mmunion.co.uk
contents 03 introduction our
04 strategy our
06 achievements our
30 future
tunde adekoya students’ union president 2011 has been a busy year with lots of change in both Higher Education and here at MMUnion and I’m proud to be able to share our achievements with you. We have been active in our opposition to the funding cuts and fee hikes, taking 250 students to the NUS demo in London, organising a rally in Manchester, establishing an anti-cuts student group and sitting on the National Union of Students’ (NUS) financial support committee to ensure that student funding support is made fit for purpose. We will continue to fight for a fairer deal for students under the new fee regime. Following consistent increases in elections participation over the last three years, we saw a record turnout in March 2011 with a massive 3,379 voters casting their ballot for candidates across 6 fiercely contested positions. The Union has undertaken a huge amount of work with students, experts and stakeholders during the last 18 months
to develop a new strategic plan which reflects the changing landscape and needs of our membership. Our £2 million wish campaign saw the officer team on the ground talking to thousands of students about what they wanted to see in the refurbishment of our Manchester premises, which played a key role in our proposal and draft plans. We’ve been able to make great strides in our student voice and representation work this year thanks, in large part, to additional funding provided by the University and we hope to improve on this in 2012 and beyond. 2011 was a great year and we are hoping that 2012 will see us make even greater progress towards making students’ lives better here at MMU. We look forward to increased funding and a refurbished Union building.
our strategy During 2011 we consulted with sector experts, our membership and other key stakeholders to develop our new strategic plan. Our vision is to become the leading new University students’ union and we believe that our three strategic imperatives in achieving this are:Increasing our impact Being more inclusive Involving others
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In the following pages our goals, activities and impact have been expressed by the five core themes of the student experience, which underpin our strategy:
ed·u·ca·tion
em·ploy’a·bil’i·ty
To enable all MMU students to realise their full academic potential by helping create optimum conditions for academic success.
Help our members to become more employable through the provision of a range of high-quality opportunities that develop important skills for life and work in a supportive, structured environment.
com·mu·ni·ty Meeting the needs of our diverse student communities through the provision of advice & support, the promotion of University life and opportunities to integrate or pursue common interests with others and make lifelong friends.
wel·fare Helping students to sustain their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing to realise their potential and remove barriers to success.
sus·tain’a·bil’i·ty Maximise the positive impact of our resources on the lives of our members and deliver a high quality union experience in an efficient, environmentally sound and effective manner for members.
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1 education 2 employability 3 community 4 welfare 5 sustainability
our achievements
S
tudents’ experience of the teaching & learning activities at MMU continues to be one of our core area of focus. With an increasingly diverse student population, the influence of new and emerging technologies on teaching & learning practices, and increasing scrutiny and competition placing ever higher demands on universities, it has never been more important to remove barriers to student success. In 2011, additional University funding enabled us to increase our focus on this in a number of ways.
Aim: To enable all MMU
students to realise their full academic potential by helping create optimum conditions for academic success
over 10,000 students engaged by our student voice coordinators putting students at tHe Heart of university decision making Two student voice coordinators were appointed for the first time in 2010/11 and 2011 saw the first full year of this invaluable resource. Over 10,000 students were engaged in a range of discussions including our education policy priorities, timetabling, staff:student ratios and NSS and induction talks. Termly student voice reports provide invaluable student insight to over 100 senior University staff and decision makers. Over 73 individual recommendations were made via the student voice reports, two-thirds of which have been resolved or implemented to date.
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our achievements
In 2010/11 we registered 433 course reps via our online system – a 26% increase on the previous year. We ran over 32 training sessions across all faculties and trained 364 course reps. An online training module was trialled in conjunction with CELT allowing resources to be redeployed to deliver more specialist or advanced face-to-face training programmes. As a result 36 course reps were trained jointly by the Students’ Union and the University to sit on standing panels allowing students to participate in this process for the first time. Student representatives attended 13 EQAL standing panels enabling student input into 43 programme approvals. Sabbatical officers underwent training and became a core member of academic appeals panels for the first time. A total of 969
appeals were lodged in 2010/11 with 646 being upheld in students’ favour. Our student representatives sat on 25 formal University boards and committees spending over 300 hours representing students’ views and putting them at the heart of University decision making. In 2011 over 1,400 students across all faculties were consulted to pass the 10 key objectives of our education policy. This forms a standing academic agenda and the backbone of our education campaign work. Progress against our objectives is reviewed each term. In 2011 the objective to provide 24-hour library services during exam periods was achieved as well as a commitment to provide students with coursework receipts within 12 hours.
students nominated 255 individual staff members across nine award categories & the campaign web pages received over 10,000 pageviews Helping students to celebrate excellent teacHing practice
award categories. This provides
MMUnion’s second student-led
bar for teaching standards and
teaching awards was held in 2011. The campaign amplifies the highly positive impact that MMU staff can have on students’ teaching & learning
students with an opportunity to throw the spotlight on the institution’s stars and raise the practice in a uniquely positive way. The awards are highly valued by students and staff at all
experience.
levels of the University, with
Students are invited to
activities highlighting
nominate individuals, courses
faculty and course promotional nominations and awards.
and departments across nine
MMUnion’s campaign has also been promoted as a template for studentled teaching awards by the national Union of Students and two other unions have subsequently used our campaign model and promotional materials to establish their own teaching awards
case study
gabi’s story I became a course rep in my first year of study having been involved in organising events and community service at school and college. I wanted to get the most out of my university experience, and as I live at home I didn’t want to miss out on the social aspects which make uni life so awesome. The first year of course rep-ing for me was an opportunity to understand and get to grips with the whole university experience, and really feel involved with my university. Participating in the chemistry student-staff liaison meetings and attending ‘shout out’ meetings with the dean of faculty and department heads has given me a sense of satisfaction in being able
to represent other students and their views and make a difference on my course. Through my involvement with the Union I’ve been offered some amazing opportunities such as being voted education subgroup chair and attending the National Union of Students (NUS) course representative conference. The experience has really made my time at MMU so much more memorable and given me some fantastic development opportunities! I can’t express how much I have gained from my role since it has really helped me develop as a person, a student and a future professional. I am really grateful to have been given the opportunities offered to me and I can’t wait for the next year!
Sonia Gabriela (‘Gabi’) Figueroa, medicinal and biological chemistry student
10 1 education 2 employability 3 community 4 welfare 5 sustainability our achievements
Aim: Help our members
to become more employable through the provision of a range of high-quality opportunities that develop important skills for life and work in a supportive, structured environment
E
mployability is one of the most important motivations for participation in Higher Education. NUS research indicates that the top five reasons for attending University are related to employability and with increasing competition in the graduate job market, getting ahead of the crowd is a key concern for our members. In our own research carried out in May, MMU students cited “improving my job prospects� as the top reason for studying at the University. Whilst traditional Union activities such as RAG, volunteering and clubs and societies have always supported students’ employability, more opportunities to develop skills, experience and personal confidence must be provided if our members are to succeed beyond the classroom alone.
case study
jeannette’s story The Critical Lawyers Group (CLG) has been a major part of my university life for a number of reasons. Activities such as the speakers and the conference that have been organised by the CLG have consolidated the taught programme of law provided by the University. They have allowed me to gain a better insight into current issues, meet individuals who are actively campaigning within the legal system and inspired me to do well in my degree and think about the barrister that I want to become. The CLG has also allowed me to gain experience of mooting and this year we reached the quarter finals of a national competition. Being committee chair has enabled me to develop a range of skills which are necessary to being a barrister and this has formed the basis of many of my application forms. Through my involvement with a society I have also become more aware of the active role that the Union plays in a student’s life. The CLG has made me passionate about law. It has enhanced my degree in a way that I don’t
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think would have been possible through just attending lectures and tutorials. I have met lecturers and other students who are equally passionate about social justice and their energy has at times been the only thing that has spurred me on to ensure that I finish the degree and do well in it. I think that sometimes within a degree there are points for everybody where they feel like giving up and wondering if there is any point. I have been incredibly fortunate to be part of an active society where there is usually something going on that answers that question affirmatively for me. I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience of studying law at MMU and I feel that my involvement with a student society has been integral to this experience. Jeanette Mooney, LLB (HONS)
our achievements
supporting volunteers and activists In 2011 we invested around £130,000 of our core funding in supporting student-led activities. This included the training and development of 549 club & society committee members, supporting 20 activities subgroups and 144 individual clubs & societies with over 2,700 members. There are around 1,000 active Union volunteers in leadership roles such as course reps, activities committee members and other volunteers or activists. We estimate that our course reps and club and society committee members alone put in at least 68,000 student volunteer hours during term-time. In order to strengthen the links between extra curricular activities and personal progression, 2011 saw the launch of our first Student Activities Training and Rewards Scheme (STARS). This is an accreditation framework, which enables clubs and societies to meet defined standards for the effective and efficient running of a club or society and gain recognition for this. To support the framework we launched an online resources hub exclusively for committee members. In 2011 pageviews for the online committee content more than trebled from 924 to over 4,000. To further support our volunteers we worked with the University careers service to run an employability skills workshop for our active volunteers and student staff. The event was delivered in conjunction with The Co-operative Group’s graduate recruitment officer and 50 exclusive places were made available.
74% of students in leadership, volunteer or student staff roles rated the union as having a positive impact on their overall university experience – the highest rating amongst any single group of students. They also told us that their involvement in the union had most developed their communication and team-work skills as well as increasing personal confidence Helping students to develop skills and gain experience The Union provides a range of part-time work opportunities for students – last year 287 students clocked up over 19,000 hours of paid work experience in the Union. We are an accredited Investors in People employer offering offer fair and progressive terms of employment, which respect and support our members’ study commitments.
placing ourselves at tHe Heart of tHe employability agenda As a member of the employability steering group, we were actively involved in the development of the employability curricula framework and employability units in addition to continuing our support of the professional passport. MMUnion successfully bid to become one of 20 unions taking part in a pilot employability accreditation scheme. NUS’ Student Skills Award is a national skills framework developed in partnership with big graduate employers, charities, universities and students’ unions to enable student volunteers to demonstrate the value to future employers of the extracurricular activities they have undertaken.
Working with the Hollings faculty we mentored student groups on the Events Management course. With our guidance they developed and implemented student events held within the Students’ Union as part of our feel good week campaign activities. The events were graded by their course leader as an assessed piece of coursework. Tapping into student talent and providing opportunities to develop portfolios and work experience by offering live briefs and
We worked with the University of Manchester’s careers service to help promote their graduate recruitment fair - a two-day event with 160 exhibitors offering full and part-time jobs, voluntary opportunities and postgraduate courses to students across the city. We also supported MMU’s employability week, which offers students 5 days of career development workshops, employer presentations and expert advice. At our own Refreshers Fair held in January, in addition to over 30 of our sports clubs & societies, MMU’s graduate opportunities service and partners such as Camp America and Endsleigh all attended offering student employability and volunteering opportunities.
287
students clocked up 19,000 hours of paid work experience in the Union support & guidance is an area that we aim to develop further as part of our employability strategy.
14 1 education 2 employability 3 community 4 welfare 5 sustainability
our achievements
Aim: Meeting the needs
of our diverse student communities through the provision of advice & support, the promotion of University life and opportunities to integrate or pursue common interests with others and make lifelong friends
T
wo key challenges that we face in fostering and strengthening our student communities are the fragmentation of the MMU campus across several sites and the diversity of our 38,000-strong membership. The lack of a physical Union presence in all but the Crewe and All Saints campuses means that almost half our membership does not have an on-campus Students’ Union and this can be felt in the measures that we track – 39% of students in Cheshire use the Union at least once per week versus 22% of All Saints students and only 7% of non-All Saints students; similarly only 56% of non-All Saints students agreed that the students’ union had a positive impact on their overall student experience vs 68% of All Saints students and 73% of Cheshire students.
(source: Sept 2011 Induction Survey to 1,208 1st year students and May 2011 survey to 1,871 MMU students)
As part of our engagement strategy over recent years we have invested in our digital and CRM capability to foster online communities and increased our on-campus presence through advice centre outreach work, student voice coordinators and activities such as roadshows and other local events. Investment in our research and insight capability has allowed us to build a more sophisticated view of our membership through segmentation, which will help us to strengthen our connection with all students irrespective of demography, geography or study patterns.
Helping students to integrate through shared experiences and pursuit of common interests 2011 saw the launch of the first integrated welcome week programme to provide a consistent arrival and induction experience for all MMU students. The programme was a partnership project with the University who funded it. A key objective was to create a programme that catered to our diverse mix of students and all sites of our fragmented campus.
Great to see us involved in Welcome Week! Mature Student
60 student reps recruited to create
high impact high visibility presence on campus 16
our achievements
We recruited 60 student reps to create a high-impact, highvisibility presence on campus, created information and help points in every faculty, distributed 4,000 welcome guides in halls and across campuses. Our reps also helped 2,500 students move into halls accommodation in one weekend and we ran over 132 activities and events over 9 days including 57 nightlife and alcoholfree events, 53 club and society socials / taster sessions, 15 facultybased networking events for mature students, local & commuting students and student parents and 7 halls moving-in events and BBQ. Over 16,500 students came to our two-day freshers’ fair attended by 60 local & national exhibitors and 80 clubs and societies. Over 1,000 students attended our alcohol-free events.
It was great to have the chance to meet reps and have activities for just us here in Didsbury! The welcome week reps have been great and made a huge difference to my first week! Student based in Didsbury
case study We support over 100 individual clubs and societies with 2,722 members catering to a wide range of interests. In 2011 membership levels increased by 26% from the previous year and we saw a rising trend in course-related societies.
39% of club and society members surveyed said they met their closest University friends through this activity. 74% of club and society members agreed that the Union had a positive impact on their student experience versus 63% of students overall. Alongside course reps they were also the most likely to recommend the students’ union to friends. In 2010/11 we entered 66 individual teams in British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) bringing students together to compete against other institutions across the region and nationally. Nine teams won their respective leagues and seven teams reached cup finals in their respective sports – with two of these going on to win. Individuals and groups of athletes also competed for MMU in a variety of BUCS sports from cross country to golf, surfing and trampolining. MMU and MMU Cheshire finished 71st and 73rd respectively in the overall BUCS championship table which ranks institutions depending on success in team and individual competition.
pete’s story Being part of the american football team is massively important to me, and have slowly but surely played an integral part in my university life.
extra mile to make my club better has paid off and given me yet another string to my bow.
I have been associated with teams since I was old enough I associate most of what to run and I think that it is I do with being part of solely the most important the team. I am an MMU thing that anyone can get involved with. Sport builds Being involved with the american football and character; societies available the union has made my allow everybody chance to university experience the develop an interest they haven’t 100% better thought of before and become a better rounded american football player and committee member: a part individual upon graduating. of student activities not just an international business student. University isn’t so much about the destination and I have recently been looking graduation than how you got for a placement and the there. work I have done to develop the club has been looked Pete Rowlands, international at favourably so going that business student
mmUnion’s website is the most frequently & widely used service by our members according to our annual research with almost half of respondents using it once a week or more and 72% of users rating it as good or very good taking tHe union to our members and promoting connected communities
In 2011 mmunion.co.uk received 226,081 visits & over a million pageviews
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our achievements
We held a Union roadshow each term in each faculty throughout last year to gain student opinion, promote Union activities and events and signpost them to important welfare services. Each sabbatical officer and student voice coordinator has a faculty remit and they spent around 1,000 hours talking to students on campus – roughly 30 hours per week. Our advisers spent over 500 hours doing outreach work with students in other sites & campuses
– around 16 hours per week during term-time. We also offer telephone and email service for those students who are not based in All Saints or who cannot attend an appointment in person. In recognition of the diverse needs of our changing membership, we secured a £2 million capital investment commitment from the University. This will allow us to refurbish the building reinvigorating and improving current service quality for Union users whilst creating new spaces, services and opportunities to meet the needs of non-traditional students and Union users. In addition to the capital investment project for 99
3,665LiKeS Facebook
of our Welcome Week 2011 page
Oxford Road, we worked with the Hollings faculty to create an on-campus social space, which will also provide a visible hub for Students’ Union activities at Hollings. 2011 saw the third iteration of our website in as many years and we embedded social media into the site for the first time. Our members can join clubs and societies online, vote in elections, purchase event tickets or memorabilia, submit feedback and requests, nominate in our teaching awards and tweet or post on facebook via our website. Club and society committees can directly contact their members,
create web pages and membersonly web content for their clubs and societies, hold elections and use other interactive functionality. We use a sophisticated html email platform to send out regular e-newsletters and ‘what’s on’ updates to students. This allows us to segment students, tailor content and track open and click rates to ensure that our messages are as relevant and targeted as possible.
1,TWiTTeR 000+
followers by the end of 2011
43% increase in FacEBOOK referrals to mmunion.co.uk in 2011
20 1 education 2 employability 3 community 4 welfare 5 sustainability
our achievements
T
he student journey is multifaceted encompassing many stages, touchpoints and emotional highs and lows. Academic pressures, funding complexities and the challenges our diverse membership face in sustaining a healthy study:life balance all call for a flexible support structure, on which students can lean in times of need. This system should also seek to highlight and tackle the root causes of students’ welfare issues to continuously improve the student experience and support retention at both a local and national level.
Aim: Helping
students to sustain their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing to realise their potential and remove barriers to success
9,315 individual
students accessed the advice centre and over half of these had never used the service before
Creating a healthy and just student environment MMUnion invests around a fifth of its core funding (almost £200,000) in a specialist and expert unit providing free, impartial advice and support to students in need. Our advice centre is registered with the Office of Fair Trading to provide licensed debt advice and as a member of AdviceUK, is part of the UK’s largest network of independent advice centres.
Tackling the root causes of our members’ collective welfare issues We challenged a local government planning policy initiative that would dictate where and how students lived by significantly restricting shared (multiple occupancy) housing in popular student areas. This would effectively seek to limit student housing to the more expensive and higher density private halls sector. In conjunction with the national landlords association, the local residents landlords association and other stakeholders we sought legal representation to prevent the policy being passed. As a result a review and further consultation of the policy initiative was ordered with significant amendments to be made.
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our achievements
Through the work of the advice centre and its impact on retention, we estimate a potential saving of up to £5.4 million in fees and other related revenues for the University.
£ 180,000 MMUnion was alerted to an issue with the rent policy of a private halls of residence. Rent payments were due before student loans were released and an unfair penalty system was causing additional student hardship. We worked with the University to successfully lobby the landlord to revise their policy to avoid unnecessary penalties being issued to students who were unable to pay their rent on time through no fault of their own. Our advice centre’s social policy work is as important as the direct help and support they provide to individuals in need. Highlighting to stakeholders the impact that policy decisions can have on students’ performance is an important way of tackling the root causes of issues. Our advisers attend MMU’s SIP management meetings, participate in
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In 2011 our 6-strong team of advisers handled over 19,000 enquiries of varying complexity and length, equating to more than 100 per day. With up to 40% of our students coming from low-income households it is unsurprising that a significant proportion of enquiries are funding and finance related. Based on confirmed outcomes of cases handled, we were able to put more than £180,000 back into students’ pockets through £156,000 of additional funding and £25,000 in reduced debts.
back into students’ pockets the review boards for assessment regulations and were involved in designing the exceptional factors process. MMUnion is an expert member of NUS’ student financial support committee, which is a national mechanism for lobbying central government to make HE funding support fit for purpose. We also sit on the national NUS welfare zone committee supporting the development of national welfare policy and priorities and are a member of the NUS critical friends group. This brings together a small representative group of key Students’ Unions to review and influence national plans and operations.
case study
jill’s story Jill* was a mature, final-year student with previously excellent marks, on track for a first. During her final year she experienced a difficult time with her family which had a serious impact on her studies. She missed several deadlines for assignments which would have meant her work was capped at 40%. The basis of her exceptional factors (EF) claim involved her parents, who have been together for many years, separating very suddenly. Her father with no warning walked out of the family home leaving her mother distraught. In addition to this her grandparent died shortly afterwards. The sudden bereavement compounded the shock and pain of her parents’ separation and the stress of travelling home each weekend to support her mother through an extremely traumatic time. Jill submitted her claim with a basic statement giving little detail and a GP’s note, again giving little information, believing that the death of a grandparent and the separation spoke for itself. Jill came to the advice centre distraught after finding that her claim had been rejected. The regulations state that the EF panel decision is final and the
only way to challenge it would be through an academic appeal in June after the Board of Examiners have met. We recognised that whilst the client’s claim was certainly valid, the case hadn’t been presented clearly enough. We advised Jill to obtain better evidence such as a death certificate and a more detailed GP letter outlining this further. We also assisted her in writing a much more detailed statement explaining when the event happened and how it had affected her studies. Although it is outside of the regulations we advised that Jill could ‘try’ and present a better case in a second EF claim before the board met. With our assistance she managed to secure a meeting with her head of department who used their discretion and reconsidered her improved claim. This option is included in the regulations. Her claim was accepted and Jill was able to resubmit the work as if for the first time. Our intervention has given Jill the peace of mind of a final outcome instead of waiting until June to present her appeal. It has also meant that she could still be on track for a first class degree. *Name has been changed for client’s anonyminity
1 education
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2 employability 3 community 4 welfare 5 sustainability
our achievements
O
ur sustainability relies on our ability to use the Union’s limited resources to best effect as well as securing our financial and operational continuity through innovation, continuous improvement, and responsiveness to our members’ and stakeholders’ needs. Of paramount importance is our duty to our members to help them to sustain their chosen path at University by removing barriers, providing support and championing their rights.
Aim: Maximise the positive impact
of our resources on the lives of our members and deliver a high-quality Union experience in an efficient, environmentally sound and effective manner for members
our sustainability work and projects will acHieve sector recognition MMUnion has been involved in Green Impact since 2006 and in 2011 we achieved our first Gold Award having reduced our Carbon Footprint by an amazing 11% on the previous year. Alongside MMU, we are currently the only Union and HE institution to be taking part in all 5 aspects of the Green Impact programme; Green Impact students’ unions, Green Impact universities, Green Impact in the community, student switch off and change agents UK.
11%
carbon footprint
REDUctiON from previous year
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our achievements
In 2011, we also undertook our first year in the Green Impact universities programme, entering as a department, and achieving ‘working towards’ standard. Working with the University enabled us to streamline our recycling facilities by removing individual office bins to ensure that all waste is taken to recycling points around our premises. Our gardening society subsequently used all the ordinary waste bins as planters for distribution around the University. As a result of MMU’s work with the Students’ Union in developing its access agreement, the University was recognised by NUS as a national example of good practice.
we Help students to navigate and manage tHeir personal sustainability wHilst at mmu We put over £129,000 back into students’ pockets through part-time work and other paid opportunities within the Students’ Union and with approved external partners. Working and studying in order to develop skills, gain industry experience or simply to pay the bills is a reality for many of today’s students but can impact on study time.
Our research shows that around 40% of our students work and a further 30% are seeking work Through our NUS affiliation we are able to benefit from its purchasing power for our retail and licensed trade operations and provide students with NUS Extra discount cards. Based on NUS research we estimate that MMU students with a discount card had access to around £1.5m in discounts and savings in 2011.
Our advice centre helps our members manage their personal finances in a range of ways, from helping them to budget, to apply for additional funding, benefits or financial support, reduce debts and issuing emergency loans. Last year we provided 121 short-term loans to students equating to around £6,000. Our advisers also supported 358 students in lodging academic appeals helping them to stay on their course or gain a fair mark.
£310,403 back into students’ pockets through additional funding, debt reduction & paid work opportunities
we will invest in services and activities tHat provide demonstrable value to all students and stakeHolders In 2011, with additional funding gained from the University, we were able to increase our investment in student voice, democratic support and insight capability. In addition to the 10,000 students engaged through our GOATing work by student voice coordinators, over 3,000 students also participated in formal research conducted by the Union on specific issues. In 2010/11 we launched our iCycle bike scheme in conjunction with the University’s environment team, a local social enterprise and with funding from NUS. The scheme aims to provide affordable, sustainable transport for students starting from just £4.50 per week. It also offers volunteer opportunities for students to learn bike maintenance from a qualified CYTEX cycle mechanic. In research 1 in 5 students surveyed said bike rentals was a service that they would use if available.
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our achievements
77% of Art & Design students surveyed used the shop and 78% rated it good or very good.. 73% of these students also agreed that the Students’ Union had a positive impact on their experience vs 63% of students overall - the highest faculty score alongside crewe Our retail operation is the second most used service by students after the website. Art & Design students are the highest users of our shop and are most satisfied with it. Specialist art materials represent a significant proportion of some of the shop’s highest selling items and we work with the faculty to ensure that our range reflects students’ needs.
case study
steph’s story I spent my first year living in private accommodation, and although I attended events during welcome week, none of the clubs or societies on offer took my fancy and so I didn’t get involved in any other aspects of university life. I attended my lectures and seminars, and spent my free time with my flatmates exploring Manchester. But getting involved with ‘student life’ was something that I always wanted to do, and always wished I had done, but I felt it was too late. Just before moving back to Manchester to start second year, I received an email advertising for staff for welcome week. I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to reassure people who were as nervous and apprehensive as I was that it was all going to be okay, and if I could do it, they certainly could! In my role as a rep I was working with students and staff on a number of projects and events. I met some amazing students who were really involved in the Union, and I envied them. After welcome week passed, I missed the Union and its sense of community
and decided to team up with my housemate to form our own society. Together we formed MMU cocktails and mocktails society which is still running today. We have put on cocktail master classes and socials in and around Manchester and welcome all MMU students to come get involved. Since welcome week I have continued working for the Union in a variety of roles including the elections and teaching awards campaigns and I have also become a course rep. This experience has been invaluable for me, especially as I have recently been applying for placements. These activities gave me lots to talk about with potential employers and really helped me to stand out from the crowd. As a result I have been successful in securing a 12-month placement in my course area. Stephanie Coulton, advertising and brand management
our future Our strategic plan outlines four key objectives for each of our student experience themes. These goals will inform our activities and form the benchmark against which we measure our impact and success.
ed·u·ca·tion
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• We will develop systems and ways of working that increase the support and insight available to student representatives at all levels to ensure the multiplicity of voices of our members are effectively represented to all academic decision makers. • We will engage students in the curriculum and establish better collaborative working at all levels in the University to ensure students are able to play an active part in creating the solutions to the academic issues they face. • We will make students more aware of the current issues, drivers and trends in HE and at MMU and use this to influence positive change in MMU. • We will prioritise key improvement areas through the creation and delivery of the Union’s education policy.
em·ploy’a·bil’i·ty • Our members will have access to all the information, advice and guidance they need to enable them to plan their employability development whilst at MMU. • Support for volunteers and activists will be transformed by introducing programmes that strengthen the link between extracurricular activity and personal progression. • We will lead by example by ensuring that all student opportunities in the Union and University seek to genuinely enhance a student’s employability. • The Union will place itself at the heart of the employability agenda though actively seeking opportunities to work with the University, employers and wider community in areas that provide employability development for all members.
com·mu·ni·ty • We will build physical and online facilities that are inclusive of all our students and promote connected communities. • We will expand the range of opportunities that allow student groups to integrate and learn about each other through shared experiences and pursuit of common interests. • The Union will be proactive in cultivating a sense of belonging, in all its current and future members, to the Union, University and to the local community. • We will provide safe, inclusive and supportive environments for students to express themselves, pursue common interests and work together to secure positive change for their community.
wel·fare • Our members will not suffer as a result of a lack of knowledge or understanding of their welfare rights. We will educate and empower students to lead healthy, secure lives. • We will take action with others to tackle the root causes of our members’ collective welfare issues as well as supporting individuals in need. • We will develop programmes to actively seek and support at-risk and vulnerable students. • We will provide a Union culture that promotes student wellbeing and supports healthy living.
sus·tain’a·bil’i·ty • Our sustainability work and projects will achieve sector recognition. • We will help students to navigate and manage their personal sustainability whilst at MMU. • We will invest in services and activities that provide demonstrable value to all students and stakeholders. • We will develop, promote and deliver sustainable targets for the Union and support the University and other stakeholders in achieving their sustainability targets and aspirations.
99 oxford road manchester, M1 7EL
mmunion.co.uk