Today is Brighton SUs AGM

To paraphrase a fav film of mine:

I'm feeling very democratic today (rubbing my hands together to keep warm)

The keen movie goers will know that I am of course talking about the classic "cool runnings" :)

So what is the AGM I hear you all ask!

First and foremost it is a legal requirement, in which the Union has go go out report on our finances, work we have done over the year, plans for the future year and for our trustees to receive and answer any questions that the members have.

Now I realise that seems very boring, but in reality it is students opportunity to shape the work done by the Union and hold the trustee board to account for the decisions made on how to run the Union.

The second part of the AGM is for students to pre submit motions for what they think the union should be working on. This is followed by a debate on these and a chance for students to decide if this is an area of work the union should be concentrating on.

This years AGM also has an additional part to it! Woop Woop, bonus! After the proceedings of the formal AGM, we will also be holding a debate on the upcoming referendum entitled "should Brighton SU remain a member of the National Union of Students?"

This will be a chance to have an honest debate about the pros and cons of membership to the national union. There will be a member from the national union coming down to take part and many SU officers there to answer questions that any students may have.

So I do urge as many students as possible to turn up to Huxley Lecture theatre tonight at 5.30 to have your say on how the union is run!

And to finish with a quote from my fav TV show,

"decisions are made by those who turn up!"

And of course this is from the spectacular shown, The West Wing!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Selsfield Dr,Brighton,United Kingdom

Why I decided not to re-run for National Welfare Committee

So I am on a train on the way back from Liverpool having spent the last 2 days at the NUS Welfare Zone Conference. The conference is a gathering of welfare, equality, diversity and of course Wellbeing sabbs and staff from round the country, there to debate the issues facing students and start the ball rolling in terms of how this could be turned into policy in time for national conference later in the year.

Also at this conference the national committee for welfare is elected for the following year. I sat on this committee last year, and had a great time working on a national level with the full time officers of NUS and with many officers from around the country. However I made a big decision, to be honest only 4 hours before the nomination closed, that I wasn't going to run again.

There were many reasons for this decision and I wanted, in my own way to express some of them...

I think the first point is that my life at the moment is a bit hectic, what with a full time job, a part time masters, raising money to climb Kilimanjaro, playing hockey and actually living my life with those I love! This has been in the back of my mind for a long time, and if I'm honest I think this shows that I'm growing up a bit and actually learning to say no! In order to prioritise other things in my life.

Another reason is a bit more critical, and that is that even though I have been on the committee for a year, I don't really know what it's role within the national movement really is! Is sounds silly, but I really think it's not clearly defined enough because many different areas are mentioned, and yet not really supported through the work. Is the committee there to hold the national officer to account? Is the committee there to set the direction for national welfare work? Is the negational committee there to implement some of the changes called for in national policy? These are all things I have heard and I'm not sure about any of them really!

I think capacity is another issue with the job role as well, I spent much of my time on the committee looking at the work NUS does around Health and how this could be expanded and move beyond the normal areas that are always perpetrated sexual health and alcohol awareness. I want NUS to expand and look at other areas of Wellbeing like social, environmental, spiritual and mental health. A lot of this comes from the work I have been doing at Brighton, taking the widest definitions of these areas and looking at the holistic approach to student Wellbeing and therefore their student experience, now I'm not saying that I know this is the right move for all or any SU's with the current changes happening in higher education, however it would be nice to know that the National Union of Students would support a new approach and see if there was milage in it, in terms of improving the student experience. From my experience however there are capacity issues stopping this from happening and therefore if an issue, which may even have policy from national conference backing it, may not get backing if it is not a priority for the national officer, who has very difficult decisions to make in terms of what their priorities are in the first place.

I think the zonal system of NUS is an interesting point of discussion as well. At brighton we also run a zonal system and I believe both NUS and Brighton suffer from the same problem with this, that of people only working within their silo. The idea of cross zonal work only seems to raise it's head in relation to priority campaigns, and the other place I think it is strong is with FE and other zones such as welfare, soc and cit and union development. However these later 3 seem to continually work within their silos not willing to register that if you talk about alcohol consumption it is worth engaging the activities officers from around the country and publicising the positives as well as the negatives! Another good example is when talking about money in students pockets, in the context of welfare, and then being told that extra curricular activities are not part of the remit of welfare, and yet without discussion on this, an area where students want to have money to develop themselves a massive area of the arguments are left out.

In terms of Welfare I think there is an additional challenge, that other zones, especially HE, doesn't seem to face and that is the one size fits all issues, coupled with partnerships with external bodies. I was talking to some members of the HE zone committee, who were saying they didn't feel some of the issues I have experienced, and as we talked on I realised how much there were working with other organisations on issues that affect all unions from HE, not dependants on size, or city/campus etc... For example if the issues is related to quality, the QAA are available for support and are recognised across the sector as the people to talk to! However the piecemeal way in which welfare services are provided across the country and lack of some national bodies, for example housing accreditation (I know one has just been set up) leads to a lack of these potential working relationships.

Another personal reason why I decided not to rerun was that having realised some of these over the past year and trying to deal with some of them, it kinda felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall, and to put it bluntly I have enough of those in Brighton and don't need to travel to do it at a national level. I think in reality I also realised that although I had a really good year last year doing the role and gained a lot of information gathering about all sort of subjects, I could not see what more I would gain from doing it for another year, and this ultimately is important, as to put time and effort into something without getting a perceived return, whether personal or for the students I represent then it didn't seem worth the time and effort.

Now I realise this may come across very negative and this was not the intention, as I say I had a great year and the information and experience I gained will undoubtedly help me gain wins on behalf of Brighton students. I also think that this is an area that NUS should be looking to further develop and harness the obvious potential from officers and students up and down the country, with 16 standing for the welfare committee alone this year. I also believe the committee we voted for this year will do amazing work, lead by a great VP and an amazing NEC member in Pete and Steph and wish them all the best in whichever areas of work within the welfare zone that they wish to work in this year.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Clay Hill Ln,,United Kingdom

Name that Tash!

With the launch party for this years Movember happening tonight at the mesmerist in Brighton, I thought I would write a little ditty about the cause and possibly have so nice pics of a moustache or 2 :)

So what is Movember? It's a charity that was set up in 2003 to raise awareness about prostate and testicular cancer. The way this works is the charity ask gents, Mo Bros, shave on the first of November and then during the 30 days of the month grow the best moustache they can, all the time being supported by all their friends and family, other Mo Bros and Mo Sistas.

Now the SU has decided to get on board with this scheme this year and although growing a Mo is all good fun it's also all about the message the campaign portrays, that of self checking!

So many of the male members of the SU staff will be taking part in the scheme, although for me I think it might be the battle of the bum fluff as I've never been able to grow a full Tash! We will also be out on campuses with a roadshow demonstrating the importance of self checking, and giving information about all the support available.

Now for the fun bit! NAME THAT MOUSTACHE!

According to the movember website there are many different types of Mo on the Market and here are some of my fav's!




So as you can see there are many options, but which will You go for?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Ryelands Dr,Brighton,United Kingdom

I'm climbing Kilimanjaro!

Well I've made a massive decision in the last couple days.... I'm going to climb Kilimanjaro!

Now this has not been a spontaneous decision but has been something I have wanted to do for a long time. I have always enjoyed expeditions, having completed all levels of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and going on to become a leader for the award. I have also completed a basic expedition leadership award and am half way through a mountain leadership qualification.

So when a colleague came into the office and said she wanted to organise a trip to Kilimanjaro to raise money for Childreach International, I was really looking forward to getting involved with the trip.

However it was a massive decision to make, because not only is it a huge undertaking, to climb the worlds highest free standing mountain, but I would also be taking on the responsibility of raising £2500 for the charity, in order to take on the challenge.

In the end I have decided that it was an opportunity that I could not miss, and so the fundraising begins. I have done some bits and pieces with fundraising, but never anything on this scale. I have set up a fundraising page, using my donate, https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/edwardbending. However I'm also looking for other ideas to raise money for the venture!

So whether you would like to donate, please do!, or if you have any ideas about other ways to raise money, please do get in contact!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Highbrook Close,Brighton,United Kingdom

University Experience at an FE College?

I spent a morning talking to students at Plumpton College this morning and since then have had a few hours to reflect upon the points raised by students studying there, especially in relation to the new fee regime from next year.

Some of the stories I heard today:

"a sense of identity is important to HE students, and space away from FE students allows this"

"we have space for 8 spaces for working on laptops in our computer, however these spaces don't have plugs for connecting the laptop to power"

"I'm not allowed to have female company in my room, or drink alcohol and in fact both cleaners and halls managers will confiscate and dispose of alcohol if found, yet I'm over 18!"

"there are not many things to do around in between lectures and our common room is too small for the amount of students that need it"

"the staff are good and don't treat us like children"

"transport to plump ton is impossible, we rely on friends to give us lifts, just to get to lectures"

Now, this is a quick cross section of views, and it stokes me as worrying, as what we see as good today, will inevitably not be good enough under a new fees regime, even when partner colleges of brighton will be charging less than the main university campuses.

I guess the question is under a new scheme, looking at current HE in FE settings standards, will it ever be able to deliver am experience worth the higher cost? Or in a similar way is it wrong to compare the experiences and should we be looking to move away from this and rank it on a new set of criteria? What would this look like?

Any views would be very much welcome :)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Highbrook Close,Brighton,United Kingdom

The Wishing Well!!!

Today I want to share with you a fantastic way of being involved in the SU and in shaping your uni experience without what many refer to as the stress of running for election, or the long time frames of going through the committee structure.

Enter the Wishing Well!!!

This is a pot of money designed to allow any students the opportunity of putting their idea into practice. You can apply for up to £250 to run a campaign, scheme, event or anything you think would help to improve the Wellbeing of students at the University of Brighton.

The application form asks you to submit a plan for your idea, don't be put off this, when we receive these we will usually ask for meeting to discuss and use the submitted form to shape the idea into a workable project. The student with the idea will remain the key link for that campaign, but will be supported by the unions resources and years of staff experience.

So whether you think students should be more aware of a particular issue, or you want to bring together all students who feel passionately about the same Wellbeing concern as yourself then maybe the wishing well is for you!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Lewes Rd,Brighton,United Kingdom

A Very Simple Question? Or Not as the Case May Be!

Well today has not been easy...

So I have decided that my blog today should be the easiest thing in the world.... A single question:

How can your Students' Union be more relevant to you?

Of course life is never that simple... I want you to think about what impacts the SU already has, that you know of, on your student experience, are they positive, or negative? And what else could the SU offer?

Think about the type of student you are, Undergrad? Postgrad? 18-21 years old? Mature? Student parent? LGBT+? Student from an Ethnic Minority? Student with a Disability? International student? Male? Female? Student of faith? Student not of faith?

Think about the reasons your at university, to get a job after? To experience the lifestyle? To open options in the future? To continue your academic journey? Because you were told to?

Think about your wider views and interests, hobbies, sports, views on the environment, political beliefs, cultural background, social events

Now all of a sudden this very simple question needs to be answered by an essay, but I think it's really valuable for us as a Union and as a Student body, to pose this question to ourselves and all the student members, so that we don't continue to offer the same as it's always been done but move with student needs and can be relevant and reactive and best to deliver opportunities for students to have the best student experience possible.

But if you have a few minutes think about some of these things and do tell about how we can be more relevant in yourlife

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Terminus Rd,Brighton,United Kingdom

Space: The Final Frontier

In the last couple of weeks, one of mine, and in fact the Unions, main agendas for this year, space, has started to see real movement and it seems like the winds of change are very nearly here.

I have been asked to sit on a couple different panels looking at social space provision across the university and the refurbishment of Cockcroft. This seems to have opened up some conversations about the uses of space in a university that are really interesting. I had a meeting yesterday about the refurbishment of Cockcroft and what students would need if the floors above the mezz were revamped and money was not an issue.

Then today I walked into the library at Cockcroft and have seen the new layout of the atrium there with the furniture from the social space down by the pool room:












So today I want to ask different people's views of space, what do you need as a student to ensure you have the best chance for success. Does this look like the spaces we have or is there something else students need? How much does a sense of belonging to a space relate to how you use a space? what are the student views on the mix needed of social space, learning space, informal learning spaces, transition spaces and staff space? As a student is it important that you can go and find a lecturers own space?

Many questions in a short space of time!!!!!!


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Queensdown School Rd,Brighton,United Kingdom

The purpose of higher education

I read a very interesting article from the Guardian yesterday entitled: What are Universities for?

And this, coupled with my thoughts from Friday's blog, made me think about the purpose of higher education, and more importantly that higher education means many different things to many different people.

The definitions in the article stretch from a 'common search for truth' through to the 4 principles of 'instruction in skills, promotion of the general powers of the mind, advancement of learning, and the transmission of a common culture and common standards of citizenship'

Now I'm reminded at this point of a slide I saw a few weeks ago at the student retention framework launch that was to remind those present as to the reason students go to university across the sector, with the 4 main groups being academics, toe dippers, option openers and the largest group of next steppers.

Therefore I guess the question I want to pose in this post is which group do you think you as a student fits into, or is there another one, and does this impact upon what you believe the purpose of higher education is?

I guess I should also answer this by saying that I was always an option opener, and that I never really had a profession in mind by new that having a degree would open doors for me. I'm not sure if this comes across in my belief about higher education, where I think it is a place for learning new skills across the board, whether that be academically, but also valuable (both personally and societally) life and transferable skills, such as citizenship, time management and living with other types of people.

What does everyone else think?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Will Grand Parade be Sprinkled with Water Fountains?

Carrying on the theme of free water on campus, my travels brought me to grand parade. Now it must be said I don't k ow this campus particularly well and in fact there were times when I wasn't even sure that I was allowed to be where I was! However I'm sure there are many first year students who may feel very similar.

I also think the culture at GP is different to that on other campuses, due to the nature of the courses, much time is spent in study rooms, getting the creative juices flowing. This means that there is not the usual rush after lectures to social space or the library and if the work is not happening then it might mean going away and coming back another time. This therefore means that students need things near there creative spaces.

Here is the vid from GP:

As you can see from this there is not really any facilities near where the students spend the majority of their time. From the random location I started I even had to go outside and all the way to the cafe to get a free glass of water.

Once again I don't think this is good enough, any thoughts GP students?



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Edward St,Brighton,United Kingdom

Why run for a Wellbeing Convenor Post?

Today sees the opening of nominations for many SU part time officers including those for the Wellbeing Zone, Convenors. There are 9 different posts as follows:

Women's Convenor
Interfaith Convenor
Welfare (Housing and Health) Convenor
LGBT Convenor
Ethnic Minorities Convenor
Ethical and Environmental Convenor
1st Year Students Convenor
Disability Convenor
Students with Dependants Convenor

And I think in order to understand the worth of the these position is it first important to understand what each post Does!. The job description outlines much of the responsibilities and can be boiled down to representing the students from the same area as you:


Reasearch the issues that affect the group you are representing

Encourage those you represent to get more involved in the Students’ Union

Promote the Wishing Well to those you represent and support them in organising their own campaigns and events

Read and respond to all e-mails sent to you by VP Wellbeing

Ensure that you are representing the views of others and not just your own

Socialise with a diverse range of students – it’s the best way to find out what people really think

Every committee meeting is important – please do your best to attend

Notice what is going on in your student community and consider the impact on the those you represent

Talk to your fellow students and find out what they need to make their student experience a better one – report back to the committee

Therefore the job is all about talking to fellow students from the dame background, finding out what could improve their student experience and coming back and making those changes happen!

So what's in it for you?

Firstly it's important to know that many of our part time officers themselves come into the job with things they want to change and seethe difference,

Others see it as a great opportunity to add to their CV, by being able to display how they have have change the student environment for the better,

Some realise that being part of the SU opens the doors to many different people who normally they might not get to interact with,

It might event just be an excuse to come and work with me!

It is a great opportunity to work in a charity with a turnover of over 1.5 million pounds,

You may just want to give back to the university that is giving you your education,

Oh and it's great fun!

So as you can see there are many reasons as to why you may want to run for a Convenor post, if you want more info head to our website, or there will also be an elections roadshow heading to a campus near you this week, so head along and ask some questions, and you can download a nomination form from the website or pick one up from any of our receptions!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The new fees system and information at school

Today I have traveled out of the office, and out of the county in fact up to my home town of Crawley, West Sussex. I have been giving talks on the entry process to university, the new fees structure and how to handle money while at university.

It's been a really interesting day, had some great conversations with both students and staff about the future members of our university communities. I started my talk with an introduction to what I believe us the best way to approach uni, in terms of looking at the wider range of courses, the different types of uni (campus or city based) and also visiting the different uni's to see how they feel.

I then moved on to talk about money at university, in terms of both applications, and the amount of money likely to be at students disposal. This was followed with many examples of how students can reduce their expenditure and increase their income.

I have given these talks before, and they have always been received well, but there was a new level to this years talks, the imminent introduction of the new fees structure. Now, I remember when I was applying to university and I was to be part of the first intake of students to pay 3000 and now I'm here talking to students who are in a similar position with fees having been trebled and I'm just surprised by the lack of information that students have been given, and is either available and in many cases even decided yet, by both individual institutions and government.

As I say it was rather a long time ago when I had to apply first time round, and was facing a similar, but not as daunting situation, but I do still remember there was a certainty about the process. Whereas some of the questions that came up today did show that there are still some quite problematic issues facing school teachers, providing information, and more importantly, the students wanting to go to uni next year.

I think this shows the main problem with the rapid introduction of the new scheme, this coupled with the fact that the government has still not considered all the implications and decided upon the ins and outs of the scheme. The AAB system has limitations in terms of what happens if more than 65000 students achieve these grade, also how the System will be implemented to ensure that student numbers end up where they need to.

Other issues are around the different types of bursary and fee waivers offered by each institution, and how this information makes it's way to the students within the school system.

On the plus side, had many good conversations on the wealth of University life, and on the other options covering many different areas including apprenticeships, qualifications from other education providers and moving from school straight into work and really made me think about my views on the new system.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Hazelwick Mill Ln,Crawley,United Kingdom

Post Graduate Taught Courses: for Research Excellence or Employibiliy?

So I sat in a very interesting meeting today and a paper came up about post graduate taught provision (masters courses) and the potential trends over the next few years. In general the picture is mainly unknown as to what will happen with demand and cost of these in the next few years. What interested me what the pedagogical debate around the purpose of these courses and the merit in the university in providing them.

Having left the meeting I had to head to my 2nd lecture of the new seminar on the environmental impact assessments. While listening to the lecturer, and enjoying the subject area a lot more than the first of the year, I did end up thinking of my own journey the rough higher education and the reasons for going to Uni, choosing the course and even down to module choices.

Now I came to uni because my brothers had always done so before me, and I wanted to have the same kind of great memories that they did. When I first applied back in 2005 I wanted a place at Keele to do geography and maths as a combined honours, with the intention of teaching. Then I got my grades and realised maybe maths wasn't for me!

So I worked full time for Woolworth's (I accept no blame for their demise) for a year and decided to come to Brighton to do geography. after a very short time I realised that teaching was not where I wanted to end up, as there was far to much of the subject I didn't enjoy, but I did find an area which I loved, GIS (computer based mapping).

So I graduated and got my job with the SU, and in my first year decided to embark on a part time masters at the same time. First off this has been tricky and very time consuming. But as I said the meeting today got me thinking? Was I there to further my profession development?, or to produce research for the institution and myself?, or was it for another reason?

Well I don't really think I can answer that really! I'm in a very lucky position where I'm able to study without the financial burden of most students and this was a massive incentive, I also believe I now understand a term that before I scoffed at; learning for learning sake. I have become really happy with just the idea of learning new things, something that in fact has created my new love of blogging that once again I scoffed at before giving it a try. However I also am very aware of the financial environment out in the 'real world' and having a masters will be another string to my bow, and also the idea of teaching has not left me I think it's developed towards lecturing, which allows that continual learning process, potentially leading to research.

So I think in all I tick almost all those boxes and a few more to boot, but I wonder if I'm in the minority? We know the different pull factors for undergraduate are very wide ranging and I do wonder if this is the same for post graduate?

Let me know your experiences, or where you think you lie on the spectrum!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Lewes Rd,Brighton,United Kingdom

Continuing the affordability debate

Ok so after my blog yesterday on the what affordability looks like, I had a meeting about carbon management and then followed this with a boras of trustee meeting, part of the agenda on ethical and environmental issues. This made me think about another aspect of the affordability debate. This is around quality and origins of product.

Take for example the hoodies you can buy from the SU Shop, we offer both fairtrade and normal hoodies. They are currently priced at the same value, £23, however the markup on the normal hoodies produces more profit for the Union.

Hoodies are not the only Fair-trade items we stock, others include all our tea and coffee in our cafe's, lots of chocolate and snacks and also a wide range of drinks. But is it affordable for students to decide to buy items on ethical grounds or does the student budget just about stretch to economy spaghetti and salad cream!

Moving on from pointing out injustices and looking towards potential solutions I keep coming back to the idea of London weighting, where students living in London et a larger maintenance loan for doing so...

I guess the question is, does the cost of living in Brighton not warrant a similar weighting system, allowing students to have enough disposable cash to have the student experience they want, or event be able to live in a city, where rent is more expensive than the loan payments they receive!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Home Farm Rd,Brighton,United Kingdom

Affordability, what does it look like?

Ok so having played hockey for the first time last night and grabbing a bite to eat from the SU cafe at lunch today, it got me thinking about affordability of provisions available to students.

To play hockey at Brighton it costs £20 for your sports fed card (covers insurance) and then a further £3 a week for match fees. When we compare this with Sussex where the price is £50 and then match fees on top.

The other thing I mentioned was my lunch, I got 6 chicken nuggets for £2.50, I then decided to check out the sainsbury's website and saw that you can get 40 nuggets for £3.

Now I realise these are small scale when looking at affordability, especially when compared to house prices or in the next few years the cost of higher education.

I would be very interested to hear different people's views on what affordability means to other people?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Home Farm Rd,Brighton,United Kingdom

Meet the Wellbeing Team

I realised I have introduced you to the Zone, and given you an idea of what the whole Union can do for for you and the opportunities it offers students. However I also think it's really important for new and old students To meet e staff members that support the work of the Zone and can offer all students support, and a friendly chat!




So let's start with me, my name is Ed Bending, I studied here at the University of Brighton and graduated with a geography degree in 2010. My job role is the following:

"To be the lead officer for furthering all aspects of student wellbeing for all students. The Vice President Wellbeing is responsible for the representation of students on issues relating to student wellbeing within the University. They will consult with students and develop policies, actions and campaigns informed by students’ needs and concerns. They will promote and develop opportunities to embed and enhance the student experience within the University, and ensure students have are aware of wellbeing services provided by the Union and University." (bye law 7)

Or to put it another way, this quote of the Union website “any issue relating to your health, welfare or any other issue that you think could make your life better” (UBSU.net, 2011).

So please make my life easier and tell me what you think about Uni life and what could be done to make things better!

But I'm not on my own I have a great team who help me to deliver all the services that the Zone can offer. These are trained professionals with many years of experience working in a student environment.




We have a Wellbeing Zone Manager, Katrina Mayo, whose job role is to support all officers in achieving their ideas and manifestos. Katrina is also a great point of reference for any information. Any student might need in reference to Wellbeing. She will also be carrying out research to ensure the work of the zone is as relevant as possible to Brighton Students.




Here we have Beth Kent who is our Peer2pier co-ordinator. It is Beth's job to run our volunteering scheme called peer2pier, she is a great person to contact if you feel like being involved in any way with Wellbeing campaigns, the buddy scheme or the wishing well.




Last but not least we have Laura Smitherman, our Contraception and Sexual Health (CaSH) worker. She will be out and about on campus offering sexual health tests, condoms and other goodies and the main thing she and her team offers is advice. So please do stop her and have a chat if you see her around.

To contact any of the team check out our website

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Brighton,United Kingdom