Well oh well! I cannot believe that we are six weeks into term already.
over my diary zipping from meeting with societies to university meetings and to-ing
and fro-ing between the Medway and Canterbury campuses. In fact, the only way I've
managed to find time to write this blog entry is because I have a long car journey today
and I'm not driving!
From one perspective the amount of traffic in the activities centre is encouraging as it
means that more students are aware of where the Union offices are, what services we
offer and how to utilise them. On the flipside resources are more stretched then every
before and staff and students alike feel frustrated if even a single student leaves the
building dissatisfied. In a student Union this is doubly felt as staff genuinely care about the
clients they are working with and with what the organisation is working towards. The fact
is that at Kent the strategy focusses on growth with 100 society application last year and
40 received so far this year in Canterbury, a 70% growth in society numbers at Medway
a 50% increase in student led volunteer groups and a new Television station 'KTV' a real
investment needs to be made in activities in terms of staff and cash as this growth is just
not sustainable if standards of quality and support are to be maintained.
In one other student union each group of approximately 25 societies has a member of
administrative staff to support them as well as a full time member of staff responsible for
development. At Kent there are two full time members of staff spread across all societies
and sports clubs. The question is, where is the money going to come from?
I've had the experience of sitting on two recruitment panels in the last few months for
two members of staff who will be working in the broad and occasionally ambiguous
area of 'student experience' with one member based primarily at Canterbury and the
other at Medway. Where many of the issues facing students such as limited staff,
money and facilities are shared across campuses Medway does bear the burden most
heavilly. The new free Medway shuttle service travelling regularly currently on a pilot
scheme has already started to make an impact. Kent students studying at Medway are
turning up all over the place at society meetings, a talk for the NUS Demonstration
and many of the 'Stand-out' training sessions delivered by Kent Union. I must admit I
was a little suprised at how quickly this has started to influence this development. It is
vitally important that this service continues if synergy and community between the two
campuses is to continue to grow. This has been a long and hard-fought battle by staff and
students as well as Kent Union over a period of about five years and I am glad to see it
being utilised.
However, it is vital that development at the Medway campus is stepped up to the
next level. The C4 building is a real opportunity for development. Currently disused,
developing the listed building internally for use as a social study space in the day and
activities space for use by societies in the evening would be highly valued and have
untold benefit to existing students as well as be an attractive draw to prospective students
from a recruitment perspective. Yet the appetite for development has been quelled
due to stalling recruitment at the Medway campus. It may feel like too much of a bold
investment from the University's perspective to lavish dough in the current climate. After
all, the sector hasn't been in this place before? But this means that education institutions
all over the country are being forced to sink or swim, making decisions that they have
never made before. Investing in these flexible activities spaces is undoubtably the right
investment for the University of Kent and it may just be the sooner the better.
Unfortunately, for students currently studying at out beloved institution, 'sooner' is likely
to be 3 years minimum.
I had the good fortune to be able to sit at a table with a wide range of university staff
from a range of departments and discuss the 'student experiece' at both Canterbury and
Medway this week and give a short presentation on the challenges and opportunities that
exist for rewarding student activities at Kent. If anyone would like to see this short 10
minute presentation let me know and I'll happilly deliver it to your society or department.
In the looming shadow of the feasibility study which will not only propose designs for
a development of physical Union activities but offer solutions to many of the challenges
facing student groups I'm keen not to pre-empt any of the outcomes but am very excited
to see proposals being taken to the Board of trustees on November 12th.
Top moment of the week has to be the first meeting of societies council committee which
is the UMSA Medway version of socfedcom. I was asked to come and deliver training to
this group of society members and hopefully galvanise them into fighting the good fight
for Medway societies and activities in general. I'm expecting great things to come from
societies at Medway.
In other news. The NUS demo is fast approaching and funding has been secured in part
through a contribution from the UCU teachers' Union three coaches have been organised
and tickets subsidised so each return seat will be £5. At the 2010 Demo a £50 incentive
was given to societies or clubs who wished to take part for the group who sent the most
individuals being welcomed by groups. This was repeated this year with the intention to
encourage attendance from those who may not usually attend such events. This year there
has been some mixed response with some individuals claiming it is 'bribery' or forcing
the politicisation of societies. Others have welcomed the incentive stating that no-one is
being 'forced to attend.' This subject will be discussed at societies federation committee
this week. If you have any input for this meeting please let me or your societies
federation committee reps know, you can contact me at union-activities@kent.ac.uk.
Apologies that there are not any pretty pictures in this entry yet. I'm just keen to get the post out today :)
