Introduction. “Here at FXU we pride ourselves on our relationship with students and our ability to act as agents of change. When we started our term in office we drew on all of the student feedback our predecessors had received throughout the previous year and created a list of priorities to improve the student experience. This became known as The Big 14 and was circulated amongst students and our partners so that we could both be held accountable for our actions and ensure that the student voice was heard across all levels of both universities. The 2013-14 academic year has been unprecedented and paved the way for some fantastic developments as we hand over to our successors. We have had several big wins over the last year, including tackling our number one priority: aligning term dates. Acting as Presidents of a joint campus has its challenges and we are proud to have been able to ensure that the next cohort of Freshers will receive the same experience, as well as a combined approach for international and EU arrivals. But that’s not all! The whole team has racked up dozens of incredible achievements over the last year, ranging from a campaign to increase voter registration to the launch of the Green Living Project. And our students have gone above and beyond, racking up more volunteering hours, raising more money and voting in higher numbers than ever before. Although we’re sad that our term has come to an end we are so proud that we have been able to contribute to such an outstanding academic year.” Isis O’Regan, FXU President Falmouth Chaz Malyon, FXU President Exeter Frankie Boyd, Vice-President Welfare Oli Maskrey, Vice-President Participation
FXU. FXU is Falmouth and Exeter Students’ Union. We represent all students from Falmouth University and University of Exeter students on the Penryn Campus. We have various departments, covering advice & welfare, events, representation & democracy, sports & recreation, volunteering & fundraising and green living. Our vision is that every student of Falmouth University and University of Exeter, Penryn Campus has the highest quality of education and the best student experience possible. Our mission is to provide effective representation for all our students and to deliver quality services that meet the needs and interests of an ever-changing and diverse student population. Our values are to be: • Student focused • Democratic • Open and accountable • Responsive to change • Provide quality and value • Be ethical and sustainable Our aims are: • That the views and needs of all sectors of the student population are effectively represented by FXU • That all students have access to FXU services of a consistent high quality. • That FXU resources, mechanisms and partnership working arrangements support sustainable service delivery
Academic Wellbeing Day
Social spaces on campus
Students were invited to take part in activities to encourage positive mental health, such as sending postcards back home, try a new sporting activity and volunteer within the local community.
The staff room in the Peter Lanyon building was opened up to students as a bookable social space on weekday evenings.
The Big 14 launched We collated feedback and evidence gathered from students throughout the previous year and distilled it into 14 priorities to address.
Give It A Go Following the Christmas breaks, all students were encouraged to try a new activity with FXU.
Food facilities Additional microwaves were made available for student use out-of-hours so that they could heat their own food while working late in the library.
Sustainable Food Survey Students were asked to complete a survey to allow the catering team to better understand what they would like to see in the food outlets on campus.
Aligned term dates
#Stoptheselloff
Despite a quiet discontent from academic staff, our officers pushed for a change in dates to improve the overall student experience – 94% of students said the academic year for Falmouth University should be the same as for Exeter.
Student Alex Falconer organised a week of activities to highlight the sell-off of the student loan book and provide students with opportunities to address their concerns to senior members of staff.
FXU Awards An annual celebration of student and staff achievement, highlighting efforts in academia, activities, volunteering and the student experience.
Full-time officer elections A total of 2,205 students voted - 37.5% of the student population and our highest record ever for election voting!
Accommodation price freeze Accommodation prices in university-managed accommodation were frozen for the 2014-15 academic year.
Gold accreditation in the Green Impact Awards
Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey results
We achieved Green Impact Gold accreditation for our efforts in promoting sustainability and green living on campus, as well as the award for ‘Most Improved Students’ Union’.
Falmouth broke into the top 20, with The Big 14 credited as having a massive impact. Exeter made the top ten, with the close partnership between the Guild and FXU noted as a contributing factor.
Garden Party sell-out The Garden Party sold out in a record four hours!
Tremough 2014 Community Games Penryn Campus was opened up to the local community for a festival-style afternoon showcasing a range of sporting and cultural activities.
Grill an MP on campus MPs across all major parties were invited to take part in an on-campus debate where students and local residents were able to ‘grill’ them on their policies.
FXU Loves You
HEA/NUS Partnership Award
FXU’s Falmouth President organised a day of events celebrating students of all sexualities.
FXU and The Guild awarded the 2014 Students’ Union and Institution Partnership Award by the HEA and NUS.
Fixed price on bus fares for five years From September 2014, bus prices will remain fixed for five years and offer staff and students a regular, integrated route with free WiFi.
Shortlisted for NUS Award We were runners up for the Small & Specialist Students’ Union of the Year and shortlisted for the second year in a row.
37.5% of students voted in our full-time officer elections.
22.6% voter sized univer
r turn out at similar rsities.
Representation & Democracy. Representation was a key and fundamental role for the new officers and a major issue was to tackle the inequality in the student rep system. Falmouth University recruited, trained and managed the student course reps and FXU had virtually no involvement in this. Realising this could be improved, the team, led by the Falmouth President, started to push for a new system, one that placed FXU at the heart of it but worked in partnership with the university to deliver a world class rep system. The team delivered a report to the academic board and the Board of Governors who adopted its proposals. Funding has been agreed which will see FXU recruit a member of staff – Student Rep Coordinator - and the proposal to transfer organisation and management of student reps to FXU is to be implemented for the start of the next academic year. This year, a total of 2,205 students voted in the full-time officer elections. This is 37.5% of the student population and our highest record ever for election voting! Based on figures from last year in the Small & Specialist category of universities, we have the second highest proportion of voters, and for Exeter students this is the highest proportion of voters within the Russell Group. “Not only am I immensely grateful for the support I and the other officers received from participants but it also truly shows just how important the union is to our students. It demonstrates how much they care about making their voices heard, having a say on the issues affecting their university lives and the experiences that our union services can deliver.” – Roger Auster, incoming FXU President Student Experience “I believe that securing a job within Bite the Ballot, working in partnership with Cornwall Council, is perhaps the best opportunity that I have secured. This would not have arisen without having been involved in FXU and the experience, skills and confidence I had obtained during my time as Education Officer.” – Will Haslam, Co-Education Officer (Exeter)
Campaign: #stoptheselloff. As soon as the sale of the student loan book was announced, the Students’ Union became aware of the launch of a campaign – Falmouth Assembly Against Austerity. This campaign group was started by a Falmouth student, Alex Falconer, and appeared on Facebook in December 2013. It soon had 475 members. The group then booked a lecture theatre to set up their first campaign meeting and 60 students turned up to support the campaign. At this point the students had created the group themselves, without requesting any support from the Students’ Union. In January they wrote a motion to our Student Council to ask for FXU support and funding, which included a petition of 100 student signatures. The Council voted unanimously in support of the campaign and immediately gave the campaign team £200 to provide transport to demos and rallies in London and Birmingham in support of the Student Assembly Against Austerity.
Events. From Freshers to the Grad Ball, there is always something happening at FXU. This year we supported dozens of socials from our sports clubs and societies, held our third annual community games, funded projects led by students and our Garden Party sold out in a record four hours. FXU’s Falmouth President also organised a day of events celebrating students of all sexualities, including a safe sex fair and music night at a local bar.
2012/13
2013/14
Marketing & Communications. This is the first year FXU has had a fully dedicated Design and Marketing Team. They have worked effectively to produce individual campaigns for each event and project, as well as increase awareness of FXU and student engagement. New ideas implemented include blog posts written by students, live tweeting and cardboard cutouts of the Presidents.
Sports Clubs. Our sports clubs have achieved great success this year, with CSM Rugby winning the Isles of Scilly Rugby Tournament, CSM Netball committee member Kayleigh Hardy representing the Cornwall Netball Board as Publicity Officer, Badminton winning the West Cornwall Tournament and the Kayaking Club winning new equipment, amongst many other great results. A record number of clubs also got involved with the Community Games, which saw over 600 students, members of staff and local residents on campus for a festival-style showcase of sport and culture.
Achieved 85%
Achieved 87%
Aim 75%
Aim 75%
Societies. Students have been particularly active this year, curating exhibitions, raising awareness of feminist issues, directing and performing theatre productions and producing magazines – and all outside of their studies!
Sports Clubs.
Societies.
Crazy Week
Rally4 Chill out Shelterbox for Charity
Community Action. Volunteering numbers and fundraising efforts increased significantly in 2013-14 and student efforts made a huge difference in the local community. Larger events included EcoSoc’s ‘Chill out for Charity’, a live music, education and games event at Swanpool beach, Crazy Week and Rally4ShelterBox 2014. FXU’s Community Officer, Joan Passey, also won The Daniel Palmer Award at the 2014 FXU Awards for her significant achievements. She played a full and active role in supporting a large and diverse group of students. 91.3% of our student survey indicated that relationships with the community were important and needed more focus. Joan’s response to this was to take a lead in developing the Penryn Lights event, which involved working with the Penryn business community and Council to support the Christmas Lights Switch On. She also built links with the local council and was involved in projects to help provide debating opportunities in local schools.
Green Living Project. The Green Living Project was launched this year as a result of funds won from NUS. Project developments led to our achievement of Green Impact Gold accreditation for our efforts in promoting sustainability and green living on campus, as well as the award for ‘Most Improved Students’ Union’. Students have also been very hands-on, going into halls to reduce energy waste and encouraging composting across campus, as well as growing sustainable food on the campus allotments.
Advice & Welfare. FXU has a team of Advisors who are here to help students throughout their studies, as well as students who are applying to study and recent graduates. They advise on a range of subjects, from academic appeals to housing contracts and, as a result of increased staff numbers, now offer a full-time service during term-time. The health and wellbeing of our students has been a top priority and one of our most successful campaigns has been to raise awareness of mental health issues, securing additional funding and support for student services and working to improve the experience of international students. Led by our Welfare Vice President, the team has supported the Time to Change campaign, delivered ‘happiness packs’ into halls and organised the Health and Wellbeing Day – including introducing pet therapy onto the campus. More importantly they have ensured the delivery of training to over 60 university staff on mental health awareness so that staff can now spot and correctly signpost student support. The team has also pushed for greater investment in support services and in-year funding was agreed to reduce waiting time for counsellors and additional, longer term, funding has been agreed to strengthen the university staff team permanently.
Advice & Welfare.
Awards & Achievements. 2013-14 was a great year for FXU in terms of national recognition of our achievements. Our newly launched Green Living Project contributed immensely to our success at the Green Impact Awards, led by student Miriam Vesma, Sustainability Intern Millie Wilkins and Sustainability Project Co-ordinator Stephen Murphy. We were also shortlisted for Small and Specialist Union of the Year at the National Union of Students (NUS) Awards for the second consecutive year (fingers crossed for next year!) and the Higher Education Academy (HEA) awarded us for our partnership with The Guild. We’re in a unique position in that we represent students from two different universities and we have had the pleasure of developing our working relationship with our Exeter/Streatham counterparts over the last year. The universities have also done tremendously well, climbing the league tables. The Times Higher Education (THE) Student Experience Survey credited our work on The Big 14 as having a ‘massive impact’ on Falmouth University’s 12th place ranking and noted the ‘close partnership’ between The Guild and FXU as a ‘contributing factor’ for Exeter’s entry into the top ten. Incredible work all round!
The FXU Team 2013/14. Isis O’Regan President Falmouth Chaz Malyon President Exeter Frankie Boyd Vice-President Welfare Oli Maskrey Vice-President Participation Rob Gofton CEO Kim Reay Finance & Operations Manager Hanna Royle Activities Manager Janice Mitchelson Student Voice Facilitator Hayley Curtis Sport & Recreation Co-ordinator Rose Pannell-Hitchens Sport & Recreation Co-ordinator Kristy Wallace Community Action Co-ordinator Stephen Murphy Sustainability Project Co-ordinator Stephanie Clarke Senior Advisor Suzy Tutchier Senior Advisor Maureen Drake Senior Advisor Stacey Bray Administrator Emma Farley Marketing Executive Kara Vallens Design & Marketing Assistant Alastair Flindall Events Assistant Clare Deane Student Research & Engagement Intern Ray Berry Activities Assistant Roger Auster Activities Assistant Lily Darvell Front Desk Will Haslam Front Desk Lucy Davey Front Desk Ruth Hannay Front Desk MC Berger Front Desk Jamie Mackenzie Front Desk Kyle Gray Student Trustee Andy Mellors Student Trustee Andrew Lugger Trustee Jane Sutherland Trustee