ATRiuM 2A Q & A

This is how the construction for Atrium 2a is coming along so far.

In a recent survey I did, it became apparent to me that many students in Cardiff at USW have not been provided with enough information about the new building ATRiuM 2A. Also some of the communication the Students' Union distributed before Christmas seems to have been misconstrued. Therefore I'd thought I'd write this blog to try and outline the facts of the matter.

What is ATRiuM 2A?
Atrium 2A is the current building work at the side of the ATRiuM. It'll be a two-storey building and will contain a University operated catering facility (similar to Stilts in Treforest) on its ground floor and a new Students' Union on the first floor. The Students' Union is due to have a bar area, a dedicated Union Office, an Ideas Factory and a shop. It's the first part of extension plans to the ATRiuM. The second part (Atrium 2B) is in a state of limbo at the moment and is only likely to be constructed if student numbers based in Cardiff increase.

Why has it been built?
The Atrium Cafe has been extremely popular and there is a feeling among the University that the Atrium could do with more catering facilities due to demand. Also the new catering facilities will mean they can be hired privately for events and dinner evenings in a central city location. Previous functions have had to happen off campus.

The new Students' Union has been constructed as the current one was only designed to be a temporary building for five years. It opened in 2009 so is now its in its last year so the new building is seen as the long term solution. It also may have something to do with low NSS scores surrounding Satisfaction with the Students' Union in the Cardiff area.

When will it open?
The building is due to open in September 2014 in time for the new academic year though Estates projects have been known to overrun before!

Will there still be catering facilities?
Yes, but the majority if not all of these will be run by the University included the current cafe and the new cafeteria area. The current menu supplied at the ATRiuM SU at the moment is likely to change a lot.

Will there be any teaching facilities?
No. Atrium 2a just has the catering and Students' Union. Atrium 2b is due to have teaching facilities should it be constructed.

Will the ATRiuM Students' Union be closing?
There are no plans for the Students' Union to be closed only for it to move. But it is likely to change significantly in terms of what food and drink it can offer. The only way the ATRiuM Students' Union may close is if USWSU's Trustee Board felt there was no way the new SU could be commercially viable.

Plans for the layout of Atrium 2a once constructed.

What are the issues with 2a for the Students' Union?
From the past 8 months from which I've been dealing with the ATRiuM 2A situation, several problems have been raised from a Students' Union perspective. The first was that the idea was proposed to us that the SU should be a 'wine bar' and therefore not have on tap pints as the piping would be difficult to set up. This has been resolved and now there will be taps.

The major issue at the moment surrounds what food the Students' Union can serve. It's been suggested that the SU should run a Tapas Bar. At the moment, the SU will only be supplied with a microwave to prepare food. Microwaved food is likely to be expensive to buy in and may drive up the price of food at the SU. Therefore the SU is looking to try and get a Deep Fat Fryer installed to ensure the Union in Cardiff can be commercially viable. However the University have raised several issues in regards to this including the lack of proper extraction in the preparation area at the new site and the possibility of the SU directly competing with the catering outlet in the same building.

Can the Union still run even without the fryer?
That's not a straightforward question to answer. It's likely that if the SU doesn't get a fryer there's a relatively good chance that there may be no food offering. In recent years the SU has had to rely more on catering due to less alcohol sales. There is now a culture of pre-drinking as students find that the most economic way of getting booze is by buying it from a supermarket. Also a reliance on alcohol sales would rely on evening trade. Historically, through past experiences, the ATRiuM SU made a significant loss by opening in the evenings and weekends which is why the opening hours became much more restricted in 2011. If this trend was to continue, the new SU would likely lose the organisation money.

On the flip side of that argument there are some successful bars which can self-sustain themselves. A good example in a similar environment is the Royal Welsh College's Students' Union bar. The bar only opens in the evenings but manages to be a sustainable source of income for the SU despite the fact the college has significantly less students than USW's Cardiff Campus (around 800). Also Porters bar, minutes down the road from the Atrium has seen great popularity due to the weekly events they hold there. Over 50% of people I surveyed in a recent questionnaire said that they went to Porters so it is popular among the student population which means it also represents one of the new SU's key competitors.

Have any other alternatives been suggested?
We have mentioned to the University whether it would be possible to offer a completely non-commercial space which could be used by clubs and societies in the region and students wanting to host events and such. However the University rejected this idea despite the fact it would ensure the SU wouldn't be likely to lose money on it.

What are the overriding issues with the Students' Union in Cardiff?
As far as I'm concerned it's not so much about what the SU looks like but it's much more about how the space is used. Issues that came up in my survey included:

• The feeling that the Union wasn't run by students due to no student staff working behind the bar
• The SU should be open in the evenings
• The SU should do more events, social activities and live music.
• The marketing and promotion of the Union needs to be improved.

From a personal aspect, there's also the issue that students aren't aware of the full breath and depth of what the Students' Union does. It's a lot more than just a bar. It provides representation through its sabbatical officers (like myself), its Student Council officers along with the SVR and Course Rep system. There's also societies, clubs, volunteering and fundraising opportunities to get involved with and much more. I believe awareness of our core services would be the easiest way to improve the low NSS scores USWSU receives in the Cardiff region.

What can I do to help with the issues or provide input? 

Ultimately, what has happened at the ATRiuM and the other Cardiff buildings at USW is that there's been a lack of student feedback surrounding the issues of catering and the Students' Union. This in turn has caused both University management and Union management to make their own assumptions as to what students want. So if you want a Students' Union that's student-led and truly reflects the student opinion all you need to do is voice your opinions and/or get more involved in the SU in one of the following ways:

• Comment on this blog with your thoughts
• Get in touch with me - by email: vicepresident.cardiff@southwales.ac.uk, or on Twitter @sheepfm
• Attend our Annual General Meeting on Jan 30 at 6:30pm in the Atrium Zen Room(CB403) and have your say in person. Link to the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/256116464552793/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming
• Get involved in our Elections next month where you can run for a Sabbatical or Student Council position. Nominations for elections open on February 6th and close on February 20th and nominations packs can be picked up from any Students' Union office from February 6th.

If you've got any more questions feel free to let me know and I can add them to this blog. Hopefully now you've got a bit better idea of what Atrium 2 is all about.

So...how are those manifesto points coming along?

My manifesto I wrote back in May.

Now I'm at the half way point of my term in office (time really flies!) I thought it'd be a good time to take a look back at those manifesto points I made back in May to see how many I'd actually been able to fulfil or at least make some progress on. So here's how I've done as of yet:

1. A Union of people, not place

This point has become somewhat derailed by the current plans to move the Students' Union to ATRiuM 2A. As there's the possibility of opening the Union later next year we have to be careful what external partners we forge now. However, engagement is one of my key priorities this year so I've been working hard to build up the 'people' side by supporting Course Reps and helping promote Student Council Elections.

2. On the ground support

Soon into my job, I realised that providing on-the-ground support was unrealistic. Since I have to attend many meetings and cannot commit myself to staying in Cardiff permanently in role. I have been looking to support Course Reps with issues they raise at our Course Rep Council meetings.

3. Campaign for what you want

I've actually managed to achieve something here (Whey!) albeit with the help of Jess Urch and her petition to increase opening hours. Opening hours at the ATRiuM have been restored to 8am to 10pm on weekdays and 9am to 5pm on weekends. For the other issues surrounding cash machines, there are major issues with this that we've come across. The main issue is that it costs the Union money to install a cash machine rather than make money out of the service. This is the reason there is currently no cash machine in Cardiff and also why they're being removed from Caerleon campus in Newport.

4. Society Encouragement 

Just by having me in a more permanent position in Cardiff has certainly improved the amount of people we've had come forward with interest in starting a society. However we've found that there still seem to be a lot of barriers which mean some of our societies still haven't completed registration yet. I will to see how we can address this issue in the coming months.

5. Communication

I've been active on my Facebook and Twitter profile with disseminating information. I've also used various Facebook groups and email to tell people important info. This blog also helps anyone keep track every month of what I've been doing. Communication was a priority for all sabbs this year and is something we still have to work on. With the sites and campuses so spread out through South Wales, our internal communication suffers at times and coming up with a solution to this will be an interesting challenge in the coming months.

Hopefully that shows I've been making steps to achieving some of my manifesto points. However it's key to point out that my priorities have had to change somewhat especially over the last couple of months with the Union's current financial issues. What I'd really like to achieve by the end of June is to have a Strategic Plan for USWSU for 2014 to 2017 which helps build a Union that supports all regions and campuses of the University of South Wales. I'll be checking back on all this in June so stay tuned for that!

December: Short Time, Significant Success

Christmas Jumpers on show after our Trustee Board meeting (via Carys Rhiannon)

I've only had 2 short weeks of December to comment upon since I'm off home on my Christmas hollies after today. However we've had a few major developments. Here's what's been going on:

• Had a meeting with the Dean about Jess Urch's petition to increase the opening hours at the ATRiuM. We've been promised that from January, the ATRiuM will open from 8am until 10pm weekdays and 9am to 5pm on weekends as it was two years ago. It's also being considered that weekend opening hours could be extended further during busy times such as around Easter.
• Went to a partner approval and re-approval meeting which looks at which external parties can link up with the University as part of their courses.
• Recorded audio for our latest video project due to be released in January.
• Had our third Trustee Board Meeting. Was mandated to continue circulating the ATRiuM SU Questionnaire (which you can fill out here: http://bit.ly/18be4bU) and to lobby to get the back doors of the ATRiuM accessible without a swipe card to try and help access to Students' Union building.
• Had our first Course Rep Council Meeting in Cardiff. A number of issues were raised including certain courses not having course leaders and issues with the communication lines with university staff when issues are not resolved. Will look to work with staff and SVRs to address these areas in the new year.
• Attended a Students as Partners meeting and will be creating some Student Stories videos on how the Student Voice has had an impact on University study.
• Attended a Keep Cardiff Tidy meeting. Will look to improve lines of communication on issues surrounding litter. If you want to keep up to date with it all I thoroughly recommend you like Cardiff Digs on Facebook or follow them on Twitter
• Attended a meeting about the Learner Journey. Will be helping with a blog there are setting up for it in the coming months.
• Met with Alex Butterworth from NUS to discuss the upcoming Course Rep Conference she is organising.

January's shaping up to be a busy month - I'll be making sure the extended opening times at the ATRiuM come to fruition in practice, organising more Course Rep Training, making some Student Stories videos and in the middle of all that our funding campaign will be significantly ramped up as we enter negotiations with the University.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you in 2014 which will definitely be an interesting year for USWSU.

Rich

November: Moustaches and Student Movement

My Movember efforts. This is the 3rd year in a row I've done Movember.

Without a doubt, things have really picked up in the last month in Cardiff at the Students' Union. But overall it's been a really positive month. From bringing Course Reps together to our 2nd batch of elections this term to fighting for the future of the SU. Things have been kicking off but students in Cardiff are definitely letting their voice be heard which can only mean the change is on the horizon. This was how this month went:

• 4 more students are running for Student Council for four positions - Postgraduate and Part Time Officer, Students with Disabilities Officer, International Officer and Welsh Language Officer. Should they all get elected this will bring our total student council members up to 8 which is enough to have decision making power!
• Met with Mary Traynor and Leann Thomas to discuss the National Student Survey and different ways we can communicate avenues for feedback to students.
• Went on BBC Radio Wales to promote what USWSU was doing for Children in Need.
• Had our Course Rep Training and had productive conversations with course reps about the issues surrounding their own individual courses. 
• Attended a Student Casework session held by the Quality Unit.
• Attended NUS Wales Zone Conference at Aberystwyth University.
• Met with our CEO to discuss the financial situation of the Union.
• Started our #FairFunding campaign to try and insure the short and long-term stability of the Students' Union. We filmed a campaign video for it which is due to be released in the New Year.
• Started a campaign to protect the food provision at the ATRiuM Students' Union which is due to be taken away from us in the next academic year with the construction of ATRiuM 2A. We're using the hashtag #SOS on Twitter if you want to voice your opinion. Here's a couple of opinions already:

Why would you shut the only place students can afford to eat in Cardiff!?! #SOS @USWSU #SaveOurService
— Owain Talfryn (@owstalfryn) November 28, 2013

Don't shut the one place they pity students! #SOS @USWSU
— Jade Kim Mathieson (@JesuisJadeKim) November 28, 2013

• Represented a student involving a suspension case.
• Met Jess Urch who has started to petition for longer opening hours of the ATRiuM so students are able to complete their work that sometimes requires specialist equipment. I'm helping her to escalate the issue to the Faculty, to the Estates Department and to the University Executive. If you want to sign the petition go to: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/student-petition-atrium
• Attended NUS Wales' 40th Birthday drinks.
• Started a questionnaire I'm circulating around the ATRiuM about the Students' Union. If you'd like to answer it please follow the link here: http://bit.ly/18be4bU 
• Got sent this lovely thank you card for showing some MBA students around the ATRiuM and Cromwell House. The tour was really useful as I realised there were quite a few changes in the two buildings this year that I hadn't noticed before!

The thank you card I got sent.

On top of that I've been growing a moustache for Movember. You can see my progress up to now in the pic at the top of the page. It'll probably be gone by Monday so I can get back to growing a good winter beard as Christmas approaches. I'm looking forward to the Christmas break but there's still a lot to do before that. I shall let you know how I get on in a couple of weeks.

Speak soon,

Rich

October - Train, Recruit, Elect and Interview

USW Snowsports at our Societies Fair. Photos courtesy of Rachael Roberts.

I was forewarned that October would be a busy month for me. It's when we try and sort out a lot of things at once here at USWSU. From getting SVRs and Course Reps in position to promoting Student Council positions to getting societies on the go. All whilst trying to attend meetings at all the different campuses of the University of South Wales. In all, it's been a month of ups and downs for me as I look back at the last thirty odd days:

• Presented the Academic Manifesto, along with the sabb team to Vice Chancellor Julie Lydon.
• Organised the Societies Day held at the ATRiuM on October 2nd along with the Cardiff Societies Officer Rachael Roberts. In attendance were Tequila Radio, USW Snowsports, Yoga Society, ATRiuM Christian Union and the new ATRiuM film society.
• Got trained up with Panopto, the lecture capture system USW uses. We're looking to use it for Course Rep Training so refresher training is available online.
• As part of the Learning Environment Review steering group, I've been spreading the word about the survey that was recently released on UniLife to students and I gave my input into the wording and structure of the survey.
• Met with students wanting to set up a Drama Society and a Musical Theatre Society and helped them with administration and getting their society off the ground (a point actually in my manifesto! Way!)
• Attended Associate Trainer Training which will feed into the Course Rep Training will be undertaking in the next couple of weeks.
• Sat on the panel for interviews for Student Voice Reps in Cardiff and Treforest and helped decide some of this year's SVRs.
• We had our by-elections. I helped give out nominations pack to those who ran in the election in the Cardiff Region and answered any questions they had. We now have 4 elected Student Council Officers which unfortunately isn't enough to be quorate and effect decision making. Therefore I'm now in the process of trying to find more officers. If you're interested please email vicepresident.cardiff@southwales.ac.uk ASAP.
• We had our GOAT (Go Out and Talk) day at Newport City Campus where we received significant feedback from students about the SU provision there and how much money they thought we received from the University.
• Said goodbye to Sara Correia, our Integration Co-ordinator who left to join Swansea Students' Union.
• Met with Emma Robson from Cardiff Digs and sabb officers from Cardiff SU and Cardiff Met SU about how we could work together on projects such as Keep Cardiff Tidy and Accomodation.
• Helped deliver the Student Voice Representative Training and participated in some of the games in the evening (there was free food which assured my attendance!)
• We had an emergency Trustee Board meeting to discuss the financial state of the Students' Union. We're currently in some difficulties and looking to restructure to make the Union sustainable and fit for purpose in the future. We'll be releasing more info on this in the coming weeks.
• Met with Mark Cadwallader along with the sabbs and our CEO to get a better insight into the University's strategic plan to see where the Union could tie in to this going forward.

The Tequila Radio crew at the societies fair. The station is now 5 years old.

So that was October. In truth I think I should have spent more time this month going out and talking to students in the three Cardiff buildings - ATRiuM, Cromwell House and Atlantic House and this is definitely something I'll look to work on in November. This is especially important based on the situation with ATRiuM 2A and how any Students' Union facility there might look. Hopefully I'll see you then.

Laters,

RQ

September: 1 Freshers Week, 2 Freshers Weeks, 3 Freshers Weeks, 4

September has been an absolute mammoth ride for us sabbs. I worked every single day from September 9th to September 27th which I have to say was really tiring. This year we had the delight of having two different Freshers weeks - one for Newport, one for Ponty and Cardiff along with two International Welcome Weeks. At times it felt like a blur but this is the best from what I can remember from this month:

• Supported a few students at Academic Infringement meetings - at times that day resembled an episode of "The X Factor" there was such a range of emotions. 
• Met with Dean of Creative Industries Gill Sanford. Discussed why the back doors of the ATRiuM have to be locked. She explained strangers can wonder into the building and there have been reports of equipment thefts. I suggested perhaps we trial opening the doors during daytime hours and she is going to look into this for me.
• Appeared at Newport International Welcome Week for their Quiz night where we had Dominos. Team Sabb (and Magda, our Bar Manager in Newport) were tied for the lead with another team but we lost the tie-break question. The answer definitely wasn't "pillow case" (you had to be there).
• Brought the University Students Want Academic Manifesto to LTEC (Learning and Teaching Enhancement Committee). It was very well received by all. The only issue seemed to be around how we were going to tackle the problem of Timetabling.
• I also offered to help with trying to help with courses which received low National Student Survey scores.
• Was in Newport for move-in weekend for two "Meet the Officers" sessions. Helped a few people move in (whilst banging my head on a car boot!) Also helped with the SU talk at the accommodation induction (even if our video did screw up the first time!)
• Sat on the panel for a Student Complaint at Newport's Caerleon campus.
• Attended some Post Grad and Mature, Local and Community Meet and Greets at the Treforest Campus.
• Attended the Welsh Twmpath at the Union and did some Welsh dancing (it's a lot like line dancing!)
• Manned the SU stall at Newport Freshers Fair to get some interest in Course Reps, Student Council and SVRs.
• Had our first Trustee Board Meeting. We discussed having an 'away day' at some point in the near future to come up with a Strategic Plan for the next couple of years.
• Did Induction talks for new students staying at Liberty Bridge and Liberty Park. We had to keep it short so I used this poem.
• Did some more meet and greets in Cardiff.
• Did Induction talks with Performance and Media, Film and Video, Media Technology, Theatre and Drama and Journalism students.
• Help co-ordinate the Film and Curry Night at the ATRiuM.
• Co-ordinated the bus tour to Treforest Freshers Fair from Cardiff. Unfortunately I forgot to check my watch and accidentally let the bus go early! Luckily not too many people were affected by this.
• Popped in to the Tequila Radio talk in the ATRiuM cinema to talk to some Radio, Music Tech and Sound Tech students.
• Helped with the Cardiff Scavenger Hunt and actually ended up going on it because we were lower on number than we expected!
• Went to the Music Tech showcase at Clwb Ifor Bach and the Pulp! Fashion show at ATRiuM. The Fashion show was really well attended (probably because it was in everyone's induction timetable!)
• Went to the first meeting of the Learning Environment Review Steering Group which is looking into how to improve Moodle/Blackboard at USW for the 2014/15 year.

So pretty busy. At one point in the middle of Freshers week I was so shattered I actually went home at 7pm and went straight to bed! But it'll still be pretty full on from here on in.

Feel free to get in touch with your views about what I've been up to and get involved yourself at our Student Council elections!

A poem about USWSU

Today I was at the ATRiuM to deliver some induction talks to students living at Liberty Bridge and Liberty Park. We didn't have a lot of time to give a presentation so it was very useful that I wrote this poem which condenses down what we do at the Students' Union into a few short lines. Here is the poem in full:

What, oh what does USWSU do?

If you haven't heard of us before, you might not have a clue.

We help you with your education

And welfare issues too.

The bottom line is

We're here to represent you.

From sports and societies

Club and activities

Pop into the office to find out more

And you can grab a McVities

You can also get involved

In our student council elections

Or visit our ideas factory

And make business out of your inventions.

We represent all students

Female, male, LGBT

We'll make your student life great

At this South Wales University

The poem seemed pretty popular for those in attendance. If you want to find out the real meaning behind those words or get advice or involved with your SU, just pop into the office around the back of the ATRiuM building Monday to Friday.