Reading Document for Council on the 17th October 2011

3. c) Work Reports

Student President, Tessa Birley

RUK fees and Governance review: Discussions at University Senate and Court resulted in securing 10% of income from RUK fees for bursaries. For the Governance review the university took forward the suggestion of extra student representation on Court and the importance of the role of Rector. Car parking: Secured a 25% rebate for students purchasing annual permits and stopped the introduction of parking charges at Hillhead. Freshers Week: Working with the University to set up the new Union Bar through the new Union Bar Operating Board. This involves a Service Level Agreement between AUSA and the University. Also dealing with the Climate Challenge Project until the new co-ordinator took post- involved setting up AUSA being part of Blasda- Scotlands first national Local Food Feast. Aberdeen Students Forum (ASF): With Aberdeen College Students Association, Robert Gordon University Students Association and the Scottish Agricultural College Students Association (ASF) met with MSPs and the City Councillor to discuss cheaper transport, accommodation, the spending review and local council elections. Rectorial Elections: I have been sending nominations and meeting with potential candidates for the Rectorial Election. Media Summary: Television interviews for BBC Scotland, STV and Radio Interviews for BBC Scotland, Original, Northsound 1 regarding RUK fees, quotes in the Times newspaper. Television interview for STV for opening of new library, Radio for BBC Scotland, photo in P & J. Please contact sapresident@abdn.ac.uk for more information.

President for Welfare and Equal Opportunities, Jenny Batty

Over the summer I took part in further training with the new Sabbatical team including Active Political Leadership, a training delivered by NUS. I was also involved in planning Freshers Week, in particular developing new events such as Euro-dating, Student Parent Picnic and a Wingman Challenge which were all a success. During the summer months AUSA employed a student intern to review the welfare services available for students. This culminated in a report from which we have started to implement the findings. This includes the merging of the Information & Advice Centre/Joblink to a newly branded Student Advice

Centre and the introduction of casework software. This has been summarised into a document for Student Affairs Committee highlighting the need for improved communication of the welfare services available for students, increased support for students and the continuation of joint iniatives across the city for students studying in Aberdeen. Further discussions with Robert Gordon University Students Association and Aberdeen College have lead to the decision to roll out a cross-city Niteline, starting later in the year. Our project to investigate the feasibility of a student letting agency has progressed and we should expect a report in Spring 2012 with recommendations. I have been working closely with my Vice Presidents (Welfare and Equal Opportunities), providing handover sessions and developing plans for the forthcoming year. In addition I have arranged a series of training sessions for those involved in the Welfare and Equal Opportunities Committees. In addition, I have been planning campaigns for the year which has included seeking funding and working closely with other departments within the University. I developed some Equality training for Societies in conjunction with VP (Exec) Societies and have also been working with the University to develop an Equality and Diversity survey for students. Other joint work has included the internationalisation project for the Students Association and lobbying against the increase in fees for students coming from the rest of the UK to study in Scotland.

President for Societies, Sean McNally

Over the summer I received a full and comprehensive handover from Andrew Ryan and staff going over the day to day runnings of the organisation. I also attended the Gathering in Stirling with all the sabbatical officers and NUSs Active Political Leadership in Lancaster with Adam and Sean. Freshers week took up a large proportion of my work time, making sure that society events were going to run and making sure that they received the support that they needed. I also arranged the societies fayre. I also organised a full day of societies training which was delivered on the eighth of October. I am now awaiting feedback from societies to determine whether it was a success however, verbal reports from the day and also from those who took training sessions seems to indicate it was well received. I have also submitted a paper to SAC in regards to room use by societies. Hopefully, the outcome will allow societies to have greater use of space across campus. I have been working with numerous societies to make sure that there events have gone off including AUACS and BeCycle. I also held my first committee meeting and as such have set up boards for the following areas: Back Hall Project Board Application Review Board Colours Board Sponsorship Board

Aa

President for Education, Josefine Bjrkqvist

Training Since starting the post, I have attended extensive training such as Active Political Leadership delivered by NUS, There is a Better Way delivered by UCU and Higher Education Quality Enhancement delivered by Sparqs. In August, I was appointed to the Sparqs Higher Education Advisory Group, which looks at the development of Sparqs on a national level. Together with the Education Development Coordinator, I helped deliver a presentation on the changes to the Class Representatives system to administrative staff from each University department. We also delivered School Convenor training to the Education Committee, which was highly successful. The Education Committee will be receiving an unprecedented total of 6.5 hours of training including School Convenor training, Student Senator training, effective communication and public speaking training, training on how to chair a committee as well as scenario training. Campaigning Together with the Executive Committee, I have lobbied for a fair deal for Rest of UK students, and we managed to secure a cap of 27,000 for a four year degree with a 10% bursary package. I highlighted this to students through my column in the first issue of the Gaudie. Feedback I have provided the initial content for the Student section of the Universitys new website on Enhancing Feedback, which will be continuously improved throughout the year. After analysing the National Student Survey results for 2011, I met with Prof Peter McGeorge Vice Principal (Learning and Teaching) and lobbied for an improvement in the timeliness of feedback. I secured a promise that Heads of Schools will be informed that the deadlines for receiving feedback on assessment and exams will be actively promoted this year to ensure that students are aware of the Universitys three week feedback policy. We had our first Education Committee meeting where we decided that one of our main priorities for the year will be a feedback campaign to increase students knowledge of feedback, encourage academics to focus on quality feedback and most importantly ensure that feedback is prompt and the University abides by its own Feedback Framework. Employability After a successful Euro-Dating event in Freshers week, I have begun looking at ways in which we can better promote the Erasmus program through the Employability Committee. I have begun working on a Language Exchange Program which will serve a dual purpose; offer support to students here on Erasmus as well as helping students wishing to go abroad by developing their language skills and confidence.

I have attended various meetings regarding the STAR Award and helped amend various elements of the award in order to make it more suitable for students. I have also been actively promoting the award and will be speaking at the STAR Award informational session. Other In September, I started an Internal Teaching Review for the Psychology department. I chaired the first student focus group for the review in September and will be holding another more extensive focus group towards the end of this month in order to get useful feedback for the review. I have delivered presentations about the Students Association at a large number of Induction sessions for first level courses as well as PGT and PGR programs. I have promoted the role of Rector to potential candidates. Together with the Aberdeen Students Forum, I met with MPs and MSPs from the Aberdeen area and lobbied for better deals for students concerning travel and accommodation in Aberdeen.

President for Charities, Sean ORourke

Over the summer I received a full and comprehensive handover from the outgoing sabbatical officer Ciara Ryan where she showed me the day to day workings of the role and had meetings with key figures to aid fundraising. During handover I also attended meetings with University departments and the gathering with the rest of the sabbatical team and active political training run by NUS with Adam and Sean. I planned out the events calendar for the coming academic year which features all of the usual events however there are plans to have even more with the help of the committee. Details of these are unavailable at the time of writing the report however I welcome any emails from any member of Council regarding this. I have also met with Johanna regarding her role and how we should work together throughout the rest of the year with some plans coming out of this for responsibility of the campaign. Freshers Week took up a considerable amount of time over summer with the planning group and of course the week itself however I personally view the series of events on the whole to have been considered a success and after talking to students have some idea of how best to improve this. The freshers fling was a success with everyone who turned up having enjoyed themselves. Final figures are not yet confirmed as the monthly accounts are not yet due. I attended a meeting of the University Centre for Teaching and Learning regarding both the peer mentoring scheme and the Personal Tutor plans in place of Josefine. This meeting went well. I now also attend the Quality Assurance committee meetings with Josefine and these are proving to be beneficial to the sabbatical side of my role. I have conducted a series of FISHing sessions which are proving useful to targeting how we campaign throughout the year

aaa

President for Sports, Adam Downie

For more information on any of the topics below please get in touch with Adam at pres.sport@abdn.ac.uk or by visiting the Sports Union office. The report summarises my work as President for Sport over the past two months after taking office. Making Sport in Aberdeen bigger and better.

Area Training

Work done Attended BUCS Conference, APL and The Gathering. Completed a month-long handover period with other sabbaticals. Outlined a provisional events calendar for the year. Arranged job descriptions and roles for SU Committee members. Completed strategic plans and relevant action plans. Worked with ASV to book all fixtures for the upcoming season and then with other Sports Presidents to continually maintain the fixture schedule Discussed and agreed the events to be held this year and their provisional dates.

Outcomes A strong grasp of the task in hand and the people and facilities available to help.

Planning

All major events and more are in the SA calendar. SU Committee is now in place and roles will be allocated this week. An action plan for the year was created

Fixtures

All home fixtures are booked and correct at time of going to print. Any problems have been successfully resolved

Events

Events calendar agreed, including several Olympic orientated events. These are visible on the SA Events calendar. A successful Freshers Week was enjoyed.

Freshers

Attended FWPG. Helped throughout the week at various events and activities. Attended the AU Forum for all Scottish Sports Presidents. Attended Professional Development Committee meetings.

SSS

Work actioned from these meetings was either completed or ongoing.

ASV

Worked, and continue to work, with the ASV staff on a number of issues including club training time, SU membership and other facilities bookings Finalising the AU Club CAP scheme with a view to implementing it in the immediate future. Attending Exec and Finance committees in the SA

In the case of facilities bookings the best arrangement is delivered. SU memberships are paid and there have been few problems associated with access to the ASV The ClubCAP manual is at the printers and ready to go. Work actioned from the SA committees has been completed.

Other

Vice President for Equal Opportunities, Vita Zaporozcenko

I attended the executive committee training which included campaign planning, trustee training, introduction to finance and an overview of the constitution, as well as other things that executive committee has to deal with. I also attended ` Chairing of the committee` training and all the meetings of executive committee. I had a meeting with Kelley Temple (NUS Scotland Women`s Officer) to discuss issues related to our Women and Gender campaign, as well as NUS Scotland campaigns for this academic year and how we can join in. Campaigns discussed were Zero Tolerance and Student carers amongst others. Ivehad multiple meetings with Jenny Batty to plan for the year ahead of us. We have also been trying to set up meetings with every liberations officer to discuss our plans for every area together. We have so far had a meeting with Johan Kangasniemi , the International Officer. Issues discussed were changing visa requirements and rented property deposits for international students amongst others. I have consulted students on issues that they are facing and what we can do to improve their time at the university. I have been making up an action plan for the following week, including, research on the possibility of creating and implementing Mental Health Mentoring Scheme and implications other institution have faced when implementing similar schemes and conducting research on hate crimes within Aberdeen city.

Sports Union Treasurer, Marc McCorkell

Since arriving back in Aberdeen on 18th September I have been busy completing a number of ongoing tasks for AUSA. Firstly Freshers Week was massive success and I volunteered throughout the week, sports fayre was a particular highlight with many of our clubs operating fantastic stalls. I have also alongside Adam be spending a large amount of time drawing up Club Allocations for this year, with 54 registered clubs this was no mean task and involved a lot of work to decide which clubs should get what proportion of our allocated disbursement. Due to problems that the Sports Union is experiencing with Electronic Transfer at Bank of Scotland, we then had to disburse the allocations via cheque. This has unfortunately been a lengthier process than clubs are normally experienced with.

On 27th September I presented to the Club Captains and Club Treasures on issues to do with finance explaining the audit process and the function of the unallocated expenditure forms. Without a functioning committee the past few weeks have been pretty hectic. Away from the Sports Union I had the pleasure of meeting two possible candidates for University Rector, Maitland Mackie and Colin Lawson. I also attended the Fresher Volunteer Prize Night at Pearl Lounge and sat on the Elections Committee, alongside attending other Executive meetings throughout the past two weeks At the moment Im beginning to make preparations for the incoming committee and informing them all about the procedure of Sports Union Finance and how our office at Aberdeen Sports Village Works. Sport this year has got off to a great start and I hope this is a sign of things to come.

Vice President for Charities, Johanna Wallin

Area Freshers Work done Freshers was a huge success and I volunteered throughout the week. I also helped out with the various Charities events, the freshers fling getting a very positive response. The elections this year gathered a lot of interest with several committees holding elections. I sat on the elections committee and helped out with various tasks regarding information and communication. Worked with Sean to get an overview of coming events and stage of organisation. Organised files and work folders from previous years. Been working to organise the fashion show for next month. Arranged and attended meetings for possible locations as well as contacted shops regarding donations and contributions. Furthermore I have looked into possible PR for the event and set up auditions. Attended a civic reception for the British Heart Foundation Scotland and discussed possible co-operation in the future regarding volunteers. Attended the various meetings throughout the month. I also had the pleasure of meeting, Maitland Mackie, one of the possible candidates for University Rector, to discuss future visions and aspirations.

Standing Committee elections Planning and organisation Fashion show

Representation

Exec

Vice President for Societies, Xander Brouwer

Due to the summer holidays I didnt fully assume my position until early September at which time we had training for executive committee. During this training several aspects, including trustee training, finance training and constitution training. I also attended a meeting with Graeme Hope, Membership Engagement Manager, Laura Chalmers, Societies Administrator and Sean McNally, PSSA, concerning what is currently worked under as the heading Societies Colours which is the idea to award members of different society committees and

their dedication to the society. This programme will be implemented before the next Societies Ball with nominations opening a few weeks before then. Also to be included in this programme are other student activities. I have also attended the first committee meeting and the executive committee meetings and helped Jenny Batty (PWEO) with a mandatory training for the societies training on Saturday October 8. The Enabling Participation focussed at how societies can be more inclusive of international students, mature students, postgrad students, disabled students and Foresterhill students. The training received good feedback overall.

Vice President for Education, Laura Sivula

Last few weeks have been very busy fulfilling my first VP duties. I have been working closely with Josefine and Kornelia. We have been discussing and defining our goals for this year. We have been speaking a lot about the roles of School Convenors and Class Reps and planning some quite exciting things for this year. I have received training with the other non-Sabb exec members to make sure that I can fulfill my duties fully as an Executive Committee and Trustee Board member. We have been planning the AUSA Priority Campaign for the year with the Executive Committee members. I attended a NSS Results Workshop with Josefine and Kornelia and delivered a Case Study presentation on how NSS results were used last year by the School Convenor and Class Reps at the Business School. Altogether the workshop was useful and we got some new ideas out of it. During Freshers Week I was promoting Class Rep and School Convenor positions. It was really good to get out there and hear what students think of the Class Rep Systems and what are the pros and cons in students perspective. I have attended a Quality Assurance Committee meeting with the University staff. Discussions included the proposed changes to the quality assurance process, provision of information about higher education, SENUS forms and an internal teaching review for Chemistry. I have received training for Chairing a Committee and forwarded the skills to School Convenors at their training on the 12th October. On Thursday 13th October I will attend the SLEEC (Student Learning Enhancement and Education Campaign) Education Network Event in Edinburgh with Kornelia. On Friday 14th October I will attend the University Undergraduate Committee meeting.

Aa

Foresterhill Convenor, Hannah ONeill

During my year in this post, I have a few aims I would like to achieve. The first, to integrate Foresterhill students with the rest of the student body is underway with the use of the social space as a place for services that are currently at the main campus. This will begin to both notify students at Foresterhill of the services available to them, and also the staff at AUSA of the needs of students. I also intend to make the Foresterhill Committee a bigger part of life at Foresterhill, and would like to erect a noticeboard in a more central place where all students can see exactly what the committee is achieving. Its current position is in the social space, so now that AUSA will have a stronger presence there, it may appear that the noticeboard should stay where it is. This is something which I will consider with my committee. As of yet, noone has volunteered to join the committee however in the past few days I have received some emails regarding people who would be interested in joining. When the committee is established I intend to take some time evaluating Foresterhill and consider what our year goals should be, alongside the wider issue of integrating Foresterhill with the main campus.

Environment and Ethics Officer, Gordon Maloney

Philadelphia Consensus Ive been meeting with various people in the University about developing a version of the Philadelphia Consensus - a set of policies designed to improve access to medications researched at Universities - that this University could adopt. One of the three policies is pretty much finished, progress on the other two has been slow but is ongoing. More information on this is here: http://essentialmedicine.org/cs/ Climate Change Project I was involved in the hiring process for the Climate Change Project and been working extensively with the newly appointed Climate Change Project Officer on developing plans for the year, ensuring schemes such as the Veg Bag were up and running for the first week of term and preparing weekly cookery workshops, as well as preparing lots of other events. Environment and Ethics Committee I encouraged enough people to nominate themselves that our committee is now full, and Ive met with them to talk about our plans for the year. Working with external groups Ive met with representatives from the group developing Sunnybank Park to discuss how we can collaborate. I was also contacted be someone from the film Just Do It and weve organised a showing of that (MR051 at 6pm on the 18th!). Ive been in touch with someone from Jubilee Scotland to do a talk on Third World Debt. I spoke at a Hiroshima Memorial on behalf of AUSA.

4. Items for information

4. a) Update on the Proposed Constitution
ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ASSOCIATION STUDENT COUNCIL AUSA Constitution: Update on the Proposed Constitution

Background AUSA has been reviewing its governing document- the Constitution. A new constitution detailing changes to the ways in which AUSA should be governed was forced through student council to go to a cross campus referendum on the 4th -6th of October 2011. To date 4.5k has been spent on a governance review in a process which began in October 2009. However over the summer it came to light that the document brought to Student Council by the previously executive team was not a finished document. Still full of typographical errors, as well as more serious and legal issues brought to light by the University Policy, Planning and Governance department it is not fit for purpose (the University has to also pass our Constitution so they need to be satisfied with the content). As well as late concerns that the proposed document would not meet the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) requirements. Given the short timescale between this information coming to light and the dates set for the referendum, the vote will not be held in October. We are currently working to see how to incorporate the essential elements to the current constitution such as the external Trustee Board. Action Required This paper is for information. Further Information Further information is available from Tessa Birley, Student President of Aberdeen University Students Association on (01224) 27-4250 or email sapresident@abdn.ac.uk.

4. b)

AUSAs Year of Internationalisation

ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ASSOCIATION STUDENT COUNCIL AUSAs YEAR OF INTERNATIONALISATION

Summary This paper is for information and outlines the draft plans for AUSAs Year of Internationalisation to date. The launch for the campaign is proposed for January 2012, especially in the context of the Universitys Strategic Plan 2011-2015 Strategic Objective 4: Internationalisation. It has been prepared following consultation with AUSAs Executive Committee, General Manager, Vice-Principal for Internationalisation and Students. Background Currently AUSA has limited engagement with International Students through the International Students Officer (volunteer role), support through our Student Advice Centre and various activities offered through its range of societies including an International Society. In line with the Universitys efforts to embed a culture of Internationalisation, under the banner of AUSAs Year of Internationalisation, AUSA would like to build on these activities and create new initiatives as suggested below to provide a richer learning and cultural experience for our students and in doing so play a major role in helping the University achieve one of its primary strategic objectives. AUSA is best placed to engage students to develop a global university and in a position to play a key role in helping the University achieve one of its new key strategic objectives; To embed a culture of internationalisation across our activities and in so doing enhance our reputation as a global university and help to contributing to the following aims: Grow our international student population Provide opportunities for students at all levels to study overseas Develop international research and teaching partnerships, existing and new; thesei might involve many partners across the whole range of disciplines, or single partners and single subjects Explore opportunities to form partnerships and networks centred around countries or regions

AUSAs Year of Internationalisation AUSA can capitalise on the diversity of their clubs and societies to help create a truly globalised and integrated culture on campus. To sell the best international student experience (incoming students): Holding a series of multicultural events on campus for example Chinese New Year Lantern Festival, Thanksgiving meal, Global Cafe, One World Week, Oktoberfest, Societies carnival, Burns supper, One peace day, Eurovision, Scottish Culture Day, St. Andrews day etc.

Encouraging the participation of international students in elections Developing our international students officer role To support international student induction process To set up and run a series of plagiarism workshops

To encourage more to go on international exchange (outgoing students): Highlighting the importance of becoming a global citizen and its potential benefits to future employability Benefits of learning a foreign language by setting up a Language Exchange Programme, which would be students teaching each other foreign languages. Promoting opportunities to study abroad, including placements and volunteering Developing volunteering opportunities abroad To set up and run a series of guest speakers and seminars

Partnership with other Students Association (or equivalent):

To have a twinning project with an international institution with AUSA

Funding

In order to be a success this would need to be a properly resourced project. Currently AUSA doesnt have the resource to enable it to fully implement this project and as such would only be able to develop a limited amount of this proposed project on top of continuing to facilitate what it currently does in terms of engagement. However it is hope that the University will see the value in this project in helping it achieve one of its key strategic aims and would be willing to work with AUSA to identify and source the additional resources required to fully implement this project. Next steps -

To identify good practise with other organisations that have gone through an Internationalisation project and work with NUS to develop the project further. To plan out the Year of Events and promote and advertise them effectively. To research and visit an appropriate partner organisations for twinning project. To discuss potential funding streams for this project.

Further Information Further information is available from Tessa Birley, Student President of Aberdeen University Students Association on (01224) 274 250 or email sapresident@abdn.ac.uk.

4. c)
Dear X,

Example Letter for Rector

Nomination to be University of Aberdeens Rector I am writing to invite you to run for the position of Rector at the University of Aberdeen in the upcoming elections this November. The Rector is an ancient post dating back to the foundation of the University in 1495 at first the students' only representative. Previous Rectors at the University of Aberdeen include former Prime Minister Winston Churchill to celebrity chef Clarissa Dickson Wright. Rectors at other institutions in Scotland have included Stephen Fry at Dundee, John Cleese at St. Andrews, Gordon Brown at Edinburgh and Charles Kennedy at Glasgow. As rector, you would become a member of University Court to which you would bring your own particular expertise and background to the work of court as well as acting as one of the main student representatives alongside the Student President. X, I feel you would make an excellent rector and we would be honoured to have you as an ambassador for students at the University of Aberdeen. If you were to accept this nomination and should you win the election these are the key dates for the coming year: Dates of Court Meetings 2011/2011 5 December 2011 27 March 2012 26 June 2012 9am-12noon, followed by lunch 9am-12noon, followed by lunch 9am-12noon, followed by lunch

Attendance is of course not mandatory, if you were to accept you appoint a Rectors Assessor (usually a student) who can act in your absence and conduct your duties. There would of course be a number of additional events to which you would be invited throughout the year, but are again not compulsory. The deadline for nominations is the 27th October 2011, should you choose to accept I would of course run the election campaign on your behalf. Looking forward to hearing from you and please do not hesitate to get in touch for more information, Yours Sincerely,

Current Student at the University of Aberdeen.

5. Items for Discussion

5. a) Exams from January to December
ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ASSOCIATION STUDENT COUNCIL EXAMS FROM JANUARY TO DECEMBER

Background One of the Student Presidents manifesto pledges was to move January Exams to December; the Student President has brought the issue up with the University which has prompted the University to draw up a proposal of how this might be possible. The model they have come up with is as follows: The final model discussed has been updated to reflect the 2013/14 calendar. The key features of this model are: Move the first half session examination diet to before Christmas Bring forward the start date of the autumn semester Retention of a 12-week teaching semester but loss of revision weeks Shorten the Easter vacation to 2 weeks and introduce a dedicated field trip/reading week in the second semester Maintain the August resit examination diet

The paper attached explores these features in more detail together with a summary of the significant advantages and disadvantages to be expected. Full details of the proposed model are provided in Annex A. Action Required The Student Council is asked to comment on the model proposed. This model is also being discussed by the University.

REVIEW OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR

The key features of this model are detailed below, together with a summary of the significant advantages and disadvantages to be expected. Full details are provided in Annex A. Key features: 1. The first half session examination diet has been brought forward to before Christmas. This allows a four week Christmas vacation period for students and allows staff 2 weeks of marking time outwith teaching commitments; it is suggested the 4th week could also to be used for February induction for new starts, particularly Postgraduate Taught Students.

2. 3.

4.

5. 6.

A 12-week teaching semester has been preserved, but this necessitates removing revision weeks. The summer resit diet has been maintained, and is positioned chronologically as per our current year structure, at the least maintaining the current timings of the summer period. Staff felt strongly that to abolish the resit diet would result in problems of progression for students and would impact negatively on retention. An earlier resit diet was also considered inappropriate, leaving insufficient time for students to prepare adequately. The SA, at the time, was against removing or changing the timings of the resit diet. The Easter vacation period is reduced to two weeks, but is preceded by a dedicated field trip week for those disciplines requiring such activity; for others this would be a dedicated reading week. This combination of features necessitates an earlier Freshers Week. This is a basic model, covering the majority of undergraduate provision. It is noted that should this structure be felt workable, more detailed consideration would need to be given in order to address the needs of MBChB, PgTs and others.

Advantages: 1. Moving exams pre-Christmas would allow students to have a proper break over the festive period and also to take advantage of the job opportunities at that time. It could encourage students to work more consistently in late November / December, and particularly for those students who may be struggling in the first term, it may encourage them to seek help at an earlier date, rather than run the risk of them not returning in January. It would also eradicate problems experienced by some students regarding the limited access they have to facilities such as library and IT and to academic staff over the Christmas vacation. It should also be noted that the current timing of the first half-session examinations does cause difficulties for visiting exchange students who are only visiting the University for one half-session. Such students understandably find it difficult to return to the University in January to take their exams due to (i) cost of travel and (ii) conflict with the start of teaching in their home institutions. In view of this, provision is already made for such students to receive an alternative form of assessment prior to Christmas.

2. Concern has been raised over the past few years by academic staff and External Examiners that the time between exams and the deadline for completion of marking is too short, placing them under undue pressure. More recently many courses have failed to meet the exam result deadline, with knock on consequences for the student experience. At the start of February marking coincides with the start of teaching which further exacerbates the problem. This also causes difficulties for students as they have to commence their second half-session courses without the knowledge of how they have done in their first half-session exams. With exams before Christmas students would receive their first half-session results before the end of the 2week period for changing course in the second half-session.

3. Currently second half session entrants arrive the weekend before the start of the second semester and have no settling in period in which to acclimatise, meet advisers of study, fellow students or staff before teaching starts. Increasing numbers of students, particularly at postgraduate level, are second half session entrants. A 4-week Christmas vacation period would allow for some/all of the 4th week to be dedicated to inducting such students, thus providing equal opportunities and proper support for learners embarking on study programmes at this time.

4. Marking time is either increased or maintained. However, given the very small numbers of examinations taking place in the 3rd week of the May diet, it is suggested that the 3rd week of examinations could be dropped, and replaced with a dedicated marking week.

5. A dedicated field trip / reading week provides the opportunity for field work to take place outwith the Easter vacation period rather than staff and students having to sacrifice vacation time as is often currently the case.

6. Graduation week is brought forward to June, encroaching less into the primary and secondary school sector holiday period, and bringing the University of Aberdeen more in line with the rest of the Scottish sector in this respect.

Disadvantages: 1. An earlier start date to the academic year may be problematic for Postgraduate Taught and international students the latter, in particular, being unable to make it here on time to register (some of whom already struggle to make it here by mid October). Some staff availability for an early start to Freshers Week / Advising week might be limited given that September is a major month for holding academic conferences. Further, an earlier start to the year reduces the time between the admissions clearing process and the start of the first half-session.

2. Examinations pre-Christmas reduces the time for students to reflect on their studies prior to the examination diet.

3. A reduced Easter vacation provides less opportunity to overlap with Aberdeen City/Shire school holidays.

4. This proposal lengthens the first half session from 12 to 14 weeks (12 continuous teaching weeks plus 2 exam weeks).

5. Disruption will inevitably be caused in the short term, as teaching and teaching-related administrative activities and procedures have to be re-organised.

Transition Were the decision to be taken to proceed with a revised year structure for academic year 2013/14, then there would be implications for academic year 2012/13. Detailed consideration would be required to be given to this if a revised structure can be agreed.

Annex A

ANNEX A: Proposed Academ ic year for 2013/14 Dotted underline denotes late registration period A double underline im plies a return of results deadline 2011/12 Current 2013/14 w /b Mon 2011/12 w /b Mon Proposed 2013/14 05-Sep 02-Sep 12-Sep 19-Sep 26-Sep 03-Oct 10-Oct 17-Oct 24-Oct 31-Oct 07-Nov 14-Nov 21-Nov 28-Nov 05-Dec 12-Dec 19-Dec 26-Dec 02-Jan 09-Jan 16-Jan 23-Jan 30-Jan 06-Feb 13-Feb 20-Feb 27-Feb 05-Mar 12-Mar 19-Mar 26-Mar 02-Apr 09-Apr 16-Apr 23-Apr 30-Apr 07-May 14-May 21-May 28-May 04-Jun 11-Jun 18-Jun 25-Jun 02-Jul 09-Jul 16-Jul 23-Jul 30-Jul 06-Aug 13-Aug 20-Aug 27-Aug 03-Sep 10-Sep 17-Sep Freshers Teaching 1.1 Teaching 1.2 Teaching 1.3 Teaching 1.4 Teaching 1.5 Teaching 1.6 Teaching 1.7 Teaching 1.8 Teaching 1.9 Teaching 1.10 Teaching 1.11 Teaching 1.12 Xmas Hols Xmas Hols Xmas Hols Revision Exams Exams Teaching 2.1 Teaching 2.2 Teaching 2.3 Teaching 2.4 Teaching 2.5 Teaching 2.6 Teaching 2.7 Teaching 2.8 Easter Hols Easter Hols Easter Hols Teaching 2.9 Teaching 2.10 Teaching 2.11 Teaching 2.12 Revision Exams Exams Exams 09-Sep 16-Sep 23-Sep 30-Sep 07-Oct 14-Oct 21-Oct 28-Oct 04-Nov 11-Nov 18-Nov 25-Nov 02-Dec 09-Dec 16-Dec 23-Dec 30-Dec 06-Jan 13-Jan 20-Jan 27-Jan 03-Feb 10-Feb 17-Feb 24-Feb 03-Mar 10-Mar 17-Mar 24-Mar 31-Mar 07-Apr 14-Apr 21-Apr 28-Apr 05-May 12-May 19-May 26-May 02-Jun 09-Jun 16-Jun 23-Jun 30-Jun 07-Jul 14-Jul 21-Jul 28-Jul 04-Aug 11-Aug 18-Aug 25-Aug 01-Sep 08-Sep 15-Sep Freshers 2014/15 Graduations Freshers Teaching 1.1 Teaching 1.2 Teaching 1.3 Teaching 1.4 Teaching 1.5 Teaching 1.6 Teaching 1.7 Teaching 1.8 Teaching 1.9 Teaching 1.10 Teaching 1.11 Teaching 1.12 Exams Exams Xmas Hols Xmas Hols Xmas Hols/marking Xmas Hols/marking/Feb Freshers Teaching 2.1 Teaching 2.2 Teaching 2.3 Teaching 2.4 Teaching 2.5 Teaching 2.6 Teaching 2.7 Teaching 2.8 Teaching 2.9 Reading / Field Trip w k Easter Hols Easter Hols Teaching 2.10 Teaching 2.11 Teaching 2.12 Exams Exams Exams End of Late Registration End of Late Registration earlier than current model

No revision week

Easter weekend 18-21st April

No revision week Possibility of removing 3rd week exams

Graduations

Maintains summer timings

Resits Resits

Resits Resits

Freshers 2012/13

6. Motions to vote upon

6. a)

Societies Minimum Membership Fee Policy

Societies Union Committee, represented by Daniel McCroskie

Council Notes At the moment there is no minimum membership fee for the 117 societies that AUSA currently has affiliated. These societies are free to request funding from AUSA to help further their aims. Given recent budget cuts, the Societies Union Committee feels that societies should be less dependent on AUSA for funding. Most societies already charge more than 3 for membership. Council Believes A minimum membership fee would be beneficial to societies as a whole. That this would allow societies to have funds available without relying on AUSA. Council Resolves That a minimum membership fee of 3 should be introduced. At the beginning of each year the President for Societies & Student Activities in conjunction with the Societies Union and Societies administrator shall have the ability to change the fee to reflect current financial climates.