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!       

   

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! 

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.

Challenges and Opportunities

Well oh well! I cannot believe that we are six weeks into term already.

 From the getgothe student activities office has been insanely busy and I've personally had no control
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 :)

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

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