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!     

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!

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!       

   

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! 

Top Tips for Avoiding a Festive Society Punch-Up

Ever heard of the November blues? Over the half way point of the first term, the excitement of welcome week seems like a distant memory, the Christmas still seems an age away and all too real is the essay deadline you've been putting off for the last three weeks.

This is about the time that you start getting a bit ratty about the fact that your housemate listens to ‘that dubstep remix’ on repeat when you are trying to sleep, that the guy who sits next to you in lectures never seems to make as many notes as you or do the reading but never fails to get a first and to top it all the president of the society you are a member for is really getting on your nerves. The kicker is that they’re all the same person and you spend most of your time around them.

This is when societies go into meltdown!

So here are some tips you might like to consider before you casually lace their morning brew with a dusting of constipation medicine sufficient in strength to drain the colour out of the boldest ox and sweat the bristles off a badger’s bum.

Have you read The Societies Handbook? It is available here kentunion.co.uk/societies/runsociety/societyforms/ to all societies and is packed full of useful information. It is a one-stop shop for basic queries and a great starting place for you to start if you need information.  

Have your committee attended societies training? A big training day is held at the beginning of the first term and at the end of the summer term. However, there will be some mini top-up training sessions organised throughout the year. If you are interested in attending one of these either because you missed the training at the beginning of the year or because you’re a new society then e-mail standout@kent.ac.uk to book your place on the course. If there is any additional training you feel would be useful then you can also send requests to the same address.

Are you struggling to organise an event? Remember that external organisations will want one point of contact between you and them. This helps the Union also. It’ll make things easier for you as everyone will be on the same page and have the same information.   

Plans scuppered by others? Although it can be difficult to do this try and plan as far in advance as possible. It takes 3 weeks to get permission for an external speaker, a week to book a room, three weeks to apply for a performance licence etc. The bigger the event and the more people involved the greater the chance that somewhere along the chain something will get delayed. Or lots of something’s.

Have you got written role descriptions for your committee members? This is something that can be very useful as the society can outline the voluntary role responsibilities in advance giving the committee something to refer to if allocated tasks are not being completed. You can even have individuals sign this when they ‘take office.’ If you would like to see a copy of a template try contacting Steph s.l.j.hughes@kent.ac.uk.

Delegation of tasks: This is an important tip for presidents. Trust your team! Sometimes entrusting a member of the team with a task can be very empowering, it also means that you don’t have all of the weight on your shoulders. Conversely, giving someone a task and then micro-managing them or not entrusting them with anything at all can be very dis empowering  This is a difficult technique to learn if you have had no previous managerial experience but it is key to maintaining a cohesive team and achieving great things. Don’t underestimate your volunteers; they can achieve incredible things with a little freedom and your presidential support.

Document your committee meetings. If something is agreed, get it in writing. This is the responsibility of the secretary to do.

Have you got an up-to date constitution? This isn’t something you should be having on every society committee meeting agenda, if you do then you’ve probably got other issues in the committee that need addressing. This is the document the committee, members, staff, myself and Union chair refer to when needing clarification or when things go wrong with elections or democracy within your society. Not having an up to date constitution means it’s difficult to get union support. I have about 40-50 digital constitutions. If you’re not sure if you’re one of the groups these belong to, contact us in the office.

Money worries? Read the handbook and find out what kind of support is available. Do you really know how much is in your account? Do you know how the grant system works and that you are entitled to more than meets the eye on your accounts? If you’re not sure... ask! One of the reasons the trustees struggle to justify more money for societies is that they never spend what they have.

Societies federation, Your Union zone and Union council and A.G.M. are your voice on campus not only as individuals but as societies. If you want to be represented and informed then you need to show up.  The most successful groups are the ones that keep abreast of the latest information and the ones leading the pack are the ones setting the trend. If you don’t know when, what or where the meetings are then ask!

Make friends with other societies. Many hands make light work, two heads are better than one etc. This is a great way to boost the membership of your society as well as pool resources, contacts and cash. This applies to KTV, CSR and Inquire as well. Nothing wrong with a bit of mutual back-scratching.

Are you on the KSCV scheme? If not, why not? As a society committee member you are a volunteer and this means that you are eligible for the KSCV. Contact Natalie n.tiu@kent.ac.uk if you want to know more or visit the website www.kentunion.co.uk/eandv As part of the scheme you are entitled to reviews with a member of staff where you can flag any concerns you have with your volunteering or society.   

Has it all just gone a bit Pete Tong? Want to come in and talk about it? If things have really gone ‘a tad bad’ then we can do mediation meetings with a staff member and officer and work out a way forward for your society.  

  

  

   

Popcorn, Websites and Scratching

One of the most rewarding areas of my Manifesto to work on has been the Gulbenkian 'complex'. Every meeting with the (fairly) new Gulbenkian team is positive and it feels like we are moving forwards, improving the engagement and dialogue between students and our on-campus arts facilities.

As with everything there are frustrating barriers to be overcome or worked around but in the last 18 months I've started to see real change. Attendance in the cinema is up to 30% students, which might not sound like a lot but outranks many on-campus cinemas around the country, the next target is the theatre. Other projects that I am working with the Gulbenkian to implement include a volunteer scheme which will support interested University of Kent students to experience technical  front of house and theatre marketing in a professional arts complex under the watchful eye of experienced theatre professionals. The value of this to students is unquestionable especially for those who which to enter into a career in the world of theatre. The Gulbenkian was my first experience of working in a professional theatre and I'm passionate to cement this scheme before it is time to 'shuffle off this representational coil.' Another fabulous opportunity available to students is the Gulbenkian feedback forum (which I informally call the G-spot) where everyone has the chance to offer their 'tuppence worth' as Grandpa would say and help to improve the Gulbenkian experience. 

I thought I'd include some of the Topics discussed in a Q+A style here for those who couldn't attend.

Q: What are the obstacles to the Cinema showing blockbusters in release week? If we could see the films that the Odeon shows, the Gulbenkian prices are much more student-friendly.

A: Film distributors often put caveats on cinemas getting the films such as 'x' number of showings in the first week. The Gulbenkian only has one screen and is heavily restricted as to when it can show films.

Q: Why can't the cinema be more flexible in its showing times in the week?

A: The cinema is not released from timetabling until 6pm. Until this time it is used as a lecture theatre. Low availability of lectures theatres means there is little flexibility here.

Q: What about Wednesdays?

A: On these afternoons the cinema is used for UCAS Days for potential future students.

Q: What don't you serve proper popcorn?

A: Some people think it goes against the 'arthouse vibe' of the cinema.

Q: Yeah but doesn't everybody love popcorn? Especially students?

A: We'll take your feedback onboard and look into buying a machine.  

Q: Can we take popcorn into the theatre?

A: It depends on the company, if its a quiet show possibly not. But for comedy, perhaps. 

Q: The Cafe seems really expensive which is why some students are put off from eating there. Why is this?

A: This is down to having to charge V.A.T to everyone when they eat (making it 20% more expensive for students but no more expensive to staff.) We're looking at ways to keep the price down for students and keep the quality high. 

Q: If we wanted to see a particular film or re-run would that be a possibility?

A: Absolutely! let us know about it. We already do this through the customer comments section but we're looking at whether we could have online polls where students could vote for films.  

Q: What's the chance of using the theatre if available for open rehearsals if we're drama students?

A: Talk to us. 

Q: How can we get involved?

A: Contact Kenny at the Union union-activities@kent.ac.uk or Jess at the Gulbenkian j.l.thomas@kent.ac.uk.

Hi everyone, 

I am currently participating in Movember as are my all male team of colleagues where we all grow and sport moustaches to raise money for prostate cancer research. 

I did this about two years ago as its something that has affected many people close to me  

The link to our team page is here - http://uk.movember.com/team/534917 where you can either make donations to the team as a whole or to individuals.

Firsts and Lasts, a thank you to our welcome helpers

“Firsts and Lasts”

A Thank You To Our Volunteers

As anticipated these past two weeks have been absolutely insane. Welcome week and the orientation of new students is a massive operation and is an integral part of the integration process into University for new and returning students.

The sabbatical officers’ role during this period is multi-faceted and diverse from aiding in the writing of the strategy and priorities for the week and approving the entertainments to meeting new students and physically carrying ‘that tiny Thai girl’s’ 36 kilo suitcase up 4 flights of stairs. Oh and did I mention helping to support and orchestrate five-hundred student volunteers moving in thousands of fresh-faced student recruits?    

In practice this means spending up to 18 hours a day on campus, not finding time for lunch, forfeiting a couple of weekends, running around from one end of campus to the other, dealing with upset parents, overworked staff and sometimes lost and confused or lonely or drunk students. Sounds awful doesn’t it?

It isn’t.

There is a reason why so many students return to University two weeks early in order to volunteer their time and energy. In part, it is students’ and young people’s desire to give something back and be part of a community, share knowledge, hospitality and welcome weary travellers from far and near to their new home. It is also one of the most rewarding experiences we and our volunteers have enjoyed. Sadly, this year will be the last time I can personally be involved as the end of my term is this summer.

Every year I am so impressed with the sheer physical and mental effort that our student volunteers put in, supported by our dedicated staff who also give up their own time to ensure that our welcome stands are staffed by a friendly face to answer questions. Kent Union volunteers always do it with a smile on their face. Sadly, the effort that these volunteers put in is not universally recognised across campus and attitudes are not what one might expect.  I hope that in the future we will be able to educate this minority to appreciate the collective effort of these volunteers.

A cynic might say that welcome week (freshers’ week) is just a disorganised piss-up, that if Kent Union didn’t train and recruit welcome helpers, students would settle in just fine but I beg to differ. On Monday I received an e-mail from a rather distressed student who was finding the experience a bit daunting to say the least. Campus was noisy, housemates hadn’t introduced themselves, there hadn’t been a friendly welcome volunteer to carry their bags and reassure them and somehow their door had been missed during the door knocking for the evening events. Somehow they had found my e-mail address to put a message in a bottle. I introduced them to some of the bubbliest and outgoing volunteers I could think of that evening. What struck me hardest was that with all the effort that student had put in to get as far as the University, they may have ended up calling it a day and going home had there not been some friendly faces to welcome them.  As well as welcome the 17 year old student from the Canary Islands who’s class back home had been 3 students now in a year-group of 4,000+, or the student returning to study after 10 years and feeling a bit odd being back on campus.  Thanks guys.

Another major challenge during this period is the Welcome fayre where we put up some big tents and invite all our student groups to attack the new students with sign-up sheets, flyers, free sweets and amazing opportunities. In addition this year the training of the society and volunteering groups committees had undergone a massive redesign as well as seeing the launch of a new 30 Page handbook for societies I had written. (Link to training blog)

To cut a long blog short, the fayre, the training and the handbook were all a massive success. I continued my ongoing campaign of saying “yes” wherever possible and in this case this meant over 250 groups, 5 stage performances, a naked picnic and a tank on campus... in the interest of decency I decided to upload footage of the tank which the Military history society were kind enough to let me ride to Parkwood in! FUN!

To end on a serious note, apart from inspiring Military history society and helping them to recruit new members and helping naturist society to sign up new potential members and me losing some hair over the whole thing, saying yes to things opens minds to possibilities. If a small group of volunteers can get a tank on campus... what else can they achieve?

Say yes to something that makes you feel a bit edgy.

And a special hello and welcome to My Cousin Lauren, the second Budd at University, and at Kent.

Moving Beyond Steam 'Train-ing'

Just a quick one here to share the excitement I have about the new Societies and Volunteering group (SLVG) Training which will be delivered on Monday the 17th of September which is the Monday of welcome week.

Having attended this training day for several years whilst a society committee members and delivering it myself last year, I really felt it was in need of a spruce-up. The old system meant that students sat through a lecture-type session which would last the best part of an afternoon. The room was not always fit for purpose and it was all pretty dry administrative stuff. Last year the attendance was higher than anyone can remember... in forever.

However, a few weeks later I was invited to help out at the course-rep conference as one of the trainers and the format felt so much more engaging and inovative. There were short plenary sessions which were a bit like lectures but there were exciting guest speakers who came along to deliver these. The rest of the day was broken into skill-based group training sessions where the volunteers shared their own best practice and the differences in the different departments and shared knowledge of how best to get results. Students were free to select which sessions they attended and the sessions were much more interesting and big-picture. This was something that I really wanted to replicate and develop.

So here is what I have come up with... there will be a new societies handbook which is currently being drafted. It is designed to be comprehensive and answer as many questions as I could remember societies ever asking and from my own experience of bieng involved with societies for the last 5 years. It will cover all of the administrative stuff such as how to claim back cash, book transport, apply for additional funding, run a complex event, complete a risk assessment, become an admin on your page, access further training through the union and much more besides.

 

This means that the amount which needs to be covered in a 27 hour long lecture can be cut down (I hope) to about 90 minutes of introduction, health and safety and finance training. The afternoon is going to be made up from these break-out sessions where groups will work together sharing best practice with an experienced trainer and will be able to choose which sessions they attend. This also means that you can spread the load across your committee and wont reply just on your president to remember everything. I am hoping that this will enable societies to become more effective and efficient. The sessions will be much more strategic than operational thereby inspiring groups to think about the bigger picture and how they can improve the quality of their own experience.

With the new employability and volunteering toolkit getting ready to launch as well as a new handbook for societies, this could be one of the best-informed years at least! The morning plenary will be in RLT1 with afternoon 'break-out' sessions being in Keynes seminar rooms.        

Please bear in mind that the training on the day may differ from the sessions below. Please contact me at union-activities@kent.ac.uk if you have any questions or suggestions.  

Session	Trainer	Objectives
K.S.C.V and Community Volunteering	Steph Hughes and Natalie Tiu	Introduction to the K.S.C.V scheme including platinum and new Gold+ as well as introducing some of our other volunteering opportunities in the community
Planning Events Safely	Helen Close	A session which helps volunteers to plan their events strategically, safely and for ultimate success
Successful Fundraising	Nick and the RAG Team	This session will help groups to think about creative ways to fundraise for their activities and charity as well as understanding their relationship with RAG
Getting to Grips with Budgeting (SLVGS)	Steph Hughes	This session is aimed at helping volunteers to plan their expenditure and use their funding to best effect.
Getting to Grips with Budgeting (Societies)	Amy Van-Poppel	This session is aimed at helping volunteers to plan their expenditure and use their funding to best effect.
Effective Teamwork	Suzanne Payne	A session working on effective leadership as well as dealing with pressures when working in a team with volunteers.
Using Media Effectively	Mel Lewis	A session which helps volunteers to use social media as well as student media to its greatest potential.
Developing Your Group (SLVGS)	Steph Hughes and Natalie Tiu	A session aimed at moving each group onto ‘the next stage’ from new group to established group, then leading group. Helping groups define their own success
Developing Your Group (Societies)	Caroline Demetriou	A session aimed at moving each group onto ‘the next stage’ from new group to established group, then leading group. Helping groups define their own success

Room To Swing A Cat

An irrelevant  Shocked looking Kitten

Hi All, I just wanted to make a couple of short posts to update you about some of the latest issues that I have been working on for societies and students led volunteer groups in particular.

As many of you know, last year a change was made to the room booking system meaning that you can no longer book rooms directly with the college masters. Instead this is done centrally through the timetabling office. Room bookings are made by societies online using a link, groups request their room requirements, this is sent to us at the Union who then confirm that the booking is on behalf of a Kent Union student group. This then gets forwarded onto timetabling who will do their best to accommodate the groups' needs and then get back to them with a booking I.D which is confirmation of the room having been legitimately booked.

Eliot Hall, The Most requested room on campus for
our student societies. 

Although it could be said that it is an advantage having all of the room bookings going through a central location there are still limitations to the system. If students want to book facilities that are in a school building as opposed to a college building then this must be done with the individual school, outdoor bookings are made with estates, some bookings depending on location (particularly spaces with commercial 'value') are booked through hospitality. In addition, some spaces are controlled by the union, but in fact the only space which students could really use for activities are the bars.

In addition to this, the real clincher for students has been that although in most cases the official line was for college masters to require a week's notice to book rooms, in actuality exceptions were made in some of the colleges allowing for a level of spontaneity and flexibility. Another potential problem for students is that under the old system 'average Joe student' could book a room for say... group study. To my knowlege the only way this can still be done is either with the Library or through an academic.        

Our Circus skills society; have special requirements
for the rooms they use 

Recently I met with the Academic registrar and timetabling to thrash out some ideas and see if there were any improvements that could be made to the system namely whether we could cut down on administrative delay and  secondly, introduce a limited number of rooms on campus which could be booked at short-notice (less than a week). Through the efforts of the stretched timetabling department some success was possible with the design and introduction of an improved online booking link that will mean that requests will not have to wait to be forwarded from Kent Union but go directly to timetabling with only 'questionable' bookings being flagged up by Kent-Union which should help to speed up the process.

Unfortunately, due to "the complexity of operating a two tier system it was felt that this is not a viable proposal" which effectively means that a short-term room booking option is still out of grasp for most groups. Any suggestions at this stage would be welcome.

However, every cloud has a silver-lining! Performing-arts groups may be in luck. Following a meeting with my friends at the Gulbenkian, a space has been available for societies and volunteer groups to use. Short-notice bookings will be possible for this room which is available from 1 (I think) until 6pm on Wednesday afternoons. This space is large enough for a small rehearsal I am told. If you are interested in this space then you need to get in touch with Jess Thomas who is in charge of marketing at the Gulbenkian. I am very grateful for their efforts so far.   

The Attic Bar has a great open floor but will in future be a busier cafe
 in the day, prohibiting use for society activities 

In addition to this I have recently met with Venue General Manager Renaud and Hels who is in charge of facilities management. The Attic is hoping to improve its daytime provision including the installation of a new 'proper' coffee machine and improvements to lighting and power provision which is hoped to make it a more inviting space for social and group study.  This does put pressure on societies who had been using it occasionally for bookings for dance or musical rehearsal. In reaction to this Hels and Renaud are looking into whether there are any improvements that can be made to the cleaning rota which would allow groups to use the balcony and venue floors for activities space from Monday to Wednesday during daytime hours. Another small improvement. Please contact R.Mayers@kent.ac.uk if you are interested in using this space.     

An impression of the new Colyer Fergussion Music Building Main Hall Interior

I have also recently met with Sue Wanless who is the director of music at the University of Kent. The new Colyer Fergusson music building which is being constructed on the Canterbury campus (due for completion in October 2012) will have soundproofed rehearsal rooms of all sizes which I have been told student groups will have access to for the price of an access card (£5). This will be available to groups who have music as their main objective such as Music, live music, CPAS, Musical Theatre and any other groups who wish to make music.

I am unaware of any such developments at the Medway campus and would love to hear about any advances that have been made. I am looking forward to attending the new democratic meetings that are being set up at U.M.S.A which should allow for greater empowerment and effectively turning complaining into campaigning.    

Softly softly catchy monkey!

  

Summer and Student Groups Q and A

Its that time of year that is supposed to be 'quiet' for students' unions considering that most undergraduates have gone back to their family homes and many postgraduates have their noses to the grindstones writing research papers and dissertations. In truth, its just a different sort of busy being the time of year when the National Union of Students (NUS) run the majority of their training sessions, not to mention our own internal induction process for the new elected officers and staff. It is a chance to prepare for the year ahead and complete any projects with the relative 'quiet' of an office, locked-in.

One of my projects this summer is to re-write the societies handbook, a document which I hope will empower societies to be able to find solutions to their challenges and answers to their frequently asked questions rather than having constantly having to come to the Union which is frustrating and time consuming for them.

I've recently been in contact with an associate member of one of our societies twittername @Sk1mble who has raised some issues some of which are frustrating societies at the moment, you can view his blog here. I thought that it might be useful to address some of those issues via a blog so other society members and committees can view my response.

Paying Society Membership

Not so long ago societies were taking cash payments from their members in payment for their society memberships. Unfortunately, there were occasions where this money was not paid into the correct account or was not paid into the society funds at all and was therefore unaccountable for. Therefore, society memberships can be bought on-line at the Kent Union website  using the 'worldpay' service or alternatively can be paid in-person at the Mandela reception on campus by card or cash between 9-6 Monday to Friday in termtime. Kent Union tries to discourage societies from handling cash where possible although for some events this is unavoidable.       

Online Society/ Volunteer Group Elections

In the recent past societies held elections at their own Annual general meeting with a 'returning officer' sent to societies in order to ensure that elections were fairly conducted. The Union holds its own main elections on-line through the MSL web-based system. Considering the growth of the number of groups, the reported inconsistencies between society elections and the time taken for the volunteer returning officers (members of societies federation committee) to attend all of these meetings it was decided that society voting would be cast on-line. Benefits of using the on-line system include the ability to track the number of people voting, consistent, fair and accurate elections across the board. Groups would still have their hustings debates and A.G.M.s but would cast their votes on-line.

However, based on feedback given throughout the year by societies anecdotally and at societies federation meetings (once a term) it was felt that where the on-line system was beneficial it was not yet able to effectively fulfil all the needs of societies such as being able to see who has been nominated for positions and stand last-minute if a position was not going to be filled, for instance or being able to find out the results immediately. MSL have been contacted to see if these changes to the system can be made ideally giving individual groups admin control over their own elections rather than it having to be done centrally.

In light of this, for 2012-2013 societies and student led volunteer groups will be encouraged to use the on-line system but will be able to request a volunteer returning-officer if they wish to hold a paper-based election. 


Some societies have had to request the results to their elections or have been kept waiting for prolonged periods which is something I am looking into as I don't believe that this should be the case and that election results should be transmitted automatically.          

Constitutions and Membership fees

Societies and volunteer groups write thier own constitutions based on a core document provided by Kent Union. Any changes to this must be approved by the individual society membership (usually at a general meeting) and Vice-President Activities/ societies federation committee or volunteer committee (elected representatives.) These changes are rarely refused unless they conflict with Union policy i.e inclusiveness, cause significant overlap with the activity of other societies or the law.
 
Societies may set their own membership fees, notifying Kent Union of any changes. They must be at least the minimum fee and must charge associate members (non-Kent Students) at least £1 more than full members (Kent Students). At the last societies federation meeting in the third term of 2011-2012 it was voted to increase the minimum fee to £5 from the previous £3. This was agreed as part of a new funding package to give increased funding to the smallest groups who most need the financial aid. The details of this new funding package will be published in the societies handbook which is currently being designed.

General Bureaucracy

Kent Union and myself personally acknowledge that the Union's systems are clunky and not member-friendly  enough. So much of what is currently done is paper based and office centric and here are some of things we're working on at the moment.

*A new full time staff post has been created to help with the administration and development of sports and societies

* A new form is being put together in order to make organising events simpler, consolidating these into one easy to use form.

* Looking into on-line video training sessions

* A new comprehensive societies handbook  

* Facilities where student groups can view their accounts on-line

* Transport tender looking into providing more accessible transport for student groups

* Increase to the sports, societies and volunteering development funds

* Building of two purpose built storage facilities for our student groups

* Student led stand-out (employability) sessions worth £150 each in society fundraising (see previous blog)

* Cross training of activities staff to provide answers to basic student queries


If you have any additional suggestions please feel free to contact union-activities@kent.ac.uk

     
    

 

K.S.C.V Awards night 2011-2012

I thought I might write a few words about the K.S.C.V awards nights. These are annual events at Medway and Canterbury Campus which celebrate all of the hard work and time that is given so freely by dedicated students at the University of Kent.

Medway's Asian Society

Last Night's Medway awards was well attended, volunteers collectively contributing 5,000 hours+ with the vast majority being within the local community. Certificates were awarded by the Deputy Major of Medway also giving a speech with Tom Ritchie (Union President). There was a dance performance from Medway's Asian  Society as well as a buffet which was enjoyed by all.     

This year over 80,000 voluntary hours were logged by Kent students across the Campuses which was nearly a doubling of last year's 45,000 hours. A very impressive figure. Apart from the 250 attendees recieving awards from across the spectrum from 25 hours 'Bronze award' to the highly demanding 'platinum award' which constitutes a 15 credit module which can be taken as part of the volunteer's degree or can be used for additional credits. The University Of Kent is one of only three universities I am aware of that offer a volunteering award like this. 

The K.S.C.V Gold Certificate is awarded
to volunteers contributing at leas 100 hours

In Canterbury, Special congratulations were given to Simon Smith of the Magic Society for contributing a total of 1,000 hours of volunteering during the course of his platinum award. Certificates were also awarded by Kent Raise and Give the charitable arm of Kent Union's volunteers who's 'escape and evade' event had seen volunteers raise over £500 for charitable causes. In the event, students must try to get as far away from the University as possibe and back for free. 

As well as the awardees themselves there were also speeches from Tom Ritchie Union president who's speech stressed the 'transformative' nature of volunteering changing the individual and community for the better. Keith Mander spoke on behalf of the University thanking the volunteers for their continuing efforts over the years and expressing that time is a comodity more valuable the money which is being donated. Thirdly Derek Smith, graduate of the univeristy of Kent and external trustee on Kent Union's Board shared his memories experiences of the people met and experiences shared at University, his message was that 'people are more important than things' and giving an alternative meaning to the student certificate in Volunteering as 'Keep Serving, continue volunteering.'

'Platinum' Awardees 2011, Canterbury   

My own message was of the responsibility that we have as a generation for the continuation of Voluntary work, that not only are we contributing to the community through the work we do but that in doing so we are passing on our personal values, giving something back and the idea that every individual can make a difference. Often Students dont think of themselves as volunteers because the projects that they are working on are of personal interest to them as if the fact that they are passionate about a good cause makes it less valuable. This is of course not the case. Finally, the work that we are doing in the community is combating ageism and the misconceptions that students have a negative net impact on the local community. If you were to ask any of the local causes that students have been working with I think they would confirm that the contrary is true.

If you are interested in getting involved in something new or want to further your volunteering experience you can contact s.l.j.hughes@kent.ac.uk for details of how to get started. It may be the most rewarding thing you ever do and you don't know what it could lead to... this was the case for me.