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! 

Update and Union Council Report

Vice-President (Activities)

Priority Campaign: The completion of the University commissioned feasibility study was completed giving us some concept designs to shape how the buildings might look and work. At this stage these are concepts and not architectural designs. We are campaigning for University investment in student facilities not specifically this design. Working closely with volunteers, staff and officers we have jointly lobbied senior university staff and are working to campaign deadlines successfully. My thanks go to everyone who supported the photoshoot outside the library. We aim to have the postcards signed by as many students as possible to deliver to the Vice Chancellor by Christmas. We are also investigating other sources of funding for the building.

National Demo:  I supported and attended the national demo taking 2 coachloads of students from Medway and Canterbury to the march. Although wet, people seemed to have an enjoyable time retuning on schedule with no injuries or incidents.

Refreshers Fayre: I have been working to arrange plans for the Refreshers’ fayre, date being February 7^th being primarily based in the Eliot Dining Hall. I will be working with marketing and the officers to draft a brief for future events to ensure that student groups get the maximum benefit from Welcome and refreshers Fayres given the targets for marketing sales at the events.

Worldfest: I’m currently working with the international development office to develop worldfest ‘bitesize’ which will celebrate annual cultural, international events. I am exploring the scope for student group involvement in this project and if anyone’s’ society has an annual event they celebrate please drop me an email at union-activities@kent.ac.uk The Union’s contribution, to the main Worldfest Event in February (a celebration of international culture) will be the international (talent) showcase. This will be the 6^th event I’ve been involved with being performed in the Gulbenkian theatre with cash prizes awarded to the top performing groups.

International Students: I’m working with staff and international development to implement the ‘Go Global award’ a funding award given to the best student international/cultural project proposed. My endeavours to have a regular international night on campus are ongoing.

Gulbenkian: The second feedback forum was 26^th November where students are able to give opinions on the running of the Gulbenkian and shows and films available. Development in the last year at the complex has been excellent although we still have a long way to go. Student attendance is at a record high this year and there is greater increased student programming.  I’m working with the Gulbenkian to pilot the technical, front of house and marketing work placement project which is the final strand of my Campaign to be completed.  

Societies: Societies have experienced massive growth over the last 18 months putting pressure on existing systems and available staff and volunteer time. Other than the priority campaign this has consumed the largest portion of my time and the activities team are hard put to deal with queries in a timely manner. I firmly believe that a significant investment in staff is needed, for sports and especially societies, a point I shall be making strongly at board level up until my last representational breath in June.  Staff and I have been developing a quality mark framework to help support society development and this has included mine and the Students with disabilities officer’s work on societies’ accessibility and inclusivity of disabled students. The societies and SLVG storage facility is continuing to be delayed whilst waiting for other building developments. I am assured the facility will be complete by Christmas but have not been given a fixed build completion date. The original deadline hoped for was April 2012. The Societies Stand-out Scheme has continued highly successfully this year and has put an estimated £2K in student groups’ accounts and developed approximately 200 students’ employability skills since May 2012. I’m continuing to work with VP (Sports) to develop a workable transport option that works for all our student groups although limited funding and staff changes have caused delays in this. I am working to develop a technology strategy to put our current paper systems online allowing for online viewing, allocating and planning of groups’ accounts. The ongoing implementation of this strategy will massively reduce paperwork, waiting time and free up more stafftime to deal with student queries. Societies are currently breaking all time membership figures for this time of year, so well done to all involved! Approximately £2k of development funding has been allocated to societies since September by societies federation committee.

Volunteering: Student Led Volunteer Groups have experienced growth, totalling about 15 groups with funding being allocated by volunteering committee. Employability and volunteering week is being planned for February with training, lectures and many opportunities to meet volunteer organisations.  Approx 30,000 volunteering hours have been logged so far this year.

Media: CSR was shortlisted for two National Student Radio Awards and although we didn’t win the catagories, a great evening was had by all attendees at the awards ceremony.  Sadly CSRs conference bid was unsuccessful but there is good chance we may win the bid next year as it was University facilities not our own that seemingly let us down. CSR, Inquire and KTV continue to output high quality work and are really building on their foundations this year. CSR continues to seek investment as a matter of priority as the project is expensive to run and may be at risk if an injection of funding is not found.

Zones: I have attended the zones, being impressed by the range of ideas and quality of debate. It has been great to see so many students involved in Union Policy making.

Medway:  I have been spending considerable time at the Medway campus, training and supporting Medway volunteering committee as well as U.M.S.As Societies Council and Committee. Kent Medway students have elected their Volunteering committee chair Harriet, who I am pleased to welcome to Union council today.

Ents Forum: This is ongoing and functional in its second year with useful feedback coming through to licensed trade from a range of different students meeting twice monthly.

Wifi: The Completion of WIFI in Woolf, a campaign priority highlighted by 500 Postgrads in my 2011 Survey ‘PG Tips’ has finally occurred. This has been extended to all colleges by lobbying from the Union president. Congratulations to Tom and Claire Powell (Kent Graduate Student Association chair) for their respective work in the lobbying for this achievement. It wasn’t easy.  

RAG: Engagement numbers are great and I’m very impressed with the team’s work which I know has not been without challenges this year. More detail will be covered in Nick Shields’ report.

Blog: www.buddblogging.blogspot.co.uk                               Twitter: @kbuddinyourface

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 :)

Gearing Up for 2012 and Student Participation

Well it's mid-August and we are only about a month away from the new intake of wide-eyed and fresh-faced student intake of 2012. For me and many other students at Kent, arrivals week is the most exciting time of year with online fora already starting to buzz with an expectant hive of students-to-be firing questions at current students and staff.

Volunteer 'Welcome Helpers 2011' 

In my opinion, welcome week is something that Kent Union do really well, with an incredible amount of forethought going into the planning of the events and entertainment which is organised for new and returning students. One overwhelming piece of evidence that leads me to believe that other returning students enjoy the week as much as I do is the number of students who choose to volunteer every year as welcome week helpers moving students into their new homes and helping them to become socially and emotionally as well as geographically adjusted. For any of you who may be arriving in September or may have missed the welcome week in the past, each college (Rutherford, Eliot, Keynes, Darwin, Woolf and Parkwood) have a team of helpers in brightly coloured t-shirts who not only physically help new students to move in but also arrange much of the college-based entertainment in the first week. Helpers are trained the week before arrivals weekend admirably arriving back in Canterbury a week early in order to do this. This year the training is undergoing a few improvements which should make it more streamlined this year. In addition this year's event will be extra-special as the sabbaticals (Kent students' elected representatives) will be announcing the Priority campaign which will be the primary focus of campaigning efforts this year.... and its a goodun trust me! These volunteers will be the first to know.

Kent Unions' International  event

Some events that should not be missed under any circumstances are the welcome fayres on September 20th and 21st. Here all of our societies and sports teams will be advertising themselves to new members, airing their wares and explaining what it is that they contribute to the diverse range of student-led activities at Kent.

If you are an international student then the international dinner on Tuesday 18th is a lovely event (with free food, drink and entertainment... can you ask for more?) its also a great way to meet other international students. I personally find meeting international students really rewarding which is one of the reasons I will be working closely with the international students' officer as last year. After the dinner the Big International night out is an event revitalized and revamped at the Venue and Attic. I don't want to give too much away at this stage but the event is going to be more regular, more fun and more lavish than ever before, don't miss out all are welcome! You can Find the Venue Facebook page here.

Another annual event that occurs at this time of year is training for our student groups. Having attended this training a fair few times myself as a student and delivered it once it feels pretty dry as it is based around a rather traditional lecture type delivery with the trainer just 'telling you stuff you need to know.' I felt that this was really tired and dated and almost cruel to expect volunteers to sit through 4+ hours of. Therefore, what we're planning this year will be based on a different model. I am writing a societies handbook which will include pages of useful information and answers to frequently asked questions. Hopefully this should empower the leaders of societies to be able to find solutions to their own challenges without having to wait to speak to a member of Union staff or one of the officers. This will also mean that we will not have to go into the basics in details on the training day. Instead, volunteers will only need to attend a shorter 90 minute plenary session, the afternoon session will focus on group sessions where societies can share their best-practice, experience and knowledge lead by an officer or member of staff on sessions such as; developing your group, effective fundraising, community projects and using multimedia effectively.  Both of these projects as well as the priority campaign are the projects I am managing ready for release in a month's time. And it doesn't feel like much time at all.

Kent Union Society Storage facility arrives August 2012

The society storage campaign  that I have been working on over the last year has now taken solid form! One of the main problems caused by not having any storage to speak of is that many volunteers are forced to store equipment in their own homes which is not only inconvenient but risky for a range of reasons. Pictured is a new storage facility under Eliot College walkway, a second facility is to be built in the next couple of months behind the Venue in order to accommodate further groups. Due to ongoing developments to the sports facilities on the Canterbury campus, some sports clubs will also be using this space which is a project that Matt (VP sports) and myself will be managing over the next year.

In addition to these projects there has been good progress with Kent Union's online volunteering and employability systems. The new "E and V toolkit" will be integrated meaning that students will be able to log their hours and see how their employability skills are developing on the same system that will be used by external volunteering providers to log their opportunity for volunteers. Future plans may see further integration with the University's 'my folio' and 'employability points scheme' with the ultimate goal being smooth operation between all of the toolkits provided at Kent for students to register and manage their own skills in preparation for future employment.

At Kent's Canterbury campus we have some incredible opportunities in activities with encouraging growth at Medway. Sadly, I feel that the 'traditional' student experience which is sought by many of Kent's Medway students is still not provided and students wait with bated breath to see whether their will be investment in a flexible social space that students will be able to use for their activities at Medway. The C4 site is a possibility for development, Medway students may have to hold their breath a little longer to see if the institution/s decide to invest in such a project. Greenwich and Christchurch students with their less traditional demographics and lack of on-campus dwellers may be less affected by the absence of a social hub. With Kent students at Medway paying £9k fees next year I wonder how this lack of social space provision will affect application numbers from Kent's 18-21 pool. Envy of the Canterbury facilities is at least steady.

Kent Union put £714,000 back in students' pockets 

Another thing that concerns me is how student participation in extra-curricular activities will be affected. With the exception of sports scholarships  or perhaps music scholarships there is no prior commitment to engage in activities outside of your academic studies and not all students will have access to these programmes. With rising tuition fees and high cost of living generally and in Canterbury especially, more and more students are looking for part-time work which is not necessarily easy to find in itself [Guardian 2010] .Research supports that there will be an increasing number of stay-at-home students studying at their local institution in order to keep costs down [Guardian 2011] This may have fiscal advantages but how does this affect the students' experience by not living in halls on campus or shared accommodation in their second and third years often seen as being large parts of the University experience.

Kent Union and The University believe that being involved in volunteering and activities whether sports, societies, volunteer groups or media is highly beneficial to students helping them to build up skills that employers find valuable and look for in job applications. It is also important not to overlook the de-stressing benefits of sport and hobbies. Never-the-less, with 40 hours spent on students' academic commitments per week as well as part time work, will students be able to make time for this valuable experience? Can students afford to be as involved as they have been in the past with less free time?

I hope so.

Your comments are graciously received.   

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. 

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!