EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION
IMPACT REPORT
2014 -15
King’s Buildings House
The Pleasance
Potterrow
Teviot Row House
CONTENTS
01 03 05
Welcome
2014-15 Achievement Highlights
09
15
Supporting Students
05 Advice Place 07 Peer Learning and Support Our Venues
09 Bars 10 Catering 11 Retail 11 Entertainment 13 Student Staff 14 Partnerships Get Involved 15 Societies 17 Volunteering 19 EUSA Global 20 Postgrad
21
27
29 31
Leadership and Representation 21 Sabbatical Team 23 Student Council 24 School Councils 25 Class Reps 26 Liberation Groups Celebrating Success Teaching, Society and Impact Awards The Money Bit
What’s Next
WELCOME
01
Welcome to the EUSA Impact Report 2014-15: A great chance for us to reflect on last year’s successes and developments, now that our new Sabbatical Team is settling in. Over the last year we have done a huge amount of work to improve and develop the student experience. We have continued to progress our financial stability, through sustainability and development. We have opened various new catering and retail spaces, offering improved services throughout our campuses. Our student support services have improved and developed in multiple areas: This year, over 7,200 students have benefited from our Peer Learning and Support projects, and students have donated over 7,400 hours of their time through our Volunteering Groups. This report also gives us an opportunity to look and move forward. We are now working towards reaching the ambitious goals set within our first ever Strategic Plan, which we completed in 2014-15. The plan will enable us to fulfil our mission of how we will better engage with and represent our students. Jonny Ross-Tatam EUSA President
02
2014 -15 ACHIEVEMENT HIGHLIGHTS
Celebrating 125 years of Teviot by hosting a huge birthday bash over the course of a weekend in November.
Gaining the Responsible
Futures Accreditation
for sustainability, in partnership with the University.
Launching our Impact Awards to celebrate student contribution to Peer Learning and Support, Volunteering and EUSA Global.
03
Working with our
highest ever number
of Class Reps (1,755).
Connecting 600 students
through our EUSA Global Buddies Scheme.
Winning the
NUS Scotland Awards for the best University Students’ Association, Education and also Student Opportunities (jointly with Queen Margaret University Students’ Union).
Winning
Best Live Music Provision 2015 across
all student unions in the UK for the second year running in the EntsForum.com Awards. Introducing the Shortlisted for the NUS UK
Academic Representation Award.
Winning extended access to the
NHS shuttle bus
and a transport grant for fourth and fifth year medical students.
Hosting three
Glittering Award
ceremonies to encourage and develop excellence in EUSA and the University.
Edinburgh Student Arts Festival:
Edinburgh’s first, city-wide student arts festival that brought together five higher education and further education institutions across the city.
04
THE ADVICE PLACE
SUPPORTING STUDENTS
EUSA’s Advice Place has a team of professional advice staff who support students and university staff with free, confidential and impartial advice. This year the service has taken many great strides forward. In 2014, The Advice Place renewed its Matrix Accreditation, and are proud to remain a nationally accredited advice service. They ran 33 outreach stalls and events around the University as well as recruiting, training and supporting a team of student volunteers. As well as offering individual advice to thousands of students, The Advice Place advisers also work to improve the services students receive from the University, the City of Edinburgh Council and accommodation providers. This year we have worked closely with the University on reviewing the Code of Student Conduct and the new Support for Student Policy.
05
ÂŁ37,000
Over lent, from our emergency loan fund, to help 226 students who had nowhere else to go.
450
14,400
Over enquiries answered this year (student volunteers answered exactly 1,000 of these).
150
Over students supported in applying for help from the Discretionary fund.
Over leases checked through with students before they signed them.
5,000
Over free safer sex products given out.
06
PEER LEARNING AND SUPPORT Peer Learning and Support provides a safe, confidential and informal space for newer students to get academic advice and social and pastoral support from more experienced students. This interaction can take the form of facilitated group study sessions, befriending meetings and academic families. Through continued motivation, support, supervision and training by EUSA in partnership with the Schools and Central Services there are now over 60 Peer
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Learning and Support projects running across the University. Working consistently with 90 staff, 500 Volunteers and over 7,000 students, the scale and success of the Peer Learning and Support provision at Edinburgh has achieved both national and international recognition. In the last year, we became the Convener of the Scottish Peer Support Network, which we set-up in August 2014. The Network brings together students and practitioners working in 15 Further and Higher Education Institutions across Scotland to share practice, ideas and solutions.
} 7,253 students took part in Peer Support sessions or events in 2014
}
Our work was highlighted as best-practice by the Higher Education Academy, Enhancement Themes and SPARQS
} We hosted the very successful UK and Ireland PASS National Leader Conference Survey (IPLS) 91% of students reported that peer leadership had changed the way they felt about building relationships with people with whom they work
} 86% of students in the IPLS
reported that peer leadership had increased the feeling that they are contributing to their campus community
“
As a result of my participation in the scheme I have become not only more creative and confident, but also more aware of the impact I have on others. } MathPALS participant
“
} In the International Peer Leader
08
BARS
OUR VENUES
EUSA’s four venues continue to provide crucial services, prioritising the environment and student safety as well as offering opportunities for our membership to relax and enjoy themselves.
Distinctive bar identities were created in Teviot which give a wider range and choice resulting in an uplift in turnover of £88,000 — a 6% increase from last year.
New regular events were programmed in Teviot, including tutored whisky tasting, the history of gin, and beer and cider festivals, showcasing a range of new drinks and places to socialise.
‘Good Night Out’ (anti-harassment) training was
given to all bar staff and we are building partnerships with Sexpression and Safezone to continue this work in creating safe spaces.
09
CATERING Catering’s services have expanded in all EUSA venues with the creation of a wide selection of products and dishes suitable for all. We source our raw ingredients from local suppliers from around the Lothians and Scotland, and ensure they are sourced in an ethical and sustainable way. There are regular offers and deals on in the outlets such as ‘burger and a pint’ for £5 and daily specials menus cooked freshly to order by our trained chefs. We have responded to demand for vegan and gluten free products, which we have added into our standard range and choices.
}
Development of a bar and catering outlet at Peffermill sports ground to provide the Sports Union and sports teams with an after match menu and bar food.
}
Creation of a distinctive and modern coffee shop in Potterrow — Baristo — which incorporates exhibition space for Edinburgh College of Art students to use.
} Redevelopment of The Library Bar menu to incorporate weekly special menus and beer and food matching.
10
RETAIL
ENTERTAINMENT
This year EUSA Retail focused on tailoring its offering in response to the demand from students for more healthy options. Our shops widened their range of vegan and vegetarian options, and introduced a wide range of healthy snack options which are labelled and promoted to encourage a healthier lunch choice. The ‘meal deal’ was also reviewed and now includes a host of healthier options to promote healthy eating throughout our campuses.
EUSA’s events programme offers an impressive and award-winning live music provision, hugely popular club nights, sell-out annual activities, like our Pleasance Sessions festival, and a range of student programmed weekly events including comedy, jazz and quiz nights.
This year we also renovated our shop at King’s Buildings House to include a Pie Shop. Our freshly baked range has proved immensely popular with students on the campus, and goes to further our efforts to provide a wide range of retail and catering options for students based at KB. Environmentally, retail continued to play an important role with cardboard, paper and plastic recycling in all outlets. This also expanded to target food waste, which is now recycled properly and disposed of correctly through implementation of food waste bins around our outlets.
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Our events team also support student run activities — empowering students to express themselves through hosting events within EUSA venues – as well as supporting non-student led activity. We also hire EUSA venues to local and national promoters, augmenting a comprehensive entertainment programme for our members. EUSA’s key entertainments activity this year saw the introduction of the Edinburgh Student Arts Festival. The festival aimed to examine art in the broadest term and provide a platform for all students in the festival city.
Our student run literary night
SOAPBOX
hosted the Scottish Poetry Slam championships.
We won
Best Live Music Provision
award across all Students Unions in the UK for the second year running in the EntsForum.com Awards.
1,100 events
Over organised or supported during this academic year, with a staff of 45 technicians, DJs, student programmers and box office assistants.
Over
200 live music events hosted. 12
STUDENT STAFF EUSA is a major employer of students in Edinburgh, offering significant support in terms of training, development and flexible working hours to fit in with study. There were over 450 hourly-paid staff employed by EUSA during 2014-15, most of whom were students.
“
Working at EUSA helped me finish my undergraduate degree, as well as saw me through my Masters. The flexibility and support I received during those two years was invaluable. I had the chance to balance my studies and job successfully and accumulated a wealth of experience and training.
“
Student staff are given opportunities to take part in training to develop their skills, including leadership development programmes relevant to their roles which include sessions on leading and developing teams, team working, communicating effectively, initiative and creativity, delivering results and customer focus. Student staff also have opportunities for career progression, particularly in our commercial areas where they can progress from team member, through team leader, senior team leader, up to shift manager whilst studying.
} Paula Russell
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PARTNERSHIPS EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE
PRIDE SCOTIA
Every August EUSA participates in the world’s largest arts festival by working in partnership with Edinburgh Festival Fringe producers Gilded Balloon and Pleasance Theatre Trust. By sharing our venue, we create a multitude of performance spaces for up-and-coming as well as established artists, generating profits from our bars and catering provision that get channelled directly back into EUSA to support our services to students through the year.
Pride Scotia took place in June 2014 at Teviot and Bristo Square, raising awareness as well as celebrating the LGBT community with a march and post-march entertainment. Approximately 2,000 people attended the day.
During August 2014 EUSA’s outlets:
} Served over one million customers } Carried out 447,889 transactions } Generated an income of £2.9m
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SOCIETIES
GET INVOLVED
Student activities play a vital part in the student experience at Edinburgh. As well as intrinsic enjoyment, participation supports and encourages students’ personal and professional development, giving them an opportunity to develop new interests and skills and, if they choose, to exercise leadership. It also ensures a vibrant student community and student life, encouraging performing arts, sport, media, entrepreneurship, political activism and international culture and connections to thrive on campus, along with an almost infinite range of particular hobbies and interests. EUSA supports societies through advice, funding and services, including space: Societies use rooms in our venues approximately 362 hours per week during term-time!
There are over: 250 Societies 1,650 committee members 23,000 memberships (21,500 student memberships and 1,500 non-student memberships)
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Edinburgh Revue created the Scottish Student
Comedy Festival, held two Stand-Up Championships, and had their most successful Fringe run yet.
Model UN Society ran the largest ever Scottish
Model UN conference with 400 students from over 15 countries coming together for three days.
EGP (Edinburgh Global Partnerships)
South Asian Students’ Association
ran the UK’s first South Asia Week; a unique collaboration involving five societies and departments; using resources like EUSA (Global, Academic) and ESCA grants.
“
Being involved in societies has been my favourite thing about university. You can find like-minded students that are passionate about the same things as you. Societies have given me lifelong friendships, and access to an alumni network that spans the globe.
“
celebrated its 25th anniversary (making it the oldest charity of its kind in the UK). Over 25 years, EGP as a society has delivered nearly 200 projects and raised around £1 million.
} Jess, member of Political Union Society and North American Society
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VOLUNTEERING 2014-2015 was a pilot year which saw the implementation of new development plans and structures for volunteering activities. These included supporting student-led projects; training and recognition; and accountability and evaluation. This offered more opportunities for students to be engaged with local communities and lead volunteering projects for causes they care about. The number of Volunteering Groups grew from eight at the beginning of the year to eleven by the end of the year and for the 2015-16 session we have 16 groups registered. The Volunteering Impact Fund pilot was established to help students run projects for volunteering and the wider community. It was successful in that it attracted applications not just from Volunteering Groups but also Societies, University of Edinburgh Schools and departments and individual students.
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ÂŁ4,544 was
given out in the 2014-2015 session.
13 projects
were funded by the Volunteering Impact Fund.
Volunteering Groups
Ol
Ch i
benefiting
6,600 individuals
ts
ou
ul
th
projects
21%
56
Ad
7,489 Hours
20 %
volunteers contributed
to
21%
37
“
“
SCEN (Scottish China Education Network) couldn’t have happened without EUSA Volunteering, it is a relationship we want to be sustained and rigorous. EUSA volunteering has worked with us the whole way and has seen the needs of the students as well as the needs of the schools.
} SCEN Convenor
n re ld
732 student
ople pe r de
%
Y
Volunteering Database 500 organisations are now registered on our database, which attracted
676 new volunteers in the last year.
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EUSA GLOBAL EUSA Global brings students together to discover new cultures, share their own and create connections. Through events such as the Gather Festival, free language classes and the Tandem scheme, EUSA Global enables students to exercise global citizenship on campus, fostering and celebrating innovation through the Edinburgh Award for Global Citizenship, the Get Involved Fund and the annual Impact Awards. EUSA Global works with the elected International Students Convenor, campaigning on issues affecting international students and supports the International Students Centre in providing a welcoming and friendly space for students. Students are heavily involved in all aspects of EUSA Global, taking on responsibility as volunteers, committee members, interns and student staff.
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} The Gather Festival, run in partnership with the
University, celebrates the diversity of cultures on campus, builds community and cultivates connections. Held over a week, the 74 events attracted 3,500 students, staff and members of the community.
} The Buddies Scheme, run by EUSA Global and Peer
Learning and Support, welcomes visiting exchange students from around the world to the University. 600 students were matched in small groups of international and local students, with events running throughout the academic year.
} 545 students were connected on the Tandem database, with weekly events attracting 50 people each time
} EuroTour was launched, giving 20 students from
Edinburgh and 20 students from St. Gallen University (Switzerland) the chance to explore their campuses, cities and countries through a programme of workshops, lectures and cultural visits.
POSTGRAD Before the 2014-15 academic year, EUSA developed a popular new Postgraduate Guide which we distributed over 7,000 copies of. EUSA Postgraduate (led by the elected Postgrad Convener) and the Postgrad Society collaborated to hold various social events especially for Postgrads in Teviot, including a Meet the Brewer event.
We worked with
394 Postgrad Reps
which is an increase of 127% on last year.
Postgrad-specific Rep training was delivered for the first time.
We collaborated with the
Institute for Academic Development (IAD)
to run several popular academic events for Masters students, which PhD students helped to facilitate.
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SABBATICAL TEAM
LEADERSHIP AND REPRESENTATION
Elected by students on an annual basis, EUSA’s four Sabbatical Officers help to voice the student community’s opinions and needs to the University and beyond. They also shape EUSA’s services to ensure that students are at the heart of everything we do. Our 2014-15 session Sabbatical Officers were: Briana Pegado, EUSA President: The President’s role is to represent our student members’ views by campaigning to make their overall university experience better. Dash Sekhar, EUSA Vice President Academic Affairs (VPAA): The VPAA represents students on all aspects of academic life, including academic support, assessments, study spaces and more. Eve Livingston, EUSA Vice President Societies and Activities (VPSA): The VPSA represents students on issues of welfare, equality and diversity, as well as supporting Societies and Volunteering Groups. Tasha Boardman, EUSA Vice President Services (VPS): The VPS oversees the services EUSA provides to students, including the events, shops, and bars in our four student union buildings. The role also focuses on making sustainability and ethical responsibility central to EUSA services.
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Over the year, the team led a series of campaigns and were able to achieve a number of changes around the University, aimed at improving students’ experience during their studies.
In 2015, EUSA ran a transport survey to gather students’ experiences and identify any remaining issues with transport to class. The results of this will feed into the University’s Transport Strategy moving forwards.
SUSTAINABILITY
‘HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MONSTER?’
The team worked closely with the University to bring about divestment from companies involved in coal and tar sands extraction — the two most environmentally damaging fossil fuels. They also ensured that EUSA gained another NUS Excellence accreditation through their ‘Responsible Futures’ pilot programme which aims to increase the level of student awareness of sustainability through the undergraduate curriculum.
The Sabbatical Team put sexual harassment firmly on their agenda. This was achieved through convincing the University that tackling ‘lad culture’ should be a priority as well as launching a hugely successful ‘Have you seen this Monster?’ campaign, encouraging awareness of sexual harassment around campus, alongside providing staff training and policy.
TRANSPORT
This year we succeeded in kickstarting the creation of an interdisciplinary, student and staff created ‘Introduction to Gender Studies’ course. This project has ensured student ownership of curriculum — both in terms of academic material as well as assessment — and has taken a large positive step within the University’s structures, with the project being initially wholly student-driven.
Sustainable transport was championed and we led the way on our partnership with the University to pilot our bike hire scheme at Pollock Halls in the spring. We also campaigned with medical students to win extended access to the NHS shuttle bus and a transport grant for fourth and fifth year students.
COURSE CO-CREATION
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STUDENT COUNCIL
} Our biggest turnout at Student Council
was 238 students. 508 students attended across the whole year.
} Student Council has passed policy
There were six Student Council meetings last year, and twelve External, Welfare and Academic Committee meetings.
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on a range of issues this year and this has led to Sabbatical Officer action on matters like gender neutral spaces, parents and carers and mid-term feedback for tutors.
} Student Council supported projects
such as LGBT+ History Month and voter registration for the General Election.
SCHOOL COUNCILS EUSA has managed the introduction of School Councils with the aim of empowering students to effect positive change at a local level. The pilot has seen positive attendance figures and student engagement. Highlights from School Council meetings have included two ‘Informatics Conversations’ events with more than 100 students and staff attending to discuss a wide variety of topics.
}
Nearly 1,000 students have attended meetings or events organised by School Councils or School Reps in 2014-15; over 100 students from different Schools attended a guest speaker event organised by the Business School Council.
} Over 5,000 users have visited ‘eusay’, our new online
forum for students to share ideas and propose changes to the student experience, since it launched in November 2014. Proposals have led to action by EUSA Sabbatical Officers on issues such as transport across campus and the provision of vegan food in EUSA outlets.
} Our General Elections saw a total of 114 students stand
There are currently active School Councils in 15 Schools.
for the 42 School Rep positions - a 159% increase on the 44 students who stood for these positions in March 2014. The overall number of voters in our elections increased by 19% to 5,836; students in Schools with School Councils were twice as likely to vote as those in Schools without.
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CLASS REPS EUSA supports Class Reps with regular learning lunches, ongoing training, and development events, ensuring that they are well-equipped to effectively represent the interests of their classmates to the University.
In 2014-15 we trained 509 Class Reps during 32 training sessions. 99% of those who attended a training session found it useful.
EUSA worked with 1,755 Class Reps in 2014-15 — our highest ever number!
58 students successfully completed
the Edinburgh Award for Representing Students.
EUSA became the first Students’ Association in the UK to offer Class Reps Open Badges to accredit their work.
We ran 50 Class Rep development events, including 12 popular ‘learning lunches’.
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LIBERATION GROUPS In 2014-15 EUSA celebrated Black History Month, Disability History Month, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT+) History Month and International Women’s Day. This was the first time we celebrated all four events in the same year. During LGBT+ History Month, 359 people attended our three sell-out main events (a lecture by Linda Bellos OBE, a screening of the film Pride, and the Big EUSA Gaylidh). This year we sent 27 delegates to nine separate NUS Liberation conferences, where they networked, debated issues affecting students, and shared the great work that EUSA has done this year. We also revamped our social media, launched a new Facebook page and Twitter account, and our blog has received 2,696 views since September 2014.
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CELEBRATING SUCCESS
Every year, EUSA celebrates the success of its members and the staff that support them by hosting three glittering award ceremonies. These awards seek to praise and congratulate students on their passion and dedication, as well as help them thank those who have guided them throughout their endeavours. IMPACT AWARDS The EUSA Impact Awards are a collaboration between three areas of our activities: EUSA Global, Peer Support, and EUSA Volunteering. The first ever EUSA Impact Awards ceremony was held in March 2015, to recognise and celebrate student development and the impact of student volunteering across these areas on the wider community. The 2015 Impact Awards were a huge success with 22 individuals and groups recognised either as winners or shortlisted nominees across 11 categories. This year’s categories included:
} Best Feedback } Best Personal Tutor } Best Student Who Tutors
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SOCIETY AWARDS
TEACHING AWARDS
A highlight of the year, the Society Awards seek to celebrate and reward the hard work and successes of societies and their members throughout the year.
The Teaching Awards recognise innovative and inspiring teaching and highlight the many individual success stories across the University. Established in 2009, the awards are part of an ongoing commitment to highlight the importance of excellence in teaching alongside the University’s research activity.
This year, the awards focused on inclusivity and celebration. To that end, we increased the capacity of the ceremony from 120 to 200, with 500 evening attendees in total. The event was free to attend for all. The total number of nominations was 99, representing 60 societies. This year’s categories included:
} Society of the Year } Best New Society } Best Academic Society
The Awards recognise the teachers, support staff, student tutors, research supervisors, and learning communities who have made a positive impact on students’ learning experiences. Awards in 11 categories were presented, with 2,926 staff nominated, 11 awards won, and 105 in attendance. This year’s categories included:
} EUSA Global: Global Impact Award } Peer Support: Best PAL Scheme } EUSA Volunteering: Best Volunteering Project
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THE MONEY BIT
EUSA continues its financial recovery, maintaining a positive trend starting in mid-2013. Results for the financial year 2014-15 show a surplus of £214,000. This has brought the total funds, or reserves, of the organisation up to £400,000, levels last seen in 2009-10. Much work remains to be done, and we continue to focus on building sustainable financial stability to the organisation.
Staffing 134
0
45
Hourly paid staff worked
134 salaried staff
450 hourly paid staff (mainly students)
300,000 hours and earned £1.9m
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Income
Expenditure
Advertising and sponsorship income
£0.3m
Other grants
£0.4m
All other income
£0.6m
Surplus from bars, cafés, shops and the Festival
£0.9m
University main grant
£2.4m
Involvement in the community
£0.1m
Direct support to students
£0.3m
Representing Students’ interests
£0.4m
Putting on shows and events (incl. Freshers’ Week)
£0.4m
Maintaining, cleaning, heating and lighting our buildings £1.0m Other costs of running EUSA
£2.1m
30
WHAT’S NEXT?
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Now in the first year of our Strategic Plan, we are working towards achieving the five goals that have been set out over a four-year time frame. will experience a dramatic increase in personal contact with the EUSA team. 1. Students students will enjoy a high quality academic experience 2. Allsupported by EUSA. 3. Students will choose EUSA as a part of their everyday life. student will be encouraged and supported by EUSA 4. Every to develop and shape their interests and shape their future. will know that EUSA understands their priorities 5. Students and responds effectively. We will be successful by continuing to increase our engagement with students; putting their needs at the forefront of all that we do. Read our Strategic Plan at: eusa.ed.ac.uk/strategicplan EUSA’S VISION: We believe that all students at Edinburgh should have the power to shape their own future and enjoy a vibrant and cohesive student community without prejudice or marginalisation.
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Edinburgh University Students’ Association E-mail: reception@eusa.ed.ac.uk Tel: 0131 650 2656 eusa.ed.ac.uk Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA) is a charity (SC015800) and a company limited by guarantee (SC429897) registered in Scotland. Registered Office: Potterrow, 5/2 Bristo Square Edinburgh, EH8 9AL