Clarity

Dear Blog readers,

Thankyou for your interest. Please note that I am no longer in post as Vice-President (Activities) at Kent Union. However, I have left this Blog active for anyone that may find some of the resources here useful or interesting.

You may contact Kent Union at kentunion@kent.ac.uk or my successor Amy at union-activities@kent.ac.uk.

Thanks!

Kenny  

Awarding Your Hard Work

"Cheers" from the Sabb Team  

Greetings my lovelies! We are now coming to the end of what has been the season of awards ceremonies with the Kent Union awards; K.S.C.V. Medway and Canterbury, The first ever K.I.C. media awards as well as the Employability points awards night. Phew!  

Its a time of year that I thoroughly enjoy, being able to congratulate volunteers on the dedication and time that they have given as well as give special thanks to some of the high achievers this year. My society being a previous winner, I know how much these accolades can mean.  As well as the trophies, certificates and prizes that were given, there was food and drink laid on for all attendees.   

Jess has recieved so many awards this year it's lost its appeal 

The K.I.C. media awards were a massive success in this, their first year with many of the categories being judged by industry professionals adding real kudos to the prizes. I was so glad to have been involved in student media over the last two years which has gone from strength to strength. If you weren't already aware the space previously known as the Attic will sadly serve its last pint this exam term but joyfully burst from its summer break cocoon to emerge as a beautiful new media centre of which our volunteers are much deserving. I am so excited I nearly wee-d myself and I'm so glad this part of the  project has come to fruition in my time.      

Hand's Up if You Volunteer? KSCV Medway

Unfortunately, this was my last opportunity to give our volunteers a pat on the back as at the end of this month the current team will depart and you will have an nice new shiny team with less grey hair than me! Guaranteed! If you weren't able to make the Kent Union awards missed my self indulgent speech. Here it is in the frame below!     

Countdown

Not left long to go now! Just over five weeks left to go in the Activities post. My thoughts are turning to tying off projects where possible and getting elements into a stable place to 'handover' to my successor Amy Gilchrist. This is a process that will start formally a week before the end of my term.

Not characteristicly of my much adored Kent student members, everyone is having 'fantastic ideas' just before the end of the exam term which will most likely lead to having a couple of volunteering/ societies related motions going to the next Union council meeting on May 30th 6pm in ELT2 (all welcome). But I am sure that these changes will be beneficial for students in the longrun. Although I will be giving a formal final report at the upcoming meeting (no please don't feel compulsion to throw roses... or underwear) I have created a (not exhaustive) table of projects and their estimated completion dates below.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
 

Objective	Deadline	Notes
Ensure a Schedule for Online student group banking is Set	April End	Extended Research Phase, Imperial Visit booked,
Update Societies Handbook	May End	Waiting for Liberation Officers
Elect a New Societies Federation Committee	June end	Awaiting Union Council Vote on potential election policy changes
Prepare Handover for New Officer	June End	Early Planning stage
Ensure implementation of increased provision for the new activities space	(Contact April) Completion June)	Still in early
Ensure societies are moved into the new storage space in Eliot college	April End	Awaiting securing of bookshelves to ensure safety
Ensure that plans remain on-track for the development of the new media centre	June End	Plans being finalised, awaiting quantity surveyor then out to tender.
Empower, equip (and possibly rename) VOLFED to deal with SLVG funding allocation	Union Council May	Awaiting Union Council approval of proposed policy alterations
Ensure End of Year Training For Societies and SLVGS	June	Dates Booked
Ensure Completion  and evaluation of the ALBOS Scheme	June	Evaluating Options
Confirm CSR Funding for 2013-14	June	Complete
Identify Alternative on-campus activities spaces	June End

VP: Activities Union Council Report (May 2013)

Due to the development of the library there will be an estimated loss of 200 study spaces from summer 2014 due to the building works. Eliot hall has been identified as one of the most likely spaces to be allocated as decant space. I am in conversations with the University in order to find alternative space in which to facilitate the society and other student activity which usually takes place in the hall or alternative space for the library decant. I am still pursuing the option of utilising Rutherford hall as it has been in the past after dinner service has ceased.

Kent Union, KSCV Canterbury and Medway, KIC Media Awards have all occurred in the last three weeks and been highly successful. This is the first year the KIC media awards have been presented and industry professionals judged the awards. KIC and KSCV awards Canterbury were held in the Gulbenkian for the first time. Congratulations once again to all the awardees.    

The media centre plans are progressing well and there is currently a competition to name the new facility running at kentunion.co.uk. The plans are being finalised having consulted with a wide range of students and relevant stakeholders. Kent Union and the University will be going out to tender to find a construction firm in order for completion in first term.    

Matt Harris and I will be helping with the recruitment of a new Sports and Socs Manager post and/or Co-ordinator post next month. This increase to provision is very welcome and will be a great step towards increasing support and development for sports and societies at Kent.  Kent Union are currently also recruiting a volunteer co-ordinator which is going to be highly valuable in the case of our volunteer support capacity.

I have been working with SOCFEDCOM and VOLCOM to discuss alterations to their elections and

The project to move our student group funding system to an online finance systems is underway with a project group set-up. This may be the single greatest improvement to Kent Union systems and I believe will impact directly on the effectiveness of groups to access their funding and keep on top of their finances. There are visits planned to see existing systems in Warwick and Imperial college in June.   

Conversations are progressing with the University regards the #buildingup campaign and provision of an activities centre for our groups and members to use. The rhetoric around the proposal has changed from ‘if’ to ‘when’ which although still vague means we are moving in the right direction. Preliminary sketch designs are being discussed although nothing firm has been committed to at this stage. Further down the line I anticipate further consultation with specific groups as well as the wider student body on design and functionality within the University provided budget. Unfortunately, there is nothing further to report at this stage regards Medway developments for similar facilities but this will continue to be a priority for Kent Union in the future.

I have been in the process of discussing Staff Support developments with RAG. There is a plan for RAG to receive increased support being moved into the volunteering ‘portfolio’ and being supported by a volunteer co-ordinator. This will represent a step forward which I hope will just be the tip of the iceburg.

I am currently preparing for handover with my successor Amy Gilchrist. I am very excited to see the great work that she will achieve and know she has an ambitious manifesto to deliver next year. I wish her the best of luck and know that you will support and challenge her in her new role.   

I anticipate that some of the future challenges  from personal experience and activities remit will include (though not be limited to); increasing the quality of the Medway student experience and refining Kent Union's role within this including the acquisition of activities space for groups, continuing to ensure that the university recognizes and plans strategically for developments to support student activities at the Canterbury campus including the maintenance and delivery of the #buildingup campaign, increasing engagement and service of our members who are not from a 'traditional' background including but not limited to; distance learners, part time, mature, students with dependents, international students (especially Chinese pgt) and postgraduates generally. Developing Union services for Kent Students not studying in Canterbury and Medway, i.e. 'outreach' and abroad. The implementation of a funding system that is effective and fair for societies as well as accessible and functional (online). Increasing staff support for societies, sports, RAG and volunteers beyond the measures already set in motion. Finding an appropriate way to develop and support Kent Technical services volunteers which is relevant to their members' life-goals. The only way these issues can be tackled is with the collective teamwork of our Union and support of the membership. 

I have enjoyed every challenging moment of the last two years, thank you for the experience and your hard work and support. "So Long and thanks for all the fish."

EVER FANCIED BEING IN THE APPRENTICE?

A Little Bit of Sugar (ALBOS) loosely modelled on the TV show “the apprentice” is an opportunity for small teams to work together to formulate and develop ideas that could generate ‘wealth’ in various ways. 

This is an activity that lasts for two months and will involve teams of medium sized groups. These teams will compete with each other to produce, within that period, the best wealth-generating project for the benefit of others. Projects could be an invention, the formation of a company, the generation of cultural wealth etc. The task will be yours, as a team, to create. Each group will be multidisciplinary and include students from different Academic Schools, with a range of skills and expertise, so you will get to work with others you wouldn't normally encounter on your course.  

In the Summer Term, the teams do a presentation of what they have achieved, and a winner will be chosen by a panel of judges.  In addition to giving you the opportunity to improve your overall employability there will be a prize to the value of £400 which will be awarded to the winning team in June 2013.  All participants will acquire employability points and be able to log their hours through the Employability toolkit qualifying for a K.S.C.V a certificate. Support will be available from Kent Union.

More information on ALBOS and how you can participate in the scheme is included in this short video:  

If you are interested in participating in ALBOS, please complete this form https://unionkent.wufoo.eu/forms/a-little-bit-of-sugar-application/ by Thursday the 4^th of April 2013

“Free business advice sessions are available to all students and participating teams by contacting Kent Enterprise Hub, the University of Kent's dedicated start-up unit for students, graduates and staff. Located next to the sports centre they offer free of charge business advice sessions and subsidised office/lab space. Appointments can be booked via receptionist  Georgie Sutton on 01227 823263 or g.sutton@kent.ac.uk”  

Please contact Suzanne Payne s.payne@kent.ac.uk Kent Union’s Graduate employability co-coordinator with any general enquiries. 

Societies Grant Funding Explained

Due to a formatting error the societies handbook does not give  clear depiction of the graph explaining how much grant funding societies can expect to receive for the academic year 2012-2013. Below is a table explaining the exact figure you have available.

Members	Cash
<10	£0	31	£77	53	£117
10	£25	32	£79	54	£118
11	£28	33	£81	55	£119
12	£30	34	£83	56	£120
13	£33	35	£85	57	£121
14	£35	36	£87	58	£122
15	£38	37	£89	59	£123
16	£40	38	£91	60	£124
17	£43	39	£93	61	£125
18	£45	40	£95	62	£126
19	£48	41	£97	63	£127
20	£50	42	£99	64	£128
21	£53	43	£101	65	£129
22	£55	44	£103	66	£130
23	£58	45	£105	67	£131
24	£60	46	£107	68	£132
25	£63	47	£109	69	£133
26	£65	48	£111	70	£134
27	£68	49	£113	71	£135
28	£70	50	£114	72	£136
29	£73	51	£115	73	£137
30	£75	52	£116	74	£138
75	£139	89	£153
76	£140	90	£154
77	£141	91	£155
78	£142	92	£156
79	£143	93	£157
80	£144	94	£158
81	£145	95	£159
82	£146	96	£160
83	£147	97	£161
84	£148	98	£162
85	£149	99	£163
86	£150	100+	£164
87	£151
88	£152

This works as an overdraft in your main account which means that this cash will only become available once you have spent all of your membership fee money. This does not apply to student led volunteer groups, sports clubs or Media groups.

Please contact me if you have any questions or read the societies handbook  here!

Refreshers Stalls

Here is a list of which Groups will be at the refreshers' fayre next week

Both:

Inquire, CSR, Kent Tech, KTV  

Thursday:

Atheist, Humanist & Secularist Society

University of Kent Volleyball Club

Belly Dance Society

Conservation

Women's Lacrosse

Football Fans Society

Women's Rugby

Hellenic Society

Hindu Society

International Development

Kent Critical Law Society

Kent Debating Society

Kent Islamic Society

(KUCA)

Kent Erasmus

Kent Marrow

Kent Law Campaign Student Group

Kent Student Law Society

Kent Television (KTV)

Kent Law Temple Society

Kent Enterprise Network

Kent Model United Nations

Kent University Swimming Club

Kent Model United Nations Society

University of Kent Liberal Democrates

Kent Palestine Solidarit Group

Parkour & Freerunning Society

Kent Palestine Solidarity Group

People and Planet

Kent Labour Students

Pilgrims Hospices Volunteering Group

Kent Uni Jitsu

SIFE

Kent University Canoe Club

Snooker & Pool Club

Kent University Caving Club

SSDP

Kent Video Game Society

UKC Against Human Trafficking

Kent Wake & Surf

Military History Society

SWSS

Palestine Solidarity Group

Tribe - UKC Anthropology Society

Polish Society

Turkish Society

UKC Hogwarts

UKC Art Society

UKC Handball

Unicef Oncampus

UKC Netball Club

UKC Pirate Society

UKC Psychedelics Society

UKC Taekwondo

UKC Yoga Society

Ultimate Frisbee

Magic Society

InQuire Media Group

Friday:

3S

Chinese

Athletics and Cross Country

Creative Writing Society

Badminton Club

Cross Channel Society

Bhangra Society

Cycling

Books to Aftica

Economic Society

Capoeira

Fencing

CPAS

Forensic Science Society

Commedia Dell'arte

TreKent Rambling

Francophone Society

Hispanic

History Society

Japan Society

Mental Heath Group

Kendo

Mountaineering

Kent Ballroom And Latin Dance Club

Musical Theatre

Kent Business Society

Photography Society

UKC Film Society

Psychology Society

UKC German Society

RaG

UKC Italian Society

Rock & Metal Society (Rocksoc)

UKC Kung Fu

Sailing and Windsurfing

SALEM KENT CAMPUS FELLOWSHIP

UKC Women's Basketball Society

(SFX)

Adventure Gaming Society

University of Kent Knights Inline Hockey

Shooting Society

University of Kent LGBT Society

Space Society

University of Kent Salsa Society

Stage Spiders

Vegetarian and Vegan Society

Tennis

Vietnam Society

Gym Ukc - Gymnastics

Kent Cheer

UKC Equestrian Club

UKC Tea Society

University of Kent Darts Club

UKC Live Music Society

Women's Football

Visions of Europe

Womens Hockey

KentSnow

Aikido

Art Society

Batto-Do

Caving Club

Circus Society

Transport or Bus-t

By and Large the last 18 months have been successful as far as making-good on my manifesto pledges is concerned. However, one particular challenge which has irritated me over the last couple of years has been the limited access that student groups, especially non-sports groups have to affordable transport for their activities.                                                                                     Kent Union currently hires a 12-seater minibus and 9 seater car for use by our groups. Club use of these vehicles is high and it is necessary to complete a driving course supplied by the Union in order to drive the larger vehicle. For 9-seaters in the UK a full clean UK licence is needed and drivers need to be 21 and driving for two years in order to be insured with us. Only fuel costs are charged to groups. The demand for the training courses is very high and we are always over-subscribed.

An additional challenge is that if the competitive clubs cannot get to their fixtures then they cannot play which has lead to the minibuses being paid for out of the Kent Union Sports budget. This means that clubs get priority access combined with a first-come first served and fair usage allocation. 

What this means is that a culture has developed where non-sports groups don't even consider the vehicles as accessible to them and don't factor them in as an option due to their low availability. This leads to thousands of pounds being paid out from the development fund, society grant budgets and members' pockets which are all a little cash-scant. I don't think this is a very efficient allocation of monies.

In February Kent Union will start its budget proposal round for next year's budget for approval by the board of trustees. We will be submitting a proposal for increase in the societies budget in order to get a 9-seater specifically for non-sports club with Wednesdays (fixtures day) being negotiable. The current vehicles will still be available to all groups as they are currently. Not only will this hopefully cut costs but will also lead to a culture change where groups that have perhaps never thought of attending an event outside of the immediate local area, will start to think further afield for national events! How exciting!       

   

Union Council Report January 2013

Vice-President (Activities)

The main focus of the last few months has been the development and management of the Building-up priority campaign; attending society meetings, canvassing for postcard signatures at lunchtimes with volunteers and presenting with the Union President to senior University management. We have successfully secured agreement for some investment in physical development and are now in a position of negotiation with the University for a facility which will be appropriate for students’ needs. The lack of facilities has finally become an issue being talked about at all levels of the University, recognising the negative impact on student activities. Next steps include a delegation of students meeting members of EG including the VC. Thank you to all volunteers and officers who worked on this project to date especially the college committees, societies federation committee and the Canterbury volunteering committee for your help canvassing signatures, of which we obtained circa 4K.

Working with president to ensure investment at Medway and Canterbury in block grant will go towards new full-time staff members in activities in Canterbury.

Delivered chairing training to Medway students including Medway volunteering committee chair.

Visited the University of Kent Brussels officers. It was fascinating and educational to hear about the experience of Kent students in Brussels especially with different challenges and a very different student demographic.

Attended Societies council at Medway; their principle issues are (unsurprisingly) facilities and funding.

Working with the University to develop a University of Kent awards scheme which will bring together ongoing campus awards and raise kudos considerably. Early discussions include £400 prize money per category plus internship possible opportunities.

Working with the University to develop a Worldfest Bitesize programme which supports international, religious and cultural events across campuses. This includes Chinese new year which I am also helping to support and organise.

I am undergoing Counselling Training as part of my ongoing personal development in order to help support students experiencing, stress, conflict and challenging workloads especially through their volunteering in Kent Union.

Attended the opening of Colyer Fergusson music building.

Continuing to raise issues faced by minority student groups at Student inclusivity and diversity working party. This has included lobbying the university to collect data on students with dependants and share this data (with students’ permission) with us to allow for more targeted approach to support and development.

Met with licensed trade and society members to develop the new international night as well as interviewing for new ents manager.

Meeting with potential candidates for part and full time officer elections

Met with module convenors to discuss possibility of integration of CSR with teaching modules, soon to be meeting with PVC External to bid for increased investment in the station perhaps for an additional full time member of staff

Approximately 20 new societies

Met with Head of Kent County council

Helping students to apply for a project fund from the university (RAG, Malaysian Society)

Planning for refreshers fayre

Planning for worldfest and international showcase looking for a stage manager

Allocated eliot hall and missing link for societies, clubs and SLVGs

Volunteer project at Gulbenkian is now in pilot mode, met with members of Gulbenkian staff to get this running. Cinema prices likely to rise slightly at Gulbenkian.

Met with Ethnic Minorities, RAG and MEdway volcom officers for mentoring, support and development.

Union council is January 24th on the Medway Campus, all are welcome to attend. The proceedings will start at 7pm

Get Involved! Have an experience! Learn Valuable Skills

The Part time officer elections are coming up! Perhaps you are thinking; what's a part-time officer? Or, what's that to me? Or, why should I be interested? Then hopefully this short blog entry should be of some benefit.

Any union member who is a student studying a University of Kent course can stand in election to be a part-time officer. There are a very wide range of these posts from the liberation officers doing important campaigning work through the representation of women, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi, trans-people) ethnic minorities and students with disabilities, to the college presidents who organise social, fundraising, sporting and pastoral events in each of the colleges. The roles are voluntary and hours invested by officers can be logged through the employability and volunteering toolkit  and also accrue employability points as part of the EP scheme. Together these schemes offer volunteers the opportunity to record and develop their experience and recognise the soft and transferable skills that have been developed during volunteering and awards internships, work-placements  as well as prizes such as Amazon vouchers to students based on the number of points they have earned.

As well as developing skills which employers really value such as communicating with a wide range of different people, being organised, report writing and public speaking (for instance) volunteering to be a part-time officer is a great way to meet people and make new friends and connections. It is also an excellent way to learn more about the workings of the Union and University and is a great opportunity to give back to the student body and really make a change that will improve the University experience for the benefit of all students. It is also an opportunity that opens doorways to other options, through increased exposure to the full time sabbatical officers you may get an idea of whether this is a path that you might like to consider yourself.

Part of the role whether the Ethics officer or international students' officer, is to sit on Union council, one of the most senior decision making bodies in the Union where all part-time ad full-time officers discuss matters brought by members of the council or the membership of the wider student body. This is an excellent way to learn more about others' politics and ultimately come to understand the different perspectives of individuals. I have always found that through understanding the motivations of others I can better understand my own perspective. Its also always good to be challenged on views that you may have always taken for granted. Sometimes it can get pretty heated, but this is how you know that the topics mean something to people and are therefore worth debating.        

The amount of time spent volunteering can vary incredibly and its always worth remembering that it is better to have someone in a post doing one hour a week than no-one in post. Even if you have not been involved in the past and this may be your first volunteering experience there is training provided all the way. In addition, this year has been the pilot year of a new scheme which has trained all full and part-time officers in Volunteer management, a qualification accredited with the Institute of Leaders and managers. More information can be found on this in my previous blogs.

As well as representation on a local level can lead to running for NUS (national union) delegate position, representing Kent students on a national level and making sure that our voices our heard. Gaining exposure to students from around the country has given me an incredible sense of wider community, that students are 'in it together' which on its own is a feeling worth having.

If you would like to discuss any of the opportunities available please contact me by email on or on twitter @kbuddinyourface and I can direct you to the best person if I don't  know the answer myself.

Although full-time officers sometimes have the most time to dedicate, some of the greatest achievements in Student Union history have been from dedicated part-time officers and volunteers. Just ask them yourselves here!

Nominations close at 12:00 on Wednesday 6 February 2013 

The polls open at 17:00 on Friday 8 February 2013 

Nominate yourself here!