Tag Archives: SUBU

Why the Student Opinion Survey matters to you

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student_opinionsThe Student Opinion Survey (SOS) is one of the most important tools used by SUBU and the Student Reps to independently and anonymously collect and summarise feedback from students about their learning experience at BU.

Your views and suggestions are fed back to Programme Coordinators and Framework Leaders by your Reps and further influence decisions made by university management.

BU values the opinion of all students and we want as many students as possible to respond to the SOS. Your feedback is vitally important and the more students who respond, the more meaningful and credible the feedback. Your feedback has already helped instigate many changes and identify good practice to be shared, an example being the continued increase in provision of learning spaces for students across the campuses in response to student demand.

The SOS is now open, so please take a few minutes to complete it online.

BU pioneers pre-paid card to help bursary students manage finances

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Bournemouth University (BU) students who receive bursary payments can now get their money on a pre-paid card, helping them better manage their finances and get cash back on purchases.

BU is the first university in England to introduce the Spree Student Cashback Cards, which allows users to only spend the total value of bursary payment pre-loaded onto the card – helping students avoid slipping into debt or expensive overdrafts.

They can also get up to 2 per cent cash back on purchases at well-known retailers, making their budget stretch even further.

Andrew Wright, Finance Operations Manager at BU, said: “We wanted to introduce a pre-paid card solution as research has shown that students want as much financial support as possible upfront.

“If you pay money to students in a cheque, some of that will be used up in their overdraft and bank charges. This is an opportunity to give them a new account where that doesn’t happen. You can’t get into debt with it.”

The scheme was launched last September, to distribute money allocated from the National Scholarship Programme (NSP), which has also been match-funded by the university.

So far, nearly 800 cards have been issued, with more than £362,000 given to students.

The chip and pin cards will last for the three or four years that a student is registered with the university, with payments made termly.

Students also have access to a web portal where they can check their balance and find out about special offers being held by retailers.

“Students can choose whether they want to have the cards, but the response so far has been very, very favourable,” said Andrew.

“The money is put onto the account within a couple of hours, and they like the fact that it is simple, they can get the cash back, and they don’t have to queue up or wait each term for their payment.”

“This is cutting-edge, innovative stuff, but it is all about the student experience.”

The Student Cashback Cards, provided by P&MM, can be used anywhere that accepts Mastercard, but cannot be used for cash withdrawal, gambling or to pay for content on adult websites.

It is hoped that the cards will also be made available to scholarship students next year, and that payments will be made in nine monthly installments to further help students with budgeting.

The Students’ Union at Bournemouth University (SUBU) was involved in the process of procuring and introducing the cards.

SUBU President Murray Simpson said: “The pre-loaded cards not only mean students can access their bursaries quickly and easily, it also means next year they will be able to access their payments monthly rather than termly.

“With the majority of rent payments happening monthly this will hopefully make life easier for students in managing their budgets.”

Could you lead SUBU into a new era?

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subu_logo_smallThe partnership between SUBU and BU is vital to improving the student experience here at BU. Critical to this are the various SUBU Officers, some full-time, some part-time, who represent YOU. But perhaps YOU could be one of these leaders?

SUBU elections take place soon, so find out below how to nominate yourself or someone else:

  1. Recommend a friend This is a new feature which is a way for any student (or any staff member) to recommend someone for considering standing in the elections. Fill in the form and we will contact them via phone or email with some nice anonymous comments. We will then send them further details about the elections and how to consider nominating themselves.
  2. Youtube videos: We have produced a series of videos about the positions available and more info about the election:
  1. For more information visit the SUBU website or contact: Matt Wall – Representation and Democracy Manager, SUBU

Email mwall@bournemouth.ac.uk
Facebook
Extension:- 67383
Telephone:- 01202 967383

Lock It or Lose It campaign launched

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A new campaign launched by the students’ unions at Bournemouth University (BU) and Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) will encourage students to lock their homes and keep belongings secure.

The Lock It or Lose It campaign is supported by United Taxis and the Universities’ Safer Neighbourhood Team, and was launched by attaching 2,000 dye-cut padlocks on properties around Winton.

 Each padlock contained information on how to keep properties secure. United Taxis contributed to the event by sending out text messages, detailing similar information to students who ordered vehicles.

Murray Simpson, President of the Students’ Union at Bournemouth University (SUBU) said: “Although we have seen a reduction in burglaries over the past year in Bournemouth, we are seeing more burglaries happen during the day and we think that burglars are targeting specific properties at specific times of the day.”

Serving as visual reminders, it is hoped the padlocks will reinforce the campaign’s message that residents need to ensure properties are kept securely locked at all times.

Both SUBU and the Student’s Union at AUB (AUBSU) have also worked hard to promote security information internally.

Ben Musitano, AUBSU Student Union President, added: “We have been trying to promote information around AUB through poster boards as well as much as we can. Hopefully our student body will understand that burglaries in this area are actually quite a big problem.”

The Lock It Or Lose It campaign will also release a video focused around burglary prevention and safety in the local community. Murray Simpson summarized the overall purpose of the campaign as trying to “instill a new culture where people are safe and secure.”

PC Andy Scarratt, of The Universities’ Safer Neighbourhood Team, advised students in particular to work as a team to combat potential break-ins.

“If there are 5 of you in the house, get to know if you are the last one leaving and what time people going to be back”, he said.

“The danger is that students just forget about it.”

He also believes that the work conducted by SUBU and AUBSU to launch new initiatives such as Lock It Or Lose It is key to ensuring students’ possessions are kept safe, adding that it is important “to remind students that this is a time of year when you need to come back from Christmas with your new Christmas presents – and to look after them.”

By Alex Geraghty, Second Year BA (Hons) Media and Communications Student  

BU’s new Student Centre reaches its highest point.

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A topping out ceremony has marked a significant stage in the construction of Bournemouth University’s new state-of-the-art Student Centre.

Construction has now reached the highest point of the six-storey, £10.5 million building’s structure, which be a focal point for students at BU, providing additional space for learning and student support, and a new home to the Students’ Union at BU (SUBU).

The ceremony, which took place at the Talbot Campus, was led by Neal Stephens, the managing director of Willmott Dixon – the constructors of the Student Centre.

Also attending were Councillor Phillip Eades the Mayor of Poole, Rt. Hon. the Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, the University’s Chancellor, Sue Sutherland OBE the chair of the Bournemouth University board, Professor John Vinney, Vice-Chancellor of Bournemouth University, among other partners, dignitaries, staff and students.

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers said at the ceremony: “This building is going to be the centre of students’ extra-curricular activities. These are an essential part of the education in its widest sense that any good university should provide for its students. Education is not just about acquiring knowledge. It involves learning about oneself, developing as a caring person, and integrating responsibly in society. A building such as this provides the ideal environment for the activities and interrelationship that will result in students leaving this university educated in this wider sense.”

Professor John Vinney, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, said: “We are committed to providing world-class facilities for our students and the Student Centre will provide just that.

“It’s vital we continue to attract high-calibre students and staff for years to come in an increasingly competitive market. We want to provide world-class facilities for a world-class performance.

“The Student Centre, and our plans for a new academic building, will go a long way to achieving that and we are very excited about the progress we are making.

“The University contributes £378 million every year to the regional economy through all our activities.

“This will only be maintained and grow whilst students continue to choose to study at Bournemouth and investing in facilities such as this new Student Centre is central to this.”

Neal Stephens, managing director of Willmott Dixon in south West, said: “We’re delighted to have been selected to carry out this project and it’s fantastic to see this outstanding structure reach its highest point.

“Willmott Dixon is already a major contributor to the local economy and we are delighted to be working on the biggest project in the area. We have established a great relationship with Bournemouth University and are fortunate that our client shares our environmental and sustainable approach.

“We are focused on delivering great quality facilities and have worked hard to be as cost effective and sustainable as possible. In particular, we’ve sunk boreholes into the ground to extract heat, which will save a considerable amount of money on heating in the future. In addition we have also diverted 99.7% of waste from landfill”.

The progress of the Student Centre comes as Bournemouth University also prepares to submit a planning application for a new flagship academic building at the heart of its Talbot Campus.

The Student Centre building has achieved a BREEAM excellent classification in its design stage and is due for completion during November 2014.

Its two-year construction is bringing a direct spend of £6 million into the local economy.

Willmott Dixon has also been awarded the contract to build a new performing arts centre and supporting classrooms at Bournemouth & Poole College.

Student-led project to impact mountain communities

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A project to help and support communities living in mountainous regions across the world is to start at Bournemouth University.

The Students’ Union at Bournemouth University (SUBU) is partnering with AleeVee8 for the volunteering project that will see students work alongside the charity to promote its work and support the start of its project in Nepal.

A launch event took place at Bournemouth University, attended by AleeVee8 patron Tobias Ellwood MP, where students were invited to find out more about the charity and its plans for the future.

Chelsey Groves-Cooper, a final year student on the Communications and Media course at BU, brought the project to the university’s attention after completing an internship with AleeVee8. She is now one of two students heading up the project on behalf of SUBU and she is encouraging students to get involved.

Chelsey said, “I think people should get involved with aleeVee8 because it is a great cause, they will be helping others whether indirectly or directly, and ultimately they will have the chance to do some good. Students will get a lot out of this for themselves as people and as professionals, all the transferable skills and attributes gained can be put on their CV’s- making them more employable when leaving university.”

Chelsey continued by talking about what the project has done for her personally, “This experience has been so valuable to me. I have grown in confidence and have more faith in myself as an individual and as a professional. I have realised what my real passions and interests are and have gone through a huge learning curve. Ultimately, I feel this experience is so rewarding because I know that I am helping people in some way, even if it is in the long run. Coming from South Africa originally, I have seen poverty first hand and it’s sickening.”

For more information about the AleeVee8 project you can visit the SUBU website.

Don’t Rent Yet!

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dont-rent-yetEvery year we see student after student spend large sums in estate agent fees, hand over unprotected deposits and sign year-long contracts for houses they can’t afford, only for housemates to withdraw from the tenancy later leaving you to pick up the rent.

All this stress CAN be avoided!

There is no rush to secure a house before the end of term one. There are important things you need to consider and we can help! We’ll be visiting halls of residence and will be happy to answer any questions you might have about entering a private rental contract.

Follow the campaign on Facebook.

Dont rent yet2

BU students charity trek to Machu Picchu

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As part of the RAG challenge BU students Marnie Joyce (Physiotherapy) and Ben Conway (Sport Management) raised a fantastic £4,875 for the Association of International Cancer Research.

Their challenge was a six day trek to Machu Picchu along the Salkantay pass, which is over 100km long and is known as the most challenging route to Machu Picchu. The journey involved entering six different ecosystems and walking across extremely undulating terrain. With the highest peak at 4650m and lowest point at 2300m, which shows the difficulty of the trek. On top of this they also had to deal with catching a nasty jungle bug, deadly spiders in tents and minor altitude sickness!

The twenty BU students involved in the trek had to raise £3000 each for the AICR charity in eight months, as Marnie points out they all did very different activities to raise their target amount:

“For example a few things I did was teaching cheerleading to children, car boot sales, a physiotherapy guest speaker event, band nights, newspaper articles, bucket collections and cake sales.”

Marnie & Ben would like to thank everyone who supported their charity fund raising and helped to make their trip an amazing success:maccu-piccu-trek-2

“Overall the experience challenged us in many ways, but it was also one of the most amazing, rewarding and unforgettable. But we could not have done it without your kind support, so thank you…As a team from Bournemouth University our total was £59,500! It took a lot of hard work and determination throughout the year, but thanks to your support we made it!”

Later on this year they will be visiting a laboratory in London, to meet the cancer research doctors who will be using the money they raised in their research, which will help to advance the diagnosis and treatment for cancer patients.

If you are interested in taking part in the RAG challenge there are three challenges running this year, you can find out more about these by visiting SUBU and asking for the RAG team.

BU has therapy dog to help students in need

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Students who need additional learning support at Bournemouth University are receiving a helping paw from a new canine colleague.

Jack the shih tzu is the first therapy dog to work in a UK university full-time, and has been helping out in BU’s Additional Learning Support (ALS) team.

The team support students with specific learning differences, physical or sensory impairments, mental health issues and medical conditions.

Jack, who is owned by ALS tutor Carolyn Atherton, has joined them as part of a pilot project, in conjunction with Dorset-based voluntary group Caring Canines.

He sits in on sessions that Carolyn has with students, helping them to relax and focus.

“Jack helps refocus students from their issues to the task in hand – enabling them to reach a place where they are ready to start learning,” said Carolyn.

“If someone in the office is upset – be it staff or students – Jack is very empathic and will go to them, providing a distraction from the difficulty they are experiencing.

She added: “He’s been such a good boy with the students and he’s providing a lot of people with smiles.”

Jack currently sits in on around 12 one-to-one sessions a week, and students say they have already noticed the difference he makes.

One student, who did not want to be named, said that Jack’s presence helped him through mental health issues to complete his course and gain full-time employment.

He said: “My problem was because I was having a lot of mood swings, I found it very difficult to study and to learn because sometimes I was very lethargic and sometimes I was hyper, and it was hard to concentrate and focus.

“Jack was very good at calming me down on really bad days. He was very intuitive and very relaxed and an amazing thing to look forward to.”

He added: “I went from completely crashing and not being able to do my studies, to getting a job and being about to graduate. I wouldn’t have been able to get out there and do it without Jack.”

Evidence suggests being in the presence of an animal such as Jack helps people focus better and more able to concentrate on learning.

The ALS team and Caring Canines are hoping to work with academics from the University to conduct further research into the benefits of animal-assisted therapy.

Toni Clarke from Caring Canines said: “It’s lovely to see people who struggle improve because of the dogs. Sometimes it is just about building up their confidence and self-esteem, which the dogs help with because they are non-judgmental.

“It’s also good for the dogs as it keeps them busy and active.”

Jack-FC

The work of Jack and the ALS team was recognised at an event at BU’s Talbot Campus, attended by the Mayors of Bournemouth and Poole and representatives from the students’ union.

SUBU President Murray Simpson said: “Jack the dog is one example of the unique way in which the university supports its students.

“The positive impact animals have on people both physically and psychologically has been proven– especially for students suffering from anxiety – and it’s great to see BU using its research and applying it to the services it has.”

Find out more about the work of the ALS team at BU.

Hire a bike for a year for £25 with new BU scheme

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Students and staff at BU will be able to hire a bike for an academic year for just £25 through a new scheme.

People who sign up to the BU by Bike scheme will also receive lights and a lock for the bike, cycle helmet and bike maintenance vouchers and access to free skills training and workshops.

The BU by Bike Scheme is just one of a number of new initiatives funded by Bournemouth Borough Council’s Getting About programme to encourage more people to travel by bike.

These include new bike storage facilities on campus, with an extra 152 bike spaces at Talbot Campus planned to be in place for early 2014.

Richard Wintrip, travel plan coordinator at BU, said: “It has all been designed to break down the barriers to cycling.

“If people want to cycle but aren’t sure if they want to spend all that money on a bike, this is an affordable way for them  to do that.”

The BU by Bike scheme will support up to 225 loan bikes, and there will also be an additional 10 loan bikes available for weekend use.

Working in partnership with Sport BU and SUBU, Bournemouth Borough Council is also providing support for four students to be trained in cycle maintenance to assist with the project.

Murray Simpson, SUBU President, said: “It’s fantastic to see Bournemouth University continuously encouraging greener ways to travel to University.

“The BU Bike scheme will not only allow students a cheaper and healthier alternative for travelling to University, but it will also help reduce the number of cars and traffic in the local area.”

Ian Kalra, Bournemouth Borough Council’s Transportation Services Manager, added: “The new and improved facilities will make cycling to and from the universities easier and safer for students studying in Bournemouth.”

Find out more and sign up to the BU by Bike scheme

The scheme was launched as part of a series of events taking place at BU for Green Week, which include a Fairtrade Cook Off, Bike Tagging and a Give and Take Day.