AUSA Annual Review 2010-11

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2010-11

Contents >>Introduction

AUSA Sabbatical Officers & Executive Committee 2010-11

Our Vision & Core Values

Representing You

Involving You

Entertaining You

You Said, We Did

Supporting You

Connecting with You

Providing For You

Rewarding You

Listening to You

Looking Forward

Financial Statements

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2010/11 will forever be remembered as the year that the Westminster Government trebled tuition fees under such acrimonious circumstances and as the year thousands of students and their supporters came together up and down the country to campaign against them. AUSA played its part as part of the National Union of Students (NUS) in that campaign, ultimately leading to all but one of the elected MSPs in North-east Scotland signing a commitment, which has meant that the Scottish Government has not introduced fees for Scottish students – a crucial victory to protect AUSA’s current and future members. We have already begun, however, to feel the impact of Westminster’s decision in Aberdeen, with quadrupled fees for students from elsewhere in the UK, and higher fees for Scots to study in England.

AUSA managed to galvanise the support of its students and managed to send huge delegations down to both London and Edinburgh to march against the introduction of fees. We sent hundreds of letters to local Liberal Democrat MP’s who had pledged to vote against fee

rises and who later went back on their word. We made this a real issue in the north-east and got many column inches of local media coverage.

Meanwhile, we successfully opened the doors to our fully functioning building, Butchart Centre. Alfie’s cafe quickly found a following amongst students and the rest of the services and activities quickly settled down to continue to develop ‘a home for students on campus’. The official opening of the building in March 2011 was a great affair with many VIP’s in attendance to witness an array of activities which emphasised the fantastic role the Students’ Association plays in campus life.

After securing over £100k in external funding the previous year,

the AUSA Climate Change project was started

and with the help of 3 staff and a vast number of voluteers was a massive success in educating

students to reduce their carbon

footprint. Overall the measurable carbon reduction was a huge 251.8 tonnes and with all the excellent

work that was undertaken AUSA managed to gain a Silver

level Green Impact award, a national award for environmental excellence in a students’ association.

AUSA’s 5 year strategic plan was finally agreed

which allows us to work towards a shared vision

of the future, as a strong membership organisation that succeeds in improving the lives and student experiences

of students at the University of Aberdeen. This plan will be introduced via yearly action plans over the next 5 years to ensure AUSA continues to develop and more importantly, continues to develop in line with what our students, our members, want and need.

Other significant points over the past year have been appointing a new General Manager, our Charities Campaign disbursing £95k to local charities, continuing to achieve Investors in People (IiP) recognition, developing in collaboration with the university a more structured support and development structure for the Class reps, continued sporting success, commonwealth gold medals and the continuation of a high turnout for our executive committee elections.

It has been a pleasure and an honour to have had the opportunity to lead AUSA for the past two years and I for one am proud of all that we have achieved together over that time and I will watch with interest all that Tessa’s team and those that follow achieve on behalf of AUSA and its 15,000 members.

Robin ParkerStudent President 2010/11

Introduction

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Executive Committee 2010-11

AUSA SABBATICALS 10/11: (L-R): MEGAN MCHANEY, DREW LEITCH, JENNY BATTY, ROBIN PARKER, CIARA RYAN, ANDREW RYAN

Robin ParkerJenny BattyAndrew RyanMegan McHaneyCiara RyanDrew LeitchJohan KangasniemiJosefine BjorkqvistSean McNallyDavid RoachKirstie McDonaldChristina NyagaHenriette Mohr

PresidentPresident for Welfare & Equal Opportunities

President for Societies & Student ActivitiesPresident for Education & Employability

President for CharitiesPresident for Sport

Sports Union TreasurerVP Equal Opportunities

VP SocietiesForesterhill Convenor

VP CharitiesVP Education

Environment & Ethics Officer

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To be democratic.

To embed equality and diversity in all procedures,

practices and activities of AUSA.

To ensure sustainability is embedded into all AUSA activities and practices.

To be student led.

Our Vision: Our Core Values

To be environmentally conscious.

To provide value for money.

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ONE OF AUSA’S MAIN FUNCTIONS IS TO REPRESENT YOU – OUR MEMBERS – IN ALL ASPECTS OF YOUR STUDENT LIFE. WE AIM TO STICK UP FOR YOU, TO BE YOUR VOICE, AND TO HELP MAKE YOUR OPINIONS HEARD. THIS IS HOW WE’VE DONE THIS YEAR

2010/11 was a good year for AUSA in representing your views and needs across a variety of issues.

AUSA were involved in a number of campaigns and demonstrations not least the National Demo against Tuition Fees in London and the Reclaim your Voice demo in Edinburgh.

AUSA took their full delegate contingent to both the NUS UK conference in Newcastle/Gateshead and the NUS Scotland Conference in Irvine. AUSA managed to get delegates elected to both national and Scottish committees of NUS including Scottish Executive

Committee, Women’s Committee UK and Black Students Committee. We were extremely proud to see some our students even going on to become national officers – Robin Parker, NUS Scotland President and Jay Wakefield, NUS Scotland Disabled Students’ Officer.

AUSA successfully campaigned to get better feedback for our students from their lecturers in January and also managed to get the bus route from Hillhead through to Foresterhill reinstated after lobbying and petitioning First Bus.

Representing YOU

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The Annual General Meeting passed AUSA’s Equality and Diversity policy and a Changing Faces motion to lobby the University for Face Equality.

Overall AUSA also consulted on new sabbatical roles as part of the ongoing Governance review, organised the women’s forum and disabled students’ forum to establish more feedback and voice for these liberation groups at the University of Aberdeen. We also continued to develop further the relationship with the late Rector, Stephen Robertson MBE, towards mutually agreed goals to make the experience of students studying at the University of Aberdeen all the better.

Finally AUSA managed to set up regular meetings with MPs and MSPs lobbying on

education funding and other issues, ensuring that the student voice was heard at the highest level in the city.

www.reclaimyourvoice.co.uk

NO TUITION FEESPROTECTGRADUATE NUMBERSAND COLLEGE PLACESIMPROVESTUDENT SUPPORT

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involving youThe AGM was again held in the Arts Lecture Theatre to allow as many of you as possible to attend and was promoted as an opportunity for all students to have their say and cast a vote as to how you want your students’ association to operate. This year saw some un-involved students bringing a motion to the AGM which passed showing to the student body how easy and worthwhile it is to get involved in the policy process.

The “Give it a Go” initiative launched last year was extended and enhanced operating during both Freshers’ and Re-Freshers’ Week offering members a chance to “Give it a go” with tailored “taster” sessions before deciding whether or not to join a society. In all more than 50 societies held in excess of 80 “Give it a go” type events, almost twice as many as the previous year.

The student led teaching awards were held for the first time in conjunction with graduations. These awards saw around 100 nominations for six categories and were so successful that these are due to become a more permanent fixture on the AUSA calendar.

The AUSA Volunteering service has continued to grow this year. The number of opportunities available to students is over 170. These include fundraising, conservation, befriending, sports related to name a few. In the last

year, as well as many students continuing to volunteer from the previous year, nearly 400 new students have signed up sending through over 2000 requests for more information.

Many more students this year have also signed up for the various awards you can receive in recognition of the volunteering hours you do.

Since AUSA is YOUR Students’ Association its main focus is to involve as many of YOU – our members – in the student experience and to help shape YOUR future and its successes.

YOUR involvement in non-academic and community work adds value to your CV.

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In fact some students in the last year have volunteered over 1000 hours each!

During the year the Charities Campaign ran a host of

fundraising events and other initiatives, both large and small, including Gala Saturday, Schools Collections and fancy-dressed charity pub crawls. Together our members involved in the campaign disbursed over £91,000 to local charities and £4,000 to national campaigns – a record

breaking year for the Charities Campaign. In response to feedback the charities campaign this year disbursed more money to national charities suggested

by societies and other members. In June, AUSA saw the end of the funding from the climate challenge project, however money was secured from the University to continue the project co-ordinator post for a further three years.

The Climate Change Project has

introduced a range of initiatives and projects including widely publicising the “Liftshare” programme encouraging both our members and staff to

consider car-sharing for both long and short journeys.

AUSA’s members continued to be active on a sporting front with 55 Sports Clubs almost all of whom participate in British University and College Sports (BUCS) leagues and competitions. Currently 55 teams

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are entered into the BUCS leagues with more than 100 others participating in a variety of other local and national leagues and competitions.

In 2011, AUSA was 27th out of all the British Universities who participate in the BUCS championships.

Entertaining YOUA range of events were held throughout the year, often under the auspices of the Charities Campaign including Gala Saturday, Student Show as well as ceildhs, fayres and alike allowing members to be entertained and raise money for good causes at the same time.

Freshers’ Week was once again a great success with the now famous AUSA Marquee providing the focus point for much of the daytime activities, including the Societies and Sports Fayres.

Refreshers’ Week returned for a third year in January and offered Societies and Sports Clubs another major opportunity to gain members with fayres and “Give it a go” taster events. Once again the week was filled with a range of events to “Refresh” the student experience of the second semester. It also acts as a key introduction to AUSA’s services for the second half-session exchange and some new

postgraduate students.

AUSA celebrated its 11th Anniversary with the Students’ Association Dinner, with many of AUSA’s past sabbatical officers and staff making a return. Guests enjoyed a sumptuous 3 course meal at the Copthorne Hotel and a ceilidh by Gillie Dhu. AUSA also presented awards to the outstanding volunteers from the past year.

AUSA Sport continued their usual run of successful cross-campus events with Superteams again attracting more than 500 participants from across the university to an action packed day of team sporting events; AUSA’s sports teams did battle once more with their rivals from across the city in the annual Granite City Challenge – believed to be the largest one day intra-university competition in Britain – which saw AUSA’s teams victorious.

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Our partnership with Hilton continued for the always lively, always entertaining Sports Ball.

Several of AUSA’s Creative Arts Societies performed fantastic pieces of theatre thanks to the facilities of the Aberdeen Arts Centre with Treading The Boards (TTB) and Gilbert and Sullivan Societies performing ’Disco Inferno’ and ‘The Mikado’ respectively.

The 3rd Societies Ball and Annual Awards were held in March at the Copthorne Hotel with a record number of

societies and guests of the Association in attendance. After a lovely meal came an enjoyable ceilidh (yes, AUSA likes its ceilidhs!) and for many an after party at Liquid Nightclub into the wee small hours.

This year’s Student Show raised an amazing £91,000 by performing ‘Sleepless in Seaton,’ playing to an audience of over 5,000 in His Majesty’s Theatre over 6 days.

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WE DON’T JUST LISTEN TO YOU WHEN YOU GIVE US FEEDBACK – WE ARE COMMITTED TO ACTING UPON THIS FEEDBACK AND BRINGING ABOUT ACTION AND CHANGE WHERE REQUIRED – FOR AND ON BEHALF OF YOU. HERE ARE EXAMPLES OF WHAT’S BEEN SAID BY YOU AND WHAT WE’VE DONE IN RESPONSE...

You wanted longer opening hours in the library.

We secured longer opening hours for both exam diets this year.

You said you wanted more money in your pockets while studying. We campaigned with NUS

Scotland to “Reclaim Your Voice” in the Scottish

elections 2011, securing more student support on the government’s agenda.

You

said the

Westminster

government shouldn’t

treble tuition fees

We delivered hundreds of

letters to local Lib Dem MPs who

had pledged to vote against

any increase in fees before

the election and took more

than 100 students from

Aberdeen to London to

march against fee

increases.

You

said that

our current Equal

Opportunities Policy

was difficult to understand

and implement.

We changed the policy at the

AGM, creating training for

clubs and societies on how to

get more students involved

and providing clearer

guidance

on publicity.

You said AUSA should do more for the environment

We planted more than 500 trees at Hillhead and around campus.

“Help get more Funding for Societies”We were able to get a 15% increase over last year in societies disbursement at the end of June and

we also were awarded £10,000 from the Alumni Future Fund.

“Making

Society

Committees more

fun – less bureaucracy”

This year AUSA has tried to

cut down on the amount of

bureaucracy societies face,

we have drastically reduced

the bureaucracy for

treasurers and reduced

it for other committee

members as well.

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You said you wanted more money in your pockets while studying. We campaigned with NUS

Scotland to “Reclaim Your Voice” in the Scottish

elections 2011, securing more student support on the government’s agenda.

“Students shouldn’t have to pay tuition fees to come to University”We got all but one of the

north-east MSPs who get elected signed up to a pledge to not introduce tuition fees for Scots.You wanted feedback on your exams. We got the university to give more comprehensive feedback on exams and assessments.

You said drinking water should be more widely available on campus

We started discussions with the University to get

more water fountains installed on campusThat

the

appeals and

complaints

process was

confusing and took a

long time to complete.

We worked together

with the University to

change the procedures

ensuring it is a

clearer process

for the students

involved.

You wanted more support for class reps.

We secured a new staff member to give better

training and support to class reps throughout the year; including a newsletter and class rep forums.

You said you wanted more information on improving your employability.

We created friendlier pages on the AUSA website, giving you the information you need.

“Making

Society

Committees more

fun – less bureaucracy”

This year AUSA has tried to

cut down on the amount of

bureaucracy societies face,

we have drastically reduced

the bureaucracy for

treasurers and reduced

it for other committee

members as well.

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Ensure more postgraduate participation in Societies

After consulting with Postgraduate students on

issues on society entry, we have brought in new measures to make

postgraduates feel more a part of AUSA and of societies

Make

International

students more

welcome in societies

At the start of the year there

were focus groups with several

of the Cultural Societies about

how AUSA could ensure that

International Students felt

more welcome in societies

and we have implemented

measures to ensure

they feel more

welcome.

“It’s difficult to get to Foresterhill from Hillhead/Kings”We successfully lobbied First Bus and worked with

the University to have a regular service between Foresterhill and Kings/Hillhead.

More

Societies

events in

Elphinstone

We managed to

negotiate with the

University to save

Societies up to £500

when they use

Elphinstone

Hall.

You said Halls of Residence should be more energy efficient

We got energy meters installed in every halls

of residence to monitor their energy usage more accurately

Ensure that AUSA has greater presence at Society EventsWe have worked on this alot this year with AUSA offering

more help to those societies running events and also the President for Societies has attended events from over 100 societies to show AUSA support

That we needed to put more money into Sport.The Sports Union fought to secure £30,000 for Sport from the University.

Bigger, better societies Ball

Once again it has become bigger and better with numbers up

by 10% and it made a profit, which is then put back into societies

That you wanted a stronger voice for women on campus.We organised the first

Aberdeen Women Students’ Forum and a Reclaim the

Night march to get people to start taking notice of the Women’s Campaign.

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Improve the Transparency of the Societies Union Committee

An improved presence at council and more policies to show how the Societies Union actually works

You wanted better supervision as Postgraduates.

We lobbied for a team of supervisors, with a

separate advisor, plus an agreement of expectations from both parties. Make

International

students more

welcome in societies

At the start of the year there

were focus groups with several

of the Cultural Societies about

how AUSA could ensure that

International Students felt

more welcome in societies

and we have implemented

measures to ensure

they feel more

welcome.

“It’s difficult to get to Foresterhill from Hillhead/Kings”We successfully lobbied First Bus and worked with

the University to have a regular service between Foresterhill and Kings/Hillhead.

“Have

more

training sessions

available for societies”

We have brought in a range

of new training sessions for

societies this year, including

President and Fundraising

training. Also updated

the current trainings,

particularly the treasurer

training

You

wanted

an alcohol

free alternative

available at all our

ceilidhs.

We made sure that all

future events will have

an alternative for

non-drinkers – at

no extra cost!

That we needed to make sure that the voices of students with disabilities were being heard.

We held a forum in each semester to get your feedback

and used this feedback to lobby for better lighting on campus and to make

it easier for disabled students to get involved with Societies.

You wanted more representation as Postgraduates.

We for the first time filled all the postgraduate seats on the education committee.

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You wanted to have more events in Alfie’s Cafe

As our first year in operation we had several societies performing throughout the year.

This year we recruited over 100 volunteers to help students moving into halls and during their first week at University, running our Easy Tiger welfare campaign throughout the week and running for the first time a Well-Fayre in Freshers’ Week, introducing you to all the help services you might need whilst at University.

Our confidential information and listening service took on the mission to go city wide and we started plans to make the service available to all students in Aberdeen. We had a very successful Niteline Awareness Week, making sure that students knew where they could get support in the evenings.

Feedback from students stated that they were unsure where to go for help and support and so at the end of the academic year we employed a student intern to take forward students views and to investigate the services available for help and support.

We arranged for ten students and AUSA staff to go through the Scottish Mental First Aid Training, meaning that they were better equipped to support students who were having difficulties during their time at University.AUSA Info and Advice Centre saw an increase in the

number of students seeking help for appeals and continued to offer students support in finding accommodation and seeking health services.

In 2010-11 AUSA Joblink registered 1161 students with a

massive 1684 students getting jobs via Joblink. There was 25,196 job requests on the website with 3049 students visiting the centre. Joblink ran a new initiative called Jobclub which ran for 5 weeks, helping students to

provide an additional window of time for those students who possibly could not utilise the

Service during the day due to previous conflicts, such as course studies, placements. It was also to provide a support network to students who are struggling to find work, to let them know that they are not alone and that others are also finding things difficult. In the SEOTY Awards (Student Employee of the Year Awards) we had 4 regional winners and 2 national runner-up’s. Joblink also supported 44 students through the Passport 2 Work scheme,

Supporting YOUAUSA RECOGNISES THAT STUDENTS OFTEN REQUIRE A HELPING HAND AT VARIOUS POINTS IN THEIR STUDENT EXPERIENCE. WE PROVIDE A RANGE OF SUPPORT SERVICES AND MAKE PROVISION WHERE POSSIBLE TO OFFER THOSE IN NEED RELEVANT ADVICE, SUPPORT AND INFORMATION TO ALLOW THEM TO PARTICIPATE SAFELY AND TO MAKE INFORMED CHOICES, NOT ONLY ABOUT THEIR STUDIES, BUT ALSO ABOUT THEIR LIFESTYLES >>

1684 students

got jobs via Joblink this

year

10 students and

staff underwent mental health first

aid training

£14,000 in grants was awarded to

societies16

helping them gain experience of the work place. Joblink moved location over the Easter break, as there was a trend of enquiries that were also related to the Info & Advice Centre with a view to the services merging over the summer months.

Support for class representatives was further increased by the role of the Education Development Co-ordinator. Support included liaising with academics to find the most suitable solutions to run and support the Class Representative system. Class Reps also tailored training on their role and workshops on effective communication. A series of Class Rep Forums were arranged which acted as a platform to share practice, ask questions, get the answers, socialise and provide feedback in an informal way. To thank the Class Reps for their work AUSA held the first ever Class Rep Christmas Party and an end of year picnic. Class Reps provided very positive feedback about the support they have received.

We continued to support Societies, hosting training for Presidents, Treasurers and Societies. The move to Butchart allowed AUSA to open up more rehearsal/practice space for societies, which enabled them to hold more society events. The Dance Society have a host of Dance Classes within Butchart which are extremely popular, along with Yoga Society, Swing Dancing in Aberdeen Society and Capoeira Society. The Malt Whisky Society are able to host very successful tasting sessions every fortnight in Bookends Gallery, thus making AUSA Butchart more student friendly and social. Grant Disbursement of £14,000.00 to societies enabled various societies to provide their members with various trips including visits to the Scottish Parliament, Cairngorms and various social trips to Glasgow, Edinburgh and London. The Dance Society used their Grant money to proudly give us their “Viva Las Vegas” show which was held in the Beach Ballroom to great reviews. We were

also extremely fortunate to obtain £10,000.00 Alumni Disbursement which we gave to Juggling Society for equipment to allow them to train and perform within the University and the wider community, Revelation Rock Gospel Society to buy drums to enhance their shows. In total more than 30 societies were given Alumni towards their various activities.

The AUSA Volunteering Service continues to offer and support students by offering over 170 different ways for them to volunteer. Many students have become involved, particularly with the internal projects we run including Bookends and Niteline. Probably the greatest success this year has been the Climate Change Project which has got students volunteering as Energy Champions, Interns, Cookery Assistants, Veg Bag volunteers, Veg Garden and Wildlife Garden volunteers.

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Connecting With AUSA SERVES OVER 15,000 STUDENTS AND ARE COMMITTED TO COMMUNICATING WHAT WE DO TO AS MANY OF YOU AS POSSIBLE. AUSA IS EMBRACING THE COMMUNICATION AGE USING THE INTERNET, EMAIL AND SOCIAL NETWORKING AS TOOLS TO STAY CONNECTED WITH YOU, WITH A VIEW TO CONTINUALLY IMPROVING THE METHODS WE USE TO ENGAGE OUR MEMBERSHIP

AUSA continued the success of last year sending fortnightly HTML e-newsletters direct to all its members informing them of upcoming or ongoing opportunities and events, driving click-through traffic to specific pages/sections of the website as well as informing them how they could became more involved with AUSA. AUSA’s Facebook page and Twitter account (@ausatwit) were integrated enabling posts from each platform to be shared on each. Publicity for both was increased to encourage students to like the page and follow the

twitter account to keep up to date with news, events and other information.

Gaudie (our student newspaper) in its 76th year and ASR (Aberdeen Student Radio) continued to publish and broadcast a wide range of news, views, reviews and entertaining content and involved between 30 and 50 students in the running and operation of both media channels with ASR operating a full schedule of programmes on weekdays for the first time, with something to suit everyone’s taste.

Gaudie was awarded £6,000 from the Aberdeen

Future Fund to assist with the costs of printing the paper and AUSA purchased a suite of computer hardware and software to enhance their ability to design and produce the paper to a high standard.

Members of the Gaudie team attended training courses in journalism and also entered the Student Media Awards

A range of focus groups were held with a range of students from Class Reps, to Council members, to those who were not currently active within the association in order to seek members’ views on a wide

range of topics including the University’s policy on feedback and exams and as a result of the Student Union Evaluation Initiative (SUEI), AUSA itself.

The purchase and installation of the Onelan Digital signage network into Butchart has enabled AUSA to have total control over advertising content and enabled live feeds of Graduations and TV channels to be broadcast within Alfie’s and in our Reception area - as well as an income stream for external commercial advertisiers to utilise.

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IN ORDER TO IMPROVE YOUR STUDENT EXPERIENCE WE FEEL IT IS IMPORTANT TO FUND AND PROVIDE CERTAIN SERVICES, RESOURCES AND FACILITIES FOR YOU TO USE AND ENJOY. HERE’S HOW WE’VE PROVIDED FOR YOU THIS YEAR >>

BUTCHART CENTREButchart Centre, AUSA’s home on campus continues to develop and grow. The flexible learning space in the main hall has been used widely over the past year by students wanting a place to relax, a place to study or a place to socialise. This was the main aim AUSA had when moving to the Butchart centre and are pleased that this has started to be used in this way. The plans to develop this area in the future will also be based around this aim so that Butchart Centre continues to offer exactly the sort of space that students require on campus.

CLASS REP SUPPORTThis year saw the development of the class rep structure through the introduction of our university funded Education Development Coordinator. The work to put in place a new and effective structure for support, development and training was started last year with the outcomes of this work being seen for the first time over the past year. During this time we managed to train over 300 class reps through 13 training sessions which had not been done in previous years. The Education Development

Coordinator is also on hand throughout the year to support all class reps with queries, questions and support so that they can continue to develop their representational role within the university.

CLIMATE CHANGE PROJECTThe Climate Change project received funding of £111,000 in March 2010 but didn’t start to see the results of their work until Freshers’ Week in September 2010. Throughout the year they managed to educate and promote the green agenda through the reduction of energy, better travel options, reduction of waste going to landfill and more to recycle and reuse and offering awareness about locally sourced food products thus reducing the travelling miles incurred. In all, the climate challenge project was able to measure a total carbon reduction as a consequence of their work of 251.8 tonnes over the year and managed to generate 3200 volunteer hours to achieve this. This fantastic outcome for the project also resulted in AUSA gaining funding from the University to continue this project for a further 3 years starting in September 2011.

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MANY OF YOU ACHIEVE SO MUCH THROUGHOUT THE YEAR THAT WE FEEL IT RIGHT THAT

YOUR EFFORTS, TIME, TALENTS AND SKILLS ARE REWARDED. THROUGH NOMINATION AND

PARTICIPATION IN SEVERAL SCHEMES AND COMPETITIONS THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS HAVE

BEEN REWARDED >>

Blues BowlKay Copland, Rifle Club

The AJM Edwards Memorial

AwardDavid Eastwood, Canoe Club

Centenary Cup

Rifle Club

The Sandy Morrison Memorial

TrophyRifle

The Allender Memorial Trophy

Boat Club

BLUES MEDALLISTS

TWELVE sportsmen and women

received Blues Medals during the

year.TEN sportsmen and women

received Half Blues during the year.

Big Heart Award

Revelation Rock Gospel

ChoirBest EventInternational Society

Ceilidh

Best Society Newcomer

Kian Dastoori (Marrow)

Most Dedicated Society

IndividualRosie Utton (Marrow)

Most Improved Society

AB-FAB

New Society of the Year

UNYSASociety of the Year

Dance Society

Alison Johnston Award

Zoology Society

Childreach International

UNICEFShared Planet Society

Malt Whisky Society

MV Award is a national award

scheme endorsed by the Scottish

Government which recognises the

voluntary work done by young

people (16-25 years old) across

Scotland.

The awards recognise the

contribution made to voluntary

projects in a wide variety of areas and

includes the work done by students

involved in societies, sports clubs,

committees and in other student

activities during their studies.

In academic year 2009-10:

34 students were awarded the 50

hour Award


hour Award 11 students were awarded the

200 hour Award – each receiving

a certificate signed by the First

Minister of Scotland.

Rewarding YOU

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LISTENING TO YOUWe don’t just hear you when you talk to us - we listen, which means we do our best to act on what you’ve told usWe’ve continued to carry out Annual All-Student Surveys covering a wide range of topics – garnering feedback on services we currently

provide and finding out what your further needs/wants are, which in turn drives our strategic plans and policies for the future.

AUSA continues to engage with student members in a number of ways and our actions and priorities are set by

YOU. Sabbatical Officers have all pledged to spend more time enagaing with students and listening to (and acting upon) the feedback they receive.

The Sabbatical Officers continue to devote time to FISHing (Finding Issues Students Have) with students around campus and feeding in issues that arise into action plans and focussing policy

We have used the online poll feature on AUSA


hour Award 11 students were awarded the

200 hour Award – each receiving

a certificate signed by the First

Minister of Scotland.

Online to take snap-shot views on a variety of issues - bus fares, contact time with lecturers, campus safety and even what types of fruit you want to have available at Alfie’s Cafe!

We carry out Freshers’ Week Surveys to track satisfaction and to see what we can do the following year to improve the provision of entertainments, support and information thorughout the week -

and beyond!AUSA works with the University to roll out and encourage participation in the National Student Survey - which measures the University and the student experience on a national scale, giving both organisations areas of focus to improve upon.

SEE OUR ‘YOU SAID - WE DID’ SECTION on pages 12-15 for a full run-down of the issues raised in feedback and what we did to address these.

Some thoughts from the incoming Sabbatical Team 2011/12 . . .

We start a new academic year with a new Sabbatical team, headed up by Tessa Birley, elected to be the Student President for the coming term. There is no doubt that it is going to be a challenging year ahead, with the increase of tuition fees for students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland and uncertainty over the future of student support, the team have a challenging year ahead.

An exciting start to the year will be the launch of our priority campaign for 2012 – “AUSA Goes Global”. The campaign will see much more collaboration between sections of the association from sport to education to charities and everything in between working towards giving AUSA a more international agenda. Everything from a good Olympic programme to language exchanges should ensure we enrich and enhance the student experience for all of our members.

Following on from our achievements in SUEI in the last two years and the continuing Governance review, we are committed to taking to our members a modern, efficient and coherent governance structure with which we aim to shape the future of the organisation. We continue to deal with the challenge of the changing student demographic and how best to meet the needs of our members.

Within the institution we will be campaigning for quality feedback on exams and reviewing the academic calendar.

Internally we are embarking on a new project for the charities campaign by bringing back the old tradition of a Raising and Giving week to raise money for AUSA’s charities campaign and to enhance the feeling of community among students. We will be improving the way we work with volunteers by undertaking an Investor in Volunteering

accreditation and through the creation of the brand new “King’s Awards” which aim to ensure we fully

recognise all those who contribute to our success. We have a campaign for

improved student accommodation within the city and hope to

examine the feasibility of the city’s first ever student

focussed letting agency in collaboration with

RGUnion.

We look forward to working closely with our new Climate

Change Co-ordinator who’s post has been extended for a further 3 years to help us ensure we can achieve a better environmental standing and gain a green impact award.

With the introduction of a New Library for King’s Campus and many other exciting projects we are sure that the year will be both challenging and exciting and can’t wait to see what’s round the corner.

Your Sabbatical Team AUSA 2011-12

Looking FORWARD

22

financial statementsIncome by Source 2010/11

Disbursement, 892,451

University of Aberdeen, 128,071

Aberdeen Future Fund, 50,500

Climate Challenge, 84,211

Fresher's & Entertainments, 109,759

Alfie's Cafe, 59,041

Sports, 58,369 Student RepresentaKon,

33,678 Other, 20,198

Statement of Financial Activities (Including Income and Expenditure Account)For the year ended 31st July 2011

Unrestricted RestrictedFunds FundsYear Year

ended ended31/07/11 31/07/11

£ £Incoming ResourcesIncoming Resources from generated fundsVoluntary Income 788,269 104,182 Activites for generating funds 103,348 18,797 Investment income 1,657 -‐

Incoming Resources from charitable activities 149,032 271,003 Total Incoming Resources 1,042,306 393,982

Cost of generating fundsFundraising trading 103,695 15,937

Charitable Activities 873,302 329,410 Governance costs 15,538 -‐

Total Resources Expended 992,535 345,347

Net Movement in Funds 49,771 48,635

Total Funds at 31 July 2010 190,910 43,533


Balance Sheet As At 31 July 201131 July2011

£Fixed AssetsTangible assets 127,607Investments 5,520

Current AssetsDebtors 51,990Stock 2,487Bank & Cash 241,644

296,121

Creditors -‐ amounts fallingdue within one year (96,399)

Net current assets 199,722

Total assets less

Expenditure by Type 2010/11

23

Student Representa-on,

328,889

Sports, 389,138

Support Staffing, 163,968

Climate Challenge, 99,336

Fresher's & Entertainments,

83,466

Alfies, 67,336

Support Costs, 85,598

Subscrip-ons, 47,953 Training, 21,537

Deprecia-on, 38,270

Bookends, 12,391

Statement of Financial Activities (Including Income and Expenditure Account)For the year ended 31st July 2011

Unrestricted RestrictedFunds FundsYear Year

ended ended31/07/11 31/07/11

£ £Incoming ResourcesIncoming Resources from generated fundsVoluntary Income 788,269 104,182 Activites for generating funds 103,348 18,797 Investment income 1,657 -‐

Incoming Resources from charitable activities 149,032 271,003 Total Incoming Resources 1,042,306 393,982

Cost of generating fundsFundraising trading 103,695 15,937

Charitable Activities 873,302 329,410 Governance costs 15,538 -‐

Total Resources Expended 992,535 345,347

Net Movement in Funds 49,771 48,635



Balance Sheet As At 31 July 201131 July2011

£Fixed AssetsTangible assets 127,607Investments 5,520

Current AssetsDebtors 51,990Stock 2,487Bank & Cash 241,644

296,121

Creditors -‐ amounts fallingdue within one year (96,399)

Net current assets 199,722

Total assets less

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Butchart CentreUniversity Road

Old AberdeenAB24 3UT

Tel: 01224 272965Fax: 01224 272977

Web: www.ausa.org.ukEmail: [email protected]

Aberdeen University Students’ Association (AUSA) is a registered Scottish Charity, No. SC037971.

© Aberdeen University Students’ Association, 2012

AUSA Annual Review 2010-11

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Transcript of AUSA Annual Review 2010-11