As students we want you to tell us when you think there is something wrong with your course, your student experience and anything related to your time at Staffs. We’re here to serve you and we take your views seriously. Once you tell us your problem, your Officer team can go above and beyond to try and resolve your issues for you. Below are some examples of how your Union has changed Staffs for the better.
Access to course-specific software has always been a problem here at Staffs, but since September 2016 we've successfully rallied the university board to get more software available on more PCs across campus. .
The BUCS transgender policy has made participation in sport difficult for trans students. Your Officers has challenged this on a national level and BUCS are now in the process of finalising the policy and working with governing bodies to have more accessible rules.
The ‘Ask for help’ campaign set out to show you how you can improve your coursework by asking for help from the right people. We reached 1818 students, gave out 250 badges and 150 energy drinks. So now more of you are able to ask for help with your coursework.
‘Be Safe Week’ was about your personal security at Staffs. We looked at everything from pathways home to safety on nights out. Overall, we reached out to 976 students online and 493 in person. Also, because our Be Safe Campaign is top notch, we have received an award from the Suzy Lamplugh Trust for campus safety.
‘Aup Duck’ was a campaign to eliminate the stigma around mental health and wellbeing issues. We proved that 80% of Staffs students would want their friends to tell them if they were experiencing mental health problems and 87% of Staffs students think it should be okay to talk about emotions with their course mates.
This year we empowered students through the development of the High Five referendum. This gave students the opportunity to vote on what you think the union should focus on as priority issues over the next academic year.
Funfair and Chill was a mental health campaign developed from the results of the High Five. Not only did we want to help students manage their mental health during their exams, but we also wanted to improve our mental wellbeing facilities for the long term. Overall, we handed out 1500 pieces of fruit to help you in your exams, 422 students completed our survey and 512 students came to the Funfair.
In May, the University gave us graduation tickets to hand out to students who have financial difficulties or those who have applied for a hardship fund. With this, 26 more people and their families can now attend graduation who were previously unable to.
We lobbied the University to manage Team Staffs clubs from September 2016. This means all Team Staffs sporting events and BUCS participation will be run by the University with better coaching and development for the players. This also means cheaper memberships for club and society members.
And finally, back in June, we received an NUS Green Impact Gold Award for our active environmental campaigns and the recruitment of our entirely student-led sustainability board.