Impact Report 2011/12

IMPACT REPORT 2011/12

INTRODUCTION LIBERATION & REPRESENTATION RESTRUCTURE OUR AWARDS YOU SAID WE DID LOVE YOUR LIBRARY STUDENT ADVICE – A SUCCESS STORY LITTLE LEARNERS NURSERY ACADEMIC REPRESENTATION WORKING FOR YOU VOLUNTEERING GIVE IT A GO/THE BIG ONE COMMERCIAL SUCCESS YOUR CAMPAIGNS YOUR NEW STUDENT OFFICER TEAM

PRESIDENT’S WELCOME

It’s been a fantastic year for RUSU, with some real achievements that directly impact on the experience of students at the University of Reading. This report celebrates and recognises the positive impact the Students’ Union has had on our members and how we have made a difference to the lives of our members over the past year.

It is not for me as President to judge how 2011/12 compares to previous years. That is solely for others, be you university colleagues, local partners or most importantly of all, our members. What I can commend to you is the huge amount of hard work put in over the last year by RUSU staff, Student Officers, Part Time officers and all of our thousands of student volunteers be they Course Rep or society committee member. There is no question that RUSU could not be the effective, dynamic and positive force for change that it is without the hard work and dedication of these incredible people.

This year has seen RUSU campaign and win on so many issues that it is impossible to cover them all in this report. What I hope to do is give you a flavour of how we’ve been able to make Reading students’ lives better.

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We’ve seen the University agree to improving the library, to spend more on leaning resources, to provide students with more informal study spaces including a new 24 hour space during exams and commit to offering the most disadvantaged new students at Reading, the chance to receive financial support in a way that’s most useful to them and not just to the government. Internally we have reformed our democracy structures allowing for the first time in years a real scrutiny of Student Officers by students as well as achieving the highest voter turnout in our history for our annual elections. RUSU has become one of only a few Student Unions’ in the whole of the UK to achieve Investors in People Gold, something we’re really proud of.

FAREWELL FROM YOUR OFFICER TEAM

It has been an honour to serve as your President and I’d like offer my heartfelt thanks to you all for giving me the privilege of working with and for you. I have every confidence RUSU will continue to thrive, develop and excel with the support of our staff, Officers and volunteers and most importantly of all, our exceptional students. I invite you to join us in celebrating our achievements and looking ahead to the year to come.

Karl Hobley President 2011/12

Left to right: Ben Haines – VP Democracy & Campaigns, Jack Legon – VP Student Activities, Steph Johnson – VP Welfare & Representation, Alex Slater – VP Academic Affairs, Karl Hobley - President

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OUR AWARDS

Investors in People (IiP) is a framework that measures how well an organisation

develops and implements strategies to improve its performance and encourages continuous development.

Following an in-depth review of our business, RUSU is delighted to have been awarded Gold status for IiP (May 2012). The independent assessor reported that ‘RUSU is an impressive organisation with a trusting and empowering culture that is conducive to high levels of engagement, enthusiasm and motivation.’

Green Impact Students’ Unions accredits and showcases environmental good-practice

across UK Students’ Unions.

It seeks to encourage, nurture, reward and celebrate good environmental practice and aims to reduce the impact of Students’ Unions on the environment by introducing an independent benchmarking on environmental performance.

Reading University Students’ Union is proud to announce that it has yet again been awarded Gold Standard for this year. (April 2012).

Students’ Unions have always considered the welfare of their students and the Best Bar None Award aims to reward, promote and recognise the efforts that students’ unions place on Corporate Social Responsibility. RUSU currently holds Silver Standard Best Bar None accreditation (April 2012) for its 3sixty nightclub.

The Students’ Union Evaluation Initiative (SUEI) is a national assessment model that assists in improving the services and activities delivered to members of Students’ Unions by indicating areas for continuous improvement.

Having worked hard over three years to achieve this accreditation, Student Officers and staff were presented with the SUEI Silver Award by David Willets MP (Minister for Universities) at the Houses of Parliament in October 2010. RUSU is currently working toward SUEI 2 accreditation.

The Fairtrade Foundation seeks to tackle the exploitation of workers in developing countries by giving consumers the opportunity to buy products that guarantee a better deal to the producers.

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The University of Reading, with the support of the Students’ Union first achieved Fairtrade status in 2008.

In continuation of its commitment, RUSU has introduced Fairtrade vending machines, serves Fairtrade coffee in our catering outlets and sells Fairtrade items and produce in our Students’ Union shops.

YOU SAID, WE DID The Services and Ents Forum is a discussion group focusing on RUSU’s commercial areas.

This includes bars, catering, annual events (Summer Ball), weekly events, Campus Central and our venues. The forum allows students to debate and provide opinion on improvements that could be made.

Over the year we have listened to student’s feedback and have reacted to their suggestions YOU SAID

WE DID

QUEUING TIME TO GET INTO WEDNESDAY FLIRT! AND SATURDAY UNION NIGHTS IS TOO LONG

We changed the queuing system so that ticket holders get faster entry, dramatically shortening waiting times

WE WANT THE MINIMUM CARD SPEND IN CAMPUS CENTRAL TO BE LOWERED

We changed the minimum card spend to just £3.00 allowing you to buy your lunchtime meal deal and get cash back

WE WANT THE SHOP TO BE OPEN LONGER

We extended opening hours in Campus Central during the week and at the weekend

WE WANT MORE INFORMATION ON WHEN EVENTS WERE TAKING PLACE IN THE UNION WE WANT MORE VARIETY ON THE MENU IN MOJO’S BAR WE WOULD LIKE THE PRICES OF DRINKS DISPLAYED AT THE BAR

We now have all of our events promoted, on the website as well as Facebook and Twitter

We now have a larger and more expansive menu that has proved to be very popular

Drinks prices are now displayed more prominently on all of our bars on union nights

WE WANT MORE CASH POINTS ON CAMPUS

A new ATM has been located in the Students’ Union building

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STUDENT ADVICE - A SUCCESS STORY Feedback from students…

“ “ “ “ “

The advice was prompt and it solved my problems The advisor was approachable and I felt that she really wanted to help me Without the advice I don’t think I would have a degree right now!

Thank you, we can now enjoy hot showers and a warm house!

The advisor always listens patiently and has the right information at the right time

Case Study “The Student Advisor informed me of money that I could apply for that I had no idea about. She helped me through every step of the application process. If it wasn’t for her help I would have not known about the various funds available and had a much smaller chance of being successful in getting them.

The money I have gained through her help has made a massive difference to my life at university: much less stress than I would have otherwise had and it actually meant I could afford to study full-time.

Not only did the advisor help with my finances but also gave me tonnes of useful information about the University and Reading in general. She also gave me assistance in all aspects of finance from paying bills to my student loan and budgeting. I cannot fault the friendly and compassionate service she provided (and continues to offer!) and cannot express enough gratitude for all the help.”

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First Year BA Art and Philosophy student

LITTLE LEARNERS NURSERY 141 children registered 45 student children 74 staff children 21 children attend the schools out scheme Money raised at Fayres total £1072 At least half our families attend our fundraising and social events Mother’s day breakfast saw 15 mums arrive early to have a special breakfast with their children.

The children dressed in sporty clothing for Sport Relief and raised £171 for the cause via donations and a cake sale The parent group ‘Friends of Little Learners’ has 6 parent representatives 22 Preschool children will be ‘graduating’ in July at a ceremony to be held in the Nursery Garden.

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ACADEMIC REPRESENTATION WORKING FOR YOU

Course and Faculty Reps sit on some of the highest University committee boards, where they have the chance to influence the strategic direction that is taken. Not only do these representatives work for you, they are all voted in by you, making sure the true student voice is heard.

This year the Course and Faculty Rep structure was reviewed and a clearer structure with better two way feedback channels has been achieved.

Course Reps working on your behalf Course work was not being returned on time

Students were confused as to what percentage their course work contributed toward their degree

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Feedback to the University Student Staff Liaison Committees has proved positive with‌

Other achievements

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STUDENT ACTIVITIES

Give it a Go! Starting off in the second term of this year we launched the Give it a Go initiative to open up the amazing opportunities within our sports clubs and societies.

11 societies and 17 sports clubs took part in the scheme offering a

range of activities from a trip to the imperial war museum to rock climbing Over the two week period there was a wide range of activity for anyone to get involved with and over 460 students took part!

Of the students who participated, over 40% rated the sessions as 10/10 and over 80% as 7/10!

More students have had the opportunity to be involved in clubs and societies that they may not have before and the clubs themselves have benefitted from having new enthused members!

‘The Big One’ With sports teams progressing well in their respective leagues, it was time for the students of Reading University to get behind their sports teams and support them from the side-lines! This was ‘The Big One’!

This kicked off with: Men’s Hockey 1st’s Vs. Exeter. Incredibly exciting match with spectators turning out in support.

over 200

Rugby Men’s 1st XV Vs.UWIC. Over 300 students cheering from the side-lines urging their rugby team on to victory.

With many more sports fixtures taking place ‘The Big One’ offered plenty of opportunity to celebrate our sporting successes.

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COMMERCIAL SUCCESS

A snapshot of the year’s sales

51% up on sales and 21% up on customers since the shop opened

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A MESSAGE FROM YOUR INCOMING STUDENT OFFICER TEAM

Hi everyone, We are your new RUSU Student Officer Team for 201213. Even though we’re still ‘Officers-elect’, we are getting very excited about taking over from this year’s successful team. As you can see from this impact report, this year’s Student Officers have made the student experience better at Reading in a massive way and have achieved some great ‘wins’ for us.

Our team will work equally as hard to make sure we continue this great work and ensure that the University of Reading is the best it can be. We look forward to meeting as many of you as we can to lead your union exactly how you want it.

You would have heard a lot about next year being a ‘turning point’ in higher education and we want to work with the students of Reading to get the best experience you can at university.

So good luck for your exams, have a great summer and make sure you pop by next year to say ‘hello’.

James Fletcher RUSU President-Elect

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Your New Student Officer Team 2012/13 (left to right) Ceri Jones - VP Democracy & Campaigns Nick Cook - VP Student Activities Sophie Davies - VP Welfare & Representation James Fletcher – President Kara Swift - VP Academic Affairs

Your Student Trustees 2012/13 Alex Butler Tom Rye Joseph Lynes

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