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XEP SÉ E THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1987
Here we go again
29 FEB 2016 | ISSUE 651 | TWITTER: @EXEPOSE | WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/EXEPOSE | FREE
Elation as EURFC win South-West Derby, Pages 38-39
Second NUS referendum in 18 months to be held in May
Threshold required to leave reduced to simple majority James Beeson & Susannah Keogh Editor & News Editor
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REFERENDUM is to be held to decide whether The Students’ Guild should disaffiliate from the National Union of Students (NUS) for the second time in less than 18 months, after a Sabbatical election candidate proposed a Manifesto Idea to leave the Union on 23 February. The vote to decide whether to stay in the NUS will take place between 2 May and 13 May, with at least 900 votes required for the referendum to be legitimate. In order for the Guild to leave the NUS, a simply majority of 51 per cent of students will need to vote in favour of disaffiliation. The options on the Idea will be the same as for all other Student Ideas (Strongly Agree / Agree / Neutral / Disagree / Strongly Disagree and Confused), with a vote to decide the exact wording of the referendum question taking place in
Drugs & Alcohol: Exeter’s boozing habits under the Science & Tech microscope Pullout
April. As part of a new ‘Reward and Recognition’ scheme launched following last year’s Sabbatical elections, for every 450 votes received by a student who does not go on to win the election, a Manifesto Idea - the equivalent of a Student Idea that passes automatically - is granted to the candidate to start a project. Proposed projects costing less than £1000 require that the candidate received a minimum of 450 votes in the Sabbatical elections, but those over this threshold are only granted to candidates who received over 900 firstpreferences. The NUS affiliation vote was chosen by Paul Rota, who ran for the position of VP Welfare & Diversity this year, as a Manifesto Idea. Commenting on the decision to call the referendum, Rota said: “Last year, the NUS leave vote failed on the promise that there would be substantial reform in the NUS. There was not. “We see NUS officers working with...
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Photo: Edwin Yeung
£30k MACE rebrand under fire Fiona Potigny News Editor
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TAFF, students and SSLC members have hit out at the “unnecessary” new Accelerate module evaluation service, after the University spent £30,000 in a revamp of the MACE feedback system. Described as a “new tool for communication and gathering feedback from students” by the University website and launched in November last year, the new system was created in order to allow students to provide in-module feedback, which can be implemented mid-term, as opposed to the previous end-of-term only arrangement under MACE. Despite its promises to “encourage students to actively engage with giving feedback”, however, the new system has seen “disappointing” levels of student
News: Student forced to leave uni due to lack of eating disorder support Page 3
involvement, with some surveys seeing participation as low as 5 per cent. Across the College of Humanities, deadlines for surveys due by the final week of term were extended by an extra month until January 11, as participation rates were “lower than expected”, according to an email sent to Accelerate Representatives and SSLC Subject Chairs. Following these difficulties, SSLC members and Subject Chairs were called upon to assist with encouraging students to fill out their forms. Modern Languages Subject Chair Olivia Stanley told Exeposé: “I was surprised and frustrated to hear that the £30,000 was spent on Accelerate. As an SSLC Chair, I was frequently asked to promote Accelerate and was told that far fewer students had responded than typically would with the previous MACE system.” Although participation increased fol-
Features: President of the Supreme Court Lord Neuberger interviewed Page 12
lowing the extension, some surveys still saw participation at less than 50 per cent than what they were previously under MACE, with some Humanities surveys of around 30 students seeing returns as low as 10 per cent. Anna Romanska, English SSLC Subject Chair, believes that this is due to the University’s failure to communicate the transfer to the new system: “The University needs work on communicating with us. People want to give feedback but a lot of students just aren’t aware of the new pathways to do that. Ultimately, it’s just a change of name, and the system still works the way it used to – now we need the University administration to get the word out more efficiently.” This lack of communication, coupled with the system’s new branding, which incorporates a new rainbow logo...
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