Context: In my first term as Vice President, I successfully launched the first ever SUBU Allyship Hub. From launching this new online resource centre, I wanted to introduce campaigns for both our student communities and the BU staff community for my second term Progress: Student Communities: I have worked with our democracy and campaigns & Lansdowne teams to introduce our student communities. We currently have four groups (Carers, Mature, International & Parents) We have hosted meet and greets for these different groups alongside the freshers’ programme to help induct them into the student community comfortably. Currently in discussions with BU on how we can bring together BU & SUBU’s initiatives to support our marginalised groups Allyship: Hosted an ‘Allyship Lunch & Learn’ with an external speaker to educate students on how to be an effective ally, how to identify microaggressions and what needs to be done to push the conversation forward. Wrote a Wonkhe article titled ‘Where are the black squares now?’ to discuss how higher education institutions can be active allies and demonstrate real change. Towards the end of my first term, I successfully introduced allyship training for SUBU staff from different departments. I introduced my allyship initiatives and strategy to the Chair of the Board of Governors Currently further developing my strategy to introduce to the Chief Operating Officer of Bournemouth University
Context: During the lockdowns I witnessed many students being left financially challenged due to paying rent to housing that they couldn’t access. The government intervened and provided funding for students to access. I want to help provide more support that’ll aid students in instances where the government can’t intervene. Progress: Meetings: I sit on the BU Accommodation Manager’s Committee Board where I am updated on each of the halls of residence BU work with. External Support: I am speaking to other student union’s across the country to develop strategies on how to improve accommodation support for students Keeping an eye out for any OfS and government support pertaining to student housing.
Context: During the lockdowns students were reporting delays in accessing the BU Wellbeing service and throughout the lockdowns I worked closely with BU to make response times better. For my second term I want to be more present and assist the BU Wellbeing service to improve the quality of service. Progress: SUBU Initiatives: From a SUBU policy that was passed at a previous SUBU Summit I have been working with BU to pilot a peer support scheme. We have conducted interviews for students to volunteer as peer supporters. BU Policy: I have been working with the relevant SUBU staff to review BU & AUB’s suicide prevention strategy.
Context: This manifesto come off the back of a rise in sexual harassment reports in halls and the Office for Students (OfS) list of recommendations for higher education institutions to adopt to combat sexual assault. Progress: SUBU Policy: Proposed a SUBU Summit policy titled ‘Should SUBU lobby to end sexual harassment, misconduct and violence on campus?’ Campaigns: Launched the #NeverOK campaign that focuses cultivating a students’ union that is actively against sexual assault, harassment and misconduct. SUBU Initiatives: Implemented ‘Ask Angela’ in all SUBU venues. This includes the student centre, Dylan’s & The Old Fire Station. Working with United Taxis to set up a scheme where if students cannot afford a taxi home after a night out, SUBU can subsidise the cost for the meantime until the student can pay. BU: Worked closely with BU to provide feedback and amend their student disciplinary policy to make sure trauma-informed decisions were being made. External Support: Recently had a meeting with members of the Dorset Police force and BU staff about developing a strategy and an action plan to tackle drink spiking and sexual violence.
Context: During the coronavirus pandemic I witnessed many international students needing additional support. I wanted to use my second term to work closely with the relevant departments/staff to further support International Students. Progress: Student Communities: I have worked with our democracy and campaigns & Lansdowne teams to introduce our student community networks. There is a community group for international students. BU: I am working closely with the BU & AUB Reflection team to support the BU Global Café.
Policy Actions: SUBU to lobby BU to review their training for all staff on supporting students with a disability, both academically and pastorally SUBU to lobby BU to audit all courses to identify best practice and areas for improvement SUBU to lobby BU to review policies around Reasonable Adjustments SUBU to lobby BU to ensure that all students, regardless of whether they have disclosed a disability/additional learning need, are contacted with a list of services and support options SUBU to lobby BU to remove the need to provide medical evidence to access additional support SUBU to lobby BU to end their discriminatory fitness to study procedure SUBU to lobby BU Estates to ensure that accessibility arrangements are included in building design, including the addition of dropped curbs and providing spaces for students with allergies to study without risk SUBU to lobby BU to pay disabled students to undertake an accessibility assessment of campus SUBU and BU to improve the communication between relevant services by taking a multi-agency approach to student support, with student consent SUBU and BU to ensure that captions/subtitles are included in all events and communication. Where auto captioning/subtitling is not possible, dedicated captioning support should be provided SUBU to incorporate dedicated student voice activities, through paid focus groups, a regular accessibility forum and an anonymous online form SUBU to make all clubs and societies inclusive, through mandatory accessibility training and dedicated funding for specialist equipment SUBU to commit to ongoing campaign work around addressing ableism, disability justice, the social model of disability, invisible illnesses and endorsing/promoting DSA (Disabled Students’ Allowance) reform Progress: I have met with the new Additional Learning Support Manager to discuss how we can better work together this year, including reviewing the reasonable adjustments policies. We have spoken to ALS about Reasonable Adjustments not automatically being applied. They have confirmed that this should not be happening. Should any students have to ask for reasonable adjustments they should report this to SUBU and the ALS team. There is now a food free zone on the third floor of the Student Centre. Any student can use this room but students who need to use the room are prioritised. For the first time Bournemouth University asked all students at the point of firming their offer to establish whether they need additional support. There was also lots of information about different disability and wellbeing support that went out to all students. Bournemouth University have confirmed that they do share information between services where students are happy for them to do so. There is a form on the SUBU Students’ with Disabilities Campaign where students can anonymously let SUBU and the Students with Disabilities Officer know what they would like the campaign to work on. The Clubs and Societies training now includes information around accessibility and there is also funding available for specialise equipment a specific funding pot to ensure that societies are accessible to all. Now that the new Disabilities Officer has been elected, I am looking forward to working with them to organise the first Accessibility Forum, undertake an assessment of campus, and launch our Disabilities History Month campaign.
Policy Actions: Work in partnership with NUS, BU, suppliers, and other stakeholders to meet policy objectives Work with our supply chain to develop capability and capacity for recycled plastic products (not just recyclable products) Work with students, staff and suppliers to encourage them to take practical steps to reduce the use of plastic and the production of plastic waste SUBU should apply this policy across all aspects of its activities including commercial services, activities, visitors, freshers fair, campaigns, media Progress: Since this policy was initially passed SUBU has undertaken 100’s of events which champion sustainability from regular beach cleans, community litter picks, green day and green week. 2021 Green Day is taking place on the 10th of November. SUBU has once again received ‘excellent’ in our green impact submission and we continue to work with NUS SOS to ensure that SUBU is a sustainable organisation. Stopped using plastic straws/cutlery in SUBU outlets Significantly paired back excessive use of single use plastic in day to day activities Using significantly less disposable plastic items in ‘giveaways’ Working closely with BU on sustainable initiatives such as the Sustainability Challenge. Students who won the last Sustainability Challenge created the Sustainable Student Starter Pack which teaches students how to properly recycle and where to shop sustainably such as refill shops
Policy Actions: The Union should create policy to support student sex workers through destigmatising sex work and making students aware of the safety measures that are in place. This should include no threat of disciplinary action due to the nature of their work, and for clear guidance of repercussions against others distributing a student’s content without consent. Progress: I proposed this policy which introduced new and relevant ideas to replace a previous, unclear policy. I worked with the SUBU Advice team to include an advice page on the SUBU website about sex workers. I am in contact with other student unions across the country to discuss how they successfully challenged sex work stigma and how they worked with their universities. I have also met with the university to ensure that no disciplinary action will be taken against students engaged in sex work. It is also explicitly against the law to share sexually explicit material without the consent of the individual.
Policy Actions: For SUBU to launch ‘Ask Angela’ in all SUBU spaces ensuring staff are appropriately trained to handle disclosures. This should include bar staff within Dylan’s and The Old Fire Station For SUBU to promote the #NeverOK campaign and run events and workshops around consent and sexual assault as a part of this campaign. For SUBU to provide safety care package at freshers' fair For SUBU to partner with local organisations to provide students with support accessible in their local area, including those not based in Bournemouth For SUBU to lobby BU to work with SUBU and the student body to launch a review into their sexual misconduct and harassment policies by the summer, as recommended by the OfS. For SUBU to send a Freedom of Information Request to Bournemouth University to understand the use of ‘Non-Disclosure Agreements’ at Bournemouth University For SUBU to lobby BU to make the processes for disclosing sexual harassment, misconduct and violence more visible For SUBU to lobby BU to employ dedicated staff members to support survivors of sexual violence to ensure that survivors have a consistent and specialised point of contact For SUBU to lobby BU to be transparent around instances of sexual harassment, misconduct and violence on campus by publishing case numbers and outcomes. For SUBU to lobby BU to employ trauma informed decision-making practices into their complaints processes. For SUBU to lobby BU to introduce workshops on consent and sexual violence that go beyond awareness raising and focus on bystander initiatives, reporting incidents, myth debunking, intersectionality and handling disclosures. Progress: Since this policy passed, I have worked closely with the university to review their policies and procedures around sexual violence. This has included reviewing the Student Disciplinary Policy to ensure that sexual misconduct and violence was appropriately tackled. I am now working with the HR team on developing and reviewing relevant policies around staff conduct and training. We spoke to BU about employing a dedicated member of staff however, they recommended that students utilise the expert support provided in Bournemouth such as STARS and the Shores as well as the internal wellbeing services. We believe that sexual misconduct and violence is never the survivor's fault and we have launched a campaign which challenges sexual violence and focuses on bystander initiatives, SUBU initiatives, Support in the community, How to Report and Myth Busting. We provided personal safety packs including personal safety alarms at freshers fair and will be providing more shortly. We have launched Ask Angela in all SUBU venues included The Old Fire Station, Dylan’s and the Student Centre. We have launched a ‘Safe Taxi’ scheme where students can call united taxi’s and get home safety without immediately having to pay their fare where they have run out of money. We are also providing ‘spikeys’ for free at the SUBU reception. We included information about sexual violence at the Presidents’ Association for Clubs and Societies Presidents. We are also working with STARS, a local charity who will be delivering workshops in December to student leaders, such as clubs and societies around bystander initiatives. We hope to roll out similar training more widely next year. The Old Fire Station is working with Good Night Out who will be delivering training to staff to ensure that they are appropriately trained to tackle sexual misconduct. We also supported the Girls Night In campaign and want to continue working with students to ensure that SUBU is doing all that it can to create an environment where sexual misconduct and violence is never ok.
Policy Actions: To create a policy that centres its actions on supporting students who have gone through FGM. This includes educating staff and peers on what FGM is, lasting effects and how to aid an FGM survivor. This policy will also work on de-stigmatising FGM. Progress: I worked very closely with the Womens’ & Students with Disabilities officers in my first term to create campaigns around FGM awareness and support. Shannon, the women’s officer hosted an educational FGM workshop that provided attendees with information and tools to support survivors of FGM. I worked closely with the BU student services team to help signpost students to support services.
Policy Actions: To make students feel less isolated by providing an additional wellbeing support through a ‘befriending’ service. To provide further opportunities for students to support their mental health. To lobby for wellbeing information to be readily available for students from the beginning of their university journey. Progress: I have frequent wellbeing meetings with the Head of Student Wellbeing at BU & SUBU Advice where we evaluate student engagement with our services. I have also been working closely with BU to pilot a peer support scheme. We have conducted interviews for students to volunteer as peer supporters. We are currently recruiting for more volunteers to join the scheme and hope to start training towards the end of November. We have consulted with students and external organisations to ensure that the training covers all necessary topics. We hope to roll out the scheme to all students at the start of the second term.
Policy Actions: To provide free period products for students to access whenever they need to Union Shop to stock sustainable menstrual products (cups, reusable pads etc) To create campaigns that destigmatise periods Progress: I created SUBU’s first ever ‘Environmenstrual Collective’. Through this group I have successfully installed two menstruation stations at both Lansdowne & Talbot campus. We provide free period products for students to access when in need. I am currently researching into more environmentally friendly alternatives to also stock at the menstruation stations. I work closely with the BU sustainability team to host workshops and engage students with my work. Menstrual products are also sold at cost price in the SUBU Shop.
Policy Actions: SUBU should lobby the university to ban smoking and vaping on campus other than in designated sheltered smoking areas Progress: This policy passed shortly before COVID-19 and campus closure and therefore had not been prioritised. This policy is currently set to lapse but we recognise that this is still an ongoing issue for students. The Executive Committee is recommending that this policy be lapsed, instead a new proposal has been put forward to the SUBU Summit. This will allow a further discussion to take place where the needs of students currently can be presented, and suitable amendments made.
Policy Actions: Departments need to work together more coherently around sabbatical manifestos and instead of working to one, each department should be trying to consider all the manifestos of those elected To ensure all departments have all the sabbatical officers’ manifestos incorporated into their departmental plans All sabbaticals must work together after their election on a joint priority campaign document to guide all departments, setting out a coherent plan for policy, ironing out any inconsistencies across manifestos and setting out a clear work agenda for staff and students Progress: SUBU has created a new strategic plan, which includes a department team action plan. Includes aligning manifestos of current officers, more robust structure to ensure departments are working towards new SUBU direction and supporting officer progress
Policy Actions: SUBU to conduct a review and conversation around how it’s activities, structures, societies, and stakeholders, can help deliver SDGs meaningfully SUBU should prioritise information and action around the UN Sustainable Development Goals up to 2030 Progress: We have included the SDGs in our volunteering hub and every role is matched to an SDG We are currently looking into doing the same with al SUBU events list on the SUBU what's on page. We are currently running our Sustainability Challenge which allows students to create a sustainable idea to help make BU more environmentally sustainable. We have also launched a regular sustainability meeting within SUBU to ensure that all departments are acting sustainably.