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Learning and Teaching Oscars 2013

The Learning and Teaching Oscars are our chance to say thank you to all the staff who work so hard at Heriot-Watt University providing the word class teaching and support that we as the students sometimes take for granted. There were over 1300 nominations this year which covered everyone from academic staff, to the staff who work in the background. All of which are essential to making Heriot-Watt an amazing place to study.

10 school officers from all different schools spent 8 hours reading through all the nominations finding who had the best quality nominations written about them, rather than who had the most. A lot of pizza and fizzy juice kept them focussed and we soon had our shortlist. All school officers were then asked to each vote for a winner for each category, and the winners picked.

The Oscars themselves saw staff from all departments come together to see if they had won a prestigious award given to them by their students. This year the Oscars transformed the Union into a garden fete with Pimms, high tea and a table of some fantastic cakes, some of which were baked by students.

(A selection of delicious cakes)

We started with an opening speech from Mike Ross then got straight into the awards. There were some great acceptance speeches and it was clear to see how much the recognition of students meant to the staff winning the awards. The best speech went to Andrew MacLaren (winner of the Switched on Award) for telling us how his mum had told all her tennis friends that he had been nominated for an award for being the most turned on; maybe we need to re-think the name of that award for next year.

(Switched On Winner: Andrew McLaren)

I think this year was one of the best LTO’s and I hope everyone gets behind the awards next year too, seeing staff with a tear in their eye and being so shocked that the students think so highly of them makes it so worth the 5 minutes it takes to fill out a nomination!

(2012/13 Sabbatical Team: Laura Gregson, Mike Ross and Katie Barr)

  Katie Barr (SBC President)

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Calling All Petrol Heads!

The 2013 Monte Carlo or Bust Banger Rally is now open for entries and organisers are hopeful of finding a team of students from Edinburgh to burn rubber for over 1000 miles to Monte Carlo via France, Switzerland and Italy.  The rally challenges students to source a banger car for less than £250 and take part in a variety of Top Gear-style challenges along the way and compete for points and prizes.  Teams are encouraged to raise money for their Heriot-Watt University Union or a local charity of their choice and can share their progress with supporters back home via live GPS tracking. Inspired by the classic Paramount film, the 3-day crusade will see over 100 of the finest British bangers visit some of Europe's most exciting locations and experience spectacular roads with backdrops of sun, sea, sand and snow!   There are a series of prizes up for grabs including trophies for the best - and worst - dressed teams. Rally spokesperson, Cuthbert Ware-Armitage, comments:  “I am laying down the challenge to the students of Heriot-Watt University to join me on Europe’s ultimate banger rally adventure.   This is a brilliant opportunity to get your team into gear and experience some of the greatest roads in Europe in some of worst cars from Edinburgh!” Monte Carlo or Bust takes place between 12-14 of July and more information can be found on the event website at www.montecarloorbust.eu Event image: Cuthbert Ware-Armitage officially launches rally at Monte Carlo Casino! https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_mQoLYw4ajbdEI2SFRlVGxrZ1U/edit?usp=sharing Further details available from: www.montecarloorbust.eu  |  enquiries@montecarloorbust.eu  |  0870 295 9659

[yourunionexec-blog]

The Big Picture

"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing." 

-- Edmund Burke

 It’s really hard to get people to see the big picture sometimes. I spend a lot of my time in my many different roles, part time employment, elected positions locally and nationally, home life and even just online, experiencing both blood boiling anger and heartbreaking disappointment at peoples disregard for really important issues.

Now granted I meet tons of students, officers, activists and regular every day people who engage at all different levels and care in some shape or form, and that is really inspiring and keeps me sane! However the amount of people I meet on a day to day basis, who just don't care or don't get why these issues are important is just staggering.

Now for me Education is the biggy, I believe its not something we can look at in isolation though time and time again we find people only concerned with 'what has this got to do with me'. This needs to stop. While it is understandable that people are concerned about themselves (it is a survival thing I get that). We cannot view education in a bubble and we certainly can't view aspects of education in one too. So Further education like colleges and higher education like universities, even secondary education like High schools should not be viewed as separate, they are all interlinked and a change in one can have a massive impact on the others.

You only have to look just south of the border to see that fluctuations in their education system can have a massive impact on us too. This year will be the first round of 'Curriculum for Excellence' students entering the doors of universities, many universities are now trying to figure out how they will need to adapt to accommodate a very different type of student. So when cuts to colleges happen, we can't claim ignorance that;  'It doesn't affect me, cuts have to happen somewhere' or even worse; 'You are a uni student, why are you wasting your time on this?'

I don't believe we should only be serving the students of the present; we have a duty to protect our future students, the students yet to come and our future generation. We should be protecting opportunities for access to higher education. Cuts to colleges may not seem like it affects you, or changes our campus - but it does. In the long run, a student who can’t make it into college because of devastating cuts won't ever make it onto our campus. The student, who doesn't receive the same quality of education, is then a student who will be asked to repeat years of study unnecessarily at their own expense.

This isn't just about cuts or protecting education (though that is REALLLLLLY IMPORTANT). It is about realising that we don't live in a bubble. Heriot-Watt doesn't live in a bubble, whether it’s UKBA revoking visas for international students or Theresa May trying to rip up your human rights (and civil liberties for that matter too). These issues impact you and your friends, in some way, shape or form. It's not good enough to shrug our shoulders and bury our heads in the sand.

There is hope though, I have had the pleasure to work with some amazing people, who go out there and slog their guts out to tell you about the issues that matter, that will campaign, blister their feet and make themselves ill fighting for something bigger than them. Oh so desperate to educate and engage, even if you don't agree with them, they want nothing more for you to take an interest and stand up for something. They want to create as many active, informed citizens as they can with a voice and will to use it. That is the sort of thing that gets me out of bed in the morning.

The jaded cynics among you will claim I'm fighting a battle I can't possibly win, I disagree, but it isn't always about the end outcome of politicians’ votes or the policy passed. This is bigger than that, it is about winning hearts and minds,  standing up for what you believe in, and if all I achieve at the end of my time as an officer is making one students life better, or getting someone that bit more involved, then I will walk away with my head held high.

So next time you see me banging on about something on Facebook or see someone with a cause or petition, with passion burning in their eyes. Don't be so quick to shrug your shoulders and tell them it doesn't affect you because on some level, we are all connected through our education, it all matters, and you are not an island.

  Conor Murray-Gauld

Executive of Campaigns

If you enjoyed my ramblings or want to let me know what you thought you can follow/tweet me @conor_strife

Or check out my own personal blog at: thechroniclesofanerd.wordpress.com

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Fun and Flatmates

It's that time of year again! Where everybody is already worrying about where to live next term. This week the university hosted an accommodation fair for students looking to rent privately next year.

The Advice Hub had a stall set up and the fair and we invited Shelter to come along and speak to students about their tenancy rights. It was a really successful day and we managed to hand out 200 information packs. If you didn't make it along to the fair then we have made the content available online so you can browse it whenever!

Happy House hunting everyone, just remember when you are looking for flats; if it is too good to be true then it probably is. A great new website to try and use is www.flatfiller.co.uk. The company is Edinburgh based and it means the letting agents come to you.

Ps. Who also received one of our valentine's day cards?

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Accommodation For Returning Students 2013 / 2014

As I am sure, you are all aware of the e-mail which was sent out on Tuesday 5th February regarding accommodation on campus for returning students.

It is the University's policy to guarantee all Heriot-Watt 1st years accommodation and with the rising intake of new students (because we're so awesome) it means that the University can no longer offer accommodation on campus to returning students. Which is a very understandable cause. But where was this information last term!? It seems very late in the academic year to be launching this bombshell on us all!

We want to let you all know that we are in talks with the university just now to try and clarify some points. Our main concerns are our vulnerable students that choose to stay on campus and our Erasmus students that are staying abroad. How are they going to be taken care of?

If you have any complaints please get in touch with us and we will try to help you resolve the situation. In the mean time, go along to the university's accommodation fair next week (Feb 14th) and look out for our hand information packs we are compiling with Shelter to help you navigate the private rented sector.

[yourunionexec-blog]

The Student Union Elections

Current President Mike Ross gives his take on the 2013 Student Union elections

They come once a year and create a poster flurry unlike no other. With candidates doing whatever they can to communicate what they will do to make the student experience better for Heriot-Watt students. There's a whole host of positions with the big three being President, Vice-President and Scottish Borders Campus President. These are the full-time sabbatical positions and see candidates take part in what is possibly the toughest interview panel of them all where 8,000 Heriot-Watt students decide if you get the job.

This is one of the most exciting times of the year for the Student Union. The Student Union is run by students for students and these elections will determine who will be sitting on the executive committee which is responsible for running the Union. 

But why should you care? If you never use the Union or the services it offers what difference does it make?

These are two excellent questions. The Union has developed a good working partnership with the university to ensure that students are central to the decisions that are made in the University. Your vote in these elections decides who the university will talk to first when it comes to anything related to the student experience. This covers a whole host of things from 24 hour library opening to the cost of printing on campus.So it's vital that you chose the right person to represent your views.

So how do I vote?

You can vote from the times below by going to the voting website www.hwunion.com/vote ;

Voting Opens - 9am, Wednesday 20th February 2013

Voting Closes - 5pm, Friday 22nd February 2013

Election Announcment - Evening of Friday 22nd February 2013

So what can you do?

Read the candidates manifestos when they get put up here

Come along to Hustings at 5pm 19th February in Zeros in the Union

Vote by going to www.hwunion.com/vote

Don't forget that it's your Union and your choice to see who will lead it next year.

Mike

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Exams

Our thoughts are with you all at this stressful point in the year! The Advice Hub have been busy handing out exam stress packs in the past couple of weeks, if you missed your chance to grab one, have a read of some of the advice below to help you through. 

Eat some Brain Food:

Oily Fish - Is good for your memory, Also fish contain iodine which can help mental clarity.

Blueberries - Research from Tufts University in the United States and published in the Journal of Neuroscience suggests that blueberry extract can improve short term memory.

Pumpkin Seeds - Just a handful a day is all you need to get your recommended daily amount of zinc, vital for enhancing memory and thinking skills.

Blackcurrants - Vitamin C has long been thought to have the power to increase mental agility. One of the best sources of this vital vitamin is blackcurrants.

And don't forget to stay hydrated!

Be realistic:

Set yourself achievable goals, if you set yourself unrealistic goals, you will only feel disappointed and demoralised when you don't achieve them. Know your learning techniques and stick to them. 

Take regular Breaks:

Make plans to do something fun or see friends in your break to give you a bit of a change of pace. Make sure you get out and about...

But don't spend all your time on Facebook, if you have hit the refresh button for the millionth time and there is still nothing new, you know it's time. Get a parent or a friend you trust to change your password. It's only for a couple of weeks and you will feel better for it.

Exercise: 

Sitting around all day may can make you feel tired, but it is just your brain - go for a run or another form of exercise to exert your body. Interpretive dance perhaps??

Hopefully these wee tips will help you out, remember everyone is different so do what works for you, the night before an exam I would write out a huge mind map with all the key information on it. Then, in my exam I could sit and visualize the different stems and the information around them. - Laura, VP

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Widening access is about more than numbers in a spreadsheet

Being involved in the sphere of student unions, and the inevitability of the education sector, public policy and Intense debate that comes with “fighting the good fight” there comes a lot of buzz words, that people hear but never really quite understand. The one you hopefully heard this year is “Widening access & Retention”.

To your average person this doesn't mean much. The jaded cynics out there claim it’s just a vague term political types like to throw around to win votes and sound like they have fulfilled some sort of mandate for the little guy. Others will say it’s a pipe dream that “lefty socialists” thought up so we can dumb down university so anyone can get in.

Widening access was a crucial issue to me, one that affected me and my family. My mum went back to college when I was in my teens, and without the support she had through that funding system she wouldn't have been able to stop working dead end jobs to support her through her education. By doing this she was able to open up her own business in the local community and provide a better future for me and my siblings. It’s an anecdotal story, and please dear readers, this isn't supposed to be me tugging on your heart strings, but that’s just one of the stories in why protecting student funding is so crucial. That was just one reason why I got involved in a campaign like never seen before in University and Colleges across Scotland. Heriot-Watt alone sent over 1000 emails to MSP's demanding that these proposed cuts be reversed and in a united voice we win utterly and completely, and never have I been more proud to be a student of HW.

I'm telling you all of this, because this year brings new challenges and new issues even closer to mine and many other hearts. The government has finally decided that universities, publicly funded institutions, need to do more to be reflective of society. Right now universities in Scotland take on about 9% of students from the absolute poorest 20% of society. Even though in recent years the attainment gap between High school leavers from the public and private schools have closed we still face huge inadequacies in the uptake of students from these different backgrounds, we still have huge discrepancies where gender makes a difference to what university course you will access.

“Are you saying we should just start letting people in the doors willy nilly?. Well no, this isn't about just ramming as many poor students as we can into university to make some bar chart in a government office look good. It's about creating a fairer education system for all. A system where everyone has the exact same opportunities and the exact same choices as everyone else regardless of circumstance. This is not the case for so many potential students right now.

We won the argument for no tuition fees for Scottish students, and we will continue to say education should be free for all. Now we need to step up our game, because free university doesn't mean anything when students never make it to the doors in the first place, or worse make it and drop out because the university or the union failed to support these people effectively. These problems run deeper than what universities, or we as students can solve in one academic term. Or what the government can choose to solve in one batch of legislative hand-outs. This is stepping stones to start the ball rolling!

The reason this is so personal to me, and so many others, Is I come from hat background. I'm one of those lucky students that made it against the odds to be the 9% and even worse I was almost that one in nice who drops out. Bad careers advice and lack of guidance led me to getting into the wrong degree and feeling pretty lost. Luckily I found the students union, and I'm still here today, fighting alongside hundreds of other officers and everyday people to make things fairer. So no-one has to go through what I did and learn the hard way. I got lucky, lots of students don't. I have 3 siblings all under the age of 5, and I want them to have just as much chance in life as anyone else. I want a better future for tomorrow, and while this doesn't solve it all. It’s a pretty damn good start, and cause well worth the effort.

                       But what can you do? Firstly you can go here, and sign this petition: http://www.unlockscotlandspotential.org/

Thank you for sticking with this long article.

Conor Murray-Gauld

Student Union Executive – Campaigns

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The Vision Survey

Vision is something that we know frustrates everyone - For far too long, it has crashed on a regular basis, lecturers haven't used it correctly (or at all!) and it just really wasn't fit for purpose. However, when we learnt last year that the university was planning on upgrading Vision, we were hopeful that it would bring about change, and a renewed interest in making Vision something that is a really useful tool for learning.

So, over the summer, we started to plan a campaign - a campaign to engage with you about Vision, and to find out what students actually think about vision, and more importantly, what they want vision to be used for. We've just completed the first stage of this campaign - which was the Vision Survey.

We received 1246 responses, and had respondents from every course, in every school, on every campus of Heriot-Watt - this has been the biggest survey ever undertaken by the union! We were truly astounded by the response, and we now have some work to do!

The Results

"Have Any Of Your Lecturers Had Problems With New Vision That They Have Informed You About?"

The headline results from the survey were that the new vision is a vague improvement over the old one, but that lecturers are having problems with the new system, with 41% of you reporting problems. You also told us that you want more Feedback and News Articles on Vision, whilst those of you who have used the new app, like it.

Overall, Do You Think "New" Vision Is Better Or Worse Than Before?

We will now sit down with your School Officers (find your School Officer in our nifty new finder, hwunion.com/repfinder), and go through the nitty-gritty details of everything you have told us, before in the New Year we write a policy to take to the University.

This policy will propose Minimum Standards, which will be enforceable through the Universities quality systems - essentially this means that if your lecturer is not adhering to the standard, your Class Reps and School Officers will be able to go and say "You're not doing a good enough job here". This will obviously not change everything overnight - but we believe this is one of the most important steps we can take to make sure you can expect a higher standard of content on Vision in the future.

We'll keep you up to date on this blog as we go through this campaign - but thank you to everyone who filled in the survey, and if you have any questions about Vision, you can email Mike on president@hwunion.com 

[yourunionexec-blog]

Scottish Liberal Democrats talk Bow Ties, Clubbing, Buses and Internships with HWUNION

On Monday the 22nd September SCOTTISH Liberal Democrat Willie Rennie visited the Scottish Borders Campus in Galashiels.

The tour on Monday was organised by South of Scotland MSP Jim Hume - a former Scottish Borders Councillor - to highlight the skills available in the region.

Jonathon (SBC Exec), Katie (SBC President) and Laura ( VP) met with both Willie and Jim to talk about local issues which they could show their support for and help us work towards fixing.

We covered everything from the new boom in textiles jobs in the Borders and what this might mean for Heriot-Watt students’, to bus travel prices in and around Galashiels.

It was a great meeting and one of the most positive meetings we have had from politicians, they were keen to keep in contact and help put pressure on bus companies to give student prices that are manageable.

We also talked about unpaid internships and what the government were doing to create schemes which helped small companies take on paid internships. We are hoping to get both Willie and Jim to sign our Internship Pledge in the near future.

Mr Hume said: "With textiles being a key sector for the Borders, the Heriot-Watt facility in Galashiels is an excellent boon for the town and the wider Borders economy.”

"The recent takeover of Barrie Knitwear in Hawick by Chanel has shone a welcome spotlight on textiles and fashion, and students told us of their excitement about the potential opportunities this may bring for them in the future."

Putting in their orders for Custom Bow Ties with Peter in the SBC sewing rooms.

[yourunionexec-blog]

Represent Your Halls!

Here in the Student Union we are feeling out of touch with all our wonderful student's living in Halls! So we are reaching out to you! :) 

We are starting a new system of Hall Reps. As a Hall Rep you would have the following responsibilities;

Attend Weekly Meetings Update and manage the poster board in your hall. Spread any relevant information that you have learned in your weekly meeting. Help distribute wristbands for certain events, and Lead battle of the halls challenges.

In exchange we can offer you lots of fun incentives and prizes along with a Heriot-Watt Halls Rep hoody, free entry into our club nights and food vouchers to spend in the Union!

What's not to love!? Help make your time in halls that bit better!

Get in touch with Laura: hwunionvicepresident@hw.ac.uk

[yourunionexec-blog]

NUS #Demo2012

On the 21st November 2012 NUS are staging a Demonstration in London called Educate, Employ, Empower. To find out more about the demonstration click here.

As representatives of your union we faced the difficult decision of whether or not as a Student Union we should support this demo. We spoke to a variety of students and student representatives regarding this matter and we have come to the decision that Heriot-Watt Watt University Student Union will not be supporting this demonstration.

We took many different factors into consideration, including the fact that the date of the demonstration is in week 11 of our term. Many students do not have time to sacrifice 3 days travelling to and from London at this crucial point in the academic calendar.

As a Union we have a limited amount resources and spent a large amount of time over the summer deciding on our priority campaigns which include improving vision and widening access and retention. We feel that supporting the demo would detract from these campaigns and the impact we want them to have.

Mike Ross, Student Union President had this to say about the decision that was taken;

"The date for the demo clashes with a large number of hand-in dates for our students at the end of semester along with our examination period before the festive holidays. Given a realistic time commitment of 2 to 3 days we felt that we had an important responsibility when it came to representing our students with this decision. In addition to this the resources involved in supporting the national demo  would mean that our priority campaigns, particularly around widening access and retention, would struggle to have the impact they are intended to have. The executive committee spent a considerable amount of time over this decision and it was a difficult one to come to."

"We are supportive of the message and overall ideas that have come about because of the demo. We don’t believe the demo, in its current form, has come about in the right way to support these ideas. (I mean this in the sense that the National Union of Students conference voted for the following 'Conference resolves to organise a national demonstration in the first term of 2012-2013 against cuts, fees, high interest on student debts' and the message since has been changed)."

[yourunionexec-blog]

A huge win for our Scottish students

The Scottish Government has announced a new minimum income for the poorest students of £7250, a minimum support package of £4500 regardless of income, and part-time fees abolished for those earning less than £25,000, delivering on another one of our key pre-election asks.

This will make Scotland's package of student support the best in the UK.

Mike Ross, Your Union President, said:

"Today's announcement is a brilliant win for students across Scotland. For too long Scotland has had the poorest support package for it's students. This will ensure that our Scottish students receive the financial support they need to be able to undertake their studies."

"An increase in student support of this magnitude will also help to ensure that Scottish students studying at Heriot-Watt will not have to work so many hours in order to support themselves through their studies. This will especially help students from the poorest backgrounds who might not have come to university otherwise"

Robin Parker, NUS Scotland President, said:

         “The announcements today are a huge step forward and a victory for years of campaigning by countless students across Scotland. From next year, Scotland will have the best support package in the whole of the UK available to college and university students studying at higher education level."

“We’ve always said that getting an education should be about your ability, not your ability to pay. If students don’t have enough money to get by then we know their studies can suffer, too often taking on too much paid work, getting into commercial debt, or worst of all dropping out."

“Abolishing fees, protecting places and improving student support are the foundations on which we can achieve fair access. We will now work incredibly hard to build on this progress to ensure higher education in Scotland becomes genuinely open to people from all backgrounds, achieving fair access based on your potential not your background, and ensuring that the announcements from Government today are met by action from institutions over the coming months and years to achieve fair access."

More info can be found here:

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/186689-new-funding-package-for-students-will-be-best-available-in-uk/

http://www.nus.org.uk/en/news/news/nus-scotland-welcomes-huge-step-forward-on-student-support/

[yourunionexec-blog]

Lead and Change 2012

From August 7th-10th Laura (Vice-President) and Katie (SBC-President) traveled down to Lancaster University to participate in NUS' Lead and Change training event. The event was spread over 4 days and covered everything from public speaking to student engagement. Our two sabs worked very hard, Katie put Liam Burns (NUS President) on the spot with a great question at the National Demo Plenary and Laura was invited to deliver the closing address on the Friday. *High fives all round for Heriot-Watt* Here's what we had to say about our time at training;

Katie - "As Laura and I trundled off down to Lancaster, she said to me that she was a bit nervous, I was surprised, I wasn’t nervous at all. Then I thought back to the NUS Activities training I went to last year and realised I had been terrified, only a couple of months into my job and I was making my way to a part of England I didn’t know too spend a week with people I had never met!

Through my whole week at training I started to realise how far I had come in the last year and the skills I have learnt without really noticing. The NUS training really showed me to have confidence in my skills and how to implement them in a positive way to make a difference for the students I am representing. We learnt how to speak to people in powerful positions and how to make our points heard and taken seriously.

One of the best things about the Lead and Change training was sharing information with other Presidents and Vice-Presidents about how they have done similar projects and hearing from them about how they have handled sensitive issues.

The whole week was inspiring and Laura and I left all the other sabbaticals knowing who Heriot-Watt are and what we are all about. We came away feeling passionate and ready to have a fantastic year in office."

Laura - " I came to lead and change feeling skeptical and extremely nervous. I have never thought of myself as being political and I felt intimidated that everyone else attending would be a lot more informed than me.

However what I discovered was that lead and change was a great networking event full of amazing people who all want the best for students, up and down the country. I met some great people with some really amazing ideas.

The tutorials and plenaries were all really interesting and I have definitely learned a lot. I attended a few tutorials on how to get students involved in campaigns and can't wait to get started on them! Being asked to deliver the closing speech certainly caught me off guard... I thought I was getting into trouble! However the amazing confidence boost it has given me is great. I feel ready to take on the student world now - hurry up and come back everyone! I am raring to go!"

Watch the end of Laura's Closing speech on Facebook, Here!

Some of us at the end of Lead and Change - Spot Laura and Katie Back Left!

[yourunionexec-blog]

Priority Campaigns

Each year the executive committee decides on what campaigns we would like to prioritise so that we can plan for the year ahead accordingly. This week your executive committee agreed upon 3 main priority campaigns. They are as follows.

Vision Unpaid Internships Widening Access and Retention

These are matters all very close to our students and many of you are passionate about one or all of these subjects. Fraser Drew, our exec for Academic Affairs had this to say on the matter:

"Vision is one of the most important tools for students at Heriot-Watt, it serves as a central point to most modules, and is the place all students should first look for information. Online learning is becoming more and more important, as students become more mobile, and laptops and tablets become a lecture-hall essential - it has become a necessity that students have access to a quality, well thought out, reliable online learning environment."

"However, Vision is not perfect, and there are many things that need to be improved - from encouraging and enabling Lecturers to create better and more ambitious content for vision, to putting other - non-academic - information on vision, making it a true 'student-portal'."

(Fraser and Katie at HWStudentUnion's Summer Party)

Katie Barr (President SBC) has already been working on unpaid internships in the fashion industry - but this is not a industry specific problem. Unpaid internships are occurring across the board and are becoming more and more frequent in business, banking, law and even in the houses of parliament. Graduates should be entering PAID employment.

"Heriot-Watt Student Union thinks that this is not on and big companies should not be taking advantage of ambitious, hard working students." - Katie Barr  

Conor Murray-Gauld is our exec member for campaigns and as a student from a poorer background himself, is very passionate about widening access and retention at Heriot-Watt.

"As a student from the poorest background I have felt the benefit of university and seen how education can change lives. Heriot-Watt is publicly funded more than ever and if it is to continue to be a 'public good' must strive to be more reflective of society."

Mike Ross (President) had the following to say regarding retention:

"Ensuring access to university is an important issue however ensuring that students stay in university is equally as important. In the 2010/2011 academic year around 1 in 9 freshers dropped out of Heriot-Watt and we believe that the university could be doing more to ensure that at risk students receive the support that they need which they are not always aware of."

"Resources will need to be targeted at this area of work and doing this more effectively will allow us to reduce the number of students who drop out and improve their experience as a student."

NUS have recently published a report on the issue, click here to have a read of it.

(Mike and Conor - Campaigning for 'Voice Your Vote')

Can't wait to get involved?? Have a chat with us on Facebook or Twitter!

[yourunionexec-blog]

Leeds University Union are in the middle of a referendum about banning the sale of “lads mags” in their union shops at the moment.

Quite a few Students’ Unions have stopped selling/refused to sell lads mags such as Zoo and Nuts because of the sexist and misogynist content often found...

[yourunionexec-blog]

Unpaid Internships - our first protest and win!

Internships are talked about a lot throughout a students’ time at University, people tell you that they are a great way to kick start your career and make your CV stand out from the rest. Great if you are working within engineering, there are lots of paid summer internships out there and they can open up lots of doors. What happens if your chosen industry has an acceptance of getting students to work for free during their holidays. Fashion and Textiles if one of these industries, it is a competitive career path and students will do whatever it takes to get to the top even if that means working for free. This puts more strain on parents to provide for their children all year round and even pay for their summers in expensive cities. 

Heriot-Watt Students’ Union thinks that this is not on and big companies should not be taking advantage of enthusiastic students.

Jonathon (your new SBC Exec member) and me - Katie (your “new” SBC President) took a trip to London a couple of weeks ago. We went to a protest about long term unpaid internships. It was a very long day but a great way to start one of our main focuses for the Scottish Borders Campus Students’ Union. 

The National Union of Students invited us and the whole day was a huge success, through all the hard work NUS have put in, Arcadia one of the biggest highstreet fashion franchises announced they are going to back pay all the unpaid interns from the last year and from now on are going to pay all their interns - this is a HUGE success!

One of the worst examples of unpaid internships was from Calvin Klein, they were advertising a year long internship, boasting that it wasn’t a coffee collecting job for £0 for the duration - pretty sure that isn’t far off slave labour!

Not only did we get involved in our first protest, but we also spoke to Radio 1 about the issue and I am sure you will hear our lovely Scottish tones amongst all the posh English ones in September.

In the meantime watch this wee video we put together here: