We are Bangor Students’ UnionOur Impact Report (2010-2012) & Strategic Plan (2012-2014)

We’ve been hard at work these past 2 years... ...working on your behalf, to make your life at University better. This impact report, the first of its kind from Bangor Students’ Union, is designed to give you a really clear picture of all the ways that the work we do for you has made a difference. It’s been an incredible couple of years for students, both at this University and across the UK; we’ve all been caught in the middle of an unprecedented time of change.

During this time, we’ve made some real progress on a number of big issues for you, but we haven’t just reacting to change, we’ve been planning for the future. At the back of this Impact Report you’ll find our brand-spanking new Strategic Plan, a plan we’ve developed to make your union better. I’m excited to see it implemented and rather envious of my successors who will get to make it happen!

I couldn’t be prouder to be introducing this hefty Impact Report and Strategic Plan. Big shout out to thank all of the people who made everything in here happen. You know who you are.

Jo Caulfield, SU President 2010-2012

Jo CaulfieldPresident

2010 - 2012

Danielle BuckleyVP Education &

Welfare 2010 - 2012

Danielle GilesVP Sport &

Healthy Living 2010 - 2012

Rich GormanVP Societies &

Community 2010 - 2012

Mair RowlandsUMCB President

2010 - 2012

Matt IsonVP Communication

& Events 2010 - 2011

Sharyn WilliamsVP Welsh Affairs

2010 - 2011

Securing Wednesday afternoons off has been a goal for many sabbatical teams for many years, and in this respect we were no different. In 2010/11 we made freeing up Wednesday afternoons a campaign

priority through a petition (that we got over 3,000 signatures on!) and a highly visible poster campaign involving dozens of students from across Bangor. All this, combined with a serious lobbying effort to University

management brought us the success that we were after, and now 98% of students have Wednesday afternoons free from academic study. By the time Pontio is complete the extra lecture theatres will make this figure 100%. It’s an achievement that we couldn’t be more proud of.

We want Wednesdays

Thanks to our lobbying, from 2012/13 all of our clubs & societies will be free to join.That’s right.

Photo by Eddy Reynolds

When the University decided to charge £9,000 fees we wanted to get you more for your money. Our idea was simple: increase Students’ Union funding so that our clubs and societies don’t need to charge membership fees. That way, our teams and groups can be better funded and students’ fees are going further. We put forward our arguments, the University agreed and from next year all Students’ Union clubs and societies will be free at the point of entry for all our students. We’d call that a result.

Love Bangor, Hate Cuts

In 2010/11 we took over 250 students to London to demonstrate against increased fees and cuts to higher education, it was a great day and our students did this union proud. Sadly, fees went up and university budgets went down and as a result towards the end of the last academic year your Students’ Union was facing a £75,000 cut. We lobbied hard against this to protect funding for our student- led activity, made our case and won. Not only did we protect ourselves from a budget cut, we managed to gain nearly half a million in additional funding through the University’s Fee Plan. Not bad, eh?

Liberation & Zero Tolerance of discrimnation

We’re proud to be a Students’ Union that prioritises issues of liberation and diversity and this year we’ve spent a lot of time on our Zero Tolerance policy

and we’ve made sure that Academi reflects our values. Our Union has also been the host of two

very successful Reclaim the Night marches and we commissioned our first ever community safety survey thanks to our Women’s Society. In addition, this year we were proud to be the first union in Wales to hold a Love Music, Hate Homophobia night thanks to the

hard work of our great activists.

Photo by Gaynor Thomas

Course Reps Getting your voice heardMaking sure your voice is heard at every level has been a massive priority for us over the past two years. When we came into office there were only 35 course reps across the University, in two years we took this number to over 300 and next year we’ll have a staff member appointed specifically to develop the course rep system even further. We believe it can only get bigger and better.

Investment in volunteering

This year we’ve made investment in volunteering an organisational priority, and thanks to our lobbying, from next year the University will be funding an extra 2 staff members for our volunteering department. Alongside this, we’ve secured £100,000 to expand and develop more volunteering opportunities for you, and we’re very excited to see this take shape.

Photo by Phil Colman

Your nightclub arrived. Finally.

We love the environment

Over the past 2 years, we have won 5 national awards for our environmental work. This year,

we were named the 2012 Students’ Union of the Year (non-commercial) at the NUS Green

Impact Awards, an achievement we are very proud of indeed!

Remember when we didn’t have a nightclub? Yeah, it sucked. The University knocked down our building in May 2010 and had no plans to replace

Time or Academi for the next academic year. “Unacceptable” doesn’t even cover it. During the last academic year we spent a lot of time arguing

our case, scrutinising budgets, lobbying for the best we could and finally, in September 2011, Bangor

Academi opened its doors. We think the venue still has a way to go and the team running the place

are generating some fresh ideas for next year, but we were extremely pleased and relieved when the

place finally opened its doors.

Our work in the community

Your library, our lobbying

We’ve pushed the University on this many times and have made some progress that we’re proud to report. One big issue was opening hours over

the summer for postgraduate students who need the vital resource all year round. We campaigned to the University on this and were successful in winning an extension on library hours over the

summer. We’ve also made progress with the University in establishing a minimum standard for

the number of core textbooks that should be in the library, a ratio they are introducing next year.

Over the past 2 years, we’ve done loads of work in the local community. We organised a Medieval Day Out in Beaumaris

(pictured), got really involved with the Conwy Feast Festival and created our very own Bangor Fringe Festival: a celebration of all

things performing arts. All of this, in addition to the great work our volunteers do on a regular basis, and you’ve got

yourself one very community-friendly students’ union. Oh, and we’ve won a national award for our

community work too!

Our work in the community

Bangor Students’ Union’s Strategic Plan 2012 - 2014

It’s not difficult to see that Bangor Students’ Union is in a state of transition as we all wait to move into our new home in Pontio. Between June 2011 and January 2012 we asked you for your opinions of your Students’ Union. We made a note of all of them, even the ones that were difficult to hear and used them to generate a plan for how we could make sure that you have a Students’ Union to be proud of. This is our promise to you.

Jo Caulfield, President 2010-2012

Together, we will work to enrich & advance your student experience. Our Mission Statement

We think too many students told us that they didn’t know what our purpose was, or that they felt that we weren’t “something for them”.

We exist to support all of you, throughout your time at Bangor University. We’re here to make changes on your behalf, to make sure that you’re getting the best services, can access the best opportunities and to ensure that there are no barriers to you achieving

your potential.

Whatever your situation, priorities or interests, we want you to love your time at Bangor.

By June 2015, we will be able to clearly demonstrate to you, our membership, and other stakeholders that we have led the advancement of the student experience at Bangor University.

We will do this by representing you through evidenced-based campaigning and advocacy; by focusing on the enhancement of your academic provision; and by providing you with excellent extra-curricular opportunities.

our vision:

Democracyensuring that your voice drives everything we do.

Accountabilityequality & diversitybilingualismsustainability

ensuring that you feel connected to our work.

ensuring that you have equal access to opportunities and freedom from discrimination.

ensuring the equal treatment of the Welsh and English languages.

ensuring both the continuation of our activities and making a commitment to lessen the impact of our organisation on the environment.

our

valu

es

Working together to create change on local & national issues that affect you.

goal 1

We will make every effort to

seek your opinion

& respond to you.

We will use our knowledge, expertise

& structures to empower you to mould your own

student experience.

We will ensure our representational

activity is researched, relevant

& rooted in your experience.

We will develop engaging,

flexible & vibrant democratic structures.

You told us that you have found it difficult to engage with our structures and understand our decision-making processes. Our challenge is to make these more relevant and accessible to allow you to feel a

greater sense of connectivity to our work.

We will work hard to help you

integrate with the local community, & emphasise the

positive contribution you make locally.

We will internationalise

your student experience,

providing a hub for cultural exchange

& engagement.

We will celebrate local, regional & national culture, heritage & ideals

& promote events & opportunities.

We will identify barriers

that prevent your involvement in our activities &

work hard to remove them.

goal 2

Building a community for all of you.You told us that you want to share cultural experiences, ideas and feel more integrated with all elements

of the student body. You also made it clear that you sometimes feel that you’re not considered when events are planned. We will help you build a student community that you want to be a part of.

Maximising our resources for your benefit.You told us that you felt we hadn’t changed in a long time and that we need to display fresh ideas

and approaches. We will be a stable, evolving, organisation focused on your needs.

We will work with our key partners

to ensure that the impact of our

resources is as wide & sustainable as possible.

We will attain financial

stability & take advantage

of a diversity of funding

streams.

We will invest in the development

of our staff & encourage the acquisition of

new skills.

We will adopt an attitude of constant

improvement & regularly evaluate

achievement against plans.

goal 3

Making it easy for you to pursue interests, develop skills and have fun.

Our clubs, societies and volunteering projects were the part of the Students’ Union that you told us you value the most. Problems in this area are the level of resources and you having the time to spend on

your interests. We want more of you to take part and will seek to remove barriers, and locate resources, to help you get involved.

goal 4

We will support & encourage you to safely lead your

own sports clubs & societies & will seek to increase

participation year on year.

We will support and encourage

you to volunteer, & we will seek

to increase participation year on year.

We will provide interesting &

exciting events that are created specifically for

you.

We will work with relevant partners

to ensure that you are aware of the transferability of your skills.

You were clear that you don’t always know who we are and what we do. Our communication hasn’t been targeted and the benefit of our services and projects aren’t always apparent. We will work to make sure that

our key messages and events are high profile, easy to understand and focused on you.

Communicating with you relevantly & effectively.

goal 5

You were clear that you don’t always know who we are and what we do. Our communication hasn’t been targeted and the benefit of our services and projects aren’t always apparent. We will work to make sure that

our key messages and events are high profile, easy to understand and focused on you.

We will be innovative in our communication & embrace new

methods & technology.

We will ensure that you receive clear, relevant & identifiable information

from us.

We will recognise the diversity of

our membership & be flexible in our methods of

communication.

Providing a welcoming, vibrant, environment for all of you.

goal 6

You were very critical of our current building, location and presence on campus.We will use this strategy to change all that...

Our physical & virtual spaces will be accessible and

useful to you

Our organisational culture will reflect

our core values.

Our influence, values and work

will extend outside of our building.