LiverpoolSU Impact Report 2013

IMPACT Welcome to our 2013 Impact Report.

2013

REPORT This report highlights some of LiverpoolSU’s key achievements over the last year, demonstrating the impact we have had with and on behalf of LJMU students from January to December 2013.

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Here at LiverpoolSU, our vision is to be life changing for all our members. In other words, we exist to help all 24,000 students at LJMU to love student life.

We achieve this by understanding that all aspects of the student experience are important. Whether it is reaching academic potential, enjoying a varied and exciting social life, gaining valuable work experience or campaigning to improve communities, LiverpoolSU is with its members every step of the way.

2013 has been an exciting year at LiverpoolSU. This report summarises some of what we have achieved and explains the impact we have had on our members’ lives both as LJMU students, and as residents of Liverpool.

2014 is set to be a year of change, challenge and opportunity as we ask students to vote on a new strategic plan that will take us up to 2017. We look forward to next year being as inspirational as this.

Curtis Reid – President Sam Davys – Vice President Activities Dan Cole – Vice President Community Engagement

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OUR WORK STAR All our work revolves around LJMU students and changing your lives for the better. As a result, we invest a significant amount of time and resource into having conversations and finding out what matters.

WE HAVE SPOKEN TO

13,118

STUDENTS

ELECTIONS

SURVEY

EXIT SURVEYS

REPORT

34 2077 RATE YOUR LANDLORD SURVEY

WATER BOTTLE SURVEY

We don’t just talk, we turn these conversations into actions:

In 2012 students told us they wanted hot food options from the Byrom Street shop

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In 2013 we introduced a hot pasta takeaway option at Byrom Street

ARTS WITH YOU Going out and talking to students is a key part of our activity; in the past 12 months we have spoken to 13118 students about specific areas of our work. This helps us to know what is important to you, what we are doing well and what we can do better.

1368 STUDENTS VOTED

IN OUR OFFICER

ELECTIONS

566 BLACKBOARD

RESEARCH

They wanted access to free water

We worked with LJMU to ensure dozens of free water fountains were installed across campus

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WE ARE PUTTING £s BACK For our students Bursaries Changes to the LJMU Bursary scheme means a potential for £880k to go back into students’ pockets whilst they study.

The National Bursary Scheme allows students to redeem 1/3 of a bursary in cash, and 2/3 as a tuition fee waiver.

LiverpoolSU lobbied LJMU to introduce such a scheme and, as of 2013, LJMU students who qualify for a bursary are able to choose whether to put 2/3 of their bursary towards a tuition fee waiver or accommodation costs.

4940 £2.5million 6

* Based on NUS figures of average saving of £524 per card.

NUS Extra cards

CK IN STUDENTS’ POCKETS For our student staff Living Wage We are a Living Wage employer which has resulted in an increase of £47k compared to 2012/13 being put into LJMU student pockets.

LiverpoolSU is a Living Wage employer this means we pay the recommended hourly rate as calculated by The Living Wage Foundation; it is set independently and calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK. Current UK minimum wage is £6.31, the Living Wage (Outside of London) is £7.65, and LiverpoolSU pays student staff £8.02 per hour.

Staff discount

OUR STAFF

GET A

10%

DISCOUNT AT OUR SHOPS AND BAR

In 2013 we introduced a staff discount across all our commercial services. This is because we want our staff to love LiverpoolSU as an employer and as a service provider.

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WE PROVIDE OPPORTUNI 94% of staff love working for LiverpoolSU LiverpoolSU employ over 170 LJMU students to work in our student facing services, such as our reception, shops and to carry out our student voice work.

This is what some of them had to say: I like feeling part of the student union family, I feel valued… the hours are flexible and suit me as a 3rd year student. The workload of my course can be very demanding at times so less work hours suits me some weeks and I can make the time up when my course workload is less.

Good pay, friendly staff, excellent training opportunities, great experience and the opportunity to face unique challenges everyday.

We support and encourage student led activities LiverpoolSU provides events and services for students all year round. But it does more than that. It facilitates student led action through societies, events and support. In May 2013, LiverpoolSU’s Women’s Delegate organised a Liverpool Reclaim the Night March, bringing together campaigners and achieving positive press coverage.

To find out more about what Reclaim the Night is all about, visit liverpoolsuimpact.co.uk.

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ITIES FOR WORK & PLAY 1 in 3 students were involved in our welcome activities in September 2013.

This included:

Clubs & Societies

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WE ARE CHAN LiverpoolSU operates a Hall Rep scheme across a number of LJMU partner Halls of Residences. A rep is employed to work 4 hours a week to assist students settle into their halls and enhance their experience of both hall and wider student life.

Our analysis of the scheme in conjunction with the National Union of Students and the New Economics Foundation highlighted that where the Hall Rep Scheme was implemented effectively students had:

Feedback satisfaction on academic work increased by 19% In 2009 LJMU’s National Student Survey result for the question “Feedback on my work has been prompt” found that only 53% of students responded positively. Following that result, which was the lowest score the university received, LiverpoolSU spoke to hundreds of students about what made for good feedback, and produced the “Assessment and Feedback Charter”.

We took that report to Academic Board, the highest academic committee in the university, and the university committed to returning feedback to students in less than fifteen working days. In the National Student Survey results for 2013, 72% of students were satisfied with the promptness of feedback – an increase in student satisfaction of 19%.

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NGING LIVES Extended Library Opening Hours LiverpoolSU secured extended out-of-term opening hours at the Avril Robarts Library, making a real difference to the academic lives of students who study all year round. In particular this helped students on nursing courses who work placements as part of their course.

Improving our Academic Advice Appeals workshops ran in June and September to offer advice to students wanting to appeal against their results – this enabled our advisors to see double the number of students than in previous years.

Here is what students who accessed the service had to say: I am very grateful for the help I received and both members of staff who helped me were very understanding, not judging and willing to help in any way. I really appreciate the help I received.

Very calming and reassuring to me at a difficult moment.

Could not thank them enough.

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CELEBRATING O LiverpoolSU retains Green Impact Gold Green Impact is an environmental accreditation and awards scheme run by the National Union of Students, bringing staff and students together with their wider communities to enable and showcase positive changes in environmental practice.

LiverpoolSU won Green Impact Gold, the highest accreditation available for 2012/2013 for the second year in a row.

Scholars is awarded Best Bar None Gold The best bar none scheme aims to promote responsible drinking by rewarding excellent management of alcohol licensed venues. In 2012 LiverpoolSU was inspected and was awarded Best Bar None Gold 2013 for the year ahead, the highest accolade available, being given to only 7 out of 80 student unions.

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OUR SUCCESS

Now approaching its 6th year, LiverpoolSU’s Amazing Teaching awards recognise the hard work, effort and dedication of LJMU teaching staff.

127 STUDENTS WERE

NOMINATED FOR THE

AMAZING

Thank you to everyone who voted for us, we really have the most amazing students. We are so humbled to win the LiverpoolSU Amazing Course Team Award.

This is for all our Sports Dev family. Thank you.

COURSE REP

AWARD

The Sports Development team

We were awarded Investors In People Silver and Investors in Diversity Awards

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TESTIMONIALS Katy was a second year student who was unable to progress to her final year after failing an assessment twice. She came to us for advice and explained that she had found the assessment particularly difficulty as she has dyslexia. She had only been diagnosed during that academic year and was told the support and equipment she needed would not be in place until the next academic year.

With our help, Katy’s appeal was successful and she was given a further attempt at this assessment, this time with the correct support in place.

Once again I want to thank you for all your help, I honestly wouldn’t have got the opportunity to return to my course without your support and guidance.

Katy

An issue was brought to me in respect of the Faculty of Health’s library opening times over the summer months and the difficulties this caused for student nurses as the nursing course runs across 12 months of the year and as well as having a heavy work load we have to work 24 hour shift patterns including weekends on placement.

Given this information I reached out for help and LiverpoolSU supported me in collecting evidence and taking the issue to LJMU LRC (Library Resource Centre) Critical Friends Group.

Through the help and support of LiverpoolSU, we were able to change the Library Opening times over the summer months to better suit the typical nursing semester. Through feedback from students I have seen what an impact this made to their student life and a testimony to this was myself being nominated by my tutors and peers for the 2013 LJMU Faculty of Health Student Awards of which I won the student representation award as a result of impact LiverpoolSU helped me achieve.

Sarah Mann – Nursing Student & Course Representative

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GET INVOLVED You can get involved at LiverpoolSU by: Providing feedback on your student experience or raising issues you would like us to support you to change

Becoming a volunteer or staff member

Join a sports team, club or society

Stand or vote in our student Officer elections

Supporting our campaigns throughout the year

Take part in one of our Give it a Go trips

Come along to one of our International or Mature student networking events’

Attend an ‘In my Liverpool Home’ tour or Cookery demonstration

For more information about getting involved, visit: www.liverpoolsu.com/getinvolved

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To see our full Impact Report, visit www.liverpoolsuimpact.co.uk Also find us at:

instagram.com/liverpoolsu