Student Life Zone (29th October 2015)

Standing apologies received from Union President, Ben Franklin.

Apologies received from Housing Officer, Louise Bellamy and Union Council Representative (Health Sciences Faculty Officer), Daniel Browning.

Sam informed the committee that he would be making use of the Elephant throughout the year as part of his ongoing work on mental health. A competition will be launched in the near future to decide on a name for the Elephant. The Elephant has recently been loaned to Southampton County Council and displayed in the Civic Centre to launch their anti-stigma campaign.

Sam outlined his priorities for the year, which were:

• To ensure that all Student Life campaigns and projects are student-led.
• Employability, with a focus on the development of volunteers within the Zone.
• Student support, with a focus on housing and the signposting role of Halls Committees and Student Groups Welfare Officers.

Sam reminded the committee that his full Sabb Plan is available on the SUSU website.

Mark informed the committee that he is currently focusing on student well-being within halls of residence. He is also working towards extending the Union’s Peer Support scheme to operate within halls of residence.

In the absence of the Housing Officer, this update was given by Sam. Sam informed the Committee that Louise met with the Advice Centre Advisers last week in order to identify key issues arising for our students regarding housing. Louise is also currently liaising with SUSU Lettings in order to identify these issues. Finally, Sam informed the committee that the Don’t Rush To Rent housing campaign would be launching in the near future.

Luke informed the committee that Nightline has recruited 75 new volunteers for this academic year and that all shift rotas are full.

Luke informed the committee that Nightline has successfully launched an Instant Messaging system, which has had good take up from students despite some technical issues which have since been resolved.

Luke is currently looking into having an extra airbed placed in the Nightline office, so that more volunteers can be in the office at once. Luke explained that new volunteers cannot take a call until they have completed three shifts alongside experienced volunteers, but that there is currently only room in the office for one new volunteer per shift. At this rate, new volunteers won’t have completed their mandatory three shifts until January, potentially making it difficult to keep them engaged.

This year, Nightline has introduced a ‘family’ system whereby all volunteers are attached to a named committee member who they can approach for pastoral support and who can organise ‘family’ social events. This successfully addresses the fact that, otherwise, volunteers only meet each other on shift and are statistically unlikely to be placed on the same shift again.

Luke emphasised that, due to the fact that Nightline only has one phone line available, he is operating a zero tolerance policy on non-genuine calls. Luke reported that since the beginning of the academic year calls regarding homesickness and loneliness have been common.

Sam gave the committee some useful background on the #SotonSpeaksUp campaign, which originally consisted of a pledge to understand what sexual harassment is and to challenge incidences of sexual harassment. This pledge could be signed by anyone, but was specifically targeted at Student Groups such as sports teams.

The #SotonSpeaksUp campaign was reviewed at the beginning of this academic year. Having met with Hampshire Police and Rape Crisis, Sam feels that the campaign should now focus on the issue of sexual consent specifically, as this can be seen as the root cause of many other problems related to sexual harassment.

Sam emphasised the need for the campaign to be student-led to avoid it becoming patronising. He suggested that the Union holds an open forum meeting to consult students on how best to approach the issue of consent, such as training sessions potentially targeted at freshers, online and physical resources or an awareness campaign.

Alison asked for clarification about the controversy surrounding making consent sessions compulsory, which has been in the news recently. Sam explained the feeling among some students that not only are they being told things which they already know, but also that sessions on serious issues can impact on the positive atmosphere of the freshers’ period. The advantage of making sessions compulsory is to ensure that all students have been delivered the same content. If the sessions are not compulsory, the only people who will sign up will be those that are already well informed about the issue. Sam pointed out that those who are not well informed ‘don’t know what they don’t know’. The disadvantage of making sessions compulsory is that some students may feel patronised.

Hannah emphasised the need for careful wording in the campaign materials, as she felt that the word ‘harassment’ is more accusatory than ‘consent’. The Committee agreed on the importance of ensuring that students do not feel like they are being personally attacked and do not respond by becoming defensive.

The Committee agreed on the effectiveness of using videos, GIFs and memes on social media to discuss this issue, such as the ‘Tea Consent’ video. The Committee also agreed on the importance of using accurate facts and statistics in order to show students that sexual consent really is a serious issue.

Mark drew a useful comparison between sessions on consent and sessions on Academic Integrity, stating that students complained that they already knew about Academic Integrity but that there was still heated discussion at the session.

Sam highlighted the link with sports teams and their reputation for ‘lad culture’. He emphasised the need for these groups to be involved in the campaign, as their participation would make it more acceptable for other students to talk about this issue and to engage in the campaign.

A survey deployed several years ago shows that students do not feel safe using Lovers Walk. It shows that they would like lighting to be increased, the path to be widened and the surface made suitable to use as a cycle route. Sam stated that there is no need for further consultation with students on this issue, as he felt that the same issues would be raised again.

Several Residences Associations are currently investigating clearing the vegetation from Lovers Walk in order to make it wider. They do not have sufficient funding to carry out more substantial work. Southampton County Council currently have no plans to increase lighting on Lovers Walk.

Sam stated that, in the past, student conservation groups have objected to the clearing of vegetation and suggested that the Union find a way to engage them in the process.

Sam updated the Committee that the Portswood Safety Bus is no longer running, after the previous VP Welfare was mandated to investigate the Union’s provision for student night time safety. The investigation concluded that the Portswood Safety Bus was not safe for the drivers or passengers, was not the best use of Union funding and that there were more effective ways to improve student night time safety. Sam stated that his priority was on delivering safety information to students in a non-patronising way. For example, by working with night clubs to raise awareness of the ICE Bus located in East Park and updating information about this service on the SUSU website.

Sam informed the Committee that the Street Pastors currently operate in Bevois Valley on some nights and that he will be meeting with the Christian Union to find out more information about their work on student night time safety. Sam stated that the Union does not need to duplicate work that is already being done by these groups, but to collaborate with them to support the work that they do. It was noted that there is currently a gap in provision in the Bedford Place area.

The Committee discussed the role of night club security staff in ensuring the safety of students using their venues. It was noted that bouncers must be licenced.

Sam stated that one of his strategic priorities is for University Halls of Residence to become ‘student support hubs’. He clarified that students living locally to Halls of Residence would still be able to access this support service, in the light of the fact that many students did not secure places in Halls due to over-recruitment.

Sam updated the Committee that zero students attended the workshops delivered in Halls last week on finance and budgeting. It was concluded that a workshop is not the best format for delivering this content. Workshops will be held in Halls next month on healthy eating and cooking. It was noted that a workshop is more suitable in this case because it will involve practical activities. The Committee also discussed the effectiveness of using videos and introducing a competitive element to deliver information about healthy eating and cooking, such as a ‘Christmas dinner on a budget’ competition.

It was noted that Faith & Belief falls under the remit of the Student Life Zone, but that there is no specific Officer position available on the Committee and no Student Groups Rep in place to represent the faith groups within the Zone. It was also noted that there is a Co-ordinator position for Faith & Belief on the Equality & Diversity Committee within the Sustainability Zone.

It was agreed that the Student Life Zone would help to promote the University’s Interfaith Week. Sam stated that he has already consulted the relevant student groups within the Zone to ask if there is anything specific that they would like the Zone to promote.

Sam informed the Committee that the University’s new Faith Statement makes no material change to the University’s current provision, but does explicitly acknowledge the importance of faith in many students’ lives. Sam stated that he is still deciding where would be best to display the Faith Statement on the SUSU website. It could be placed on the Advice Centre pages because of its relevance to other policies such as Special Considerations and Extension Deadlines.

There was no other business.