Equal Opportunities and Welfare Officer
Candidate Handout
Written and Compiled by Sophie Fox, January 2017
1
Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 4
Knowledge of the Students’ Union ......................................................................................................... 4
The Students’ Union Officers .............................................................................................................. 4
Social Media ........................................................................................................................................ 5
Current View of the Students’ Union .................................................................................................. 6
Perceived impact of the Students’ Union ........................................................................................... 7
Student Union services and when they are most needed .................................................................. 8
Satisfaction with the Students’ Union .................................................................................................... 8
How to improve satisfaction ............................................................................................................... 8
Events .............................................................................................................................................. 8
Increase focus in specific areas ....................................................................................................... 9
Connect the campuses .................................................................................................................... 9
Wellbeing and welfare support ...................................................................................................... 9
Union customer service .................................................................................................................. 9
Feelings ............................................................................................................................................... 9
Sense of Belonging .......................................................................................................................... 9
Feeling at Home .............................................................................................................................. 9
Impact of the Students’ Union .......................................................................................................... 10
Impact on University Of Nottingham experience ......................................................................... 10
Impact on wellbeing...................................................................................................................... 10
Student Groups and wellbeing...................................................................................................... 10
Main challenges experienced by students............................................................................................ 11
Academic concerns ........................................................................................................................... 11
Wellbeing and Welfare concerns ...................................................................................................... 11
Social life concerns............................................................................................................................ 11
What relaxes you? ................................................................................................................................ 12
Emotional Difficulty .............................................................................................................................. 13
Support Required .............................................................................................................................. 14
Lack of Services or awareness or accessibility to them ................................................................ 14
Lack of Financial Support .............................................................................................................. 14
Lack of welcoming atmosphere in societies and events ............................................................... 14
Lack of support and awareness for lonely students and those with emotional difficulty............ 14
Peer-to-peer support .................................................................................................................... 14
Events ............................................................................................................................................ 14
Other Campuses and study abroad .............................................................................................. 14
2
Academic emotional difficulty ...................................................................................................... 15
Academics ............................................................................................................................................. 15
International Students .......................................................................................................................... 16
Socials................................................................................................................................................ 16
Integration into UK Community ........................................................................................................ 17
International Students .................................................................................................................. 18
Local Students ............................................................................................................................... 19
Hall Life.............................................................................................................................................. 19
Crime ..................................................................................................................................................... 20
Theft .................................................................................................................................................. 21
Sexual Harassment............................................................................................................................ 21
Drug Use............................................................................................................................................ 22
Personal Safety ..................................................................................................................................... 23
Alcohol .................................................................................................................................................. 25
Welcome Feedback ............................................................................................................................... 27
Feedback about mentors from students .......................................................................................... 27
Innovation ..................................................................................................................................... 28
Event Promotion ........................................................................................................................... 28
Feedback from mentors .................................................................................................................... 28
Training ......................................................................................................................................... 28
Mentor Resources ......................................................................................................................... 29
Mentors......................................................................................................................................... 29
Non-club nights ............................................................................................................................. 29
General improvements for the Welcome Week programme ........................................................... 30
Days of emotional difficulty .............................................................................................................. 30
3
Introduction
The information in this document has come from variety of sources with the most recent being the
2017 all student survey ‘How Can We Help’. Other information has been included where relevant, to
help understand issues that affect the student population at different times of year, the time of this
collection has been included where relevant.
NB: The ethnicity questions which were posed to students were done so only so that statistics could
be gathered for the current BME, Welfare, and Education Officers, and for future candidates. These
categories have been compiled based on UK government suggestions on posing these questions.
Knowledge of the Students’ Union
The Students’ Union Officers
The following questions have been posed to all students to assess their understanding and feelings
about their Students’ Union Officers.
4
Social Media
We asked students whether they followed the Students’ Union on a variety of social media platforms.
Below shows the most commonly accessed platforms for the Students’ Union, and how the usage
differs between students with higher and lower sense of belonging
Form of media
SU Twitter
SU Facebook
SU Instagram
SU Snapchat
SU WeChat
SU Hall Facebook
None
% of students with low sense
of belonging that follow it
22.5%
53.2%
15.2%
3.8%
1.3%
24.1%
27.8%
% of students that follow it
with higher sense of belonging
33.0%
58.9%
25.6%
11.8%
1.9%
39.9%
19.3%
5
Current View of the Students’ Union
Students were asked to choose which terms they felt best represented and described the Students’
Union, the results are shown in the graph below.
The following terms feature more dominantly amongst these students in comparison to students with
higher sense of belonging. These words, upon reflection of the above mentioned personality traits for
students with low sense of belonging, would suggest that they feel that the Union is ‘not designed for
them’
-
Events and activities
Social
Vague
For undergraduates
6
Perceived impact of the Students’ Union
% of students that believe the SU has exceeded or met their
expectations with regards to their wellbeing and university
experience
95
94
91
90
88
87
85
91
90
87
86
87
84
80
75
Impact of SU on uni experience
Impact of SU on wellbeing
Linear (Impact of SU on uni experience)
Linear (Impact of SU on wellbeing)
Perceived impact that the Students’ Union has on student wellbeing and university experience is
declining slightly year on year. This perception of impact is lower amongst PG students, UG finalists,
Jubilee, Derby and SB based students.
Students with low sense of belonging are more likely to be… (I.e. they rate their sense of belonging
with Notts at 4/10 or below – this equates to 9.6% of students)
-
Part time students
International students
Over 22yrs old
English not as a first language
PG
Studying at campuses other than UP and QMC
Taking more than 30 mins to travel to University
These students are also 13% less satisfied with their students’ union compared to other students
Personality traits wise, these students with low sense of belonging tend to be:
-
More timid
More likely to shy away from challenging tasks and responsibility
More grounded rather than impulsive
Less likely to stand their ground
Likely to prioritise employability over succeeding on their course (students with higher sense
of belonging are the opposite way around)
Above all, they prioritise high quality teaching – just like students with higher sense of
belonging.
Less likely to feel comfortable in debates
More likely to struggle to make friends, and as such more likely to report feeling lonely.
More likely to have a few close friends rather than a large network of acquaintances.
Less likely to engage with the Union – whether that is visiting Union space, browsing it online,
participating in volunteering, or societies and sports.
Are 13% less aware of the SU’s remit
7
-
More likely to attribute the following words to Union descriptions
Student Union services and when they are most needed
The following question was posed to international students in order to see where we ought to focus
our attention in terms of offering these students help throughout the year. This question provides
answers in terms of the number of responses that any given answer received as opposed to
percentage forms. This information is true as of January 2016.
From this graph, we can see that the first term is when international students want to receive the
most help. Additionally, we can see that in order of importance, students want to receive: Academic
Advice, Accommodation Advice, Transportation Help, and then Help with Practicing English. However,
as many international students may speak English as a first language, these results may be skewed
somewhat.
Satisfaction with the Students’ Union
Currently, satisfaction with the SU is sitting at 7/10. The table below shows how the scores have
changed over time, which has improved and is now consistent at 7.0 out of 10 (10 = very satisfied).
Jan 15
6.7
May 15
6.1
Oct 15
6.9
Jan 16
6.9
May 16
7.0
Oct 16
7.0
Jan 17
7.0
How to improve satisfaction
Students suggested that the following actions may help to increase their satisfaction with the
Students’ Union:
Events

Highlight alcohol-free events more
8






More PG events
More “Off-campus” events for those living out
More events for students to make friends and get involved, but struggle with social
anxiety/interactions
Provide more support for older students, particularly those with families.
Promote Postgraduate-specific events during the holiday periods.
‘Maybe have more things targeted towards people who are less confident. There seems to
be a lot of emphasis on taking the lead in something.’
Increase focus in specific areas



Focus more on academia support and representation
Offer an online society/societies for distance learners
More specific Postgraduate societies (‘invest more into the events, not just tea and cake’).
Do more for PhD students from the UK, as some feel that efforts to engage Postgraduate
students have an international spin on them which is not relevant to everyone.
Connect the campuses




Holding events that everyone can go to e.g. nurses- ‘nurses have different term times and
working hours. We’re often older, so we’re looking for a different kind of social activity’.
Further connections with satellite campuses
Hopper buses to Kegworth
Have regular Students’ Union representation across all sites and campuses, which may
require a staff rota.
Wellbeing and welfare support


Awareness of mental health support
Support finding housemates
Union customer service




Interact more with students (share more opportunities via email, and through face to face
talking)
Utilise ‘a live chat option, so that if someone needs something specific, they can quickly find
where to go’.
‘Be less pushy during elections’, ‘walking to lectures during elections was intimidating – I
missed lectures to avoid this’, ‘stop candidates forcing people to vote using their iPads’.
Greater flexibility on opening hours, such that more is done on the weekends, and on
holidays, when students are back for a short time from their placements, and when
Postgraduate students are available. Additionally, by opening later, Derby students living in
Nottingham would still be able to make use of Portland. More availability in the holidays
Feelings
Sense of Belonging
When asked to what degree students felt a sense of belonging to the Students’ Union on a scale
where 1 = not at all and 10 = very much so, the average score was 4.8/10.
Feeling at Home
When asked to what degree students felt at home at the University Of Nottingham on a scale where
1 = not at all and 10 = very much so, the average score was 7.3/10.
9
Impact of the Students’ Union
The following questions asked students to comment on the impact that the Students’ Union had had
on their overall university experience and wellbeing, on a scale of – 5 (strong negative impact) to +5
(strong positive impact) whereby 0 was no impact at all. The sections below detail the percent of
student who fall into each category.
Impact on University Of Nottingham experience
Positive (+1 to +5) = 69.38%
No impact = 27.04%
Negative (-1 to -5) = 3.58%
Impact on wellbeing
Positive (+1 to +5) = 51.25%
No impact = 46.4%
Negative (-1 to -5) = 2.35%
Students raise the following points regarding the Students’ Union’s impact upon their wellbeing:
Ideas and positive comments
 ‘Makes study less intense when there’s something fun to get involved in’, ‘I’d like to see more
things going on during stressful times – it’s a good distraction, like the puppy room’.
 ‘Promote welfare services more – particularly in a way that means you can store or easily
access the info again when you need it’.
 ‘Societies have increased my confidence as well as mental health’.
 ‘Love that we can check house contracts – weight off my mind’.
 ‘Services like Nightline, and free snacks during exams, as well as de-stress week, makes you
feel like you belong and are one big family to an extent being regularly looked after’.
Areas of need
 Students living in off campus halls (Raleigh, BPG) express feelings of isolation.
 There is demand for wellbeing services to be provided after 5pm and on weekends to support
those required to travel to University Park in order to access these services’.
 ‘There is perceived to be a lack of support for mature students with families’.
 ‘People who don’t want to join a society or socialise in halls are let down – they don’t have
confidence to get involved’, ‘don't miss the middle people, you focus on those participating
heavily and those who struggle (mental awareness etc.) but what about the middle man!’
 Some students report wanting to seek help without having to physically visit somewhere, but
they do not want to be seen to be accessing help.
 Mental health services are reportedly too busy, particularly around exams, when it is needed
the most.
Student Groups and wellbeing
What are student groups doing to promote positive wellbeing across their members? We asked all
student committees (excluding sport clubs) to feedback: What steps have you taken to ensure that all
aspects of Hall life are nurtured, e.g. welfare and mental health, rather than purely socials?
-
Most focus was on alternative events e.g. mental health awareness events, charity events,
movie nights, workshops etc
Many also mentioned they have made sure they are available to the students and promoting
support for students
Collaboration with LGBT+ events
Stalls on mental health awareness and policy safety info
Massages
10
-
Sexual consent workshop (but low attendance) – collaboration with FemSoc
Workshop on lad culture (low attendance)
Open mic night (collaboration with another hall) relaxed atmosphere
Healthy U roadshow
Puppy day
These student groups request more ideas for engaging students in these type of events. Attendance
is low. Some associations have organised their own welfare weeks, which prove popular around
exams. Many said it was difficult because they didn’t have a welfare officer so engagement with
welfare was tricky and mentioned that the students who need the help often don’t seek it.
Main challenges experienced by students
We asked 2,673 students whether they were experiencing challenges or issues around a number of
areas. The extent to which concerns were felt is listed below. Below these statistics are the detail of
the concerns
-
39% of students experience academic pressure or have concerns with academic procedure
30% of students experience concerns around their finances
29% of students express worries around their wellbeing and welfare (including physical and
mental health, and their perceived safety)
14% of students worry about their social life
Academic concerns







Too much work and clashing deadlines
Unable to balance social life
Stress during exams, and the pressure to do well
Found transition from A-level to university difficult
Overcoming procrastination
Balancing dissertation and revision
Stressful coming back after a year abroad
Wellbeing and Welfare concerns













Mental health (including depression and anxiety)
Homesickness
Physical Disabilities / illness (and the impact on study)
Long waiting lists for GP/ Uni Counselling
Loneliness
Exam Stress
Special exam requirements/help
Eating disorders
Insomnia
Coping with bereavement
Problems with housemates
Feeling less safe in Nottingham e.g. lots of robberies, sexual assault etc
Hard to find time to exercise
Social life concerns



Work too much / can’t balance social life
Peer pressure to go out when not wanting to
Feeling lonely. Find it difficult making new friends, there’s lots of cliques. Social anxiety.
11







Halls to highlight SU events more
Dislikes clubbing/ drinking culture
SB issues - nothing to do, hard to get to SB from Kegworth
Struggle to make friends as a Postgraduate
Struggle as an international student to make friends with British students
Disputes with housemates
Isolated halls of residence (BGP was a given example)
What relaxes you?
The Students’ Union asked students to say what they do that relaxes them and to come up with any
ideas they had for the Students’ Union to help them relax.
What students find relaxing



















Going to the gym and a simple walk.
.I find that surrounding myself with people
can reduce my stress level.
Things like running, coffee and a laugh with
friends and spa days.
Listening to music is relaxing.
Going to cafes on campus is relaxing.
A walk around Wollaton Park is a great way to
relax.
Spending a day in the Peak District.
Relaxing with friends in the Hub after
lectures.
Sports clubs and societies "make you set
aside time each week away from work".
For international students, going home at the
end of term.
Leaving the city for a day and seeing places
around Nottingham.
Something creative (knitting, colouring,
baking etc.).
Reading and "avoiding people.
Trips to go on with people, where a group
meets up beforehand.
By exercising.
Being outside in the fresh air. "Doing
something that entirely takes your attention
away from whatever it is that you're stressed
about".
Visiting different places in town (the theatre,
shopping, Sherwood Forrest etc.).
Mindfulness.
Fun days (bouncy castles, ice cream vans etc.,
such as the 'Up and Go').
Ideas for the Students’ Union to help with relaxation










Running free yoga classes during exam time
so that students can have an easy and free
chance to relax.
"Stress Free Zone" events could be held by
the SU; for example, these may include movie
nights with pizza, sports events, yoga, games
nights, and cake and tea afternoons.
Puppy room good idea, nice to have small
room that you can just go with your friends.
If the SU could offer activities such as
meditation and body balance, that would
help relax people.
Have a "mindfulness" class run by the SU.
Maybe the SU could organise events during
the exam period where students can come in
and have a chat with other people or with
psychologists.
Another good idea would be to have events
around all campuses where we can play with
animals more often.
Offer support sessions to those who needed
it and organise simple events such as film and
pizza.
Sport sessions, body balance session at the
sports centre good for relaxing.
Chilled out events are best with societies e.g
watching films.
12







Watching a movie, or TV with friends.
By listening to music (live and recorded).
"If I don't plan to do something, I'll end up
doing work!" Making friends with people in
different "positions" (not the same course,
Uni etc.).
Having "a moment of doing nothing, a casual
drink and a band show, or a quick trip".
"Doing something challenging, but nothing to
do with my responsibilities is great too, like
puzzles or pub quizzes".
"Reading so that there are less chances I’ll
stay awake thinking about work…or dream
about it. But it also means that I go to sleep
later than what would be sensible to do….so
it’s like, I almost always find time for some
relaxing activity, but to the detriment of
sleep…I can’t win either way, basically".
Gym or walking.
Emotional Difficulty
The following information was taken from the How Did We Do 2016 survey and has been included to
gain insight into how those suffering from this would like support from the Students’ Union.
46% of the student population had said that they had experienced some emotional difficulty within
the last 12 months.
13
Support Required
The answers to this question have been themed and explained below.
Lack of Services or awareness or accessibility to them







Some mentioned of not knowing about the support available.
Support isn’t always available to those that need it; students turned down as no more
counsellors available.
Better counselling services should be available, or current services should be expanded.
Increased collaboration between Cripps Health Centre and SU.
Waiting times are too long.
Introduce and advertise alternative courses, such as self-esteem.
Suggestion to introduce a special international students’ office.
Introduce help to those caring for people with mental illnesses.
Lack of Financial Support

Lack of financial support leads to stress and emotional problems; for example, scholarships
are not easily available.
Lack of welcoming atmosphere in societies and events



Students feeling intimidated by big societies, which prevents them from joining in; if students
felt more included and able to participate in societies then that would prevent loneliness.
Running more beginner events and free sessions would help with inclusion.
Nurse students and PGs feel isolated due to placements, or those returning from Year in
Industry placements.
Lack of support and awareness for lonely students and those with emotional difficulty


No groups of networks for lonely students; creating such networks would raise awareness and
reduce the feeling of loneliness.
Lack of approachable people to talk with concerning emotional difficulties; staff should
receive extra training and develop a standardised approach among staff regarding mental
health issues.
Peer-to-peer support

Ability to talk to students from higher years about dealing with stress; this could be achieved
through less form student support groups and mentoring services.
Events




No obligation events to meet people to reduce feelings of isolation.
Self-esteem and CBT workshops.
Guide dog rooms.
Other Campuses and study abroad




More counselling services needed at Derby campus.
Students at University Park get more exam support than other campuses (free fruit).
Study Abroad Students are confused as to where to access support.
14
Academic emotional difficulty

More support within schools, especially with extenuating circumstances.
Academics
The following questions focus on the impact of ethnicity on academic studies. This is something that
the previous Education Officer wanted to investigate. This data is true as of January 2016.
-5 = Very Negative
Impact
-4
-3
-2
-1
0 = No Impact
1
2
3
4
5 = Very Positive
Impact
The ethnicity groupings which have been used here have been gathered from the UK Government’s
recommendations.
It can be seen that most students of all ethnicities suggested that this has not had any bearing on their
academic studies (be it positive or negative). Unsurprisingly, students who categorise their identity as
‘white’ note experiencing the highest number of neutral responses.
There was the option to comment on this question, and those comments from individuals from a
minority ethnic background have been looked at. These comments tend to theme around:
 My ethnicity has not had any impact.
 International specific issues:
o “Sometimes I feel the professors don’t pay attention to international
students”.
o More difficulties for international students finding work after University.
o Difficulties in communicating.
 Stereotyping:
o One student who identifies as being Chinese states that they feel greater
expectations are placed on them in subjects such as mathematics.
 Stigma from other students:
o “Local students look down on you” (a quote from an international student).
o “People listen to the media’s misconceptions”,
o “My course has less than a handful of people from black and ethnic minority
backgrounds and this makes it harder to socialise with others on my course,
15
feels as if there are constantly eyes on me”, “I am one of two of [students
of] African ethnicity on my course, I feel like I'm treated differently”



Racism:
o “Racism equates to bullying and bullying obviously has an effect on
studying”, “some racist comments”
o “People aren't always very sensitive to race which has been
upsetting for me and a number of other ethnic minorities I have
spoken to.”
o “Some have judged me by name and i have faced slight
Islamophobia at university…”
For those who come from a different country and education system, they
find it confusing when they score ‘65%’ (for example) as this is perceived
as low for them.
o One student comments that a personal tutor helped them to
understand this.
Some have found their minority ethnicity to have a positive impact on
their academic studies:
o “Being mixed race, I have a deeper understanding of race issues
which is very useful in Philosophy. I have not experienced any form
of negative or positive racial bias from any member of staff or SU
member of the university which is greatly commendable”.
o “I feel that the University is very diverse”.
o “Family and culture can have an impact as motivation.”
o “People want to know more about my country and every subject is
really interesting when apply to my ethnicity.”
Although not many respondents said that ethnicity has had a negative impact, there are
clearly a few students for whom this has been a big issue and affected them profoundly.
International Students
The following information were posed to international students in order to assess the demands for
additional mixers and other issues. All data in this section is true as of January 2016.
Socials
16
From these findings, the inherent importance of international student mixers is apparent, and it is
clear that students would like to see more of this taking place.
Integration into UK Community
This question has been asked to both local and international students to compare their views.
17
International Students
18
Local Students
From these findings, we can see that there is a demand for more international and local student
communication from both international and local student perspectives. Additionally, the majority of
both international and local students.
Hall Life
The following questions were asked to international students who had lived in halls.
For the below graph, 1 = not engaged at all and 5 = very engaged.
19
For the below graph, 1 = not useful at all and 5 = very useful.
Crime
The following questions have been asked of students in order to establish whether or not they have
found themselves in a situation where they have been a victim of certain types of crime whilst at the
University Of Nottingham. Though response rates to such questions are presumably going to be quite
low, any responses which indicate that this has occurred suggest potential severe issues. The
information in this section is true as of January 2016.
20
Theft
Though these responses suggest that only 3% of our student population has experienced theft whilst
on a night out, an additional 4% of students stated that they would ‘rather not answer this question’.
This might suggest that up to 7% of respondents have experienced this to an extent.
Sexual Harassment
NB: It was included in the title of this question that ‘sexual harassment’ includes “unwelcome
advances, requests, or sexual language”.
21
From this chart, it can be seen that 13% of students responded ‘true’ to this statement, and a further
3% stated that they would rather not answer this question. This adds up to 16% of our student
population who may have experienced sexual harassment on nights out in Nottingham.
Drug Use
The following questions have been asked of students in order to indirectly assess issues around illicit
drugs at the University of Nottingham. We have purposely not asked these students about their
personal drug-taking habits, so as not to put students off of answering.
From this pie chart, it can be seen that quite a large number of students (6%) did not feel comfortable
answering this question (or perhaps did not understand the question itself). 26% of these respondents
answered ‘true’.
22
This question asked people to speak about people who occasionally (as opposed to regularly) take
drugs, but it also increased the criteria of people known from two to five. What we can see from this
is that 31% of students stated that this was ‘true’, and a further 5% of students would prefer not to
answer this question.
From this we can see that over half of our respondents agreed with this statement. This is interesting
to consider when contrasted with answers to the previous question, and it might be interesting to
note that some of the students who stated that they know people who regularly and occasionally take
drugs may feel uncomfortable with this. When analysed further, it turns out that:
 Just students who answered ‘true’ to knowing at least two people who regularly take
drugs, 40% of them feel uncomfortable around people who have been taking drugs.

Just students who answered ‘true’ to knowing at least five people who occasionally
take drugs, 39.5% of them feel uncomfortable around people who have been taking
drugs.
These extended findings display that this may be an issue for students who are around those taking
drugs. But also, as 40% and 39.5% respectively are significantly less than the 52% of students overall
who state that they feel uncomfortable being around those who have been taking drugs, it may be
that exposure to others taking drugs may increase certain student’s comfort levels around this.
Personal Safety
The following questions were asked of students to ascertain their knowledge about the Nottingham
Night Owls service, and to see whether lighting on the downs had made a difference to them. The
information included in this section is true as of January 2016.
23
For the below graph, 1 = not safe at all and 5 = very safe.
NB: All ‘this does not apply to me’ answers have been omitted in this instance.
This question was asked in order to gain a baseline measurement to see what the impact of installing
lighting on the Downs was. It is clear to see that while most students felt safe, there is still a perceived
safety issue here.
24
Alcohol
The information in this section has been posed to students regarding their alcohol intake and their
feelings around alcohol. The information in this section is true as of January 2016.
For the following graphs, the scale they have been placed on is 1 = strongly disagree and 10 = strongly
agree.
Here we can see that the scale is skewed quite severely to the negative end, suggesting that most
students disagree with this statement. However, there are quite a few students who answer this in
25
the more positive end of the scale, and almost 5% of students who either strongly agree, or quite
strongly agree with this statement.
We can here see that there is a very wide spread of responses to this question is very wide, such that
lots of people answered with a middling response, but lots also felt very strongly for, and against this
statement.
We can see here that most students seem to feel comfortable in stating that they do know their
limits when drinking, and that they stick to these. This is difficult to assess, as perhaps this question
26
warrants being split into two (aka “I know my limits when drinking”, and “I stick to my limits when
drinking”), and this might explain why there are also quite a number of ambivalent responses.
Through this graph, it can be seen that the vast majority of students feel that they do not risk their
personal safety whilst drunk. However, there are still responses from 6 and above (more leaning
towards ‘yes’ than ‘no’) which total over 10% of our student population.
Welcome Feedback
The following information has been taken from the Welcome 2016 Survey. This section looks at not
only feedback about the mentors and the week but also feedback from the mentors.
Feedback about mentors from students
Feedback from students was extremely positive towards the mentors. Students rated mentors high
across all areas and aspects of welcome week including:













knowledge of Welcome week (excluding bus times)
knowledge of the city
knowledge of the University Of Nottingham
knowledge of the campus
availability
sense of belonging
helpfulness
proactiveness
checking on students
approachability
reassurance
initiative
team work
27



listening
responding to questions
Professionalism – however this is considered less essential by students.
“Pink t-shirt people were fantastic, always there”
The mentors were considered easy to speak to and locate, they were seen checking in on students
and encouraging everyone to get involved. Mentors came across as having genuine concerns for the
new students’ wellbeing and happiness. There were no cliques, if someone was on their own the
mentors would go and sit with them and make sure that they were okay. It was noted that the
friendliness of all staff and volunteers was fantastic. Students appreciated that some mentors were
still in JCR’s after the first week and cultural and faith societies helped students find things in common.
Areas for improvement for mentors (but definitely not an issue):

Helping students to settle quickly and identify students in need – however this can be a
challenge due to the low block access from the mentors and lack of time available.
Innovation
“Having a group of people giving out biscuits and water on nights out was great!”
Students liked the text a question and get a cookie service in Broadgate Park. It enabled mentors to
gain access to check in a blocks.
Event Promotion
All events were promoted equally.
“I thought that because the mentors were encouraging it, it would be seen as an acceptable thing to
do. I don’t have to go to the clubs, I felt more comfortable approaching a mentor because of this.”
Feedback from mentors
Training
The following is what mentors liked about the training that they received:




Training was serious, balanced well with mentor socials.
Training has a good balance of teamwork and knowledge focus.
“The training help to embed a clear culture – it felt really taboo to say something like ‘down
it fresher’”
Everyone has an understanding that there was a need to work hard and remain sober during
the week
Mentors commented that they would like more training to be made available in:



Explaining the day-to-day running of the week (help them prepare and also for mentors to
answer student questions)
How to deal with situations that may arise – for example: unwell students in taxi, lad culture,
group road crossings, gathering students ready for the buses, homesickness, diffusing
aggression, conflict resolution – this would help mentors to consider how to stick to the code
of conduct in these circumstances.
Provide emergency first aid training to lead mentors – including mental health training around
panic attacks. This is particularly relevant since 50% of the incoming students stated that they
had experienced emotional difficulty.
28


More chance to identify who is who on the committee.
More clarity and training on how communication would happen during the week and what is
expected in terms of response times.
Areas that the mentors want the SU to consider
The following is what mentors would like the Students’ Union to consider about the training:



Make the training more campus specific
Shorten sessions by starting on time, reducing duplicated content and reducing breaks.
Reduce online training and focus on health and safety.
Mentor Resources
Issues that were highlighted by mentors from their experience of the week were:










It was hard to obtain food vouchers.
Staff room is not appropriate as mentor space.
Congregating in mentor space does not allow for proper rest, nor does it prove conducive to
proactive mentors.
Mentors would like pictures of their students to help remember their names.
Name stickers would be helpful for day 1.
“I spent a lot of money on buses moving between lectures and welcome – can we have a bus
pass?”
“Temporary car parking on campus would also help – it’s impossible to move between the
halls quickly without access to a car”
“Mentor survival pack with medicine would be useful!”
Hard to identify students in need of welfare support as unable to access hall blocks.
Would appreciate a welfare handout of contacts for referral
Mentors
The mentors chosen reflect the different student personalities but don’t always have a consideration
of study stage. There are 7935 new Undergraduate first years and 6730 new Postgraduate first years,
which may not be considered when planning. Surveys have shown that only 1 in 5 students who are
Postgraduate first years did their Undergraduate degree at the University Of Nottingham.
Postgraduate mentors did not feel adequately prepared to help throughout the week (relevant to the
events, training and committee responses).
Non-club nights
The following information is provided to showcase the need for consideration of non-club nights and
a variety of events during the Welcome week programme which has been fed back from the mentors
from anecdotes and what they have heard from students over the week.






Was good that their activities finished at 10.30pm, so could still go out if they wanted to.
Funday on the Downs felt like a day for mentors. Broadgate fest was popular and similar to
funday.
Daytime events – there is too much choice and not enough detail given about the events.
Many timetabling clashes that were not considered.
It would be good to have more non-club nights towards the end of the week which would
benefit tired/poorly students.
There was a request for family friendly events.
29



Cooking class is likely to support students who feel out of their depth.
Want more icebreakers in halls.
Possibly consider more wellbeing/welfare type events at the beginning of the week given that
students express high emotional difficulty then.
General improvements for the Welcome Week programme
The following information is improvements or issues that were felt across the week:









Derby students were unaware of Derby mentors – suggestion to having some mentors hat
travel on the Hopper bus with student and meeting them on there.
Living out/PG students were not aware that they had their own mentor allocation.
Surprised there was not more support for students with a disability.
Registration process confusing students.
Students want reminding that talking to others about how they feel will reveal that they feel
the same too
Language barrier repeatedly mentioned as isolating
“Didn’t know what I was queuing up for a lot of the time”
Students felt overwhelmed with all the deadlines they were writing down from lectures and
already fretting about exams.
“I’d like a way to meet other people during the week who also felt out of their comfort zone
too – just watch a bit of TV together. Nothing pressured.”
Days of emotional difficulty
The next question was posed to students after the Welcome Festival, and it aimed to explore whether
they had experienced emotional difficulty or not throughout the week, and if so, on which days had
they experienced this. The following information is true as of January 2016.
30
31