NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ UNION Impact Report 2012/2013
FOCUSING ON A POSITIVE STUDENT EXPERIENCE
INTRODUCTION “Welcome to the Newcastle University Students’ Union Impact Report.”
Welcome to Newcastle University Students’ Union Impact Report for the 2012-13 academic year. It has been a year of great success across the board and the results which have been achieved make this a fantastic time to come into office. The National Student Survey placed us 5th within the Russell Group and 16th nationally, both of which are an improvement on the previous year’s results. This excellent student feedback is supported by our participation rates which are currently at an all-time high. It is clear our standing amongst students is continuing to go from strength to strength and this is highlighted by the Times Higher Education Survey which recognised us as the most social place to study in the UK.
This report demonstrates our achievements in ensuring that we help to deliver a student experience of the highest quality. It is important we continue to work in partnership with Newcastle University on a range of joint projects in the pursuit of our common goals. Looking forward, we must seek to build on the success that has already been achieved and ensure that we remain firmly engaged with the continually changing needs of our membership.
Calum Mackenzie President (2012-13)
CONTENTS
TRUSTEES’ REPORT Our Mission: why we exist
Strategic Direction The NUSU 3-Year Strategic Plan 2012-15 was accepted and approved by the membership in June 2012. The Trustees are delighted with progress to date although there is still much to do. This report will highlight progress at the end of year 1, against the strategic priorities outlined in the plan and outline the impact and achievements of the organization, as well as highlights member feedback, which we value greatly.
Our Values and Philosophy: how we wish to work We are an organisation led by our community of students at Newcastle University; we exist to serve this community and recognise that it is made up of various groups based on common interest and common experiences, such as faith, ethnic origin, status (home/overseas), course of study, disability and health; everything we do is based on an assessment of our community’s wants and needs which in turn controls our direction and purpose. In all that we do we look to demonstrate the following values:
DEMOCRATIC Our members are at the heart of our decision
NUSU looks to enhance the student experience in everything that we do and to do this we have identified 6 key strategic aims.
Our Vision: the long term goal Our new vision is for NUSU to have a positive impact on the experience of every student at Newcastle University.
Sabbatical Officers 2012/13
Strategic Aims: what we will be focusing on from 2012-15
making. We represent and empower them. We are supportive, responsible and accountable.
Creating impact through representation and campaigning.
INCLUSIVE We will support diversity, involvement and equality.
Providing support for members through a range of accessible specialist services.
RESPONSIBLE We are an effective and successful organisation.
We will maximise participation levels across all activities and services in order to reach out to every student.
We will provide services and facilities which reflect the diverse needs of our membership.
We work sustainably and efficiently. We are accountable to our stakeholders.
PROGRESSIVE We look to the future, seeking new
opportunities and partnerships. We are innovative, imaginative and creative, and happy to work in collaboration with others.
Offering employment opportunities and enhancing the employability of our students. Promoting a strong and vibrant community for all of our students.
INDEPENDENT We work as an independent charity, making our
In order to ensure longer term sustainability, we will shape our support services to effectively meet the organisation’s needs.
FUN We want your time with us to be as enjoyable
In order to achieve our strategic aims we recognise that engagement and communication with our students is of paramount importance and we will keep this at the heart of everything we do.
decisions based upon the needs of our members and acting in the best interests of the students who support us. as possible.
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S Statement
Ranked 5th in the Russell group A new strategic plan, our premises refurbished and fully up and running, and a staff and Officer team focused on delivering a fantastic experience for our students, who wouldn’t have been looking forward to this past year with a sense of optimism, anticipation and excitement? Our new vision, “for NUSU to have a positive impact on the experience of every student at Newcastle University”, encapsulates the very essence of exactly what we have set out to achieve and we have made great progress this year with engagement and participation rates running at an all-time high. As a membership organisation we will only ever be as good as our students say we are and we are delighted to report that our satisfaction rates and reputation continue to rise. The facts: In the National Student Survey we achieved a satisfaction rating of 78%, which was a rise of 2% from the previous year against a sector average rise of 1%, and a static average Russell group average. This ranked us 5th in the Russell group (up 1 place on last year) and 16th nationally. We did exceptionally well in the International Student Barometer (Autumn 2012) where our satisfaction rating of 96% ranked us 4th in the Russell Group and 11th nationally.
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In the Times Higher rankings we rose to a fantastic 8th place nationally, which was a 64 place rise from 72nd place the previous year, and better still we were assessed as being the most sociable place to study in the UK. In our NUSU annual survey 93% of students said that NUSU had a positive impact on their University experience, which was up from 88% the previous year; furthermore 92% of students said they would recommend NUSU to a friend.
These facts are a great indicator that the work we have been doing to reach out to every student is starting to pay off. In looking forward we must ensure that we continue to research and understand what our students want and to take on their views and opinions when looking at the development of services and activities. Expectation levels of our students are higher than ever and we must ensure that we maintain quality and service as engagement and participation rates continue to rise. We are delighted to have secured additional funds next year both externally, by way of our new Green Fund Project, our adidas sponsorship agreement and a new media contract, and from our University to better fund clubs, societies, and integration work. Simon Gerry Chief Executive
Newcastle University Students’ Union is now amongst the leading Students’ Unions in the UK. This report will highlight in detail the impact we have created for our members and the local community and the achievements of our efforts over the past year. This year we have included more input from our student members to demonstrate how our work is directly affecting their student experience. Some of the most notable highlights include: In our elections this year, 30 students stood in the Sabbatical Officer elections; overall votes cast across all of our elections amounted to 41,583, and 5474 individual students voted which equated to 26% of the student population. This was our highest ever election turnout, and gives us a solid foundation as a democratically led organisation. Awareness levels of our key campaigns rose significantly this year and as a result 87% of students felt that we effectively campaigned on their behalf. We received more feedback than ever from our Course and School Reps on the myriad of changes being made at course level to improve the student learning experience. Participation levels in our 175 Societies hit a third year all time high with total memberships recorded at 11,723, and participation in all other areas also rose some very significantly.
In sport we won the Stan Calvert inter-varsity Cup against Northumbria University for a record 6th year in a row, and finished 10th in the British Universities and Colleges Sports national league. Furthermore, our ‘Go Play’ programme which offered 392 taster sessions across 28 sports attracted 1,400 individual participants which was 3 times our agreed targets with Sport England. In media, we had an outstanding year. The Courier Newspaper picked up ‘The Guardian Student Publication of the Year Award’ at the start of the year, and our new editor George Sandeman picked up the much sought after ‘Journalist of the Year Award’ at the NUS 2013 Awards. Our environmental work was again recognised at the NUS Services Awards 2013 when we picked up a Gold Green Impact Award, and this undoubtedly helped in our success in gaining a further £270,000 in external funding for a new range of ‘Green’ related volunteering projects. In addition, to our annual RAG activity 19 individual societies raised £30,000 for a number of local and national charities, and many more students volunteered their time to help local charities with activities or fundraising. This year students contributed around 43,000 hours of their time to community volunteering, giving a total social return of £645,000; the total SROI for 12/13 was £4.20 for every £1 invested. We achieved a £65,000 surplus this year slightly better than budget and in accordance with our policy to rebuild our free reserves. 4
CREATING IMPACT Through representation and campaigning
What we said: It is important that we look to create impact in all that we do. Representing our members is core to our existence and we will provide a strong and independent voice to decision makers, both locally and nationally. We will support our members in creating the change they want to see, through effective representation and campaigns which have real impact.
What happened: Election turnout this year was very strong with 26% of students voting in our elections giving us a strong democratic base to take forward policies and change. 82% of students felt that our Students’ Union Council was effective and democratic and we were delighted that 87% of students agreed that NUSU campaigned effectively on their behalf.
87% of students agreed that NUSU campaigned effectively on their behalf
At a national level we were well represented with the President taking up the role as Chair of the Aldwych Group and being re-elected to the NUS Services Board, and the Education Officer being elected onto the NUS National Executive Council. Our Athletics Union Officer was the Northern Region Rep on the British Universities & Colleges Sport National Committee and other officers attended NUS Zone Conferences. At a more local level the President sat on the City Council Student Forum and our Welfare & Equality Officer met with local authority representatives from the police and NHS, and other officers attended various ward and local community meetings. We sent a full, elected delegation to NUS national conference with 1128 student voting in the delegate elections and our highest number of candidates for delegate positions at 13. Having these links ensured that the interests of our students could be effectively represented and we could campaign for change where needed. Some key issues tackled internally this year included the overturning of the proposals for the introduction of biometric attendance monitoring in the University for international students following the issues raised by the UKBA and the Home Office, and the consultation, formulation and proposal for a University wide student maternity policy. Externally, we sent a strong delegation to NUS Conference where we campaigned against NUS’s proposal for gender balancing at NUS Conference (which was successful as the motion was defeated), and proposed a motion mandating NUS to look into and formulate new proposals linked to future funding for Post-Graduate students.
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The Sabbatical Officers also represented students at many key University meetings this year and the following is a flavour of what they achieved on behalf of our students: Recap enabled venues will be in place at the end of the summer 2013 - a year sooner than planned. The library has made over 100,000 extra e-books available including core texts and arranged weekly drop-in Endnote surgeries and monthly Endnote workshops. A new student timetables portal delivers personal, easy to understand timetables and supports calendar software and mobile device synchronisation. Care leavers will get a free graduation and the University are currently exploring graduation bursaries for others. The university are changing their policy to allow students access to computer clusters whilst group teaching is happening, thus maybe a better use of resources. The Education Officer has set up, in conjunction with the University, a shadowing scheme where students shadow senior academic staff such as a dean of faculty and vice versa, to aid mutual understanding. First year food and human nutrition students will have access to biology workshops run in the biology school. The Education Officer has led a joint feedback campaign ’Feedback to the Future’ to improve feedback practice across the university- establishing what you find useful in feedback and spreading it across other schools and facilities. The President has been working with Nexus to produce smart cards which can be used on the metro; these are now operational throughout Newcastle and the local area.
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CREATING IMPACT Through representation and campaigning
Making a difference at course level The development of our School and Course representative systems over the past 3 years is really starting to make a difference for our students. This year our Course and School Reps have been busier than ever representing their peers on staff student committees and pushing through change at course and school level. All the changes were aimed at creating a better environment or better conditions for our students. The following examples give a flavour of what has been achieved:
Architecture, Planning and Landscape Reps convinced the head of school to spend part of the 2013/14 School budget on a new lasercutter for the workshop which reduced waiting time, increased accessibility and improved quality. They then put together a school wide calendar to reduce the confusion regarding space bookings and deadlines, and also secured a student janitor position to improve the cleanliness of the building once 24/7 access was granted.
Arts and Cultures
Civil Engineering and Geosciences
Computing Science
Media law student presentations are now assessed to encourage participation and a more structured approach as well as giving students much needed feedback. It was agreed for film module students that one hour of the three-hour sessions be dedicated to practical teaching and Q & A activity to aid learning. Art students now have extended hours in the studios (including weekends) for a trial period, following many complaints about the restriction of working hours.
Reps gained agreement to increase printer credits on top of original allocation ISS allocation; extra £6 for Stage 2/3 students who aren’t graduating, and £12 for graduating Stage 3/4 students. The Coursework Office opening hours have been extended to both the mornings and afternoons making it more accessible and providing a better service to students. Agreement was also gained to equip one room in the Cassie building with a web cam and microphone for conference calls, and a further room to be converted into a meeting room over the summer for student use.
Secured introduction of a new mentoring scheme for MSc students to be trialled next academic year to help new students settle in, and gained agreement for 24 hour opening for the rack computer cluster.
Biology Reps helped finalise and develop the shared biology common room which is receiving very positive feedback. They also persuaded the genetics lecturer to use the projector to show worked examples instead of using the whiteboard; the new projector has a ReCap facility and makes it much easier to revise the module.
Biomedical Sciences Reps have gained agreement for a new biomedical sciences lab for students to be created. ReCap is to be gradually installed in more rooms across the school.
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Combined Honours
English Literature, Language and Literature Agreed the implementation of mentoring in the school, and created a new “marketing” role within the Staff Student Committee for next year.
Secured changes to the subject adviser system, and helped re-design induction week to include a “subject fair” and improved communications. Agreement reached for English to change the way in which students receive feedback on their assessments to make this more equal between Single and Combined Hours students. Finalised design plans for a new common room to be made available to students before September 2013. Re-designed plans for website including making entire site available anywhere and incorporating new student friendly features. Presented findings for an improved personal tutoring system to FLTSEC.
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CREATING IMPACT Through representation and campaigning
Making a difference at course level History, Classics and Archaeology School Reps organised a Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) focus group and online survey that led to a 27 page report into problems and desirable qualities identified by the Masters students. This has led to Action Plans being created so that improvements can be made for the future. An extra £10 subsidy of printer credits was secured for Stage 3 students in order to ease the burden of printing dissertations.
Institute of Cellular Medicine Reps created prICM (Postgraduate Research community at ICM) and launched with at ‘Coffee Morning’ to make students feel more welcome and less isoated. Training for a student mentor scheme will now be provided within the faculty.
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Law
Modern Languages
Newcastle University Business School
Reps tabled a proposal to hold and organise a Post Graduate conference in the Law School next year, with plans now being drawn up to achieve this.
MBBS (Medicine)
Following discussions with staff members and both Undergraduate and Postgraduate Course Reps, the School of Modern Languages Postgraduate common room is to be opened to Stage 4 students as a trial. The introduction of Higher Education Achievement Record transcripts for finalists from 2013 onwards will better recognise other achievements and skill development.
Reps secured the installation of a new water fountain to give students easy access to drinking water in the school.
MRes
Reps helped review and improve several module areas: Module BUS1005 will be abolished and discontinued for Stage 1 students next year; in module BUS2018, group size will be capped at 4-5 students; for Business Accounting and Finance and Accounting Studies students an introduction to the facilities available to them on main campus will be introduced to the stage 1 induction; and a comprehensive review of module ACC1012 will take place over summer 2013.
Mechanical and Systems Engineering
Reps gained improved access to IT in the graduate school common room and to skills sessions for MRes students relating to IT and the library. Reps also reviewed and re-launched information relating to the correct procedures for research project allocation to aid understanding of students.
After highlighting the length of time it takes for coursework to be returned to students with feedback improvements and targets were introduced; as a result over 90% of coursework is now returned within the deadline and there are now outstanding examples in modules which had previously experienced difficulties.
Psychology The Psychology School Rep took part in the first ever Course Rep swap with Northumbria Students’ Union to learn about alternative systems and discuss best practice.
In addition to their work in their individual schools, five of our School Reps attended the NUS National Conference where Katherine Brown (School Rep for History) led a session on Student Representation at Newcastle.
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PROVIDING SUPPORT For members through a range of accessible specialist services
What we said: Sometimes student life can be challenging, and our members need help from others. We will provide support, advice or simply dependable information, to ensure that our members are well looked after in their times of need.
What happened: Our Student Advice Centre (SAC) was very busy again this year with 600 new clients and a noticeable increase in academic cases towards the end of the year. 83% of students rated the quality of the service received as good or better. From January 2013 we have been collecting statistics with a view to measuring the social impact of our advice services and how in monetary terms we are adding value to the student experience. For example, from January onwards it is estimated that from retention related cases (ie without successful resolution the student may have decided to leave University) just short of £400,000 worth of fees which may have been lost have been retained. When looking at student finances, with our Advisers’ help, approximately £63,000 has been given to or retained in student pockets; examples include tax rebates, bursary eligibility, maintenance loans, bailiff fees and dealing with the NHS bills.
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83% of students rated the quality of the service received as good or better
Student parents and carers One of the key areas of focus this year has been to enhance the support that student parents and carers receive whilst undertaking their studies. These students have specific needs and we have taken to steps to better understand some of the difficulties encountered by parents and carers and taken forward initiatives to help. Ideas taken forward included: The development of a student maternity policy by Officers for adoption by the university. NUSU now run family trips as part of their Give it a Go programme. Parent and children coffee mornings have been set up to provide a social setting for parents and carers to meet and discuss issues. We have met with the University to review the funding structure which will now be changed to ensure more funding is accessible to student parents through the Access to Learning Fund. A summary of the changes will be available on our website once they are finalised and approved.
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PROVIDING SUPPORT For members through a range of accessible specialist services
Syrian students
NIGHTBUS
Welfare campaigns
Some of our Syrian students had a particularly difficult time this year and were confused about access to tuition fees and the support available during the current crisis. We represented their concerns to the university who then released a statement to Syrian students clarifying that they would not be pursuing any Syrian students for fees whilst the conflict continued.
Over 2300 students used our Night Bus Service which picks up students at predetermined points across campus through the evening and night time periods and transports them safely to their doorstep. 74% of students were aware of the Night Bus service we run and 64% of then said they do or would use it and 87% of students using the Nightbus rated the quality as good or excellent.
Our students told us that the 3 most important welfare campaigns the students wanted us to run related to exam stress, mental health, and sexual health.
“87% of students using the Nightbus rated the quality as good or excellent.”
Students were most aware of our Sexual Health and Guidance Campaign (80%) and as well as providing free contraception, advice and sexual health clinics on an ongoing basis a whole range of awareness raising activity was undertaken. We also continued our alcohol awareness campaign which was aimed at encouraging students to drink sensibly and look after themselves and colleagues.
80% of students were aware of our Sexual Health Advice and Guidence campaign (SHAG Week) Hall Reps Our Hall Reps continues to be active and were focussed on making sure students in Halls of Residence were happy with their living accommodation and felt welcome in their new surroundings. A range of activities were undertaken across various halls throughout the year including: Hall Reps from Henderson Hall and St Mary’s College organised a trip to Amsterdam for over forty students; Hall Reps from Windsor Terrace organised an end-of-year BBQ for all students at the hall; Hall Reps at St Mary’s College organised an end of year Picnic and held a Pub Quiz.
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MAXIMISING PARTICIPATION Of our members across all activities and services
What we said: We recognise that not all students will want to participate in all the activities and services we offer, but that participation in some form is critical to ensure that we remain engaged with the diverse student body. We will continually review and monitor how, where and when our members want to participate to ensure that our offer remains relevant and positive.
What happened: Research shows us that the Students’ Unions with the highest satisfaction ratings are those who are most engaged with their students and particularly those with high participation in clubs and societies. This has been another record year for us in these areas with total membership of our 175 Societies reaching 11,723 (a 12% rise on the previous year) and membership of our 61 Athletic Union Clubs reaching 3,741 (a 9% rise on the previous year).
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Our general activities programmes also had a hugely successful year with over 3,500 students participating in at least one ‘Give it a Go’, ‘Go Play’ or ‘Go Global activity’. These were one-off events for students who perhaps didn’t want to be tied to weekly or regular attendance. We put on: 88 Give it a Go activities, ranging from ‘Go Ape’ to language taster sessions and trips to cities across the UK; 22 Go Global activities, ranging from murder mystery nights to arts and crafts sessions, plus weekly Conversation Sessions for non-native English speakers to improve their language skills; and an impressive 392 one-off sessions across 28 sports including canoeing, horse riding and boxing, as part of the hugely successful ‘Go Play’ project.
392 one-off sessions across 28 sports
These programmes are becoming increasingly important to us as it is clear from the attendance that the students we had identified as ‘harder to reach’ in our strategic plan are increasingly engaging with us. Across the three programmes we had 48% male, and 52% female, 36% UK students and 64% International and EU students, and 70% undergraduates with 30% postgraduates, and overall have active participation with students from over 75 countries. This shows how the activities are providing integration opportunities for international students and encouraging postgraduate participation. In media over 350 students participated in our 3 media branches to support the production of The Courier, Newcastle Student Radio (NSR) and The Courier Television (TCTV). Media goes from strength to strength with the Courier having picked up The Guardian Student Publication of the Year and new editor, George Sandeman, picking up NUS Student Journalist of the Year.
Guardian Student Publication of the Year
Attendance at Students’ Union Council this year was much improved and more diverse than ever with every meeting being quorate, and some really hard hitting topics of discussion such as the treatment of international students by the UK Border Agency and the proposal to lobby the University to divest from Shell and BP oil companies on environmental grounds. Our election turnout was very strong this year with 41,583 votes cast in total and 5,474 individual students voting which equated to 26% of the student population (an increase of 10% on previous year), We also saw a large increase in the numbers of international student voters (an increase of 6% on the previous year).
Feedback: New computer rich social Learning space on top floor of the Students’ Union attracts over 3500 students per week.
41,583 votes cast in our elections
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MAXIMISING PARTICIPATION Of our members across all activities and services
What the students said about Society Grants To help encourage participation we awarded additional grants this year to our Societies to encourage them to come up with innovative ideas and events to attract new members. Here is some feedback from those who received grants:
Ancient History Society The special grant awarded to the Ancient History society went towards subsidising member’s costs to a very successful 4-night trip to Rome. This allowed Ancient History and Classics undergraduates, to directly study elements that were at the very hub of their academic courses. Destinations included St Peter’s Cathedral, the Vatican Museum, the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, the Colosseum and the Capitoline Museums. The trip greatly affected everyone who travelled, especially those in their last year of study; it really brought home a great appreciation that all members had for their course. Comments from members included: “It was a tremendous experience! We gained the opportunity to directly study specific monuments and artefacts which we have covered over the past 3 years”; “Knowledge gained from these various sites and museums are already being utilised in essays and dissertations of certain members, and most importantly the society members in the lower years who were unable to attend are already excited to repeat this trip next year and beyond (as this is the first year it has existed)”; “This academic trip to Rome has had a hugely positive impact on many levels, notably making the degree study of Ancient History at Newcastle University a much more attractive prospect”.
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Enactus Society Enactus is an international non-profit organisation in which participating students apply business concepts to develop outreach projects that improve the quality of life and standard of living for people in need. The special grant was used to fund travel expenses to compete in a national competition in London. The national competition was an indescribably inspiring experience, demonstrating the true scale of the society on a national level. We spent many weeks preparing our presentation and everyone was really excited to showcase our achievements at a national level. We were ecstatic to get through to semi-finals and worked on the presentation late into the night, making sure it was perfect, acting on feedback from Centrica and Tesco. Unfortunately we were beaten by Southampton the reigning national champions. However we were all pleased with our achievement of being ranked one of the top 10 teams in the country. We finished the competition with the following awards: Second for annual report; overall semi-finalist; Best Northern team leader for our president Rachel Horton. The society benefited in a number of ways: firstly, recognition of our hard work all year- having the opportunity to showcase our achievements this year we have put ourselves on the map in the Enactus world and built a good reputation amongst the Enactus sponsors; job opportunities- we made useful contacts with the representatives of the many Enactus sponsors leading to potential job opportunities for graduating students as well as summer internships. One Enactus member has already secured a summer internship with Centrica this summer as a result of this event; greater awareness of our team on national scale, so more incentive to excel next year – we are aiming for the final and to become a top five team!
Feminist Society The feminist society used their grant to hire a venue and crèche staff for an event to highlight women’s issues. Over 100 people attended the event, including members of Newcastle University Feminist Society. Several people who attended remarked on feedback sheets that they were planning to return to their home city and begin Feminist Activism, meaning that additionally the event will have had consequences beyond the city that we are unable to measure. Members involved in organising the event gained practical skills in administration and timetabling, alongside communication. Feedback sheets showed all participants gave the event at least eight out of ten marks. Comments included stating that we had changed people’s lives, and encouraged them to get involved in organising similar events nearer their homes. After being inspired by a workshop at the event Newcastle University Feminist Society decided to start writing and releasing our own magazine ‘the personal is political’ which will be marketed around campus in the coming month. Members of the Newcastle Women’s Collective were inspired to start organising their forthcoming arts event for International Women’s Day. Members from various groups from around the city met and made contact, leading to a greater cohesion in the diverse field of Feminist Activism in Newcastle.
Newcastle University Finance Society The Finance Society used their grant to subsidise a trip to London to visit institutions offering an insight into contrasting functions of the city, providing an understanding into areas such as insurance and brokering, investment management, market analysis and accounting. Each visit was as exceptional as the next; all attending members gained a real appreciation for the vast operations within the city as well as a more intimate view of the particular roles of each company. Institutions visited included Lloyds of London, Bloomberg, Dimensional Fund Advisers, and CPA (Certified Practising Accountant) Australia. The committee felt that the trip definitely put Newcastle University on the list for the employers visited and opened doors for future career opportunities.
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MAXIMISING PARTICIPATION Of our members across all activities and services
Medsin Society
Pole Dancing Society
The society Medsin received a special grant to help with the costs of putting on a Talent Show. The event entitled ‘Medsin presents: Newcastle´s Got Talent’ was held in November. The money was used to pay for the technical team and other costs we incurred putting on this event. The acts included - Pole Dancing Society, Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Comedy Soc, NUTS, Irish Dancing Society and Musical Medics Society. The event was an opportunity for them to display their talents to a wide audience and to compete for the winners trophy. For Medsin this was an opportunity for us to showcase some of our projects and campaigns including our Homed volunteering project and The Girl Effect - a campaign we are passionate about, whilst at the same time raising the profile of the society and raising money for two great causes.
The grant was used to set up an event aimed at breaking a Guiness World Record whilst simultaneously raising money for charity. 50 girls took part and set a new world record of continuous pole dancing for 30 hours, breaking the previous record of 24 hours. They also raised over £1000 for the Infants Trust which is a charity that cares for abused African Children.
These were fundraising for Tyneside Rape Crisis and a hospital in Kumasi, Ghana. With the money given to us via the special grant we were able to give all of the money raised to these worthy causes. There was over 300 people in attendance at the event, with the majority not being Medsin members allowing us to expand our reach. We raised over £1000 on the night. The event was a great success, with members and non-members thoroughly enjoying the entertainment and everyone gaining a little more knowledge of our campaigns and volunteer projects. A word must go to the very closely contested winners trophy which was won by the Pole Dancing Society.
The Society gave members from beginner to advanced the opportunity to take part in the Guinness World Record Attempt. This helped members to become more integrated into the society, and it unified society members of all levels. Harriet Alex Skinner, advanced member: “I just want to say how incredible the past few days have been - pushing our limits and giving our all. I’ve made the most amazing friends at pole, friends I can depend on and really trust. I feel the GWR has really brought polers of all levels together – I’ve made lots of new friends too and this year has been incredible! I appreciate all you guys - and never thought I’d see advanced depend so much on beginners saving the day and showing all the rest of us up! ” Jus Lig, beginner member: “Thoroughly enjoyed my contribution to the GWR attempt! Now I’m retreating to my pity party to lick my wounds and rest up. Good luck and keep up the good work to all those hard core enough to keep going!!! You guys are seriously tough!” The event was also covered by the local and national press and demonstrated the positive work and charity fundraising that many of our societies undertake.
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International Development Society The International Development Society used the majority of their grant on organising the “International Development Conference 2013”, held over 9th10th February 2013. The event, included seminars, workshops, and plenaries which featured a wonderful line up of speakers including: Fiona Hall (MBE), MEP for the North East of England; Hannah Ryder, Department for International Development (DfID); Fran Boait,- Positive Money, Owen Tudor, Head of the TUC’s European Union and International Relations Department; Danielle Smith, Founder and Director of Sandblast; and many other senior academics from around the country. There were over 300 attendees, ranging from students, to academics to members of the public and businessmen from the local area and also nationally.
Marrow Society Newcastle Marrow Society used their special grant towards the cost of a support vehicle for their Lands End to John O’Groats charity cycle ride; 15 members covered 959 miles in 14 days between the 28th March and the 12th April 2013. Members were able to undertake a memorable ride at a fraction of the cost thanks to the grant. Non-cyclist members also benefited from the ride as it helped to raise the society profile across the campus improving our donor recruitment numbers. The rides also contributed to fundraising (a key part of Marrow’s activities) and encouraged the Society to surpass all expectations. Combined with their Coast 2 Coast ride the Society raised over £22,000 for their chosen charity, Anthony Nolan.
£22,000 raised for Anthony Nolan Centre It is hoped that Marrow will make the charity bike ride an annual event to allow new members the experience of the team spirit and sense of achievement felt by all involved this year.
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MAXIMISING PARTICIPATION Of our members across all activities and services
Theatre Society (NUTS)
Debating Society
Islamic Society
Society of the Year
The grant was used to building new ‘flats’ to use in creating sets for shows, purchasing lights and microphone headsets for use in musical productions, to pay for tickets to York’s Inter University Drama Festival, and to partially fund entry into the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Purchase of this additional equipment allowed members to put on and rehearse in much more professional productions, with the aim of taking a production to the festivals.
The debate society sent a delegation of 4 members to the Paris Open, in April 2013 consisting of one team and two judges. The competition lasted for 3 days with 5 Swiss matched rounds with motions set on topics ranging from the Anglicization of the French language to the parliamentary recognition of the Armenian genocide in WW1. The team did very well and the speakers and the judges gained valuable experience by partaking in especially challenging debates which differ substantially from the average UK circuit competition. Furthermore the opportunity to speak against or judge a wider variety of speakers added to a broader experience. This was of great value and our delegation will be representing Newcastle Debating Society at the European University Debating Championships in Manchester in August 2014; fingers crossed for a great result.
The Islamic Society used their special grant towards the cost of their annual event “Discover Islam Week”. This event clarifies misconstructions of Islam and reveals the other side of the story that media outlets normally don’t tell. In addition, it gives the opportunity to speak to and socialise with Muslims, males and females, local and international, from almost everywhere and with all kinds of backgrounds in an open welcoming atmosphere. Many people disregarding of their faiths have made many new friends out of the event.
This year, the event was probably the greatest of its series organised by 120 volunteers, and attracting approximately 5000 visitors, it was also covered by local and international news. The Society also won the much sought after “Society of the Year Award” at the NCL+ Awards 2013.
As Edinburgh Fringe is the largest arts festival in the world, being able to fund NUTS taking a play to perform there is a huge opportunity for their members. This year we selected our play from our annual Drama Festival written by one of our very own members and used the special project grant to cover the hire of the theatre in which we will perform, and to pay for marketing materials to draw attention to the show when trying to draw in crowds on the Royal Mile. There will be over 3000 shows being performed at the Fringe this year, giving our members the chance to see as many of these as they like and meet thousands of actors, directors and producers. This is invaluable experience for those of our members wishing to pursue a career in theatre, as there are few other opportunities for them to meet so many different members of the theatre industry. Aside from the benefits for our members participating, there will be many of our other members coming to visit the Fringe to see our show and others.
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As a result of our involvement, the society’s reputation and visibility on the international debating circuit has been significantly improved, and it has helped broaden our network of contacts which is useful in running our own competitions and organising delegations to other competitions.
Attracting approximately 5000 visitors
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ENHANCING STUDENT EMPLOYABILITY By offering opportunities to our members
What we said: The graduate job market is fiercely competitive and our members recognise that if they wish to get the job they really want, they have to stand out from the crowd. We will look to provide opportunities for our members to broaden their horizons and develop wider employability skills which will help them pursue the career of their choice.
What happened: Newcastle University is among the top universities for graduate employment, according to HESA statistics released earlier this year. 95% of our students are in work or further study within 6 months of leaving university. In comparison to other institutions this means our students are more likely than students from any other Russell Group university, including Oxford and Cambridge to be in work or further study after leaving us.
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95% of our students are in work or further study within 6 months of leaving university
76% of students agreed that they felt more employable as a result of undertaking a volunteer opportunity with us 2,600 volunteering opportunities made available NUSU through our various volunteering opportunities offer around 2600 different positions to students wishing to undertake extra-curricular activity to enhance their skills which in turn will help them find employment. A new trial has been approved whereby all of our opportunities will be linked to an accreditation scheme and the University HEAR scheme, which means students will be able to aptly demonstrate the additional skills they offer.
In response to our 2012 student survey where students told us that the number 1 volunteering opportunity they would like to take part in is working with children and young people we expanded our provision to 29 different organisations/projects registered with Student Community Action Newcastle (SCAN) which enable students to volunteer with children and young people.
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ENHANCING STUDENT EMPLOYABILITY By offering opportunities to our members
National Employee of the year
To ensure that our students feel valued and realise the importance of developing extra-curricular skills we hold a number of award ceremonies each year which recognise and reward their efforts. The highlight and most sought after awards are the ncl+ awards and once again this year they attracted some incredible nominations across all categories. The most prestigious award is the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Personal Achievement This year’s winner was James O’Donovan James was recognised for his entrepreneurial flair and had set up a number of businesses including: ‘Higher Standards’, a non-profit fair trade organisation
Career Development Module Our Activities Staff continued to work closely with the University careers service this year on sourcing new opportunities for students wanting to undertake a career development module as part of their degree. We now offer 150 different placement opportunities in a multitude of disciplines.
Focus on Natalie Diver A Newcastle University student Natalie Diver landed an award after playing a major part in relaunching a children’s clothing brand. Natalie Diver, 21, from Hadrian Park, won the top prize at the National Association of Student Employee Awards for her work with Baggers Originals.
Her role was then expanded to include looking after social media for the company and she helped to create a new website through which it is selling the products. Following her work, the brand is now also selling in stores in Ireland, and Monsoon and Fenwick have agreed to stock the products.
The Ponteland-based company produces children’s rainwear and swimwear which folds up into a small bag. The firm took Natalie initially on a 10-week placement arranged by the university’s Careers Service. As part of her role, Natalie, who is just about to start the final year of her degree in business management, had to carry out market research to find out if a relaunch was feasible.
Thanks to her efforts, Natalie was named national employee of the year, and landed the Off-Campus Employee Award both in the North East and nationally. She said: “It is really nice to see all my effort start to pay off for the company. Working at Baggers Originals has taught me some really important skills, which I will be able to take forward to my future career.”
‘USS Medical Ltd’, a widening access to medicine scheme ‘Diapet’, a blood glucose monitor for children ‘The Golden Games Organisation Ltd’, a sporting festival aimed to increase mobility of older people
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COMMUNITY Promoting a strong and vibrant community for all of our members
What we said: University life is much more than just study, we want our members to live, work and play to get the most out of their time with us. We will ensure that all of our members feel welcome in our diverse, exciting and lively community, no matter who they are, where they come from, where they live, or how they study.
What happened: It is very important that students feel welcome from the moment they know they are coming to Newcastle. We make contact with our students immediately through social media avenues and then are ready welcome them through a range of activity we provide during Freshers’ Week. We organise a myriad of events designed to help new students get to know each other and last year there were over 8,000 activity placements during Freshers’ week as well as a whole host of evening entertainment events from grub crawls to theatre trips, live music nights and comedy. We really try to diversify our programme so there is something for everyone. Our efforts were recognised nationally this year when ‘The Gate’, which hosted our main Freshers’ Week evening event were awarded a Purple Appple Merit at the Purple Apple Awards Ceremony held in The Brewery London. The Purple Apple Awards were devised by the British Council of Shopping Centres to recognise innovation in bringing shopping centres and complexes to life.
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Services and Activities After Freshers’ Week our focus was on ensuring that students became aware of the breadth of services and activities that we offer so they could tailor their own university experience to best meet their needs. Whether it was joining a sports club or society, participating in one-off events such as ‘Give it a Go’, ‘Go Play’ or ‘Go Global’, joining the SU Council or running in our elections, volunteering to be a Course Rep, or taking part in community volunteering there really was something for everyone, and ample opportunity for all students to socially interact with their peers. Our 175 Societies, as well as providing a vehicle to create on-campus communities, were also keen to support the local community and have wider social impact and, outside our centralised RAG (Raising and Giving) activity, raised £30,000 for charities such as WaterAid, Christian Aid, Dementia Care, Anthony Nolan, Newcastle YMCA, and Tyneside Rape Crisis. One of the most memorable events this year was when recent Newcastle University graduate Alby Shale broke the world record after batting for 26 hours at The Oval to raise funds for the Rwanda Cricket Stadium Foundation which aims to construct and manage on a not-for-profit basis the first dedicated international cricket ground in the African country.
Sports
Awards
In terms of sport not only did we have a record number of students join our Athletic Union clubs and ‘Go Play’ programmes but we excelled in many areas. In the BUCS (British Universities & Colleges Sports) championships we were overall 10th nationally and for the 6th successive year we beat Northumbria in the Stan Calvert Cup, our annual inter-varsity challenge.
Recognising the efforts of our students is very important to us and our venue played host to a range of award ceremonies this year aimed at recognising and rewarding the achievements of both our students and University staff.
Stan Calvert Cup winners for the 6th successive year
The ncl+ Awards and Media Awards saw over 150 students being nominated across a whole host of catergories.
The newly named this year Teaching Excellence Awards looked to recognise academics for their efforts in driving up standards in the fields of learning and teaching. Nominations this year increased 3 fold as students looked to recognise their favourite lecturers.
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COMMUNITY Promoting a strong and vibrant community for all of our members
Room Booking Breakdown We maintained a good balance of commercial and student usage of our meeting rooms and venue spaces. Societies and student groups really took advantage of the space we provided them accounting for 6,031 of the 8,150 bookings that were made. Highlights from student and society led events included: Highlights from student and society led events included:
On-campus Activities
Music Society:
Mustock 2012
Medsin:
Student Volunteering and the Local Community This has been another great year for community volunteering with our sub-charity SCAN (Student Community Action Newcastle) recruiting over 1,000 new student volunteers to work on their programmes; we now help support 75 local organizations through our referral scheme where we match up students with local volunteering opportunities. This year students contributed around 43,000 hours of their time to community volunteering, giving a total social return of £645,000; the total SROI for 12/13 was £4.20 for every £1 invested. Examples of some of the projects undertaken are highlighted below:
Newcastle’s Got Talent Our newly refurbished building provides a focus for our on-campus activities and it really was used to capacity this year. Our new social learning suite, ‘The Hub’ provided a friendly relaxed alternative to the University Library where students could work in groups or simply have a Starbucks coffee and a chat. At peak times over 4,000 students a week were using this 24/7 space.
Newcastle Free Education Network:
Our venue really took off this year as we diversified our events offering to suit all tastes. Our weekly Club night CCTV proved very popular regularly attracting over 1,000 students a week and alternative nights such as Uprawr, The GoGO, Cream, Spektrum and Playground. We also hosted 23 live music gigs, a 40% rise of the previous year and in line with the student survey 2012 which highlighted the number 1 priority was to put on more live music. Highlights in cluded Bring Me The Horizon, The Pigeon Detectives, China Drum and the Longsands.
Islamic Society:
Quebec Student Strikes
Agric Society:
IT on the Move
Family Night
RAG:
Newcastle Variety Show, Man vs Food, Take Me Out,UV Silent Disco Discover Islam Week
Part-Time Officers: Diversity Day
Islamic Society:
Road to Success – Careers Seminar International Development Society: International Development Elections
Joint-Society:
Rock & Pole Showcase
Gilbert & Sullivan Soc:
Our mobile internet training café and has been run in association with AGE UK targeting over 60s. We take 3 laptops and a mobile wi-fi dongle out to day centres and help clients explore the internet and all that computers can offer. We offer help and training to those who ask and have enabled clients to set up email and skype accounts to keep in touch with their families. For those clients who have never used computers before we introduce them to the likes of BBC iPlayer, Google images and maps, internet shopping and of course YouTube. Clients have enjoyed researching areas they lived as children to see how they have changed and sung along and even danced to YouTube which is a firm favourite. This is a real fun project allowing quality inter-generational communication.
‘Student Eats’ Allotment More than 160 students have helped out at the SCAN allotment, as well as doing hands on tasks such as clearing, weeding and planting they have also learned about food growing and what is involved in the day to day running of a large allotment plot.
Dystopia Ltd
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COMMUNITY Promoting a strong and vibrant community for all of our members
Guerrilla Gardening 140 students have helped out with Guerrilla Gardening activities throughout the local community. This year the group has helped transform gardens and run down areas at Jesmond Primary School, Northern Counties College and Community Links (who support disabled people in Gateshead) as well as the various parks in the area. Volunteering alongside members of the public from all walks of life has help to demonstrate the positives of having a large vibrant student community.
Success 4 All SCAN has continued to support the Success 4 All study support groups/learning hubs at Walker Technology College and the Millin Centre in Benwell. SCAN volunteers (55+ students) have been involved in tutoring and assisting young people with homework, exam revision and creating educational games and language clubs. This continues to be one of our most popular projects particularly as it allows students to get valuable teaching experience to support their PGCE applications. We were recently successful in obtaining Approved Provider Status (the national quality standard for mentoring and befriending) for the project from the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation.
Ruperts Wood Student Green Fund The Ruperts Wood Project has had a busy year! One of SCAN’s longest-established projects, our volunteers have been going up to Rupert’s Wood since 1991. The project is based in a beautiful woodland in North Northumberland, which is owned by SCAN’s patron Lord Redesdale. He lets SCAN volunteers have free access to the woodland and surrounding estate to bring young people’s groups from disadvantaged areas out into the countryside to enjoy day trips and residential camps. The activities on offer for groups include environmental education, arts projects, conservation tasks, teambuilding activities, and wild camping skills. We’ve organised 121 visits over the last year, some helping with children’s visits and some doing conservation tasks such as repairing the boardwalk, surveying wildlife and planting trees.
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A new project will be start in 2013 aimed at educating students on environmental matters with a focus on sustainable living. Areas will include amongst other things setting up a market enterprise, a micro-brewery and bee aviaries. External funding has been sourced through NUS and HEFCE and this will be a great addition to the community and volunteering projects we already undertake.
Students get to start their own microbrewery 32
ENGAGEMENT & COMMS Our members will be at the heart of everything we do
Website
Target 450,000
Visits 516,266
Views
Views
Target 8,000 Likes
What we said:
What happened:
As a membership organisation, engagement and communication lies at the heart of everything we do. We will ensure that mechanisms are put in place for NUSU to engage with students, stakeholders and the wider community so that the activities, services and benefits that we provide are understood by all. We will continue to listen and act on feedback to help us improve in the way our members want.
This year we developed a comprehensive communications plan at the start of the year with the aim of raising awareness levels of specific activities across the spectrum. This included 48 induction lectures and 20 lecture shout outs in term 1 aimed at ensuring that new students quickly became aware of the services and activities we offered. This was followed up by over 300 individual campaigns and designs to promote awareness of events and activities. Key areas monitored were:
Actual Awareness
Target Awareness
Previous Year Awareness
Societies
96%
96%
96%
Sports Clubs
86%
85%
82%
Give it a Go
73%
70%
63%
Community Volunteering
54%
70%
52%
Opportunity to write for Courier
69%
70%
58%
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Actual 10,949 Likes
Increase 32.92%
Target 2,550 Followers
Actual 3,166 Followers
We also aimed to increase visits to our website which we used as the base for all of our information, and to increase our use of social media to get our messages out. All 3 areas reported significant growth and exceeded targets set: Website - 1 July 2012 and 30 June 2013, the Students’ Union website had 516,266 visits against a target of 450,000, equating to a 32.92% increase on the same period of 2011/12 Facebook - As of 30 June 2013, the number of Facebook ‘likes’ reached 10,949, against a target of 8,000. Twitter - As of 30 June 2013, the number of Twitter followers has increased to 3,166 against a target of 2550.
In addition, we introduced an NUSU newsletter this year and 126 news stories were compiled and emailed to students monthly. 67% of students said they were sufficiently aware of our activities. Others wanted more. As a result we have commissioned a new IT project to help deliver more targeted and relevent communitations to students.
The majority of students prefer communications through email, Facebook or Twitter
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r
%
SUSTAINABILITY will shape our support services to effectively meet the business needs
Where Our Income was Generated and Spent Income
Income Trading
50%
Income Trading
43%
Other
7%
Paid to Suppliers
Paid to Staff
Costs linked to service activity and delivery
22%
52%
25%
Expenditure
Paid to Suppliers
Paid to Staff
Costs linked to service activity and delivery
22%
52%
25%
What we said: We will ensure that the Students’ Union has the resources and capacity to deliver on all the objectives we set out to achieve. Good governance, a motivated workforce, a strong financial plan, first class facilities, and cutting edge IT provision are all essential in delivering our aims.
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.
What happened:
Environmental
Staff
Financially we had our strongest year in recent times delivering a £65,000 surplus which was essential in rebuilding our currently depleted reserves. In looking forward we have secured new external income streams for next year including: sponsorship from adidas for our athletic union clubs; a six figure media deal for our marketing activity and a £270,000 grant from NUS and HEFCE to run a new ‘Green project’ linked to our community volunteering activity. We will be entering the final year of our very popular ‘Go Play’ sports programme which is funded by Sport England so will be looking source a new funding stream to keep this programme going.
Following on from last year’s success of gaining a silver Green Impact award at the NUS Awards in Manchester, we went one step further this year by achieving gold. Achieving Green Impact Gold was a fantastic achievement for us this year and reflects our commitment to environmental practices and policies. The award is part of the NUS Green Impact initiative which provides environmental accreditation for students’ unions, helping unions to showcase great environmental practice.
Staff satisfaction levels rose this year from 72% up to 86% following the introduction of our new HR Strategy. The Strategy focusses around 4 key traits, for staff to be WARM, WELCOMING, HELPFUL and HAPPY. This year staff assessed the climate and work conditions highest of all at 93%. We also introduced new initiatives through the Better Health at Work Award to encourage staff to lead healthier lifestyles. Sickness levels this year improved to an average 1.45 days sick per employee from 2.97 last year. We gained a Bronze Award and have a targeted silver next year.
There is no doubt that this achievement helped us secure additional external funding for new ‘Green’ projects.
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Contact us Newcastle University Students’ Union Kings Walk Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8QB Tel: +44 (0) 191 239 3900 Email: student.union@ncl.ac.uk Web: nusu.co.uk