ALL STUDENT MEETING 2015 On Monday 12th of November we held our Annual General Meeting (AGM) also known as the All Student Meeting in the Venue City campus Students’ Union (SU). At the meeting the elected Officers explained the core aims, vision and mission of the Students’ Union, the impact of the Union on student lives over the past year, laid out what our current plans as Officers are, went through the results of the SU survey and received feedback on how we can improve your Students Union. Key Points In the last academic year, the previous Officer team and the SU staff had a big impact on the lives of our students: • • • • •
We successfully lobbied the University for better catering facilities at Telford campus We gave a total of £3,231.76 to our students through the Employability Support Fund We raised £9,424.43 for charities with the help of our students Our Advice and Support Centre helped students to gain £58,786 from the Hardship Support Fund We became a National Living Wage employer
Survey Summary We recently conducted a survey to help us focus our services on what students want, we had 1,307 respondents. Below is a summary of the results: • • • • • •
48% of respondents were first year students 72% had visited the Union 86% said they’d prefer to access our Advice and Support Centre in person or by email Lots of students want support to integrate into student life Students visit the SU mainly for the Squeezebox, cash point, events/social gatherings and relaxing in our space 75% said the best way to receive news about the activities in the Union is by email
Officers’ Aims In the short time that myself and the other Officers have been in post, we have made a significant impact in achieving our aims for the students. • • • • • •
We successfully lobbied the University to have the learning centres open 24/7 for longer throughout the year We campaigned against the government’s plans to scrap the maintenance loan We celebrated Black History Month in October We campaigned to change the academic calendar for term to begin in September from next academic year We organised social trips for students (Amsterdam) We introduced the Officers and Deputy Vice Chancellor Question Time so we could be help accountable
Group Feedback After the presentation myself and the other Officers split the students into groups to ask about how we can improve the Students Union. The key discussion from this were: • • • •
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The Advice and Support Centre should have more presence in other campuses More events and trips More wellbeing and social life activities Students would prefer information to be delivered to them on a face to face basis; lecture shout outs 2-3 minutes every week letting students know what is going on in the Students Union (one of the main issues) The use of social media e.g. Facebook (the SU is already on Facebook, so the issue is to find ways of letting students know this) The University should provide value for money accommodation Top-up coin machine in the library should take other values of money, not just pound coins How do you join societies? How did they find the presentation? Fantastic they loved it. Issues with accommodation- if there are 6 people sharing accommodation, if one tenant does something that results in a fine being issued, all those sharing the accommodation will also be issued with a fine. International students feel that the International Mixer event during Welcome to Wolves should also be open to home students
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There have also been requests of English language support for international students Work Experience Placements for Postgraduate students, the opportunities available for postgraduate international students are limited International students would like the cost of a replacement student ID card to be reduced (currently £10) as they are already paying more for their tuition fees than home and EAA students Hard to find module timetable and it is not always visible on wolf Bric-a-Brac sales so Erasmus students can sell their course materials to other students Food and drink crisis (the cost of refreshment in the canteen, tea for £1.50 needs to be reduced) Newsletter to go out monthly to students informing them what the SU have been up to for the month The Gym facilities in the City Campus to be improved Big Banners like the SU had on the MC building informing students what activities are taking place in the SU (MC used to promote other things) Better Communications Social media (twitter, anyone who follows the SU to be followed back) More social events especially for minority ethnics New lanyards to be provided for returning students (all new students receive one) The SU social space consists of mainly 2 types of demographic groups which can be intimidating for other students who may want to use the facilities More games to play in the SU social space e.g. Monopoly Better bus service between the campuses Organise academic related trips on behalf of the SU Promote personal training (let students know they have access to personal trainers at the University) To hold sport events and competitions Sleep overs in the Venue Microwave in the Library Accommodation- they are currently paying for washing (clothes) they think this is expensive and don’t see why they would have to pay this Support for international students- they don’t want to be targeted as international students; they want to mix with home students
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Afghan Youth Network Active societies being able to be questioned (Question time for Societies) Support for minorities from other countries
Thank You I’d like to thank all of the students so far for your help and feedback; it’s vital to the Students’ Union. If you do have any feedback or you’d like to get involved with the SU, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Yaz Aboubakar President University of Wolverhampton Students’ Union