America, Christmas, New Year and lots of actions on what YOU want!!

Hi guys,

My apologies for the lack of activity on this blog, Since living the American Dream (including a few Dunkin' Donuts!) I have been all go trying to implememnt some of the fantastic things I saw whilst I was there and also trying to action the things you wanted to see completed in the first term.

Here we are starting the second term of the academic year, so here are a few of the things we have managed to do:

• Get a quorate AGM for the first time in 2 years




• Get a Unilinx bus route which runs through Westbourne, the Triangle and the Square




• Organise a Q and A session with Matthew Bennet (Dean of Con Sci)




• Plan the SUBU Educational Approach (Watch this space....!)




• Put the environment at the heart of the University agenda




• Microwave in Bournemouth House




• New computers to be installed in Bournemouth House




• Push the University to install new seating with tablets in the Woolstencraft Lecture Theatre




• Begin planning a bar in Salisbury (For Partnership students)

Thats just a small taster of the work we have been getting on with in addition to working towards SUEI accreditation, the Sound Impact Silver Award and undergoing a Governance Review.

So, as busy as we were in the first term, myself and Alan Dove (The Students' Union Commercial Manager) managed to jet off to Boston and Conneticut to sample the American Higher Education Experience.

We visited Harvard, MIT, Boston University, Curryt College, Univeristy of Connecticut, University of Southern Connecticut and the University of East Connecticut.

The experience was unreal......yes, the Americans pay much more for their education (around £25,000 a year) however this includes their board and in some cases meals. In addition, the facilities in these University are a world apart from the ones we experience here in the UK. In regards to sporting facilities, only Loughborough really compares and even then, I think, is lagging behind somewhat.

It made me challenge my own views on Higher Education funding in the UK and made me ask the question: 'Would I back the proposed increase in fees if I could see exactly where my fees were going, and what extra I would be getting for the extra that I am paying?'

The fact is that the Higher Education sector is a global market and if we are going to compete with state of the art institutions such as Boston University then we undoubtedly need more resources in which to do that. The question is how we get them and what they are used on, and how what the money is spent on effects the experience of students.

I think that if I saw my fees broken down and that, for example £150 of it went towards Student activity opportunities, then I would be more inclined to find out what opportunities there were and get involved. I would love to know what you think about this.

The way they celebrate spoirt also caught my eye. Whilst here in the UK, University sport is lower key and dominated by an underlying drinking culture, in the US sport is something that everyone in the institution gets involved in either participating or supporting.

They have stadiums that pack out for university sports which I was amazed at compared to what we currently have here at Bournemouth. It showed how far we have to go and made me wonder if the Students' Union could do a better job of running sports thatn the University (We are one of only 4 Students' Unions in England that do not run sports!).

The other thing that was really impressive was the use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter. They are, I would guess, about a year ahead of us in regards to their use of Social Media in regards to how they use it and the extent in which they use it.

Funnily enough, I conducted a mini survey of my own when I arrived back and found that none of the people I talked to were active users of Twitter. this suggested to me that it has not really taken off yet in the UK despite rave reviews on Radio 1 and other media outlets alike.

I predict that it will take off and we are already seeing Facebook and Twitter intergrating with each other and mobile phone companies producing Social Media specific phones. The revolution is already here.....only some of us, especially students do not know it yet.

Any ways, enough of me waffling on as I could gop on forever about the neat things I experienced in America (like the combination of coffee and dohnuts!) however what is more important is actioning the things that I thought would make students' experience here in Bournemouth better........hopefully things you will see materialising in the coming months.

Thanks for reading if you got this far, not bad for two months worth of blogging i think!!

Much SUBU love

Scott x