Cardiff Met is ranked 1st in Wales and 8th in the UK.
The Shout!
Commercial Services.
Finalists in two National Awards. You got to be in it to win it. Cardiff Met annually participates in the National Student Housing Survey (NSHS), which this year was completed by over 33,000 students from over 200 institutions. Linked to the survey is an annual programme of Awards recognising the highest achievers. All the awards are based purely on student feedback regarding their experience in Halls.
but its still an outstanding achievement to have been nominated by our students, It is no small coincidence that the nomination coincides with an increased investment in our ‘Res Life’ programme, where this year we have successfully held over 40 alcohol free events for students living in our Halls.
Speaking of alcohol free, this year in Halls we have become the We are delighted to announce first Welsh university to introthat we were a finalist for the duce the option of living in stuhighly coveted 2018 Best Student flats where we do not permit dent Community awar d. the consumption or storage of There was a live awards alcohol. We have been pleasantly webcast in early September surprised by how popular this where we were up against Prime option has become, with six flats Student Living and Kaplan Res- at Plas Gwyn and three at idences for the winners title. Cyncoed Halls, totalling seventy Unfortunately this year we were seven students! pipped to the award by Prime,
We were also finalists for the Green Gown Awards 2018 category of Student Engagement. The winner was announced in York on the 8th November and we just missed out, but at least we made the final cut. The category requires that students and staff work together to achieve goals using ‘top down ‘ and ‘bottom up grass routes’ methods to achieve maximum understanding and achievement across the University. These nominations are a real testament to the manner in which the entire Commercial Services team interact with and support students. Fingers crossed we can bring home an award next year.
Newsletter Date: 12/11/2018 Issue #36 Est: 2004 Inside this issue: Financial roundup. Mark has been doing his sums. NEXT Bikes are up and running. Fastest growing city in the World. Conference talk with Eva. 4,000+ delegates in a Summer! Septembers New Arrivals. Smiles, tears and laughter Monte Carlo Or Bust! Four go wild in a Jaguar ID cards are about to change. New staff and student design.
Res Life Update. So many events in so little time! Meet your Colleagues.
Caitlin and Oliver.
Whats in a name?
New Atrium furniture and more award news. Contributed by Karen Thorne, Deputy Catering Manager. Llandaff Atrium has become awash with colour this October with the introduction of new furniture and soft seating. Catering also found themselves finalists in the Feed People Well Category (Food Made Good Awards sponsored by the Sustainable Restaurant Association). We were nominated for our work on the Healthy Eating Range and the Peas Please pledge to help consumers eat an extra portion of veg a day and for our Free Fruit Friday initiative
First we were Facilities Times and then Estates joined the title. Since 2017 we have become part of the Finance Department and as such a name change was needed to reflect this. Lots of names have been bandied about including The Financial Chronical, The Commercial Times, Met Insider and even The Barry News, but taking lead from our Vice Chancellor, who has encouraged us to be more shouty, we have settled on The Shout! With a new name comes a new expectation for articles from staff who have not contributed before, so come on set quill to parchment or fingers to keys and shout about your achievements, new developments, awards or just what is going on in your area.
Cyncoed summer halls refurbishment. Ellis has gone all yellow! The summer saw the completion of Phase 1 of the Ellis Halls refurbishment, with Phase 2 confirmed for Summer 2019. A total of 69 bedrooms were completely transformed into modern en-suite bedrooms with a shared snack kitchen and lounge area. Due to making the bedrooms en-suite we were able to transform the old communal bathroom areas into a social space which has added an open plan style to the kitchen area. The outside facade has been given an uplift with bespoke panelling, uplighters and the unique Ellis yellow colour. The feedback has been outstanding, with the Elis Flats 1-5 residents the envy of the rest of the campus. I spoke to one parent who commented: “We are delighted with our sons room - he is so lucky to be at Cardiff Met!” Please excuse the ‘lived in’ look of the photos but to date not a single student has dropped out of the new rooms, so I could only photograph them as they are.
NEXT Bikes have landed on all campuses! We have purchased 600 FREE memberships for staff and students. Cardiff Met is delighted to announce that it has joined the City’s new public bike share scheme ‘Nextbike’. This partnership will provide access to Nextbike through new bike stations installed at our Llandaff, Cyncoed and Plas Gwyn Campuses from Monday 17th September 2018! In addition, The University has funded 600 memberships to the scheme, which will allow our students and staff to have the first 30mins of every use free! (Please note after 30 minutes charges will apply). Please visit www.nextbike.co.uk/en/cardiff to sign up and for further information. (Note, when registering please select the Cardiff Met University option, and you will need to enter your Cardiff Met email address for verification). To date, an astonishing 100,000 journeys have been made in Cardiff as a city and we have had over 200 staff and students join up. Cardiff has become the flagship city for Nextbike with over 11,000 journeys being made a week. On one day last week I personally counted 32 Next bikes parked on the Llandaff Campus, so its certainly popular. Plans are already in place to expand our number of stands if the demand continues to be so high. You are strongly advised to wear a helmet and to cycle safely using cycle paths where possible. For further information and a FREE cycling map of Cardiff please contact Neil Woollacott on extension 02920 41 6712 Page 2
Conference Services 4,000+ delegates visit in a Summer. Contributed by Eva Huw, conference Co-ordinator. This summer Conference Services have been kept very busy hosting events ranging from sports training camps and language schools to government staff conferences and primary school competitions. We have welcomed over 4000 delegates to Cardiff Met this summer and here’s a summary of some of the events that have taken place: * JISC Connect More Wales - 1 day event with 100 delegates and 2 robots! * Enterprise Troopers National Final - 1 day event with 150 delegates from primary schools across Wales. Keynote speeches from Kirsty Williams AM/Cabinet Secretary for Education), Ross McEwan (CEO RBS/Natwest) and Dr Cecilia HanniganDavies (Acting Deputy Dean of Teaching and Learning at Cardiff Met). * L’astolabio Language School - 4 week residential event. * South Wales Potters - weekend residential pottery and ceramics event. * Flintshire Historical Society - 2 day residential course. * Cyber First - week long residential cyber security course for 14-17 year olds. * British Stammering Association National conference - weekend residential course. To subscribe to the annual Conference Services newsletter ‘Keeping you in the Know’, please email: conferenceservices@cardiffmet.ac.uk
Apart from the more academic based conferences highlighted before, we also hosted 15 residential sports groups and events that included: * Welsh Beach Volleyball Championship. * FAW Referees Annual Conference. * Five Nations Fencing Championship. * New Zealand Youth Athletics. * Inferno Racing Cross Fit Championship. *Seven residential school sport groups. Seven residential school sports groups for 15-17 year olds from the following schools: Kings Rochester School, Kings School Gloucester, Abraham Darby Academy, Uppingham School, Glenalmond College, Merchant Taylors School and Magdalen College. Kings School Macclesfield girls U18 hockey event is already booked for summer 2019. Eisteddfod – The National ‘Welsh’ Festival Sut mae! Siwt mae! Sally and Eva attended the Cardiff Met stand at the Eisteddfod this summer and have recently started ‘Uwch’ higher level Welsh classes. They are looking forward to trying out their skills at every opportunity!
Conference Services Compliments Words from happy customers! “We would like to thank Cardiff Met's conference team for all their help and support with our most successful conference ever. The team were supportive both in the run up and during the conference, nothing was too much trouble, exemplary customer care! They contributed a great deal to the success of our event. Delegates commented on the facilities being excellent. We can highly recommend Cardiff Met University as a conference venue.” Christine Simpson, British stammering Association
“It was a spectacularly successful day, thank you so much. Everyone we spoke to said how well the venue worked and commented on a great buzz throughout the day. The catering and hospitality were excellent. Nothing was too much trouble, which makes our lives so much easier as event managers.” Caroline Challoner, Cazbah
“We will definitely be in touch for future events. The combination of venue and accommodation worked really well and the staff support was impeccable!” Peter Russel, Director Russel Swords.
JISC held their annual Connect More in wales meeting at Cardiff Metropolitan university this year and we are delighted with the choice of venue. The space is very modern and had all the facilities we needed to run a successful event and Eva and the venue team provided excellent support during the run up to the event and on the day itself. Paola Davis, JISC Page 3
Septembers new Halls arrivals. Smiles, tears, laughter and ice creams!
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Res Life Halls arrivals events Just a taste of what was waiting for our new Halls students.
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Marks’ round up on Finances Contributed by Mark Barry, Head of Commercial Services Commercial Services provides the University’s students, staff and visitors with a range of professional services and facilities that support their day to day activities; the department also seeks to generate significant surpluses through its activities for reinvestment back into the University. In a competitive environment of significant change and commercial challenge, we have consistently innovated, improved service delivery and increased revenues and margin. Since 2011/12, the core trading areas, namely Residences, Catering & Hospitality, Conference and Print have achieved a 57% growth in net surplus contributed back to the University (£3million surplus in 2017/18). During this period, Commercial Services has also self-invested over £1.5m in the University’s Student Residences and Catering Outlets, helping to deliver tangible enhancements to the quality and range of services and facilities provided for our students and staff. Further measures of our success are the many external award shortlistings that we have received across the services, including those mentioned on the front page, we were winners of the APME Print & Design Awards, and also lead the University’s submission to the UK Green League, successfully achieving 1st place in Wales and top 10 in the UK. It is without question, our success is due to a combination of a strategic approach and the ‘can do’, positive professional attitude demonstrated by all. Many thanks for all your hard work.
Met Rider - new incentives for 2nd and 3rd year students. Discounted rates and new timetable design This years Met Rider saw a new incentive for 2nd and 3rd years to purchase with a £30 discount loyalty bonus for students who purchased the Rider last year, making it just £240 for ten months travel. We have also managed to freeze the Staff Rider permit for the third year in a row, keeping it at just £295 a year, which is a fantastic £24 a month for unlimited travel across the entire Cardiff Bus network. Applications are now made entirely on line and processed at the Print Studio ready for collection when the students arrive. To order a pass please visit: estore.cardiffmet.ac.uk Staff are reminded that you can travel for free between campuses between the hours of 9am and 4pm for work related purposes by just showing your staff ID card.
Halls Allocations 2018. 1700 first year students helped.
A busy summer of allocations saw over 1700 first year students helped to find suitable accommodation. Demand was so high (particularly for Cyncoed Halls) that there is still a healthy waiting list for Halls at Cyncoed. With regards to Llandaff Campus we managed to accommodate all students (including locals) prior to the start of term. Once again very few students have withdrawn from Halls which helps illustrates that the Halls environment aids in the long term retention of students. We are already getting numerous requests to come back into Halls next year, but unfortunately we are only able to offer Halls for a students first year as there are simply not enough.
Cardiff Met goes Chilly’s mad! Contributed by Rachel Roberts, Environmental Performance Manager. Cardiff Met has been shortlisted for a Sustainable Academy Award for its reuseable bottle initiative, selling Chilly’s bottles on Campus. The awards are based on a public vote (60%) and a judges scores (40%), with voting closed on the 31st October, with the winner announced at The Principality Stadium on 29th November. During Go Green Week in February 2018, staff and students were invited to put forward their sustainability ideas via a ‘Campus Pledge Tree’. The number one suggestion was to reduce single-use plastic. The Catering outlets were highlighted as the highest use area of
single-use plastic: bottled water, soft drinks and food containers. Market research led to a collaboration with Hydrachill and Chilly’s Bottles, and the development of an alternative approach to plastic containers: 17 water coolers have been installed, along with discounted reusable bottles available for purchase on site. Since the implementation (April 2018) over 1250 bottles have been sold and we have surpassed a staggering 2 million free water vends via the coolers! This is a significant contribution to the 7.95% reduction in our waste recycling figures, which equates to an enormous 7940kg of plastic.
Monte Carlo or Bust Rally Contributed by four in a Jag. A team of four Cardiff Met staff successfully took on the famous Monte Carlo or Bust Rally in July raising money for the University's Student Hardship Fund. After purchasing a car for under £500, the group joined more than 70 teams to travel across five European cities in three days in aid of charity. The rally involved driving from the UK to Monte Carlo via France, Switzerland and across the Alps into Italy. The rally challenges entrants to source and decorate a banger for less than £500 and take part in a variety of fun challenges along the way competing for points and prizes. The team was tasked with finding a St Bernards dog, buying a Chinese newspaper, and parking up in the pit lane at the Reims F1 circuit amongst other things. The Cardiff Met team made up of Adrian Dennehy, James Howell, Aimee Jones and Paul Fitzpatrick, supported by Danny Hurley, purchased an old Jaguar S Type within budget and spent a number of weeks getting it up to spec in readiness for the epic journey which saw them averaging 10 hours of driving each day!
New Halls Warden team for 2018. Lots of new faces. September saw our new Halls Warden team undertake their training programme ahead of the student intake, which included First Aid, Conflict Resolution, Mental Health Awareness, Autism/Asperger Awareness and Drink/Drug awareness. To help prepare them for the role returning Wardens assisted with a session of case studies where previous scenarios were played out to decide as a group the best response and course of action. On the more practical side, the Warden team were given a tour of the Halls and shown how to deal with minor maintenance problems and made aware of issues concerning water, gas and electricity. The Wardens are an essential part of the student experience and to date this years team have been outstanding in their approach to the Warden role and the range of challenging issues they have had to deal with.
Print Studio wins two APME Print Awards. Well done Rebecca, Richard and the team. The first award we won was ‘The Best InHouse Digital Printed Product. Judges said “The stand out winner in this category had to be Cardiff Mets entry for the invite to the new Cardiff School of Technologies. An outstanding submission, as marvellous in execution as it was in design. The multi process piece was impactful on every level and the execution of it was absolutely phenomenal - it was set apart from the other submissions at the outset.” The second award was for ‘Best In-House Innovation’. Judges had this to say: ”This entry is totally worthy of winning a second category and giving Cardiff Met their ‘Big Night at the Oscars!’ there are industry awards won with submissions that are not as attractive as this piece. The concept, process and quality of the work - including some 3D texturing are marvellous. A truly inspiring exercise in innovation that will no doubt be a talking point for some time to come.”
Compliments for Accommodation Services. From a parent and a landlords perspective. Dear Harpal, I just wanted to say how impressed I am by the housing literature I received yesterday - professional, supportive, helpful and informative. As a parent of a new Cardiff Met student I was greatly reassured by the information supplied and your caring attitude toward housing these young people safely and happily. I am also a landlord on your housing list and have been for 20 years, I have always appreciated the fact that you care a great deal about your students and expect a high standard from landlords; receiving your information leaflets reinforced that professional message. I hope the Cardiff Met housing list will continue in the future because as a result of our partnership I am able to offer high quality, low cost student housing because no profiteering third parties are involved. I cannot praise the work you do highly enough and I know the hundreds of students I have housed over the years would say the same, as your leaflets, information and housing list provided then with a straightforward route into affordable accommodation and happy times at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Many, many thanks. Yours sincerely, Mrs Sarah Codd. BSc Hons, PGCE
‘Callmy Alert’ is now live! Contributed by Adrian Dennehy, Security Manager. Callmy Alert is an app-based mass notification system that you can download on to your mobile device. It allows you, in the event of an emergency, to receive critical information from the University. The app is completely free to download and you are not required to give any personal details. Users remain anonymous. Callmy Alert can also use ‘geo-locating’ to direct messages to users in a specific location, on or off campus. If the University needs to contact you in an emergency, we will send a text, voice or picture message to your phone. Most messages need no action. Some may ask you to respond or to confirm that you have received the message. Emergencies may include, site closures for snow, flooding, fire, etc.
Open Day Season Six in nine weeks. Its been a busy few months on the Open Day front with six events scheduled from mid September to early November. As a unit, Halls, Accommodation, Res Life and Catering have all been in attendance helping to ’sell’ Cardiff Met to prospective students and their parents for the 2019/20 academic year. Visitor numbers booked to attend have ranged from 600-1000 each Saturday with the format for the day including course talks, tours of the campus and tours of the Halls of Residence. Feedback has been really positive with many parents remarking that Cardiff Mets Open Day content has been far better than they have experienced elsewhere.
Caterings Halloween Cuisine. Not just flys in the soup! Catering entered into the fun of the occasion for Halloween with spookily dressed staff and an inspired menu that featured a range of spooky cuisine including: * Bloody SF Chicken * Lamb Bat Burgers * Spider Steak & Veg Pie * Spewy Spaghetti Peppers * Sweet Potato Pumpkin Tarts The students got into the fun of the event and devoured the food on offer. Please note that no bats, spiders or students were harmed in the making of these culinary delights!
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ID cards are about to change. Contributed by Clare Roberson, Commercial Services Assistant Manager. Changes to ID cards In the summer, the Vice Chancellor approved changes to both the staff and student Met Card design. Staff job titles and School/Unit are no longer printed on the staff card, and the student card now shows only the student name and student number. The student card design has been updated and feedback on the new look for cards has been positive. Many students have commented on how much better the new design looks. (Sample student card design attached) Enrolment & Induction Week In an effort to help ease Met Card issuing to new students in Enrolment & Induction Week, students were able to collect their Met Cards early this year on the Sunday before week one, at both Cyncoed and Llandaff campuses. Issuing cards at Cyncoed campus was particularly successful, with over 300 cards issued on the Sunday.
Single-use coffee cup collection on Llandaff Campus. Contributed by Rachel Roberts, Environmental Performance Manager. Cardiff Met is due to commence a three month trial in partnership with Keep Wales Tidy and Simply Cups. We will be creating a new waste stream for single-use coffee cups and lids on Campus, for collection, recycling and reducing the contamination of mixed recycling correctly. In order to create a new ‘social norm’ on Campus for disposing of cups on the go, the messaging of Re-use, Refill and Recycle will be shared. Staff, students and visitors will be asked to switch to using a reusable cup moving forward, saving cups and obtaining 10% discount. Those who wish to use a single-use cup will be asked to collect the cups and drop them off when convenient to singleuse cup bins in either The Atrium, The Gallery, the Box or Students Union. The
bins will have tubes for cups, lids and liquid. A range of re-usable cups from Cardiff Met, Costa and Chilly’s Tumblers are now on sale, offering a free drink with the first purchase, with 10% off when you present your re-usable cup when buying a hot drink in the Catering outlets on campus. This follows our previous plastic reduction steps by removing all plastic cutlery, straws and stirrers from Catering outlets. You may still see the odd one whilst stock is used up, but once they are gone there will be no more ordered. We will update you on the progress made on the cups over the next few months.
News in Brief. Stories from around the campuses. FE/HE South Wales Travel Plan Group November will see the twice yearly meeting of the HE/FE South Wales Travel Group chaired by Cardiff Met on the Llandaff Campus. This groups encompasses Cardiff Uni, USW, UHW, Traveline, Sustrans, Cardiff City Council, etc all working together to enrich the travel options for students and staff within South Wales. Jointly we have made a real difference within the region. If you have any travel issues you would like the group to discuss please let us know. Page 10
Student Housing Information Fayre.
Timetabling Round up. We are pleased to announce that all Schools have now pubThis years Fayre is scheduled for Tuesday lished personalised student timetables for 15th January 2019 from 10am in the CSM their students. Timetables for all returning Atrium at Llandaff Campus. This is the students were published on 20th August and first opportunity for students to get their timetables for 1st year students were pubhands on the Landlord Housing list. There lished in the middle of September. Therewill be the opportunity to speak to Harpal fore, as long as students are enrolled they will be able to download their timetable into McCarthy, Accommodation Officer and further advice available on contracts, gas, their calendar on a mobile device via iCal or MyCardiffMet Mobile application. This is a electric and fire safety. huge achievement and great that we’ve been Students will also be able to access the able to adhere to the agreed dates and publist via the student portal if they are unalish to returning students a month earlier than last year. Thanks to everyone involved ble to make the fayre. for their hard work.
Res Life Update. Bringing new experiences to our Halls students - all FREE and all alcohol FREE! Its been an incredibly busy start to the year for the Res Life programme, with a multitude of events and experiences. There have been too many events to list, but the highlights have included: Curry and Quiz night which attracted 200 Plas Gwyn students on their first night in Halls. 2 x Res Life V Staff football matches which staff are winning at the moment. Its amazing to see one student who has never played football before get involved and immediately become part of a team. 40 students trampoline bouncing all over the place at Go Air. Cooking classes with Italian, Chinese and Curry cooked to date and will culminate in how to cook a Sunday Roast. The students get free ingredients to go home with to recreate the meal. The Book Club, with members currently reading Equal Rights by Terry Pratchet. The Wednesday Running Club which attracts Halls students of various running abilities every week. FIFA Doubles nights at Cyncoed (10 pairs) and Plas Gwyn (20 pairs) with the winning pair winning any football shirt in the world as a prize. The last winners opted for Everton and Liverpool shirts. The recent Halloween film premier which 42 students attended. Cardiff Devils Ice Hockey match which saw students attend and watch ice hockey for their first time ever. Free haircuts at Plas Gwyn courtesy of Acute Barbers of Llandaff North. All the students also qualify for an increasing discount up to 50% every time they visit. These events have been crucial with regards to student retention and are a direct influence on the factor that we have had an incredibly low number of student withdrawals from Halls. Its been r efr eshing to see so many of our International students keen to take part, with many of them building friendships with UK students that previously they would have struggled to make. "The cooking session was great! I learned new skills and learned how to cook better (and not live off pot noodles all year). I have been to a few events and I have really enjoyed them. I learned (vaguely) how to play FIFA! (Shock for anyone that knows me). Looking forward to more events in the future, I have been trying new things I wouldn't have before, and loving every minute of it!! Thanks to everyone involved in organising the events!!" Naomi Beaven Speech & Language Year 1. Page 11
Dates For Your Diary: 08/11/18 - Green Gown Award announcement. 15/11/18 - Launch of Staff/Student Travel Survey. 20/11/18 - Community Day at Llandaff Campus. 07/12/18 - Christmas Carol Concert at Llandaff Cathedral. Editor: Neil Woollacott Deputy Accommodation Services Manager & Travel Plan Manager. Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cyncoed Campus, Cyncoed Road, Cardiff CF23 6XD Tel: 02920 41 6712 nwoollacott@cardiffmet.ac.uk Facebook: Cardiff Met Halls & Housing
20/12/18 - Last working day before Christmas closure.
Christmas Lunches: Cyncoed K1 - 4th & 11th of December & Residential Christmas meal on the 6th of December. Llandaff Atrium – 5th & 12th, 17th & 18th of December Llandaff Hospitality suite - 5th , 17th & 18th of December
Congratulations: David Owen on his recent marriage to the beautiful Bethan.
Farewell and Good Luck: Sue King, Cyncoed Nurse who no longer works at Cardiff Met. Luke O’Reilly who has recently left the I-Zone. Sandra Goode who has left Plas Gwyn Campus. Helena Cannon who left Student Services for a new career.
Go Green: If you would like your copy of The Shout! delivered to you electronically in future rather than a hard copy, get in touch at: nwoollacott@cardiffmet.ac.uk
Meet your Colleagues Introducing new Print Studio staff: Caitlin and Oliver. Oliver: Design, Martial Arts, Recording/ listening to Podcasts, Politics, Reading. Did you know? Caitlin: I have never broken a bone in my body. Oliver: I am a practitioner of Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) and have fought in 3 nationwide tournaments for 15 th century medieval longsword and 19th century sabre.
Names:
Brains Brewery
Caitlin Gwynn, Print Service Administrator
Oliver: I was a cocktail Bar Manager
Oliver James Sutcliffe, Print Service
Interests:
Former Employment:
Caitlin – Yoga, cooking, going to drag shows, gaming, reading, embroidery, all sorts!
Caitlin: Business Support Team at
The Shout! is your newsletter and reflects your activities and achievements. It has been initiated to keep us all aware of what is going on in each others sections. If there is no article about your area, it is because no one has spoken to me, please contact me yourself. Anyone who wishes to contribute articles, will be greeted with a smiling face and open arms. A copy of the Shout! is also available in Welsh if required. Any staff who are leaving Cardiff Met for pastures new, let me have a forwarding address and I will send you a copy. The Shout! next issue will be circulated from May 2019