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Introduction
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AUSA Sabbatical Officers & Executive Committee 2010-11
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Our Vision & Core Values
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Representing You
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Involving You
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Entertaining You
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You Said, We Did
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Supporting You
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Connecting with You
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Providing For You
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Rewarding You
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Listening to You
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Looking Forward
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Financial Statements
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Aberdeen University Students’ Association (AUSA) is a registered Scottish Charity No. SC037971
Contents >>
FSC logo to be inserted here
n o i t c u d Intro
2010/11 will forever be remembered as the year that the Westminster Government trebled tuition fees under such acrimonious circumstances and as the year thousands of students and their supporters came together up and down the country to campaign against them. AUSA played its part as part of the National Union of Students (NUS) in that campaign, ultimately leading to all but one of the elected MSPs in North-east Scotland signing a commitment, which has meant that the Scottish Government has not introduced fees for Scottish students – a crucial victory to protect AUSA’s current and future members. We have already begun, however, to feel the impact of Westminster’s decision in Aberdeen, with quadrupled fees for students from elsewhere in the UK, and higher fees for Scots to study in England. AUSA managed to galvanise the support of its students and managed to send huge delegations down to both London and Edinburgh to march against the introduction of fees. We sent hundreds of letters to local Liberal Democrat MP’s who had pledged to vote against fee
rises and who later went back on their word. We made this a real issue in the northeast and got many column inches of local media coverage.
Meanwhile, we successfully opened the doors to our fully functioning building, Butchart Centre. Alfie’s cafe quickly found a following amongst students and the rest of the services and activities quickly settled down to continue to develop ‘a home for students on campus’. The official opening of the building in March 2011 was a great affair with many VIP’s in attendance to witness an array of activities which emphasised the fantastic role the Students’ Association plays in campus life.
After securing over £100k in external funding the previous year, the AUSA Climate Change project was started and with the help of 3 staff and a vast number of voluteers was a massive success in educating students to reduce their carbon footprint. Overall the measurable carbon reduction was a huge 251.8 tonnes and with all the excellent work that was undertaken AUSA managed to gain a Silver level Green Impact award, a national award for environmental excellence in a students’ association. AUSA’s 5 year strategic plan was finally agreed which allows us to work towards a shared vision of the future, as a strong membership organisation that succeeds in improving the lives and student experiences
of students at the University of Aberdeen. This plan will be introduced via yearly action plans over the next 5 years to ensure AUSA continues to develop and more importantly, continues to develop in line with what our students, our members, want and need. Other significant points over the past year have been appointing a new General Manager, our Charities Campaign disbursing £95k to local charities, continuing to achieve Investors in People (IiP) recognition, developing in collaboration with the university a more structured support and development structure for the Class reps, continued sporting success, commonwealth gold medals and the continuation of a high turnout for our executive committee elections. It has been a pleasure and an honour to have had the opportunity to lead AUSA for the past two years and I for one am proud of all that we have achieved together over that time and I will watch with interest all that Tessa’s team and those that follow achieve on behalf of AUSA and its 15,000 members. Robin Parker Student President 2010/11
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Executive Committee 2010-11 President President for Welfare & Equal Opportunities President for Societies & Student Activities President for Education & Employability President for Charities President for Sport Sports Union Treasurer VP Equal Opportunities VP Societies Foresterhill Convenor VP Charities VP Education Environment & Ethics Officer AUSA SABBATICALS 10/11: (L-R): MEGAN MCHANEY, DREW LEITCH, JENNY BATTY, ROBIN PARKER, CIARA RYAN, ANDREW RYAN
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Robin Parker Jenny Batty Andrew Ryan Megan McHaney Ciara Ryan Drew Leitch Johan Kangasniemi Josefine Bjorkqvist Sean McNally David Roach Kirstie McDonald Christina Nyaga Henriette Mohr
Our Vision:
Our Core Values To be student led. To be democratic. To embed equality and diversity in all procedures, practices and activities of AUSA.
To ensure sustainability is embedded into all AUSA activities and practices. To be environmentally conscious. To provide value for money. 5
Representing YOU ONE OF AUSA’S MAIN FUNCTIONS IS TO REPRESENT YOU – OUR MEMBERS – IN ALL ASPECTS OF YOUR STUDENT LIFE. WE AIM TO STICK UP FOR YOU, TO BE YOUR VOICE, AND TO HELP MAKE YOUR OPINIONS HEARD. THIS IS HOW WE’VE DONE THIS YEAR
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2010/11 was a good year for AUSA in representing your views and needs across a variety of issues. AUSA were involved in a number of campaigns and demonstrations not least the National Demo against Tuition Fees in London and the Reclaim your Voice demo in Edinburgh. AUSA took their full delegate contingent to both the NUS UK conference in Newcastle/Gateshead and the NUS Scotland Conference in Irvine. AUSA managed to get delegates elected to both national and Scottish committees of NUS including Scottish Executive
Committee, Women’s Committee UK and Black Students Committee. We were extremely proud to see some our students even going on to become national officers – Robin Parker, NUS Scotland President and Jay Wakefield, NUS Scotland Disabled Students’ Officer. AUSA successfully campaigned to get better feedback for our students from their lecturers in January and also managed to get the bus route from Hillhead through to Foresterhill reinstated after lobbying and petitioning First Bus.
The Annual General Meeting passed AUSA’s Equality and Diversity policy and a Changing Faces motion to lobby the University for Face Equality. Overall AUSA also consulted on new sabbatical roles as part of the ongoing Governance review, organised the women’s forum and disabled students’ forum to establish more feedback and voice for these liberation groups at the University of Aberdeen. We also continued to develop further the relationship with the late Rector, Stephen Robertson MBE, towards mutually agreed goals to make the experience of students studying at the University of Aberdeen all the better. Finally AUSA managed to set up regular meetings with MPs and MSPs lobbying on
education funding and other issues, ensuring that the student voice was heard at the highest level in the city.
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yourvoice.co
www.reclaim
NO TUITION F
EES
PROTEC GRADUATE T N AND COLL UMBERS EGE PLACE S IMPROV E STUDEN T SUPPO RT
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involving you Since AUSA is YOUR Students’ Association its main focus is to involve as many of YOU – our members – in the student experience and to help shape YOUR future and its successes. YOUR involvement in non-academic and community work adds value to your CV. The AGM was again held in the Arts Lecture Theatre to allow as many of you as possible to attend and was promoted as an opportunity for all students to have their say and cast a vote as to how you want your students’ association to operate. This year saw some un-involved students bringing a motion to the AGM which passed showing to the student body how easy and worthwhile it is to get involved in the policy process. The “Give it a Go” initiative launched last year was extended and enhanced operating during both Freshers’ and Re-Freshers’ Week offering members a chance to “Give it a go” with tailored “taster” sessions before deciding whether or not to join a society. In all more than 50 societies held in excess of 80 “Give it a go” type events, almost twice as many as the previous year.
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The student led teaching awards were held for the first time in conjunction with graduations. These awards saw around 100 nominations for six categories and were so successful that these are due to become a more permanent fixture on the AUSA calendar. The AUSA Volunteering service has continued to grow this year. The number of opportunities available to students is over 170. These include fundraising, conservation, befriending, sports related to name a few. In the last year, as well as many students continuing to volunteer from the previous year, nearly 400 new students have signed up sending through over 2000 requests for more information. Many more students this year have also signed up for the various awards you can receive in recognition of the volunteering hours you do.
In fact some students in the last year have volunteered over 1000 hours each! During the year the Charities Campaign ran a host of
fundraising events and other initiatives, both large and small, including Gala Saturday, Schools Collections and fancydressed charity pub crawls. Together our members involved in the campaign disbursed over £91,000 to local charities and £4,000 to national campaigns – a record
breaking year for the Charities Campaign. In response to feedback the charities campaign this year disbursed more money to national charities suggested
introduced a range of initiatives and projects including widely publicising the “Liftshare” programme encouraging both our members and staff to
by societies and other members. In June, AUSA saw the end of the funding from the climate challenge project, however money was secured from the University to continue the project coordinator post for a further three years.
consider car-sharing for both long and short journeys.
The Climate Change Project has
AUSA’s members continued to be active on a sporting front with 55 Sports Clubs almost all of whom participate in British University and College Sports (BUCS) leagues and competitions. Currently 55 teams
are entered into the BUCS leagues with more than 100 others participating in a variety of other local and national leagues and competitions. In 2011, AUSA was 27th out of all the British Universities who participate in the BUCS championships.
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Entertaining YOU A range of events were held throughout the year, often under the auspices of the Charities Campaign including Gala Saturday, Student Show as well as ceildhs, fayres and alike allowing members to be entertained and raise money for good causes at the same time. Freshers’ Week was once again a great success with the now famous AUSA Marquee providing the focus point for much of the daytime activities, including the Societies and Sports Fayres. Refreshers’ Week returned for a third year in January and offered Societies and Sports Clubs another major opportunity to gain members with fayres and “Give it a go” taster events. Once again the week was filled with a range of events to “Refresh” the student experience of the second semester. It also acts as a key introduction to AUSA’s services for the second halfsession exchange and some new 10
postgraduate students. AUSA celebrated its 11th Anniversary with the Students’ Association Dinner, with many of AUSA’s past sabbatical officers and staff making a return. Guests enjoyed a sumptuous 3 course meal at the Copthorne Hotel and a ceilidh by Gillie Dhu. AUSA also presented awards to the outstanding volunteers from the past year. AUSA Sport continued their usual run of successful crosscampus events with Superteams again attracting more than 500 participants from across the university to an action packed day of team sporting events; AUSA’s sports teams did battle once more with their rivals from across the city in the annual Granite City Challenge – believed to be the largest one day intrauniversity competition in Britain – which saw AUSA’s teams victorious.
Our partnership with Hilton continued for the always lively, always entertaining Sports Ball. Several of AUSA’s Creative Arts Societies performed fantastic pieces of theatre thanks to the facilities of the Aberdeen Arts Centre with Treading The Boards (TTB) and Gilbert and Sullivan Societies performing ’Disco Inferno’ and ‘The Mikado’ respectively.
societies and guests of the Association in attendance. After a lovely meal came an enjoyable ceilidh (yes, AUSA likes its ceilidhs!) and for many an after party at Liquid Nightclub into the wee small hours. This year’s Student Show raised an amazing £91,000 by performing ‘Sleepless in Seaton,’ playing to an audience of over 5,000 in His Majesty’s Theatre over 6 days.
The 3rd Societies Ball and Annual Awards were held in March at the Copthorne Hotel with a record number of
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WE DON’T JUST LISTEN TO YOU WHEN YOU GIVE US FEEDBACK – WE ARE COMMITTED TO ACTING UPON THIS FEEDBACK AND BRINGING ABOUT ACTION AND CHANGE WHERE REQUIRED – FOR AND ON BEHALF OF YOU. HERE ARE EXAMPLES OF WHAT’S BEEN SAID BY YOU AND WHAT WE’VE DONE IN RESPONSE... “Help get mo Fundin re g for Societ ies”
You at ual d th sai nt Eq licy e ur r ties Po rstand c r ou rtuni unde . to po ent Op icult m e l e iff t th imp sd a d y n wa a r ic pol ing fo o e t h t n ed g trai n how g n d cha reatin eties o volve We c i n i , c o ts er AGM and s den clear u t s s g b clu more vidin e c o t pr ge dan ity. i u and g lic pub n o
You wante d longer openin g hours in the librar y . We sec ur openin ed longer g hour s for both e xam d iets this ye a r . 12
We we re increa able to get a se ove r last y 15% societ ea ies dis bursem r in at the ent end of Ju we als o were ne and award £10,00 ed 0 from the Alumn i Futur e Fund.
You e r d th sai inste ldn’t m ou st We ent sh fees n r nm tuitio e v of go eble ds e ho r r t nd sw P hu m M inst red e e D v i b ga del l Li ea t re a o c We v efo lo o b t o t s ore ged fee ers km lett d pled ase in o o t m re ha and ts fro inc n y o n n i to e a ct tud ndon ele s e 0 o 0 th n1 to L st fee tha deen n r gai . Abe rch a ses ma ncrea i
ing “Mak ty Socie more e itte s cy” Comm ureaucra less b fun – ed to as tri t of h A S ear AU moun This y n on the a es face, w eti cut do cracy soci reduced u ly burea drastical y for e v ac we ha bureaucr ed reduc the d n a ittee urers treas ther comm l. o el it for rs as w e b m me
You said AUSA s hould do mo re for t he enviro nment We pla nted m ore tha 500 tre n es at H illhead and ar oun campu d s.
You said you wa nted more m o n your p ocketsey in studyi while ng. We cam Scotla paigned w nd it Voice” to “Reclaimh NUS i Your electio n the Sco t n t i s s 2 h 0 11, sec more s u t r u i d ng ent on the gover nsupport agend ment’s a.
You said drinki ng wa ter should be mo widely availa re b campu le on s We sta r with th ted discussio e Unive ns rsit more w ater fo y to get untain install s ed on c ampus
“Stude n should ts n’t have to pay tu iti fees to come t on o Univer sity” We got north- all but one o east M f the electe SPs who ge t up to a d signed pledge introd t uce tu o not i t io fees fo r Scots n .
You wante feedba d your e ck on xams. We got the to give university compr more feedba ehensive ck on e xams a assessnd ments .
You said you wa nted more i nfor m ati on imp roving on your emplo yabilit y. We cre ated fr iendlie pages r websit on the AUSA e, givin g infor m ation y you the ou nee d.
t Thae th s and eallaintss p p a mp s wa ok a . co ces nd to lete proing a comp r fus e to theto e cong tim g ty to lon ed iversi dures k r ce a wo Un We h thehe pro t i is witnge t ring ocesss t r u cha ens rer p uden t a cle the s lved. for invo
You wante d more s uppor t for class r eps.
We sec ur memb ed a new sta er to g ff ive bet trainin ter g and suppo class r rt to eps th rough the yea o ut r; newsle including a tter an d class rep for ums.
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re Mo ies iet Soc ts in n eve stone hin Elp to ged the a n ith ma We iate w save to ot 00 neg ersity to £5 v p se Uni ties u yu e e i h c t So ne en wh hinsto l. Elp Hal
That you wa nt a stron ed ger voice f or wom campu en on s. We org anise Aberd een Wo d the first men St For um ude a Night m nd a Reclaim nts’ arch to the get pe to star ople t takin of the W g notice om Campa en’s ign.
Ensure that AU SA has greate r prese nce at Societ y Even ts
We hav e work ed on t this ye his alo ar with t AUSA o more h f fering elp to those s r unnin ocietie g even s ts and Presid a lso the ent for Societ attend ies has ed eve nts fro 100 so m over cieties to show AUSA s uppor t
You said H alls of Res idence should b energy e more efficie nt
We got energy install ed in e meters ver y h of resi alls dence t o monit their e or nergy usage more a ccurat ely
Ensure mor postgr e aduate partic ipation in Societ ies After c onsult Postgr aduate ing with studen issues ts on soc iety en on we hav t r y, e brou ght in measu n e w res to m postgr a k e aduate s fe a part of AUSA el more and of societ ies
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Bigger , better societ ies Bal l
Once a gain it becom ha e bigger s better and wit by 10% h numbers u p and it m profit, which ade a is the put ba ck into n societ ies
That we nee ded to put m ore money into Sp ort. The Sp or fought ts Union to secu re £30,00 0 for Sport f rom th e Univer sity.
ke Ma ional at e er n s mor ies Int t t den socie u t s e e in her al om t c r l er we yea he ith sev ut t f w bo rt o sta roups eties a at e h h i At t ocus g l Soc sure t lt a fe en re f ultur nts es we uld C e o d e c ti u h USA nal St socie ed of t A how r natio me in ment o e le elc Int mp sure i w e e r v en mo we ha s to ore e r d an lm asu me ey fee e. om th c l we
You wante d more repres ent Postgr ation as aduate s. We for the fir st time fi lled al l the postgr aduate se on the educa ats tion comm ittee.
You wante d better super v ision a s Postgr aduate s. We lob bi of sup ed for a team er viso rs, with separa a te adv i sor, pl an agr u s e expect ement of ations from both p arties.
“It’s difficu lt to get to Forest from H e illhead rhill /Kings ” We suc c e ssfu First B us and lly lobbied worke the Un d with iversit y to ha regula ve a rs Forest er vice betwe erhill a en nd Kin gs/ Hillhea d.
Impro ve the Transp the Soc arency of ieties U nion Comm ittee An imp roved presen at cou ce nc policie il and more s to sh ow how the Soc ieti actual es Union ly work s
That we nee ded t make sure th o voices at the of stud ents w disabi ith lities w ere heard. being We hel d a fo semes ter to g r um in each et your and us feed ed this feedba back lobby ck for on cam better light to ing pus an d to m it easie ake r for d isabl studen ts to ge ed t involv ed wit h Societ ies.
ve “Ha e s r mo ession ies” s et ing r soci n i tra le fo nge a r b r ila in a ns fo t ava h o g i g rou g sess cludin b e g r, in isin inin hav We ew tra is yea ndra d e u h of n eties t and F updat s, t i g soc siden g. Also ainin urer Pre ainin ent tr treas r tr cur rly the e h t la ing icu train t r pa
You d nte wa cohol ve ti al an lter na ll our ta ea fre able a hs. il id l ava ceil t al e a h et av sur will h r e d ma vents tive fo t e W re e r na s – a u fut n alte inker st! a -dr ra co n o n ext no
You wante d to hav e more events in Alfie ’s Cafe As our fir operat st year in ion we had severa l socie ties perfor m throug ing hou the yea t r.
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Supporting YOU
AUSA RECOGNISES THAT STUDENTS OFTEN REQUIRE A HELPING HAND AT VARIOUS POINTS IN THEIR STUDENT EXPERIENCE. WE PROVIDE A RANGE OF SUPPORT SERVICES AND MAKE PROVISION WHERE POSSIBLE TO OFFER THOSE IN NEED RELEVANT ADVICE, SUPPORT AND INFORMATION TO ALLOW THEM TO PARTICIPATE SAFELY AND TO MAKE INFORMED CHOICES, NOT ONLY ABOUT THEIR STUDIES, BUT ALSO ABOUT THEIR LIFESTYLES >> This year we recruited over 100 volunteers to help students moving into halls and during their first week at University, running our Easy Tiger welfare campaign throughout the week and running for the first time a Well-Fayre in Freshers’ Week, introducing you to all the help services you might need whilst at University.
number of students seeking help 10 for appeals and continued to students and offer students support in finding staff underwent accommodation and seeking mental health first health services. aid training In
2010-11 AUSA Joblink Our confidential information and listening service registered 1161 students with a took on the mission to go city wide and we massive 1684 students getting jobs via Joblink. 1684 started plans to make the service available There was 25,196 job requests on the website students to all students in Aberdeen. We had a very with 3049 students visiting the centre. got jobs via successful Niteline Awareness Week, making Joblink ran a new initiative called Jobclub Joblink this sure that students knew where they could which ran for 5 weeks, helping students to year get support in the evenings. provide an additional window of time for those students who possibly could not utilise the Feedback from students stated that they were unsure Service during the day due to previous conflicts, such where to go for help and support and so at the end of as course studies, placements. It was also to provide a the academic year we employed a student intern to take support network to students who are struggling to find forward students views and to investigate the services work, to let them know that they are not alone and that available for help and support. others are also finding things difficult. In the SEOTY Awards (Student £14,000 in We arranged for ten students and AUSA staff to go Employee of the Year Awards) through the Scottish Mental First Aid Training, meaning we had 4 regional winners and 2 grants was that they were better equipped to support students who national runner-up’s. Joblink also awarded to were having difficulties during their time at University. supported 44 students through societies AUSA Info and Advice Centre saw an increase in the the Passport 2 Work scheme, 16
helping them gain experience of the work place. Joblink moved location over the Easter break, as there was a trend of enquiries that were also related to the Info & Advice Centre with a view to the services merging over the summer months.
also extremely fortunate to obtain £10,000.00 Alumni Disbursement which we gave to Juggling Society for equipment to allow them to train and perform within the University and the wider community, Revelation Rock Gospel Society to buy drums to enhance their shows. In total more than 30 societies were given Alumni towards Support for class representatives was further increased their various activities. by the role of the Education Development Co-ordinator. Support included liaising with academics to find the The AUSA Volunteering Service continues to offer and most suitable solutions to run and support the Class support students by offering over 170 different ways for Representative system. Class Reps also tailored training them to volunteer. Many students have become involved, on their role and workshops on effective communication. particularly with the internal projects we run including A series of Class Rep Forums were arranged which acted Bookends and Niteline. Probably the greatest success as a platform to share practice, ask questions, get the this year has been the Climate Change Project which answers, socialise and provide feedback in an informal has got students volunteering as Energy Champions, way. To thank the Class Reps for their work AUSA held Interns, Cookery Assistants, Veg Bag volunteers, Veg the first ever Class Rep Christmas Party and an end of Garden and Wildlife Garden volunteers. year picnic. Class Reps provided very positive feedback about the support they have received. We continued to support Societies, hosting training for Presidents, Treasurers and Societies. The move to Butchart allowed AUSA to open up more rehearsal/ practice space for societies, which enabled them to hold more society events. The Dance Society have a host of Dance Classes within Butchart which are extremely popular, along with Yoga Society, Swing Dancing in Aberdeen Society and Capoeira Society. The Malt Whisky Society are able to host very successful tasting sessions every fortnight in Bookends Gallery, thus making AUSA Butchart more student friendly and social. Grant Disbursement of £14,000.00 to societies enabled various societies to provide their members with various trips including visits to the Scottish Parliament, Cairngorms and various social trips to Glasgow, Edinburgh and London. The Dance Society used their Grant money to proudly give us their “Viva Las Vegas” show which was held in the Beach Ballroom to great reviews. We were
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Connecting
With
AUSA SERVES OVER 15,000 STUDENTS AND ARE COMMITTED TO COMMUNICATING WHAT WE DO TO AS MANY OF YOU AS POSSIBLE. AUSA IS EMBRACING THE COMMUNICATION AGE USING THE INTERNET, EMAIL AND SOCIAL NETWORKING AS TOOLS TO STAY CONNECTED WITH YOU, WITH A VIEW TO CONTINUALLY IMPROVING THE METHODS WE USE TO ENGAGE OUR MEMBERSHIP AUSA continued the success of last year sending fortnightly HTML e-newsletters direct to all its members informing them of upcoming or ongoing opportunities and events, driving click-through traffic to specific pages/sections of the website as well as informing them how they could became more involved with AUSA. AUSA’s Facebook page and Twitter account (@ ausatwit) were integrated enabling posts from each platform to be shared on each. Publicity for both was increased to encourage students to like the page and follow the
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twitter account to keep up to date with news, events and other information. Gaudie (our student newspaper) in its 76th year and ASR (Aberdeen Student Radio) continued to publish and broadcast a wide range of news, views, reviews and entertaining content and involved between 30 and 50 students in the running and operation of both media channels with ASR operating a full schedule of programmes on weekdays for the first time, with something to suit everyone’s taste. Gaudie was awarded £6,000 from the Aberdeen
Future Fund to assist with the costs of printing the paper and AUSA purchased a suite of computer hardware and software to enhance their ability to design and produce the paper to a high standard. Members of the Gaudie team attended training courses in journalism and also entered the Student Media Awards A range of focus groups were held with a range of students from Class Reps, to Council members, to those who were not currently active within the association in order to seek members’ views on a wide
range of topics including the University’s policy on feedback and exams and as a result of the Student Union Evaluation Initiative (SUEI), AUSA itself. The purchase and installation of the Onelan Digital signage network into Butchart has enabled AUSA to have total control over advertising content and enabled live feeds of Graduations and TV channels to be broadcast within Alfie’s and in our Reception area - as well as an income stream for external commercial advertisiers to utilise.
Providing for YOU>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>
IN ORDER TO IMPROVE YOUR STUDENT EXPERIENCE WE FEEL IT IS IMPORTANT TO FUND AND PROVIDE CERTAIN SERVICES, RESOURCES AND FACILITIES FOR YOU TO USE AND ENJOY. HERE’S HOW WE’VE PROVIDED FOR YOU THIS YEAR >>
BUTCHART CENTRE
Butchart Centre, AUSA’s home on campus continues to develop and grow. The flexible learning space in the main hall has been used widely over the past year by students wanting a place to relax, a place to study or a place to socialise. This was the main aim AUSA had when moving to the Butchart centre and are pleased that this has started to be used in this way. The plans to develop this area in the future will also be based around this aim so that Butchart Centre continues to offer exactly the sort of space that students require on campus.
CLASS REP SUPPORT
This year saw the development of the class rep structure through the introduction of our university funded Education Development Coordinator. The work to put in place a new and effective structure for support, development and training was started last year with the outcomes of this work being seen for the first time over the past year. During this time we managed to train over 300 class reps through 13 training sessions which had not been done in previous years. The Education Development
Coordinator is also on hand throughout the year to support all class reps with queries, questions and support so that they can continue to develop their representational role within the university.
CLIMATE CHANGE PROJECT
The Climate Change project received funding of £111,000 in March 2010 but didn’t start to see the results of their work until Freshers’ Week in September 2010. Throughout the year they managed to educate and promote the green agenda through the reduction of energy, better travel options, reduction of waste going to landfill and more to recycle and reuse and offering awareness about locally sourced food products thus reducing the travelling miles incurred. In all, the climate challenge project was able to measure a total carbon reduction as a consequence of their work of 251.8 tonnes over the year and managed to generate 3200 volunteer hours to achieve this. This fantastic outcome for the project also resulted in AUSA gaining funding from the University to continue this project for a further 3 years starting in September 2011. 19
U O Y g n i d Rewar
THAT EEL IT RIGHT F E W T A H T N AND HE YEAR GH NOMINATIO ROUGHOUT T U H O T R H H T C U . M D E VE O ARE REWARD U ACHIEVE S STUDENTS HA S G L IL IN K W S O L D L N O A F MANY OF YO NTS NS THE S, TIME, TALE D COMPETITIO N A S E M E YOUR EFFORT H C S N IN SEVERAL PARTICIPATIO ED >> BEEN REWARD ward lison Johnston A A ar Ye e th of New Society er Zoology Society Society Newcom t es B ational UNYSA row) Childreach Intern ar (M i Big Heart Award or to as ar D Ye e an Ki ospel Society of th UNICEF Society Revelation Rock G Most Dedicated ety ce Society an D Shared Planet Soci Choir al du vi di In y Malt Whisky Societ Best Event on (Marrow) tt U e si Ro ety ciety International Soci Most Improved So Ceilidh AB-FAB
Blues Bowl Club Kay Copland, Rifle Memorial The AJM Edwards Award noe Club David Eastwood, Ca
emorial Sandy Morrison M
The Trophy Rifle
hy
orial Trop The Allender Mem Boat Club
BLUES MEDALLISTS and women TWELVE sportsmen als during the received Blues Med year. women TEN sportsmen and during the year. received Half Blues
Centenary Cup Rifle Club
s and a wide variety of area in ts ec oj pr d ar by students national aw MV Award is a udes the work done cl in h tis ot Sc ubs, e by th societies, sports cl in ed lv scheme endorsed vo in e th t recognises d in other studen an s ee itt m Government which m co ne by young eir studies. voluntary work do activities during th ss ro ac d) ol s ar people (16-25 ye 09-10: Scotland. In academic year 20 arded the 50 students were aw 34 e th ise recogn awards The ary hour Award 20 contribution made to volunt
awarded the 100 19 students were hour Award e awarded the 11 students wer – each receiving 200 hour Award d by the First a certificate signe . Minister of Scotland
LISTENING TO YOU
We don’t just hear you when you talk to us - we listen, which means we do our best to act on what you’ve told us We’ve continued to carry out Annual All-Student Surveys covering a wide range of topics – garnering feedback on services we currently
YOU. Sabbatical Officers have all pledged to spend more time enagaing with students and listening to (and acting upon) the feedback they receive.
Online to take snap-shot views on a variety of issues - bus fares, contact time with lecturers, campus safety and even what types of fruit you want to have available at Alfie’s Cafe!
provide and finding out what your further needs/ wants are, which in turn drives our strategic plans and policies for the future. AUSA continues to engage with student members in a number of ways and our actions and priorities are set by
The Sabbatical Officers continue to devote time to FISHing (Finding Issues Students Have) with students around campus and feeding in issues that arise into action plans and focussing policy We have used the online poll feature on AUSA
We carry out Freshers’ Week Surveys to track satisfaction and to see what we can do the following year to improve the provision of entertainments, support and information thorughout the week -
and beyond! AUSA works with the University to roll out and encourage participation in the National Student Survey - which measures the University and the student experience on a national scale, giving both organisations areas of focus to improve upon. SEE OUR ‘YOU SAID - WE DID’ SECTION on pages 12-15 for a full run-down of the issues raised in feedback and what we did to address these.
Looking FORWARD Some thoughts from the incoming Sabbatical Team 2011/12 . . . We start a new academic year with a new Sabbatical team, headed up by Tessa Birley, elected to be the Student President for the coming term. There is no doubt that it is going to be a challenging year ahead, with the increase of tuition fees for students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland and uncertainty over the future of student support, the team have a challenging year ahead. An exciting start to the year will be the launch of our priority campaign for 2012 – “AUSA Goes Global”. The campaign will see much more collaboration between sections of the association from sport to education to charities and everything in between working towards giving AUSA a more international agenda. Everything from a good Olympic programme to language exchanges should ensure we enrich and enhance the student experience for all of our members. Following on from our achievements in SUEI in the last two years and the continuing Governance review, we are committed to taking to our members a modern, efficient and coherent governance structure with which we aim to shape the future of the organisation. We continue to deal with the challenge of the changing student demographic and how best to meet the needs of our members.
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Within the institution we will be campaigning for quality feedback on exams and reviewing the academic calendar. Internally we are embarking on a new project for the charities campaign by bringing back the old tradition of a Raising and Giving week to raise money for AUSA’s charities campaign and to enhance the feeling of community among students. We will be improving the way we work with volunteers by undertaking an Investor in Volunteering accreditation and through the creation of the brand new “King’s Awards” which aim to ensure we fully recognise all those who contribute to our success. We have a campaign for improved student accommodation within the city and hope to examine the feasibility of the city’s first ever student focussed letting agency in collaboration with RGUnion. We look forward to working closely with our new Climate Change Co-ordinator who’s post has been extended for a further 3 years to help us ensure we can achieve a better environmental standing and gain a green impact award. With the introduction of a New Library for King’s Campus and many other exciting projects we are sure that the year will be both challenging and exciting and can’t wait to see what’s round the corner. Your Sabbatical Team AUSA 2011-12
financial statements ended 31/07/11 £
Incoming Resources Incoming Resources from generated funds Voluntary Income 788,269 Activites for g enerating f unds Expenditure by Type 2010/11 103,348 Investment income Training, Deprecia-on, 1,657 Bookends, 12,391 Subscrip-ons, Incoming 4R7,953 esources from charitable activities 149,032 21,537 38,270 Total Incoming Resources 1,042,306
Income by Source 2010/11
Sports, 58,369
Student RepresentaKon, 33,678
Other, 20,198
Support Costs, 85,598
Alfie's Cafe, 59,041
Cost of generating funds Fundraising trading Charitable Activities Alfies, 67,336 Governance costs
Fresher's & Entertainments, 109,759 Climate Challenge, 84,211
Student Representa-on, 328,889
Fresher's &
Total Resources Expended Entertainments,
103,695 873,302 15,538 992,535
83,466
Aberdeen Future Fund, 50,500
Disbursement, 892,451
Net Movement Climate in Funds Challenge, Total Funds at 31 July 2010
University of Aberdeen, 128,071
Support Staffing,
Total Funds at 31 July 2011 163,968
Statement of Financial Activities (Including Income and Expenditure Account) For the year ended 31st July 2011
Incoming Resources Incoming Resources from generated funds Voluntary Income Activites for generating funds Investment income Incoming Resources from charitable activities Total Incoming Resources
Unrestricted Funds Year ended 31/07/11 £
788,269 103,348 1,657 149,032 1,042,306
Restricted Funds Year ended 31/07/11 £
104,182 18,797 -‐ 271,003 393,982
Cost of generating funds Fundraising trading Charitable Activities Governance costs
103,695 873,302 15,538
15,937 329,410 -‐
Total Resources Expended
992,535
345,347
49,771
48,635
Total Funds at 31 July 2010
190,910
43,533
Total Funds at 31 July 2011
240,681
92,168
Net Movement in Funds
49,771
99,336
Balance Sheet As At 31 July 2011
Fixed Assets Tangible assets Investments Current Assets Debtors Stock Bank & Cash
Creditors -‐ amounts falling due within one year Net current assets
Sports, 389,138
190,910 240,681
31 July 2011 £ 127,607 5,520
51,990 2,487 241,644 296,121
(96,399) 199,722
Total assets less
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Butchart Centre University Road Old Aberdeen AB24 3UT
Tel: 01224 272965 Fax: 01224 272977 Web: www.ausa.org.uk Email: ausa@abdn.ac.uk
Aberdeen University Students’ Association (AUSA) is a registered Scottish Charity, No. SC037971. © Aberdeen University Students’ Association, 2012