Creating & Developing A* Academic Societies

Learning objectives

Learning objectives

• Identify data that can be used to make the case for the value of academic societies

• Understand what co-curricular and extra-curricular means and how this may be important

• Identify activities and ideas that can be used to develop academic societies

• Reflect on partnership and consider how this is relevant to their work

What are academic societies & why are they interesting?

What are academic societies?

• Different names in different unions: o ‘Academic societies’o ‘Departmental societies’o ‘Course societies’o ‘Subject societies’o ‘Co-curricular societies’

Why are academic societies interesting?

• Members linked by interest rather than activity = variety of activities (fun, academic, campaign/cause, developmental, social)

• Academic societies accessible to all

• Good place for union to start improving societies- Improve quality, improve number of

societies, increased society membership, cross-union working

Why are academic societies interesting?

• Success in the Student Market: ‘…appetite is increasing for course-related societies’

• Top two reasons for getting involved with course-based societies:

To help with their course or study (29%)To get to know new friends better (17%)

Co-curricular and extra-curricular activities

• ‘Curricular’ from ‘curriculum’ = “the aggregate of courses of study given in a school, college, university, etc.:”

• ‘Co-curricular’ = complementing the curriculum• ‘Extra-curricular’ = outside of the curriculum

What should the main activity of an academic society be?

Vote now!

Co-curricular and extra-curricular activities

Does it matter to your to your SU to define co- and extra-curricular activities?

Vote now!

Co-curricular and extra-curricular activities

Ideas for activities

Cross-union working

• Academic reps system

• Sports - intramural teams

• Volunteering (course-based)

• Promote NSS/SLTAs

Activities for academic societies

• Having too much fun?

• Meaningful activity- high-quality networking- Skills development

Working with your institution

What is Partnership?

Partnership is a way of working that looks to go beyond “student engagement” and to challenge the growing narrative of students as passive consumers.

- Students and academics working together to make their education better – to be jointly responsible and jointly empowered to make changes.

Read “A Manifesto for Partnership” on NUS Connect.

Working with your institution

• Partnership

• Practical ideas:- Institutional staff - associate members?- Institutional staff - invited to society events?- Society attend departmental open days - Structure for academic reps and societies

Next steps

Follow-up

• Questions• Follow-up resources• Contact

rosie.hunnam@nus.org.uk (Lunch & Learn/ Student Opps. queries)bethan.payne@nus.org.uk (Higher Education knowledge)

• Next webinarTuesday 19th November, 12:30-13:30‘Breaking through Bureaucracy’

• Suggestions for future webinars

Thank you for taking part!