Student Direct Columns so far...

Posted by Matt

Hope everyone is doing well. My next blog is a copy of the first five of my weekly blogs in Student Direct. Also don't forget today is 'You Decide' at 4pm in Chapman 4. We will be discussing the Student Rep review, your Academic Experience, Environmental issues and higher education funding. Hope to see you there!

01

Events you don’t want to miss

My name is Matt Webber and I am the Students’ Union President for the year. Over the course of the year I hope to be writing about some of the fun stuff going on as well as some of the key issues affecting students in Salford and nationally.
First of all I want to draw your attention to the grass area outside University House. You may have noticed this huge marquee that isn’t normally there. It’s huge! Inside it there will be a variety over the next week of events and stands giving out lots of freebies. One of my favourite events is on Friday, our very own Students Union Activities and Trade Fair. This event is one of the events of the year where you can sign up to over sixty different student activity groups and take your pick of the free stuff in the Trade Fair! It should have a real festival vibe in and around the marquee this week. It’s also a very different fair from when I came to Salford four years ago and the fair was in Sports Hall before its recent renovation!
There are also loads of other areas to get involved in. There are ‘Give it a Go’ activities which while they started last year, are now back as an epic series of events from speed dating to paintballing. More info on those is at our permanent stand in the Marquee.
There are also club and social nights in our bar and club. In Yours Bar on Tuesday is comedy night and every Friday is ‘Fresh’ a pre-warm up night as well as this coming week three big nights in ‘The Pav’ including the not to be missed ‘Flirt’ night every Tuesday. ‘The Pav’ is one of my favourite haunts particularly when I lived on Castle Irwell and I always played pool there with housemates over a few pints at weekends and then was there most Tuesday nights for ‘Flirt’ and a cheeky one (or two) on other nights during the week! Yours Café is also open weekdays offering a non-alcoholic space with Halal food on offer.
There are also many other activities to get involved in, including writing for this paper which is published most weeks of the academic year, get involved in any of our collectives which our single issue or group specific meetings. We currently have seven – Activities, Disabled, Entertainments, Green, International, Postgraduate and Media. There is also the chance to be a Student Rep for your course which adds to any CV, takes up little of your time and allows you to have a key role in how your course is delivered. More info on any of these can be found on the Students’ Union website which is www.salfordstudents.com.
So there’s a lot to do, and in some ways very little time to do it in so my advice, if you choose to take it, get involved in as much as you can!

One way not to finish your time at the University

Recently, the University made a major change to its academic regulations, which has an impact on every student at Salford. From this year onwards, if you fail to attend your last assessment, or fail to submit your final piece of coursework on any module then you will not be allowed to be reassessed on that module. You will effectively fail that particular module at that point with no comeback. Should you find yourself in this position, then your only opportunity to appeal will be through the submission of a Personal Mitigating Circumstances (PMC) claim in the hope that it will be accepted. If it is not accepted, then you will be finished on your course for that year with no resit or resubmission available to you.
I strongly urge other students to check with their lecturers what constitutes the “final assessment” on their module, and ensure that you meet its requirements.
02

How much will a degree cost?

Money. That has been the buzz word of education for quite some time now, certainly in the last four years whilst I’ve been a University student. The conversation has been generally about two conflicting areas; the discussion about raising students financial contribution to their studies whilst many students are generating ever increasing debt. The debate on how to resolve such a burdensome issue on so many current and prospective students is an interesting one. Everyone is stepping in with their own view on such a contentious issue.
Only last week the Confederation of Business Industry stated that students should have to contribute further to their education which the National Union of Students (NUS) retorted was the view of “gross fat cats from the CBI.” Quite right too when you consider that in the NUS report ‘Broke and Broken’ the average student debt (for those outside London) is £25,178 and in London is just over £37,000 by the end of a three year undergraduate course.
Even our new Vice Chancellor Martin Hall has commented on the future of funding saying in a recent Manchester Evening News interview that “there are fairer ways to fund the system - something like a graduate tax which would make education free at the point of use.” NUS have also offered a similar view, suggesting that a graduate tax might be the way forward.
But what’s your Students’ Union doing on this matter? Well we want to encourage debate amongst students at Salford on this issue. At the beginning of November we will be hosting several events as part of a campaign called ‘Town Takeover.’ I should add before anyone becomes unduly concerned that this isn’t a mob of students descending on a town and taking it over, instead we are asking what the future of funding University education is. We are engaging in the campaign to discuss what the options are in partnership with the NUS, University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University Students’ Unions. There will be a ‘wall of debt’ at each University which will allow all students to come together and write how much debt studying at University has put them in before the walls are displayed at the Manchester Town Hall as well as debate and discussion.
With a General Election coming next year it is important this issue does not get sidelined as none of the parties will probably want to engage in a debate about the future of funding in Education until the next General Election is over. Is it unreasonable for the public to know what whomever is in charge is going to do to a huge part of our education over the next five years? I certainly don’t think so. Is it unfair to expect future students (such as our children or siblings) to contribute financially to their degree? Well that’s for you to make your own mind up on. I like the Graduate tax scheme proposal as this would keep education open to everyone. Why should only the rich go to University? Why should anyone undertake £25,000 of debt? Has no one learnt from the amount of debt consumers have got into with credit card companies in previous years that considerable debt is unhelpful to anyone?
The solution used to be (and for some still is) free education, and when that fight was lost then, in most cases by former students, we had the repercussions which was to pay for our education. Let’s not do the same to the next generations where our siblings, our friends and our children may all well wish to go to University and not be able to afford it. At the moment the resolution is a big unknown – but what is important is that we as students studying today have a significant say in answering the question over how much a degree in the future should cost because those affected by it in many cases do not have the same opportunity.

03

Induction and the Marquee

Although by the time this goes to print it may feel like a long time ago I want to write about the induction process in the University. What do I mean by that? Well everything from the first step onto campus as a student at the University of Salford to the Students’ Union Activities and Trade Fair which was the culmination of the events.
I know a great deal of staff from both the University and the Students’ Union put in a lot of effort into the welcome for new and returning students. Between the five sabbatical officers we did over forty induction talks to new students, and I know staff from across the University departments also did plenty of talks too.
Of course not everything always goes perfectly with the current financial climate for students regarding student loans some of the celebrations were tarnished by uncertainty. However credit should be given to all those staff members who seem to be managing the various student loan related issues.
There was however one big disappointment I witnessed during Induction. I’m not going to ‘name and shame’ in this instance as it is not relevant to what I observed. In an induction talk that I attended I witnessed a (presumably new) student ask a question and be greeted by the presenter of the presentation with “look at the website, I don’t want to receive x number of emails (from students) asking me the same question.” It’s a pity that in some instances it seems that the few forget why they are even at the University and that if it wasn’t for students they wouldn’t be employed here in the first place. An eager student who wants to find out more about something related to enhancing their student experience should never be seen as a chore; instead it should be viewed as an opportunity. This sort of attitude can undo all the hard work others have put into all the events for the individuals affected.
That’s not to say that all was lost over the week. I spoke to so many other students who enjoyed themselves and in my (admittedly biased) opinion I thought the marquee was brilliant. It had a great vibe about it, and on the Friday we had at least 5,500 people come through the main doors for Activity and Trade fair with over 60 different groups to join as well as plenty of free pizza! What I like most is the sheer dedication all the other students involved in stands at Activity fair promoting their Students’ Union activity group. We had a rowing machine, a paddling pool and various goodies being handed out as everyone made a strong pitch for why other students should join their group. Hopefully this effort will lead to a membership that each group deserves!

Up to the challenge?

You may have heard about the infamous final in last years University Challenge where Oxford Corpus Christi team were stripped of their winners’ title which was then handed to Manchester University students who had initially been runner ups.
Well this year we are recruiting for a team to represent Salford. The folks from ITV (who host the program at their Manchester studios despite it being transmitting the BBC) have been sending me posters and quiz questions to help us select a team. So if you’re up to the challenge and are a current student for the next year at Salford then please come to Yours Bar for 3pm on the 22 October. If you got any questions before hand then just drop me an email.

04

Answer the question!

This week I have been attending as many of the political fringe events as I can. Now before I go on I want to make clear my comments are not based on any affiliation or dislike for the Tories (in fact it would be wrong of me to share my own political views in this column) nor is my criticism about politics just aimed at the Conservatives. It just happens that the only political party conference close to Salford was the Conservative one in Manchester.
Well what a week it has been! Monday morning I attended the Victoria Derbyshire Radio 5 show which was making a special broadcast from the Urbis museum. Basically it was an opportunity to question members of the shadow cabinet. What I wanted to establish was an answer from the Conservatives -as they may be leading the country in twelve months- as to their view on the future of higher education funding. Now I won’t dwell on why I asked this as I’ve discussed that in a previous column. However when the question was eventually asked they dodged it. They said it would be wrong to comment before the Government review. That’s right, it’s wrong as the potential government in less than twelve months to not share its view on how it will fund higher education. What a load of bull! Labour though is also keeping schtum. What I have been told informally by many people is that the major parties have an agreement not to mention this before the next General Election. You can see why, it’s not a vote winner. You will annoy people either way; either those who don’t want to be taxed more, or those who don’t want to themselves or those they know to get into on average £25,000 of debt let alone substantially more with any future increase in tuition fees. Of course the clever way to get around this with the current batch of students is to say the amount they pay won’t be affected, but we have to think about the future for our siblings and any of our children or friends. Funnily enough one minister was repeatedly asked a question on the Lisbon Treaty referendum in Ireland and kept dodging the question to the point where the presenter said “I’ll try this one more time…” before preceding to ask her question which remained unanswered. Little reason why voting numbers are dwindling.

The Future of Television

Or is at transpired the BBC! One of the fringe events I attended one evening with guests on the panel including Ed Vaisey from the Shadow Minister for Culture and Caroline Thomson the Chief Operating Officer of the BBC who is currently heading up the BBC North work (including Media City) and the key debate seemed to centre around the future of the BBC and what its remit was. In the end I had to throw in my own view which as a scriptwriting student it would probably be quite obvious I confessed my great love for the Beeb. Other topics discussed included product placement (which has just been given the green light on all channels apart from the BBC) and the battle for monopoly between BT and Sky. Who knows what the future will hold!

Reports

Our officer reports will be on the Students’ Union website. Please do have a look through and be ready to ask us any questions the week after. More details are in the news story towards the front of this newspaper. ‘You Decide’ is a chance for you to find out what the sabbatical officers are doing as well as discussing some of the key topics affecting students. It all sounds rather fancy and political, but actually it’s not. It’s just a good way to find out what’s going on in your Students’ Union and find out areas you either want to get involved in or issues you want the sabbatical officers to act on.


05

Welcome Irene and Martin

I was delighted to be part of the instillation ceremony last Monday in Peel Hall. The University of Salford had the honour of welcoming Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International as well as officially installing our new Vice Chancellor Martin Hall at the University. As part of the ceremony I carried the University mace which is held traditionally to protect everyone else in the procession. I guess this makes me a bit of a ceremonial body guard!
I do think we are very lucky to have Irene Khan as our new Chancellor and no doubt with her great expertise and knowledge the University will be influenced to focus some of its efforts on human rights.

7 Grand!

David Willets, according to the NUS, hinted in the Evening Standard he would consider raising the cap on tuition fees to £7000. I’ve made my thoughts on this rather well known so here’s what Wes Streeting, NUS President had to say.
“It is of serious concern that the Conservatives seem so relaxed about entertaining the notion of more than doubling fees when they have not committed to a clear policy for students and their families ahead of the general election.”
Quite!

Thirty five jobs you can’t go into

Every year around October it seems there are ticket inspectors at Salford Crescent train station where some people don’t have tickets and get duly fined and/or prosecuted. Now the obvious thing to do is to just buy a ticket. However if for whatever reason you don’t have a valid ticket on you when checked, be polite and friendly. You’re may then be less likely to be taken to court. If you do get a criminal record from this there are apparently about thirty five different jobs that you are then unable to go into.

Stand out

A new award has been set up to acknowledge student achievement called the ‘Salford Student Life Award.’ It’s a new initiative which helps students gain recognition for extra-curricular activities in a formal way. Basically it shows future employers you did other things at University aside from just your course. Now there are many things you could do to help you get the award including being a student rep or a student ambassador. Even writing for this newspaper counts. If this is your last or only year at Salford you can fastrack the award as long you start in the November cohort. If you don’t fall into this category then the award takes a year. I think it’s a great way to impress an employer and for those already taking an active role in something outside their studies it’s another way to get good recognition for it. More info on 0161 295 0464 or go to www.studentlifeaward.co.uk

Accommodation Deferment

Because of the well documented issues with student loans the University have agreed for all Undergraduate students that they will defer first payment of Accommodation fees by a month. This is for anyone who is in Bramall, Castle Irwell, Constantine, Horlock or Mathias.
CLV are taking a similar tack having emailed all Undergraduate students in their accommodation (Eddie Colman and John Lester) asking if they need to defer. However I do believe that if you want to defer with CLV you need to agree this with them first.