or job situation. The Employer’s organisation, IBEC facilitates and recognises these awards. This year, over 80 students are participating in the Uaneen module.

efits of taking the Uaneen Module or the course structure, please email uaneen@dcu.ie.

To honour our outgoing Uaneen students of 2016/2017, we held a special reception on Conferring Days on Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd November in the Blue Room, The Helix. Úna Redmond, Manager Office of Student Life and Claire Magee of IBEC gave a warm welcome to all our successful Uaneen students.

Prof Brian MacCraith, University President and Deputy President Prof Daire Keogh paid tribute to the students for choosing to take on the brave act of balancing academic work with extra-curricular activity. We were delighted to have as our guest speakers Ross Munnelly and Fiona Hudson who both work within the DCU Community. Both Ross and Fiona are highly The Uaneen Module is open to all students in accomplished athletes with outstanding contheir final year. If you are interested in apply ing tributions to their respective fields. Ross and for the Uaneen Module or would like to know Fiona congratulated the Uaneen students on more information before your final year, please their outstanding extra-curricular activities visit www.dcu.ie/Uaneen for more information. and encouraged them to continue achieving If you have any general queries about the ben- when they enter the world of work.

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Helping you identify your personal development and self-growth

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- Raphael Onwunali

Uaneen Graduate 2017

ARTS BURSARY The Office of Student Life, supported by the Educational Trust offers a limited number of Arts Bursaries to undergraduate students involved in the Arts. The aim of the Arts Bursary is to promote excellence in artistic and cultural activities and to encourage the pursuit of excellence.

cations for the Arts Bursary for 2017/2018 is 22nd December 2017 with interviews to be held in Semester 2. If you have any general queries about the Arts Bursary, please email arts.bursary@dcu.ie.

The Bursary is open to any student involved in visual art, performing art and media practice and is open every year to all DCU Undergraduate students and all art forms are considered.

If you are interested in applying for an Arts Bursary in 2017/2018 please visit the resources section of dcusu.ie for more information and an application form. Deadline for appli

VOLUNTEERING The 9th Annual DCU Volunteer Fair was held on 28th September 2017 at DCU Sports Hall with the largest ever number of exhibitors. Over 50 community based and voluntary organisations, DCU Units and Clubs and Societies attended to promote their engagement and volunteering opportunities for students.

Throughout the day, DCU students were encouraged to register on studentvolunteer.ie – an online platform connecting student volunteers with community organisations. With hundreds of opportunities currently available in Dublin and nationally, studentvolunteer.ie is an excellent starting point for any student wishing to make a difference through volunteering.

Student Volunteer Coordinator Ruth Lynam extended thanks to everyone who helped with the running of the event, acknowledging that “the success of the day was due to all those who partook in the Fair”.

DCU Volunteer hope to grow the awareness of the benefits of volunteering and increase the number of DCU students participating in volunteering activities.

Volunteering events planned for 2017/2018 academic year include a Volunteer Appreciation Day, International Day of the Volunteer, and a drop-in volunteering clinic. If you’re interested in volunteering contact: volunteer@dcu.ie or Ruth Lynam, Student Volunteer Coordinator at ruth.lynam@dcu.ie

CLUBS & SOCIETIES What a semester for Clubs & Societies across all campuses. Even with the shortage of facilities, there has been some fantastic events with huge numbers, remarkable atmospheres and incredible inter club/society collaboration.

The semester kicked off with our Annual Clubs & Socs Fair. Once again this was held in DCU Sport on the Glasnevin campus and in the Auditorium on St. Patrick’s campus and contained four days of phenomenal activity with record numbers attending. Currently registrations are coming in close to 20,000 for both Clubs & Societies with a high level of active members.

Clubs & Socs HQ has never been busier! A hive of activity daily. Presently, there are 85+ societies and 40+ clubs.

CLC (Club Life Committee) & SLC (Society Life Committee) have been working hard on your behalf. This semester, CLC have allocated approx. €360,000 to clubs with SLC allocating approx. €265,000 to society activity. Thanks to all involved.

It is coming up to that time of year again. The en-mass exodus of students travelling abroad with their societies. This inter-semester break we will have over 1200 students heading off to a number of cities across Europe. For most, this is the highlight of the year.

We want you all to have a great trip, make long lasting friendships and most importantly, come back safely.

We have some major events lined up for semester two such as The Musical, Fashion Show, Cup and League finals, C&S Awards, Redbrick IV to name a few.

Exciting times lie ahead.

Congratulations to all Clubs & Socs, on what has been a fantastic semester and here’s looking forward to an equally rewarding second semester and a brand new shiny Student Centre!

TEFL COURSES Teaching English as a Foreign Language should never be put down as something that isn’t particularly student relevant. TEFL courses enable travel, opportunity and provide a considerable means to support oneself whilst working and living abroad. The possibilities really are endless, and while campaigning last March I had an ear to the ground for suggestions to bring to students and this one was high on my list.

The implementation of TEFL in DCU has already been a massive success in the Education faculty, but I wanted to make it university wide and bring this opportunity to the greater student population. The major roadblock to this was the considerable cost that is present with TEFL courses which often cost more that €1000 to complete. Clearly for a student this is seriously out of budget and out of reach.

After much deliberation with various companies, I finally found a connection with TEFL Training International - who realised my concerns and frustrations with the price of the full course.

They offered an option for those who aren’t studying education to gain the first part of the course which would still qualify them to teach in non-english speaking countries and would pave the way for future study. Although not the answer to all of their concerns, this was considerably cheaper than would be available elsewhere and we got more than double the uptake than the previous year. Over 150 students so far have signed up for a course and it’s great to see a campaign promise in action and helping students.

Students love to travel and I can’t wait to see where they end up with their newfound qualifications come next summer... Now come to think of it, I probably should go about getting myself signed up.

-Niall Behan, President

SafeTALK & ASIST This year DCUSU tried to train up as many students as we could in both national and local issues. We had NStEP, SafeTALK, ASIST and SMART consent workshops.

SafeTALK, is a half-day suicide alertness training that prepares participants, regardless of prior experience or training, to become a suicide-alert helper. Most people with thoughts of suicide don’t truly want to die but are struggling with the pain in their lives. SafeTALK stresses safety while challenging taboos that inhibit open talk about suicide. The training does not teach people to do the intervention, instead, it teaches them how to be suicidealert. Participants learned the steps to identify people with suicidal thoughts and how to connect them with someone who can aid with intervention with them. We trained thirty DCU students with the skills from SafeTALK, hoping that their knowledge will filter through the entire college.

ASIST, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) is a two-day interactive workshop in suicide first aid. ASIST teaches participants to recognize when someone may have thoughts of suicide and work with them to create a plan that will support their immediate safety. ASIST is widely used by health care providers. It is a very intense course and is one of the best training you can get. Twenty DCU students are now trained up in ASIST and we will be hoping to get more in semester two.

AWARENESS

WELFARE WORKING GROUP Each year, a group of volunteer students come together to form a Welfare Working Group, to assist the Union with welfare campaigns and awareness throughout the academic year.

VP for Welfare & Equality Podge Henry writes: “This year I had the pleasure of working with twelve amazing students to be on my welfare working group. The working group has been my right hand company when discussing campaigns around the campus. They were there for ideas, help and feedback whenever I needed them! Mental Health Week would not have been possible without the work and commitment that they brought to the table and I can’t wait to work with them in semester two.”

BEST POSSIBLE START WEEK

“Best Possible Start Week” was a huge success. We had cooking demos in both SPC and GLA teaching students on how to make quick meals that are healthy and delicious. We had information on tenants’ rights to ensure all students know the law so they won’t be scammed in regards to renting in Dublin, especially with the current rent crisis. We had free gym membership to give people a chance to get active and try out all the facilities DCU has to offer. Along with this, we ran ‘Give it a Go Week’ so students could try out different Clubs and Socs for free, before committing to join. Finish ing the week off, we had our first SHIFT day, (Sexual Health In First Term).

From Johnny’s Got You Covered to a penis rodeo and sexual health quiz, we informed people of STI’s, practicing safe sex while also having a blast.

-Podge Henry, VP for Welfare & Equality

“Mental health does not always mean mental illness”

There are not enough words to describe how successful this week was. In my opinion it was the best campaign week DCUSU has ever run to date. So much went on that I don’t know where to begin.

We got so many people on campus involved, from the sports teams, sports department, Clubs and Socs, staff to all the students, everyone took part. We started the week with 3Ts ‘Share the Load’ initiative. 134 School bags were placed outside Henry Grattan to represent the average amount of students that die by suicide each year in Ireland.

This really set the tone for the week, urging people to talk and open up to each

MENTAL HEAL

IT’S OKAY T

other. Of course our theme for the week was ‘It’s Okay To Talk’ and we had some of our major sports teams take photos with our banner to show their support.

Our University President and the Director of Student Support & Development also posed in photos to show their support of the week.

We had two amazing speakers in Grace Mongey ‘Faces By Grace’ who is an Irish influencer who suffers with anxiety and depression who has over 100k followers on social media. She came in to discuss her journey and how she stays on top of her mental health, whilst also giving our students tips on the same topic.

LTH WEEK

TO TALK

Then we had Ibrahim Halawa, who was invited to discuss his battle with mental health while he was wrongfully imprisoned for four years. He packed out T101, the biggest lecture hall in DCU and got a standing ovation after his speech. This was certainly the highlight of the week for me. We handed out over 500 support wristbands with DCU mental health services listed on them at Shite Night. This was done to continuously make people aware of the supports on and off campus.

We also trained students in safeTALK, had puppies on both campuses, free ice cream, free gym and overall an amazing buzz for all students. We really kept the

week a positive one, to show that mental health does not always mean mental illness, everyone has mental health, be it positive or negative, spreading the message that it really is okay to talk.

- Podge Henry, VP for Welfare & Equality

THANKING OUR NURSES This year DCUSU ran our annual “Nurses Appreciation Day” in the nursing building on October 25th.

We decided to show our own appreciation to our student nurses by having a full day recognising the difficulties and hard work that face them. The idea of the day was to boost morale in the nursing faculty and show our support. With the help of staff and students we organised a great day of activities.

The day included games, free beauty treatments in the foyer, popcorn and goodies and pumpkin carving! The reception we received was incredible. The day was a great success and we’ve also arranged a second Nurses Appreciation Day for semester 2 so that those who were on placement for the first one can now join in for the second!

Thank you to everyone who helped and supported the day and remember to show your appreciation to nurses.

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS Mental Health is a topic that comes up each and every year as having particular relevance and resonance with students in Ireland. None more so than in DCU. Within the walls of our multi-campus university lie 17,000 independent and individual minds,each wired entirely differently. The differences we share often lead to a joyous combination of positivity and fun, where people can learn and live in perfect harmony.

One of the downsides of our differences is that we very regularly don’t know how other people are feeling and we can’t invade people headspaces to find out. Your mental health can be a very fragile balance, and with the stresses of college and living up from home for the first time students can find themselves left lonely and isolated.

Wellness Wednesday is a flagship initiative launched to tackle mental health stigma, as well as providing a platform in the middle of the week for students to permanently think about and look after their mental health. I was delighted to be able to launch this project this year, in coordination with SS&D and the Disability office. The message we want to send is abundantly clear; that you can talk about mental health and it’s okay to do so.

The activities we offered over the first semester ranged from pet therapy with bunny rabbits to Mindfulness classes, from Live Music Sessions in St. Patrick’s campus, to seminars on minding your sleep cycle. The fun-filled events were to provide a positive platform to open up about mental health, and lead to a great uptake in students partaking in our more serious classes on minding your overall health.

The participation from students was amazing and we were blown away at the attendance at the mindfulness classes, which are a brilliant way for students to unwind and improve their mental wellbeing. It is quite fitting that Wednesday is the hump day of the week, and it is brilliant being able to provide a bit of a break to students during this time. We have had some really busy weeks with classes and activities and I can really see this further flourishing in the latter part of the year and in years to come. It has so far shown DCUSU’s commitment to mental health awareness and that it isn’t just tied to individual campaign weeks.

I can’t wait to plan even more events for Wellness Wednesdays and see it go from strength to strength in semester two.

- Niall Behan, President

“Students loudly

chanted to inform the government of their vocal opposition”

REPEAL THE 8TH DCUSU along with USI and thousands of others on the 30th of September marched the streets of Dublin for the “Repeal the Eighth” campaign.

Over one hundred DCU students joined the march for women’s right to choose. On average over twelve Irish citizens travel abroad a day to get an abortion. We represented what we believe to be one of the most important issues this year. It was a massive success and with the promised referendum next year, we will only progress in our voice for the middle ground, which is choice.

- Podge Henry, VP for Welfare & Equality

LOANS PROTEST Almost 1,000 DCU students descended upon Dublin City Centre on the 4th of October to protest the potential introduction of a loans scheme in higher education. We organised buses, t-shirts, megaphones and placards and represented DCU students proudly. The march began on Custom House Quay - where we joined tens of thousands of other students from around the country and proceeded through the city centre to Merrion Square. A host of speakers gave incredible speeches as students loudly chanted to inform the government of their vocal opposition. We managed to encourage so many students to attend by giving speeches to thousands of DCU students beforehand and a sincere thanks to the team is due and weeks of stress were duly rewarded come the announcement of the budget.

COMMUNITY

DCUSU DOES CHRISTMAS This semester we want to really embody the Christmas spirit in DCU and bring Christmas cheer to all students who were sitting their exams. The SU envisaged an event where the DCU community all came together for a day long event with as many give-aways as possible running simultaneously. The SU went to all three campuses, handing out goodie bags with sweets, drinks and santa hats, in order to bring a smile to students who were stuck indoors studying. Santa even made an appearence in Java and listened to their Christmas wish lists, there was even snow!

It was a great event and we were delighted to see the engagement from staff and students alike on all three campuses.

SVP GIVING TREE Now in its fifth year, the SVP giving tree appeal run by DCU Clubs and Societies had it’s biggest response yet.

DCU staff and students were invited to the launch of the tree on all 3 campuses from Novemeber 7th-8th.

We decorated the Christmas trees with tags that represented different aged children and adults who would receive the gifts. There was a great turnout for the mulled wine and mince pies. There was an amazing response and the St Vincent de Paul were delighted to receive the gifts to distribute to people in need before Christmas.

HELP US HELP THOSE FORTUNATE

BY GIVING A GIFT TO SVP THIS CHRISTMAS

EVENTS This semester has been jam packed with events and activities from the SU and Clubs and Socs alike. The main goal this year was to encourage students to travel to all 3 campuses, this was achieved by hosting various inter-campus events. With the build of the new student centre taking place on Glasnevin, we saw this as an opportunity to utilse other campuses and their facilities. The “All Halloween” ball on Glasnevin was a soaring success and the weekly “Wellness Wednesday” intiative on St Patrick’s campus has never been stronger. Freshers’ Fortnight saw the welcoming of 4,000 new students who engaged with our daily ents and activities from the get-go!

We encourage students to have fun and enjoy college life outside of the lecture hall as much as possible as these are the places your friends and memories of DCU will be made.

LARKFIELD BLOCK PARTY | COMEDY HYPNOTST| SHITE NITE | BINGO LOCO| | WELNESS WEDNESDAYS | OUTDOOR CINEMA | COUNTY & COUNTRY COLOURS NIGHT | JOHN GIBBONS | JAZZ & OISIN | TOUGH LOVE | FRESHERS BALL - ALOHA HAWAII | PETTING FARM | MOCK ALL IRELAND | HALLOWEEN BALL | GRADUATION BALL | DCUSU DOES CHRISTMAS | CLUBS & SOCS CHRISTMAS BALL

EVENTS SEM

MESTER ONE

HELP & SUPPORT

ACCOMMODATION CRISIS This year, as always the SU tackled the accommodation crises once again.

We did a massive community appeal around the Finglas, Drumcondra and Glasnevin area handing out over 4000 flyers to local homes and businesses.

We typed up a guide for all international students coming to Ireland to ensure they can secure their accommodation; this is now on the international platform of the DCU website.

There are still digs residencies available on our DCUSU platform with plenty more to come. If anyone is ever having trouble with accommodation you can email vppodge@dcusu.ie and he will be more than happy to help you.

You should never feel bullied or intimidated by a landlord and if you ever need advice, feel free to get in touch!

EXAM TIPS

Brendan Power, VP for Academic Affairs has listed some exam tips to help you get through semester 1 examinations and assignments!

• Take breaks - not too many but enough to ensure your study is productive. First figure out a system that works specifically for you and stick to it. Be it for example twenty minutes on and five off.

• Stay hydrated drink enough water and avoid caffeinated drinks if possible.

• Get what you need to answer an exam question on one page and use trigger words or acronyms.

• Delete Netflix or restrain yourself from binge watching shows!

• Practice exam questions under exam conditions time wise and without looking at notes.

• Have a productive study space - be it the library or a kitchen table ensure there is little noise or only your headphones to allow you to focus.

• Look at previous exam questions where relevant.

• Contact your lecturers if something is unclear.

• Utilise feedback from continuous assessments (if applicable) • Have an exam day routine • Eat brain cafe • Set study goals/ have a to do list

ACUI CONFERENCE Every year DCUSU sends a cohort of delegates to the ACUI Region VIII Conference in Boston and surrounding areas. The idea is to link Students’ Unions in the UK and Ireland with those most similar across the Atlantic. DCUSU President Niall Behan writes about his experience: “The conference itself took place in UMASS Boston right in the city itself, but the pre conference this year (for the first time) took place in New York City. As you could imagine, having the travel to the Big Apple was a devastating experience… But we made the most of it!

This year Matt Davey and I were selected alongside Úna Redmond, OSL Manager. We visited NYU, Columbia, SUNY, Barnard and it was transformative learning experience. Although across the pond, many of the understandings could be brought back and students seem to have a lot of similarities despite a different setting and society. The one difference perhaps is the money that is pumped into the Universities in the states and it really does set them apart with the grandeur and legacy. The students themselves seem to view education much more like a commodity which I am incredibly glad isn’t the case here as students interact with the university in a much more partnership style collaboration which breeds positive change for both parties instead of one clambering to fit the needs of the other.

The conference itself and the sharing of ideas was magnificent - and I even got a chance to present on the theme of the conference “Mental Health & Wellness”. I used the story of my father’s suicide to raise awareness for this cause. My talk was called “Mind and Taboo” addressing some key issues in society regarding mental health. I received an overwhelming reception for doing so. I wanted to spread the message of increasing the chat in society and lessening the stigma attached to mental illness and hopefully this has carried through somewhat to help some people out there struggling. There were some other brilliant contributions which concluded the conference in a personal and energetic fashion.

We did get some spare time to explore, and between NYC and Boston there were many landmarks seen - from the Statue of Liberty to Harvard University and it truly was a magnificent trip that I won’t forget in a long long time. Matt even managed to bring something nice home to his mother in Sligo!!”

CONSENT WORKSHOPS Our consent workshops with SS&D were a huge success with 256 students involved in 12 different workshops over four evenings from the 25th to the 28th of September.

We ran the workshops over two campuses with four workshops running on both Tuesday and Wednesday night between Glasnevin and St.Patrick’s campus.

They were facilitated by 23 trained up students and staff who themselves completed the workshop during their own training day.

These workshops were interactive, fun and informative with fantastic student participation. The topic of Smart Sexual Consent was discussed using interactive tasks which allowed everyone if wanted to express their opinion with many laughs along the way.

All students received a certificate upon completion of the workshop.

We all hope that this is only the beginning of Smart Consent in DCU.

CAREERS DCUSU’s Education Officer has been working alongside DCU Careers Service this semester to encourage students to be thinking about their online profile and how future employers see them online. Next semester will see a full Careers Week campaign in February. In the meantime, if students are looking for any part-time work or opportunities over the Christmas holidays, log onto dcusu.ie for weekly listings and posts.

DCUSU HELPDESK THE DCUSU Helpdesk is the first port of call for many students who visit the SU. There are lots of services available here including Dublin Bus tickets, Leap Cards, Student Travel Cards, Ticketmaster, event tickets, SU branded clothing and merchandise.

Students are always encouraged to visit the Helpdesk upstairs in the Hub on GLA or off Block D on SPC.

2185 STUDENT LEAP CARDS ISSUED SINCE SEPTEMBER

DCU Clothing 140 hoodies & 79 T-shirts sold

101 Dublin Bus 30 day rambler purchased - 78 years worth of travel

HELPDESK SALES SEMESTER 1, 2017 58 Dublin Bus 5 day ramblers purhased - 3 years worth of travel

11,304 LEAP CARD TOPUPS

HELPDESK

DCU Office Of Student Life

Email us : suhelpdesk@dcusu.ie Phone: 01 7005392