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 :)

Meeting the New Team

Not How Kent Union Do it... Honest

Today was an interesting day. Kent Union had organised a development day which was to be attended by the majority of staff with a range of sessions being run by members of the team as well as externals brought in for their expertise. As well as it being an opportunity for members of staff and our two exiting sabbaticals to learn new skills or recap on previous knowledge such as Equality and diversity training and recruitment, it also gave individuals the chance to mix with staff from departments they don't have regular interaction relaxing through Tai Chi, playing a round of tennis or learning a new skill such as sign language.

However, these were not the only team building sessions organised today with the three returning sabbatical officers (President, VP Welfare and myself) joining the two future members of our team (Alex Murray for VP Education and Matthew Harris VP Sports) at Kent's Medway Campus at Chatham docks. Not only was this a  chance to see some interesting presentations about the history of Kent Union from its formation in the 1960s to the present day as well as a range of presentations on governance and representation and democracy but importantly to learn about the history of the Universities at Medway student association (UMSA) and take a tour around the historic campus which was originally a naval base.

Medway isn't a small campus but there is painfully
little space set aside for student activities. Lobbying
for the 'c4' building to be refurbished as a flexible space
is a manifesto pledge of mine.

As well as discussing future training plans for the summer after our two newest members will have (almost) completed their studies, we did some basic team-building discussing our past hopes and fears as well as current and future ones. It was insightful as well as supportive to know that we shared many of the same concerns and aspirations and I look forward to working with the new team with members who will be stamping their own brand on the sabbatical roles.

Kent's Sabbatical team 2011-12... not quite mes amis!

Following the election results in February there was much discussion on campus, among volunteers and staff as well as on CSR and in inquire surrounding the fact that we will be an all white, male sabbatical team. When asked if I thought this was an issue (on the grounds of representing our diverse membership) my answer was "that it is always going to be an issue but it will only become a problem if we let it." Whilst our make-up is perhaps not ideal I was confident that through working closely with the part-time volunteer officers we could represent all of our students fairly and effectively. With our first Medway student elected to the board of trustees I hope we will also be able to better represent the Medway student voice. The more time I spend with the new team the more confident I grow that this will be another strong year for Kent students. Whilst we will always have big shoes to fill, that we have a chance to wiggle our toes for a year with the hope of stretching our metaphorical union footwear before passing them on to the next generation of Kent Students.

Interesting Facts:

Medway has some facilities to be envied but the student
experience needs real development to justify £9,000 fees

* Medway's drillhall library is Rumoured to be the longest library in Europe!
* There are approximately 20,000 students across Kent's campuses
* Just over 10 years ago Kent Union had 6 sabbatical roles which included (President, treasurer, women's officer, sports, Education and Welfare and union communications
*Inquire (previously KRED, previously INCANT) is as old as the University of Kent itself
*3 of the first 500 graduates of the University of Kent are still involved in Kent Union through volunteering on Kent Union's board of trustees or CYSM's board of directors (who support CSRFM)

Exciting Developmental Developments for Kent Union Volunteers

Exciting Developmental Developments for Kent Union Volunteers

I feel that one of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of the work I do and also the most important is the development of our volunteers. Students at the University of Kent this year have already contributed over 70,000 hours through the K.S.C.V awards scheme which is a volunteering certificate awarded by Kent Union and the University of Kent, at its most advanced level this takes the form of a 15 credit module which can become part of your degree or can be taken for extra credit. The award covers a wide range of volunteering skills and types which like all volunteering has the power to develop the individual but also has the benefit of developing an academic understanding of the place that volunteering holds in society.

We all love Bursting Bubbles....

An interesting study was held dispelling some of the misconceptions about young people and volunteering called 'Bursting the Bubble.' I found it very useful and there are some real surprises such as the disparity between the assumptions that employers make about young people's reasons for volunteering and the reasons that young people gave. If you would like to read it you can check it out here http://tinyurl.com/6jgq4or. I highly recommend it.


The 'platinum award' has been offered at the University of Kent for some years, although it has recently been shortened from an 18 month course to a 12 month course making it more accessible for volunteers who start mid-way through their University experience. However, there are several exciting new developments that Kent Union has made for volunteers for the year 2012-2013 including the introduction of the new certificate in volunteer management. This new course will be made available to approximately 100 key volunteers representing students at Kent's Canterbury and Medway campuses with a curriculum including:

4 modules (1 compulsory plus 3 optional):

1.      Promote volunteering to potential and actual volunteers (compulsory) - ASSIGNMENT

2.      Provide leadership and direction for own area of responsibility  (optional) (include content around project management in the training)

3.      Build support and manage a team  (optional) (include content around conflict management in the training)

4.      Manage the motivation of volunteers (optional) - ASSIGNMENT

In order to achieve qualification:

·         Attend at least 2 mentoring meetings

·         Attend all 4 of the training days

·         Complete 2 assignments

·         Wednesday 13 - Friday 15 June, inclusive (modules 1-3)

·         EITHER Friday 5 or Saturday 13 October (module 4)    

Kent Union is A registered
investor in Volunteers

This is an exciting opportunity with a cash value of hundred of pounds, for volunteers working with teams of volunteers and as a professional level qualification is going to be invaluable on the CV for anyone who completes the programme.


Two of the groups that will be but through this training are the Volunteer committees at Canterbury and Medway who champion community and campus volunteering, monitor, develop and champion the KSCV volunteering certificate and help to distribute funding to any volunteering group that exist.  Societies Federation Committee who hold a similar role for societies at the Canterbury Campus also being responsible for working on issues such as facilities and policy surrounding societies will also be able to benefit from this training.


Nominations for these positions are open now! If you would like more information about any of the roles please contact:


Medway Volunteering Committee (Kent University Students only) David d.coldwell@kent.ac.uk 
Canterbury Volunteering Committee Steph s.l.j.hughes@kent.ac.uk
Canterbury Societies Federation Committee Union-activities@kent.ac.uk

Many other roles exist in Representation and Democracy and there are still some vacant positions so drop Mel Sharman an e-mail if you are interested. As I will also be going on this training programme I am looking forward to meeting the new volunteer leaders (and managers) of Kent Union!