Big student forum minutes 19 11 2014

Minutes of the BIG Student Forum 19th November, 2014 N241, Riverside East

Attendance: University staff: Richard Lynch (RL), Head of IT Operations and Support; Andrew McCreath (AM), Executive Director of IT; Kim Walsh (KW), Campus IT Service Lead.

Union staff: Paul Greene (PG), President of Communications & Democracy; Stefan Gheorghe (SG), President of Education & Welfare; Stephen Fiddes (SF), Student Advice & Administration Coordinator.

A head-count of students was taken by SF, and approximately 20 students were in attendance.

PG introduced the members of IT Services, and outlined how he and AM have met to discuss IT issues on campus and what can be improved. Student input is sought.

AM outlined the Student-Facing Review that IT is undertaking. It is the first systematic review with students that has been done. They want it to be inclusive: with home and international students, on-campus and distancelearners all consulted.

In December, focus groups will be set-up with Faculty Officers to find out key topics. They are also working with SPARQS, an independent body that

advises how to engage with students. Once the key topics have been established, class reps will be reached out to.

Students are invited to spread the word. AM has been invited onto the Facebook page for class reps – he can be contacted there.

The following points were noted by students present: •

IT at RGU is unsatisfying compared to other universities. For example, the Wi-Fi service is very poor.

RL: with the opening of Riverside East, a new system was introduced: Eduroam. There were issues with it, and the vendors are being charged with the problems. When it is working, it allows things like “roaming” – you can move around, and remain connected. RGU Connect is meant to automatically connect to proxy servers, but the software is failing. If you are connecting to Eduroam, it should be fast, as the need for authentication has been removed.

For the past week and a half, there have not been as many connection problems. There are some black spots: levels 1 and 2 of Aberdeen Business School.

Connectivity is patchy in the Fashion Management area, due to

“bleed” from the Learning Centre above. Once coverage is sorted it will be fine. More access points need to be added (they temporarily stopped adding them until the system stabilised).

AM said it is good for IT to know how best to feedback the fact that they are aware of problems with Wi-Fi and are working on it. If you continue to get WiFi problems, go to the IT Helpdesk so they can collate info on cases.

The following points were noted: •

The company providing the system should intensify their work on the Wi-Fi. RL assured this was the case.

•

Is it possible to install Google Drive onto an RGU Computer? IT will capture this and look into it.

•

Some people have encrypted laptops, and cannot connect to Wi-Fi at all – IT will look into this.

•

Snapchat doesn’t work on campus. RL– we don’t deliberately block it, we’re not sure why it doesn’t work.

•

Could there be a pop-up issue desk? Sometimes the problem is fixed by the Help Desk, but the fix doesn’t work in a different area.

•

Some ID cards don’t swipe on printers.

•

There are not powerpoints in some classrooms. IT will look into this.

•

Emails regarding maintenance of IT services aren’t always given promptly enough.

RL – every problem the Help Desk encounters is logged for reference. There are IT guys in the School of Computing – they can also help with Wi-Fi etc.

IT have a blog at http://riverbytes.wordpress.com

Other issues PG – the Union bar was closed as the university sold the building. We need to go to the university with a shopping list of what we want to replace it.

The following points were noted: •

We need a Union bar, that’s not up for discussion! We need to look at sites around campus. SG: it is hard to make a case for a bar on campus when it struggled in the city centre.

•

PG: in 2017, there will be a new accommodation site and social space for the Union as part of it.

•

A student union should have a bar. Class reps support this.

•

Can we have a joint venture between RGU and Aberdeen University?

PG - This has been tried before and never worked due to lack of enthusiasm from them.

•

It needs to be in the city centre until most halls are on campus.

•

More catering outlets that are open late are required on campus. Costa is open late – but the food is not reduced for students, and Superbox is only open until 7pm.

•

There is a general dissatisfaction with catering on campus.

•

A possible solution: a Union-run initiative. PG - the Union would require a building for this. Also, it would be in breach of contract, as the University’s catering contract is tied to existing buildings. The contract expires in 2018.

•

We need action now. Could we try to end the contract – perhaps a boycott of Aramark?

•

Events rooms, a games room and space for societies are all required.

•

Signs in RSE say that the Media Hub (N241) is a Games Room. The signage needs to be changed.

•

The University needs to tell students when they have something taking place on floor 2 of RSE so that students do not inadvertently interrupt it.

PG: who is satisfied with the University’s investments in the student experience? The following points were noted: •

RSE is too bland.

•

There is nothing to do on campus during lunch breaks. There used to be if you were based in the city centre.

•

People just want to leave campus if they have to commute back to the city centre – there is nowhere for them to go if they hang around.

•

Rooms are required for students to bring consoles, games etc. in the evening. It could be in existing classrooms that are not in use in the evening.

SG: what lengths do you want the Union to go to in order to bring back the Union bar, and what do you want us to do specifically?

The following points were noted: •

If there are to be 1500 beds at a campus accommodation site, it makes sense for there to be a bar here, rather than in town.

•

A bar on campus would discount students living in the city centre. It would mainly benefit first year students, living in halls.

•

What is wanted on campus: a Union room with Wi-Fi capability (or wired internet) where laptops could be set-up and games could be played.

PG - the Clarke Building at Schoolhill has been sold, the admin building will remain as it is, so neither are options for a Union bar. Kaim Cottage is not a suitable space for such things due to accessibility issues (and it is going to be knocked down in a year and a half).

Faculty Officers will ask class reps to gather feedback on what students want on campus for leisure/evening use.