Your regular update from the SRC.
Hello University of Glasgow students,
We hope this finds you well. This is your first regular update from the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) of the new academic year.
In these updates we report to you on the work your student representatives and the SRC staff have been doing to support and represent you. We also let you know about upcoming projects and activities, including volunteering opportunities and events.
In this newsletter we will be:
At the base of the update are a list of contacts you can use to get in touch with us. Remember that the SRC are here to support and represent you, so please do reach out if you need our help.
Yours,
Hailie, Ross, Mariama and Tony
GUSRC Executive 23-24
Updates:
What is the SRC?
Some of you may still be asking yourselves this question, so to help explain who we are, what we do, and what support we offer students, we’ve put together this handy student induction video which aims to explain everything you need to know about the SRC in 90 seconds (or less).
Remember that if you ever have any questions about what we do or the support we offer, you can always visit our website, our app, get in touch over social media, or come in to see us in the McIntyre Building.
Cost of Living
As we get into the colder months, we are especially mindful of the continued impact of the Cost of Living crisis on students.If you’re struggling, we encourage you to visit the University website for a comprehensive list of the Cost of Living support available. If you are in need of additional funding, we would encourage you to apply to the Hardship Fund (EU/International Students) or the Discretionary Fund (UK students).
Our SRC Advice Centre is able to support you to apply for extra funding and can be contacted by emailing advice@src.gla.a.uk. They also provide a lot of helpful guidance around some of the costs that come with being a student, so if you have any queries around tuition fees, securing your council tax exemption, or ensuring you're paying the right amount on your bills, check out their handy webpages.
We continue to advocate for additional support and resources for students affected by rising costs through our work on the Cost of Living Action Group and the Student Experience Committee.
Black History Month
In October in the UK we recognise and celebrate Black History Month. The month is an opportunity to heighten public awareness of the massive impact Black people and Black voices have had on the history of our country. The theme this year was “Celebrating our Sisters”.
Over the course of the month, we’ve hosted a panel discussion on Black voices in student politics, a zine making workshop, an African-Caribbean food mixer, and we finished up this week with a screening of ‘Get Out’ (2017).
We’ve also been posting some recommendations of Black-created media and acknowledgments of Black people in society, such as 5 Black British women in STEM that you should know about, 5 Black British directors for your next movie night, and 5 podcasts with Black British hosts to save for later. Thank you to all of the students who came along and supported our events this month.
Student Council Elections
Earlier in October we held our Autumn Council elections and elected thirteen new reps to the Council.
We are pleased to have representation for every College in the PG Convenor category as well as a full General Rep team.We’re also especially proud of the addition of our new positions to Council this year including the Home Students Officer, who will complete our full Welfare and Equal Opportunities team, increasing our ability to represent UofG students from all walks of life.
Visit our website to view the full election results and the contact details of the full council.
Welcome Week
It’s been just over a month since we held one of our busiest and most successful Welcome Weeks ever. Over the course of 9 jam-packed days, we welcomed new and returning students to the University with over 80 amazing student-led events and activities.
Highlights of the week included one of the largest Welcome Fairs we’ve had, with 250+ exhibitors and over 15,000 attendees over 2 days, our ever-popular outdoor film screening of High School Musical 3, and the return of the legendary Headphone Disco in the Cloisters to finish up the week. All of our events bar one were free to attend and inclusive to all; we aimed to cater for every type of student, from first years to postgrads.
We’d like to thank all of the amazing student volunteers, University staff and everyone who attended for making this such an unforgettable week. We can’t wait to do it all over again in January for the new students joining us in Semester 2!
The Advice Centre
Casework
Since 1st August 2023 our Advice Centre have dealt with a total of 792 cases,168 of which were assisting students with submitting academic appeals. It’s not uncommon for the Advice Centre to assist a large number of students with appeals at this time of year as this is also when students are receiving results from the August resit exam diet. During this period, we also assisted 35 students with sourcing suitable accommodation in Glasgow and assisted a further 8 students who were facing homelessness.
Policy & Campaigning
As part of our ongoing work to try and help reduce the number of students being referred to the University for alleged breaches of the Code of Student Conduct relating to plagiarism and academic misconduct, we have worked closely with the University’s Student Learning Development Service to revise the Academic Writing Skills Programme. The revised module now contains additional information to students on the potential impact of being found guilty of academic misconduct along with lots of helpful advice & guidance on good academic practice and how to avoid accidental plagiarism, collusion etc.
We also worked to review the University’s Carers Policy. The review of the policy has been ongoing for the last year and resulted in a consultation process with student carers which included a survey being issued to all registered carers at the University alongside focus groups which were designed to gather feedback from student carers on their experiences of the policy and any additional support or amendments they would like to see implemented. After analysing the results of the consultation report a number of suggested amendments to the Carers’ Policy were submitted to and passed by the University’s Student Experience Committee in late September. We now anticipate that the University will take this work forward with a view to a revised policy and additional support being implemented.
SRC Volunteering
At the start of this month, we held our Volunteering and Social Justice Festival at Glasgow University Union (GUU). The event welcomed more than 25 of our local community partners to campus and gave students the opportunity to get involved in a variety of volunteering initiatives. It was a fun event and it was great to see so many students turn up and show an interest in volunteering during their studies. If you weren’t able to make it then don’t worry as we’re looking forward to hosting another fair event in semester 2, and you can register to volunteer with us at any time.
Here’s a selection of our current opportunities:
Repair Café – Sat 4th November
Join us for our Repair Café in collab with Repair Café Glasgow in The ARC, Sat 4th Nov 12pm – 3pm. Sometimes a very simple repair is all that is needed to fix a broken or damaged item. This saves the unnecessary cost of a replacement. When we send less waste to landfilll, environmental costs are also reduced and the whole community benefits!
So come along and grab a coffee, tea, and tasty treats while your item is being assessed and hopefully repaired. This is a free event, open to students and members of the local community - no appointments needed.
Wellbeing Workshops
The SRC run a series of wellbeing workshops, which we hope will teach you vital skills that will help you throughout your time at University and beyond:
Our workshops are peer-led, and free for all University of Glasgow students to attend. Upon successful completion of our Mind Your Mate and Mind Yourself workshops, you will receive a completion certificate, signed off by the University’s Chief Operating Officer, acknowledging your status as a University Mental Health Champion.
Clubs and Societies
Our Clubs & Societies Team have had a busy start to the year, supporting over 320 clubs to become affiliated and offering support on a wide range of issues, from club management to events and promotion, to safety and wellbeing.
The Clubs Team continue to offer regular training sessions to clubs, including our Compulsory Induction sessions (available weekly), and monthly Clubs Website Training sessions to help club committees learn to use our MSL web system and its many useful features.
If you’re in an affiliated club or society, remember that the SRC team are here to support you. Check out the Clubs Resources page on our website to find out what we offer, including room booking, grant funding, promotion support and more.
Coming Up
16 Days of Activism Against GBV
At the start of the summer, our SRC President, Hailie, wrote a blogpost outlining the work we've been doing around Gender-Based Violence following the release of the Morag Ross Report.
In addition to delivering our Let's Talk About Sexual Violence Workshops, promoting our mandatory Let's Talk Moodle Module, and continuing to provide free, confidential GBV Counselling, we have been working with the University to develop an awareness raising campaign around gender-based violence.
Throughout the development of the campaign, we have maintained that the student voice is central to its success. We believe that students deserve to feel safe, supported, and represented in all discussions surrounding GBV on our campus. To ensure that this campaign reflects the views and priorities of UofG students, we have consulted with all four student bodies and a variety of clubs and societies.
The campaign is set to launch on November 25th, which marks the start of the 16 Days of Activism. We intend to host a series of events to mark both the international 16 Days campaign and the launch of the University's own GBV campaign. More information about these activities - including a vigil, placard workshop, and participation in the Fight for the Night March - will be released soon. We hope to have as many students as possible involved.
The Gilchrist Postgraduate Club
Semester one has been very busy so far in The Gilchrist! We had a jam-packed Postgraduate Welcome programme, featuring both popular returning events such as our Pub Quiz and Murder Mystery, plus some new nights such as our Kingo Drag King bingo.
Coming up we’re looking forward to hosting Chinese Culture Week from November 7th to 9th, run by Glasgow Chinese Students and Scholars Association. Find the full listings here.
Make sure to stay up to date with the latest Gilchrist events by checking our website or following us on social media @TheGilchristPG (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter). For more information on the listed events please contact gilchristpgclub@src.gla.ac.uk. If you are a postgraduate student or SRC affiliated club that would like to put on your own events in the Gilchrist Postgraduate Club please contact events@src.gla.ac.uk.
Contacts:
Thank you for reading. The next update will be out toward the end of Semester 1.