ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015
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contents
introduction
team SABBATICAL OFFICER
president’s statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
chief executive’s Review of the Year . . . . . . . . . . . 5
missions, values & strategic aims 2015-2016 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
cat turhan PRESIDENT
maahwish mirza EDUCATION OFFICER
andrew thompson POSTGRADUATE OFFICER
rob ankcorn DEMOCRACY & DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
section One Our Impact - Campaigns & Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
section Two 2014-15 Notable Events . . . . . . . 12
section Three Improvements to the Students’ Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
bebe husakova WELFARE OFFICER
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isaac leigh SOCIETIES OFFICER
ruby compton-davies SPORTS OFFICER
our year in numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Warwick Students’ Union is a registered charity which exists to benefit students at the University of Warwick through:
❑❑ Promoting the interests and welfare of students during their course of study and representing, supporting and advising students; ❑❑ Being the recognised representative channel between students, the University of Warwick and any other external bodies; and ❑❑ Providing social, cultural, sporting and recreational activities and forums for discussions and debate for the personal development of its students. We do this primarily through the provision of support for clubs and societies, representation on academic issues and issues affecting students’ lives (e.g. housing, transport, wellbeing, welfare & advice services and campaigning support), as well as food & drink facilities and social activity. All the income generated by our commercial services (The Copper Rooms, The Bread Oven, The Dirty Duck, Curiositea and Xananas) is directly reinvested back into services which benefit students, such as the support for our 70 SPORTS CLUBS and 250 SOCIETIES, the ADVICE CENTRE and ACADEMIC REPRESENTATION.
financials . . . . . . . . . . . 18
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President’s STATEMENT
2014-15 was a year of both great challenge and exciting opportunities for Warwick Students’ Union. A combination of an impending General Election, changes to university management and roadworks on campus created tensions which often placed the Union in a difficult and sometimes compromising position.
However, I consider this year to be one of great triumph with the Union delivering some real ‘wins’ for our members. We worked with a number of cultural societies, officers and Warwick Anti-Racism society to deliver the first ever Union-run Black History Month. We opened a space for postgraduate students in our building. We secured funding for a standardised Warwick sports kit for teams playing in BUCS. We secured the lowest-cost accommodation of any Russell Group university, and started negotiations with the University on pay and conditions for postgraduates who teach. We funded more staff support to enable societies to better fundraise for charity, and secured better lighting and security phones on campus. We even managed to negotiate a freeze in international student fees, so that students would have to pay no more than they did in their first year of study. I am proud of the legacy we built upon with Sabbatical Teams before us, to be carried on by those after us. A plan was designed and implemented to see a lecture-free welcome week at Warwick – a policy the Union first passed in 2009. We began the campaign on the 24-hour Library, which has been upheld by the subsequent Sabbatical Team. Furthermore, a longstanding student campaign was finally won: the University agreed to divest from Fossil Fuels, owing to the combined hard work of student campaigners and Sabbatical Officers.
Perhaps 2014-15 will not be remembered as an easy year - but it will certainly be remembered as a successful one where staff and students pulled together to achieve the best for students not only then, but for years to come. I hope you will find this reflected in this year’s annual review.
chief executive’s
Review of the Year Students are at the heart of everything the SU does. Every year, Officers, staff, volunteers and trustees work extremely hard to ensure that student life is as worry-free, enjoyable and enriching as is within our power to make it. The Annual Report provides us with an opportunity to reflect on all that has been achieved during the previous academic year. Reading the report is both a humbling and enlightening experience - it is easy to forget, in the midst of our daily lives, just how much is delivered by students and staff alike. It is also easy to overlook the significant impact that the SU has on the experience of students. So much of what we do is so ingrained in the fabric of University life that it is almost impossible to imagine what it would be like if there was no SU: no-one to take bus companies and taxi firms to task over appalling service; no-one to speak up for international students in Fees Committees; no-one to stand up for students in local community forums or provide access to quality housing advice; no-one to train and support course reps; no-one to fight for fair PG pay and conditions.
Equally, it’s virtually impossible to imagine what our campus be like without Varsity, the Real Ale Festival, Pop!, Black History Month, Go Green Week, Pride Week, TEDx, the Economics summit or the hundreds of incredible student performances mounted every year. As Chief Executive of the charity, it is my job to manage the team in such a way that we deliver on the needs of our 24,000 members. We don’t get everything right, of course, and not every student will need to access everything we do – however, the point is that these services are there for students whenever they need them. It’s no small task and we are rightly self-critical – nevertheless, there is no doubt that student life at Warwick would be much worse off without the dedication and commitment of student campaigners, course representatives, club and society executive committees, volunteers, staff, trustees and elected officers.
Jacqui Clements Chief Executive
Cat Turhan President 4
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MISSIONS, VALUES AND STRATEGIC AIMS 2011-2015
our mission...
WARWICK STUDENTS’ UNION – CREATING A BETTER EXPERIENCE FOR STUDENTS AT WARWICK. Warwick SU Mission Statement
our values...
DEMOCRATIC
We are student-led, member-focused and representative.
INDEPENDENT
We are the independent voice of Warwick students.
ETHICAL
We are fair, principled, transparent and environmentally sound.
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FUN
We are friendly, vibrant and entertaining.
INFORMATIVE
We are supportive, knowledgeable, responsive and useful.
ENRICHING
our strategic aims... ❑❑ REPRESENTING students and campaigning to achieve change. ❑❑ PROMOTING a strong and vibrant university community. ❑❑ SUPPORTING AND INFORMING students about issues affecting their lives.
We help students develop, we nurture their aspirations.
❑❑ TRANSFORMING students’ lives and enhancing employability.
ACCESSIBLE
❑❑ DELIVERING a strong, effective and sustainable organisation.
We are diverse, welcoming, tolerant and inclusive.
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section One 8
Our Impact - Campaigns & Representation We ran several major campaigns this year designed to impact positively on the key issues raised by students. These included… TRANSPORT BUS SURVEY
ELECTION ENGAGEMENT
This year, the SU ran a comprehensive survey to find out students’ thoughts on the perennial bugbear of campus transport. With an astonishing 1700 responses, we were able to identify many of the key problems faced and present these to local bus companies as evidence for improvement. This will now be taken forward as an ongoing project through regular meetings and the establishment of an online Bus Complaints webform.
UK GENERAL ELECTION Since students make up such a large part of local constituencies, we are keen to have as many of their concerns represented as possible. Our Democracy team ran a “What do you want from this year’s General Election?” feedback board in the SU Atrium to collate students’ views into a ‘What Warwick Wants’ manifesto for prospective candidates.
VOTER REGISTRATION SU President CAT TURHAN also fronted a prominent campaign in the local area encouraging students to get on the Voting Register. We then disseminated information to students regarding local polling stations, hosted a stall on National Voter Registration Day and screened the full General Election results in the SU Atrium.
BUSES ON CAMPUS We also worked closely with the University and bus companies to resolve students’ concerns following disruptions to bus stops on campus due to redevelopment works. Disabled Students Officer JENNY WHEELER was instrumental in making improvements to these locations on behalf of students with disabilities.
TAXI CAMPAIGN Hundreds of students emailed us their experiences of being refused fares in local taxis when we announced a campaign and survey to raise awareness of the illegality of this practise. With the results revealing some alarming statistics, Sabbatical Officers met with local MPs, reporters and appeared on local radio, with our conclusions eventually being debated in the House of Lords. This is an issue impacting on our students and on the local community and we will not let it go.
HOUSING & ACCOMMODATION For the second year running, we ran a Rate Your Landlord survey for students to give feedback on their landlord and letting agencies in order to better inform the student body about housing options. Information regarding service levels and upfront costs was then made available via our Advice Centre’s Housing Guides.
HOUSING DAY 2013
In addition, the SU issued a ‘Moving Off Campus’ guide for students relocating to Leamington, Coventry or Kenilworth, offered Housing Contract Check sessions during Term 2 and ran another successful Housing Day which was attended by 1000+ students.
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education
health & well-being
FEEL GOOD
24-HOUR LIBRARY A campaign spearheaded by Postgraduate Officer ANDREW THOMPSON to provide a 24hour Library on campus all year round gained significant traction after receiving the highest-ever turnout in an All Student Meeting. This is now official SU Policy and will be carried forward in a bid to obtain this vital service.
Warwick Race, Academic Attainment and Equality (RAAE) project A project put into place by Education Officer MAAHWISH MIRZA to investigate and establish what the experiences of ethnic minority students at Warwick are in their teaching and learning environments. The ensuing responses led to Warwick signing up to the Race Equality Charter Mark.
OPEN EDUCATION SERIES Another initiative started by MAAHWISH MIRZA which aimed to broaden discussions about and challenge the notion of Eurocentric curriculums. As a result of this and our other race-related projects, Warwick SU was awarded the Equality in Education Award at the 2015 NUS Black Students’ Conference.
With mental health and wellbeing revealed as one of students’ top concerns in our Help Up Help You membership survey, the SU mounted our annual FEEL GOOD campaign in Term 3, which provided tips on managing anxiety, study advice stress-busting sessions, wellbeing drop-ins and more. We also ran a Money Advice Day for the first time, as well as supporting Mental Health Awareness Day in Term 2.
FEEDBACK & SSLCs Education Officer MAAHWISH MIRZA was instrumental in brokering a Code of Conduct for SSLCSs which allows for greater efficiency, understanding and accountability within the structure of Staff-Student Liaison Committees. Another huge win was the achievement of Cohort Examination Feedback within certain departments, which provides feedback for students on their examination performances and will inform our work in this area going forward.
The SU received 420+ responses to a survey which addressed recurrent issues faced by students during exam season such as storage, temperature and accessibility, with a view to making future improvements in these areas.
FUNDING
Upon hearing that there were plans to close down the campus-based Pharmacy, we immediately started up a petition aiming to have this decision reversed for the thousands of students based on or around campus who rely on this vital facility. After gathering over 1550 signatures, the University stepped in to ensure the pharmacy’s continued presence for the timebeing.
Postgraduate Loans of up to £10,000 were announced in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement – while there is still much work to be done in this area, this was a real victory for SUs such as Warwick who have been lobbying publicly for more equitable financial access to postgraduate courses over the past few years. Also welcome was the University’s announcement of 125 awards of £10,000 in the Taught Masters Scholarship Scheme.
Sabbatical Officers’ presence on the University Rents Committee led to us securing the lowest-cost campus accommodation block of any university in the Russell Group through our continued lobbying. We also intervened in Warwick Accommodation’s proposal to immediately abolish group applications for final-year students, following widespread criticism – this decision was subsequently reversed for this academic year.
TEACH HIGHER Following the passing of a motion at ASM and widespread concerns from many postgraduate students who teach, the SU launched a campaign against the University’s proposals for a new administrative method of remuneration for PG teachers, TeachHigher. Following sustained campaigning from the SU and student groups (incorporating several information and Q&A sessions which we organised), this controversial initiative was later abandoned.
NEW FUNDED SPORTS KIT Following a consultation process spearheaded by SU Sports Officer Ruby Compton-Davies, we were delighted to announce the University’s awarding of a significant grant of £45,000 to cover the cost of a brand new Warwick sports kit for all national and regional competitions from the start of the next academic year.
FOSSIL-FREE DIVESTMENT A student-led campaign to encourage the University to divest from fossil fuels reached a successful conclusion this year when it was announced that Warwick would approve a revised “Socially Responsible Investment Policy” and commit to replace existing funds in line with the SRI criterion of corporate behaviour leading to environmental degradation. The SU is proud to have worked closely with all students and University staff who donated their time, energy and passion to this vital cause.
Throughout the year,
community relations
we also community community community In Term 3, our LEAVEMagenta LEAM TIDY and KEEP COV CLEAN campaigns once again emphasised the importance of good community relations, while we supported student-run action group RAWKUS in their efforts to reduce campus waste by collecting unwanted food items. They ultimately amassed an incredible 7 tonnes of food and other reusable items, which were redistributed to local charities. C: 0% M: 100% Y: 0% K: 0%
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CAMPUS PHARMACY
CAMPUS ACCOMMODATION
EXAM CONDITIONS
Our LOVE COMMUNITY programme once again hosted Canal Clean-Up events in Leamington Spa, while working with local community groups to communicate similar opportunities for students.
We ran several major campaigns this year designed to impact positively on the key issues raised by students. These included…
supported University & local-run campaigns on...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Mental Health provision Wellbeing support services and facilities A revamp of the campus supermarket Vaccination advice Crime Prevention Fire Safety Checks Phone Immobilisation Protection Student Switch-Off Snap It Off – NUS energy-saving campaign Be Safe, Be Seen – cycling safety campaign Cycle Maintenance Energy advice surgeries in Leamington Blood Type donor drive Recovery Partnership on drug/alcohol abuse.
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section Two 12
2014-2015 Notable Events warwick
BLACK
Hono r
those wuho
rose and
fought Honour
o u r h Istory PRIDE WEEK A series of events, discussion and panels in Term 1, this year with a focus on intersectionality. This was followed by TRANS AWARENESS WEEK and ASEXUAL AWARENESS WEEK.
HISTORY
STUDENT ADVENTURES LIQUIDATION
GO GLOBAL FAIR
The SU worked to facilitate the safe return of 40 students who had signed up for a trek to Mount Kilimanjaro when the trip organiser, Student Adventures Ltd, went into liquidation.
An opportunity for students to find out more about the various opportunities to study abroad, volunteer, learn languages and globalise their educational experience. Twenty of Warwick’s Go Global student ambassadors also represented Warwick’s research excellence in the field of student integration and the internationalised institution was showcased on a global stage at the British Council annual conference in London.
MARKING BOYCOTT We provided support and advice to students during negotiations between UCU and their employers to minimise the impact of a potential marking boycott.
DOGGY DE-STRESS DAY Co-organised by our Disabled Students Officer, this event provided an opportunity to de-stress with the help of local guide dogs!
WARWICK UNI BLACKOUT
MONTH
Organised by the SU’s Education Officer, this year’s programme was the biggest and busiest to date.
GO GREEN DAY This year’s event championed energy saving, water saving and recycling in addition to other areas of sustainability.
Both SU buildings were involved in supporting this student-run event in Term 2, which aimed to raise awareness of energy-saving practises.
WARWICK SUMMIT ON PROTEST In response to the controversial events at the end of Term 1 which involved police violence on campus, we provided a means for students to feed into this event, at which SU President Cat Turhan sat on the panel.
We also
hosted and supported... ~ One World Week ~ real ale week ~ go green week ~ wsaf ~ super bowl live screening One World Week
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTION (STI) CHECKS
GUM CLINICS
Free & Confidential
NATIONAL DEMO The SU took over 100 students to the National Demonstration on November 4th, entitled No Fees, No Cuts, No Debt.
CLINICS We once again continued to provide three chances a term for thousands of students to access free sexual health tests on campus.
...and
OUR SPORTS TEAM WON VARSITY (AGAIN), MAKING IT 25 UNBEATEN YEARS IN A ROW!
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warwicksu.com/gumclinics 13
section Three 14
Improvements to the Students’ Union EQUALITY & DIVERSITY Following several incidents involving clubs and societies during the previous year, we conducted a complete overhaul of our Equality & Diversity policy. In addition to mandatory Equality & Diversity training for all staff, club & society execs, we introduced Conflict Resolution Training sessions, revised the Equal Opportunities By-Law to ensure its continuing relevance and updated our social media and Sports Club codes-of-conduct. We are now exploring the feasibility of working with Investors in Diversity to become an accredited organisation.
I HEART CONSENT In association with our Women’s Officer, JOSIE THROUP, we recruited student trainers for this NUS-led national scheme, which was rolled out to all Club and Society Execs in late Term 1.
WARWICK SPORT REVIEW The SU helped facilitate student participation and input into the review of membership fees and processes at Warwick Sport, as well as distributing booklets to execs at Sports Council in Term 1.
SPORTS RESULTS Our new Sports Administrators began publishing weekly match reports and results on the SU website.
STRATEGIC REVIEW The SU ran a series of open workshops and focus groups under the Get Engaged banner, which allowed students to feed into our Strategic Review and updated 5-year plan.
SEPARATING FOOD WASTE
Postgraduate Officer Andrew Thompson opened a social space exclusively for postgraduate students on campus, which was developed through consultations with PG students. We are now working closely with the PG Hub to host more regular events in this space.
ONLINE TICKETING The SU upgraded its servers and introduced a new stand-alone ticketing page to reduce crashes due to increased web traffic at busy periods. By popular demand, we also enabled students to transfer unwanted tickets to SU events via SUHQ Reception.
to SU outlets... THE COPPER ROOMS
Our Venue team formed partnerships with Warwick Arts Centre and new national agency VMS to bring more live music to campus, while a new pillar-lighting system was installed and built in Copper Rooms 2.
This year, the SU started to separate its food waste and send it for anaerobic digestion, which has so far saved the carbon equivalent of 670 litres of petrol.
SKILLS HUB Our Student Activities team launched an online Skills Hub and ran a series of employability sessions for Club & Society Exec members in Term 2 which included CV enhancement, building LinkedIn profiles and developing transferable skills.
ROOTES LAUNDRETTE This facility was upgraded to a cashless facility following numerous complaints of money being lost in machines.
GREEN IMPACT THE GRADUATE
Improvements
THE DIRTY DUCK
The SU’s pub was revamped and refurbished for the start of Term 1, while take-away, gluten-free and vegan-friendly menus introduced by popular demand.
CURIOSITEA
In addition to celebrating its 5th birthday with a week of offers, Curiositea also introduced vegan and gluten-free cake offers.
We achieved our 6th NUS Green Impact Gold Award in a row this year, with the NUS auditors reporting that “Warwick SU are consistently high performers when it comes to Green Impact and it’s good to see that the enthusiasm is still there. The environment is taken very seriously in every aspect of the Union’s activities which is great to see and a lot of this is because of Green Impact.”
CAREERS In response to member demand, the SU facilitated, helped publicise or ran Graduate Recruitment events from a number of major companies including Lidl, IBM, E.On, UBS and more.
NEW STAFF Additional staff members were recruited to assist students with Societies, Sports Club and Finance administration, along with Postgraduate communications.
THE BREAD OVEN
New ‘Grab and Go’ and ‘Ring Ahead’ services were introduced in response to popular demand.
MYSTERY DINER SCHEME
We launched this initiative in all our outlets to improve the quality of service offered.
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OUR YEAR in numbers 6546 £113,000 Number of student enquiries
handled by the Advice Centre
Quantifiable amount saved for students
in Advice Centre case work
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Number of student conferences planned
(INCLUDING ONE INDIVIDUAL SETTLEMENT OF £25,000!)
40,006
22/
16/
decrease in volume of waste product produced by Warwick SU FOLLOWING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ENHANCED RECYCLING PROCEDURES
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37
1.2/
8785 individual students increase in student signing up for Societies Federation memberships in Term 1
48
Total number of votes cast
Total student population voter turnout
Number of years undefeated in varsity
Number of student balls
Number of student tours
250
670
300
425
9.6/
in SU Elections
Number of visiting speakers
welcomed by societies
in Officer Elections
Number of elected course reps at Warwick
8785 30,000
Number of individual students
involved in one or more society
Average number of baguettes sold
each term in The Bread Oven
following another tournament victory!
Number of students employed by Warwick SU
80
Number of student fundraising events supported per term
hosted
Number of school pupils visited as part of the Warwick Inspire scheme
organised
Voter turnout for the
autumn elections
£52,000 3073 Amount of money raised for charity by student events
Number of votes cast in
All Student Meetings this year (HIGHEST IN ONE ASM:1338)
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INCOME
(IN THOUSANDS)
COMMERCIAL
£4,525
EXPENDITURES
(IN THOUSANDS)
COMMERCIAL
F&B: Food and drink Outlets £2,658 Venues & Ents: Copper Rooms £919 Other Commercial Activity £948
£3,832
BEFORE OVERHEADS
F&B: Food and drink Outlets £2,162 Venues & Ents: Copper Rooms £960 Other Commercial Activity £710
OVERHEADS OVERHEADS
£342
Premises Rental £53 Marketing, Media & Sponsorship £198 Other Central Services £91
£2,583
Premises (HLWP, Cleaning & Maintenance) £517 Building Rent £450 Marketing, Communications and Branding £322 Other Central Services (IT, HR, Finance, etc) £1,294
MEMBERSHIP SERVICES MEMBERSHIP SERVICES
£144
SocsFed Membership Fees £127 Societies Other Contributions £8 Sports Clubs Other Contributions £9
£1,143
Advice & Welfare Services £159 Democracy, Representation & Student Voice £250 NUS Affiliation £51 Student Activities, Clubs & Societies £274 SocsFed Grants & Awards to Societies £54 Warwick Sports & Grants to Sports Clubs £355
UNIVERSITY GRANT
£2,705
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Annual Recurrent Grant £2,325 Warwick Sports Annual Grant £325 Non-Recurrent Grant £55
SURPLUS
£158
Reserves for future investment 19
thank you We would like to thank all the staff, officers and students who contributed to another successful year here at Warwick Students’ Union We couldn’t have done it without you!
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