KUSU Campaign Wins 2013-14
Activities
KUSU On Tour - This tour was
designed for KUSU to reach out
to all our students across all four
Kingston Campuses to hear what
suggestions and ideas you have
to make regarding your
University community. Throughout the year we (your full time student officers) have visited
you to talk with you about current campaign ideas to improve University/Union life and
activities, suggestions and improvements regarding education, social activities and way
more!
Sports Hall for KU – Over the past year, KUSU’s VP
Activities has been working to get a sports hall for Kingston
Sports. This year, he has been able to get Student Services
and Administration to agree to researching and putting
forward a possible business case for a joint venture
between KU/KUSU and a local Sports Hall in the Kingston
area.
Global Festival at Kingston Hill – For the first year,
KUSU had a strong presence with Global Festival at
Kingston Hill. Over the course of the week, the
campus saw stalls such as the German Society and
Somali society spreading cultural wisdom and creation
and giving away free snippets of authentic cultural
food.
Global Festival - Global Festival has now been running
for 3 years. It is ‘The world in one week’, where
student led societies and groups put on a range of
activities during a week long programme showcasing the various cultures that are
represented here at Kingston.
Ethical and Environmental
Starbucks off Penryhn Road Campus – Following a
policy that was successfully passed at KUSU’s Big
Student Meeting ‘13, KUSU worked to have Starbucks
removed from Penryhn Road Campus. After
negotiations with University staff, Starbucks was no longer present on the campus as we
entered 2014.
Celebrate Diversity Bids – KUSU has won a bid of £28,500 for three events over the 2014-15
year. Including:

Liberation Network = The aim is to create a liberation network which provides
training, support, and links to students leading in Liberation areas.

Diversity Showcase - Bringing together the cultural and creative mix of students
across our campuses we aim to celebrate the diversity Kingston has to offer. This
‘Celebrate Diversity’ event will include a blend of dance, music, spoken word,
comedy and other creative expressions.
HEFCE Funding – In 2013 the government was attempting to cut
HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) funding,
which supports students from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend
university. The cuts would have totalled £327 million. However,
thanks to Student Unions like KUSU who participated in the ‘Don’t
Cut Student Opportunities’ campaign, the decision to cut the
funding has now been revoked.
Immigration Bill – The KUSU President
successfully passed a motion at the BSM ’13 to
act against the Immigration Bill. So what did we do with it?




Shared a petition with students to sign up to speak
out against the bill
Encouraged international students to send letters to
their Home Office
Sent a letter co-signed by myself and the KU vice-chancellor to local MP
Ed Davey
Visited Ed Davey with the NUS international officer Daniel Stevens to get
him to vote against the immigration bill.
Boycott of The Sun Newspaper in KUSU shops – Following a VERY eye-catching student led
campaign, students at the Big Student Meeting ’13 voted for all KUSU shops to stop stocking
and selling The Sun in protest of Page 3 and its implications for women in the media.
Green Impact Bronze Award – KUSU successfully secured the Bronze award for the second
year running, showing our sustained commitment to meeting desirable environmental
standards.
Academic
School of Surveying and
Planning- Thanks to KUSU’s
efforts, students within
Planning courses at Kingston
will now be allowed to finish
their degrees here. While the
school will still ultimately be
closing, KUSU were able to help arrange for students to get
their opinions and feedback passed on to the Senior
Management at KU. In doing so, the original proposal to close
the school was changed as a result of the consultation, and
KUSU’s determination.
Won Funding for Partnership work with Kingston College – KUSU was successful in a joint
bid with Kingston College for £2000 from the National Union of Students (NUS) to roll out
the National Student Survey (NSS) ambassador scheme that already runs at the University
into the College’s higher education provision. This involves students taking a lead role on
talking to their peers about why their feedback is important and what happens to it.
Changes to the Personal Tutor System – As a result of
the feedback gathered at the course reps forums KUSU
run about the personal tutor system; a significant
number of the recommendations made by reps have
been taken on by the group in the University
responsible for this area, with information being
included in the guide for staff and other new
innovations being put in place for 2014/15.
KU WIFI – Significant student feedback and lobbying over the last few years has culminated
in KUSU being able to support the efforts of the relevant University department to secure
hard won and substantial funding to bring our network into the 21st century and improve
the user experience for students.
Changes to Grading of Degrees – Project work involving the Vice President Learning and
Teaching, students whose marks finish on the borderline between two degree classifications
will now automatically be moved up to the higher available band. This brings us in line with
a number of other Universities and will prevent Kingston students losing out compared to
other students with their final marks.
New Opportunities for Senior Reps – During 2013/14 KUSU has established 2 key
committees made up of our senior reps, one which is designed to enable senior reps to take
a lead role in managing and developing the rep system, and the other which involves senior
reps discussing and reviewing University education policy in more detail. These groups can
now provide a basis for our work in the future.
Liberation and Welfare
Support and Advice - KUSU handled 148 total appeals cases in 2013-2014 of which 133
came back successful. This helped students reclaim back £16,850 worth of funding.
Disabled Access at Roehampton Vale – This year KUSU’s VP Student Life has fought
continually for proper disabled access on campus at Roe Vale. We’re pleased to announce
that the implementation of this access is imminent and will be ready for students in the
forthcoming academic year.
Stewardship Funding Project – KUSU has been awarded £1300 pounds to deliver a British
Sign-Language course at KU within the next year. This will enhance the experienced of both
disabled and non-disabled students at Kingston and further demonstrates our commitment
to diversity.
Challenging the Student Rights organisation – KUSU publicly condemned the group
‘Student Rights’ for their Islamophobic attitude towards Kingston University.