Students’ Union – Education and Welfare

Continuing the Students’ Union feature, I wanted to find out a bit about what is being done to make sure you, the student, is looked after by your SU. In today’s interview, I find out about advice, politics, society, and what it’s like when you have a million-and-one things to do to at the same time. Speaking to me is Samuel Kasumu, Vice-President for Education and Welfare at Brunel University:

– You sound like a very busy man. VP for Education and Welfare, loads going on with the Afro-Caribbean Society (ACS)…you even said the first thing you’d do if elected to VP was have a big party. How do you cope with so many things going on?

“To be honest with you a lot of the times I am like a headless chicken. My memory is also not the best in the world, but one thing I do have is a big imagination. I believe nothing is impossible and that’s how a random guy like me can get so much done.”

– How do students go about promoting a good work/life balance? Do you have any tips from personal experience?

“Personally I am yet to fully strike the balance. Its still work in progress, however I think that organisation is the key. One thing I make sure I do now, is take weekends completely off in order to keep me sane. It is very easy to forget that you’re not a robot if you’re doing something that you enjoy and have passion for.”

– Your election video states that you’re looking for equal representation for all students, especially as things were sometimes getting a bit too cliquey. Is this a general product of university life in the UK that you feel needs addressing, or a bi-product of something more specific?

“I believe that cliques are a deeper issue that plagues our society. If you look at modern day politics it is no coincidence that a lot of the MP’s are from the Oxbridge ‘clique’. In universities it is the same thing, and the underlining reason for both is that politics to many people feels like something unattainable, and at times not too relevant. As a collective there is a need to show everyone that they can count. I won the election without ever really engaging with the student union before hand, and against some tough competition. It just goes to show that you can make a difference if you try hard enough.”

– Both Education and Welfare are wide ranging and hugely important topics. What will you deal with most on a day-to-day basis? How will you go about communicating things to so many students?

“As a student first, it is my intention to show students just how much politics effects who they are and how they function. I intend on developing a range of campaigns, from enterprise campaigns to sexual health awareness. The most important thing for me is that when I leave the work does not stop. Education and Welfare are important issues, and I guess no matter how much I end up doing, I would probably feel that I could have done more. As long as someone somewhere is helped or inspired, I’ll be happy.” [Martin’s Note: Samuel’s last sentence reflects exactly how I feel about this blog too. Passion is a great thing!]

– If a student is scared at first to seek advice or counselling, what processes are or will be in place to get help through to them?

“Here at Brunel we have the Advice and Representation Centre, which is independent from the university. This ensures unbiased advice is delivered. My office is also available for those who just want to pop in, as I was elected to serve. Hopefully I will have sufficient training to deal with the diverse issues that arise.”

– What gave you the passion to focus on Brunel’s Students’ Union? How intense was it to be part of an election campaign, especially one where you received 1000 votes?

“After running Brunel’s ACS, it was clear to me that the union offered a natural progression for me. I was also really upset about my treatment as a volunteer, and generally I get involved with things that have managed to tick me off. In my eyes to say that the student union was a clique, was very much an understatement. I may not have had the most knowledge in relation to the role, but I was confident that I had the character to handle any pressure. I hate to admit it, but the election was my political side at its best. I knew that even if I never ran in an election that my circle of influence had become so big on campus that I could sway any election. I ran with no fear, and thought that if I never won then something better would be waiting for me. My opponents were very strong and included the then Equality & Diversity officer. The election was a big challenge, but I thank God for the opportunity that he has given.”

For more information on Brunel’s SU, check out their newly updated site at http://brunelstudents.com/

Samuel Kasumu also runs Elevation Networks (Raising Expectations In Unity). For more info, check out the site and its MySpace page.

Microsoft Office Ultimate direct from Microsoft for £12.95 – no joke!

Here’s some great news of an offer from Microsoft that was launched just an hour or so ago.  If you’re a student (and you’re likely to be if you’re reading this, of course), you can purchase Microsoft Office Ultimate (the package with ALL applications) for the crazy price of £12.95.  This is for a 1-year licence.  And it’s still dirt cheap if you want to buy it for keeps.  A full licence costs £38.95.  Either way, it’s an amazing offer.  It’ll make non-students everywhere jealous.

The site is called The Ultimate Steal and I thought it was worth mentioning it, especially as it’s right as the new academic year is starting.

Enjoy The Ultimate Steal!

True EduLinks – What do students REALLY want?

Do Not Enter

Okay, so you’ve got the main EduLinks in the previous post. But now, it’s time to ponder what the deal is with student websites and communication. Why are there very few student specific sites and why are those very few often left to go stale? Why do they not seem to work as well as they surely could? Why does there appear to be an over use of primary colours on some sites and a tendency to try ‘talking the talk’ in an embarrassing way?

The reason why those websites can’t talk to all students is because they are trying to talk to all students. But university is a mini-universe in itself. You couldn’t possibly talk to each and every person effectively using one style. You might get lucky and pull in a high number of punters, but it is as simple as that. It’s luck. Look at Gordon Brown, for instance. He’s the Prime Minister and it’s not like he is able to speak personally to each and every citizen of the UK.

But when I see the provisions for students and I then consider just how important you are, it always looks like the student populace is being ignored more than it should and not enough is being done to engage everyone on an acceptable level. In one of my interviews for the Students’ Union feature, I was told that communication is the holy grail and the magic secret that everyone wishes they could command. Then I found the same thing being said in another interview. And I’ve always personally felt a lack of successful communication aimed at students. There wasn’t enough soul before I went to uni, there wasn’t enough soul while I studied, and there still isn’t enough soul now. So what’s going on?

I mean, is it simply a lack of funds? Is it something boring like money that we can’t get past? Or is there a tendency to give up, because there isn’t enough profit involved in talking to the student body as a whole? The marketing seems to work very well on a specific level, but as soon as you start generalising, things begin to crumble. And this is a shame, because I think there needs to be a more general knowledge of where students can go for help, how they can make a difference, and what they can do for their personal gain. There are some things that can be sorted via Student Services, or speaking to your Personal Tutor, but it doesn’t stop there. Another, more general link needs to be achieved; one which can reach out to everybody in one way or another. And a link that works in a two-way process.

Yes, there are some things close to almost any university student’s heart, but each and every one is an individual trying to make the most out of all the new discoveries and to have a good time while they’re at it. Those experiences are all going to be different.

So what can be done? Is there an easy answer that hasn’t been stumbled upon yet? If Facebook can change the face of communication amongst students, there’s hope. And to show just how the generalisations can filter through ALL of society, look how many millions obsessively flock to Facebook now that it’s open for the whole world to mess about with.

I read an eye-opening article in The Guardian. The author, Ruth Sparkes, has this to say:

“A [college or university] marketing department’s array of activities includes websites, glossies, adverts, PR, events, school liaison and more. These activities generally have just one end: to generate more inquiries. Not enrolments. Not applications. Just inquiries.

“In fact, many marketing departments are so successful at generating inquiries that few colleges are able to handle the volume of calls and visits generated… …Marketing and PR cannot operate in a vacuum; several factors are required to ensure a high level of publicity and good relationships with all stakeholders – including potential students.”

Although the article isn’t focused on what I’m ranting about here, it makes a similar point. The building blocks need to be rearranged so that more can be done.

The only student-specific site that seems to work really well is The Student Room.  If you’ve not been there before, please do.  I think it works so well because the Forums and Wiki are written and frequented by students.  Naturally!

I have started this blog with the aim to talk about all sorts of different things. There is no specific agenda, but neither am I looking to confuse the site into being too many things all at the same time. As a blog, I can post about one topic today, and look at something entirely different the next day. It might not always be of use or interest to everyone, but with a little bit of patience, I hope it will be worth remembering as a useful stopping point that can be expanded on (and searched). And if you have any specific comments, please feel free to let me know in any of the comments boxes (including the About Me page).
Being such a young blog, I have not looked to promote and advertise it all over the place. I intended to get some articles up before making any push about it. But I keep my fingers crossed that I’m doing something right. When I posted the first of my interviews yesterday, I briefly mentioned the post on one single Facebook group that was relevant to University of Nottingham Freshers. To my complete surprise, I had well over a hundred different people visit the site from that one link. And they happily clicked away on various EduLinks I provided, as well as the specific link to the Nottingham Students’ Union. In fact, the SU was the second most popular link to be clicked on by visitors. So I sincerely hope the post was of genuine use to you.

You want to know the most popular link that’s being clicked on? It was the Telegraph article ‘A Student’s Guide to the First Year’. Makes sense really. See, it’s good to generalise!

EduLinks – Random Links of Note

HERO, the online gateway to Higher Education, is currently running a monthly feature that focuses on the society scene in different Students’ Unions across the UK. Even if you don’t go to the universities listed so far, it might give you an idea of the types of weird and wonderful societies you might want to start up yourself, if there isn’t already one at your uni…

UNI OF EDINBURGH / UNI OF SOUTHAMPTON / LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS / UNI OF CAMBRIDGE / LANCASTER UNI

Guardian Education – What are the class of ’97 up to? [Revisiting people who studied Teacher Training a decade ago to see if they are actually still teaching. On a personal note, several teaching friends of mine from the last 4 or 5 years have either moved on to different careers (such as working on youth projects, counselling, and so on), or are currently considering a change. It’s a mixed bag of thoughts from where I sit, although I have no direct teacher training experience myself. Hearing about it is very different from experiencing it.]

Guardian – Can this really save the planet? [The Guardian are asking a lot of questions today. The article discusses all the little things we’re encouraged to do for the environment, such as reusing bags, turning your gadgets off instead of switching to standby, only filling the kettle up to the level of water you need. But however good this is in a small way – and we shouldn’t stop doing these things – we shouldn’t kid ourselves that it’s making that much of a difference in isolation.]

So, you really want to be a university lecturer? [Get an understanding of what it’s like on the other side of academia, as a lecturer]

TheSite.org [A student website, not just for uni students, but with a fair amount of info regardless.]

Students’ Union Websites [If you don’t know your SU website, it’s probably on this list.  Also, check out other SUs so you can get more good ideas for your own.  NOTE: Although it’s quite a good resource, it’s missing some SU sites and I think has one or two wrong addresses.  In the main, it’s a good starting point.]