gair rhydd Monday September 26 2011 | Issue 956
freeword – Est. 1972
Record student engagement
Inside this week:
The
2263 used three or more
Number of services used by individual students last year
45% Non-Union Users
55% Union Users
Politics page 12
Features investigate what some students did with their summers Features page 16
And more, inside Wales’ number one independent student newspaper
de
3666 used two
6341 used just one service
Percentage of student population who use the Union’s services last year
“ “
The aftermath of the UK riots and what they mean for law & order
si
The numbers in brief:
in
Continued on page 3.
ee
Recent statistics, released by the Cardiff Students’ Union prove that during one year, over half of the student population at Cardiff utilised at least one of its services. This is compared to an original estimate of less than a quarter. According to the Union’s figures, out of the 26,065 students at Cardiff, 14,357 had unique interaction with the Union. Around 52% of this number used just one service, leaving 48% of students exceeding this. Previously, it was estimated that the figure was only hitting around 4000. Over the space of 12 months, a database has been tracking how many students utilise in the Union, by recording their individual identification numbers after every use. Findings displayed how many unique uses there were and in which particular areas of the Union. Utilised services included: renting a house from Cardiff Student Letting, purchasing a ticket for one of the Union’s club nights or visits to the ARC (Advice and Representation Centre). This year’s statistics confirm a vast increase of what was originally expected, shining light on Cardiff Students’ Union as we begin this forthcoming academic year.
Marcus Coates-Walker, President of Cardiff Students’ Union told gair rhydd: “This data shows that the Union reaches out to a huge number of students at Cardiff University. It shows the positive impact that it has on students’ lives in Cardiff. We now know that we engage with a large amount of our students through the different services we provide. This doesn’t change the Union’s goal to engage with all students; in fact it shows that we are having great success.” Despite positive attitude regarding these figures, the Union acknowledges that there is still a large amount of Cardiff students who are disengaged with their facilities and are using this information as an incentive to develop this. Marcus added: “There is always room to improve; we endeavour to reach disengaged students and with projects such as ‘The Lounge’ we are reaching out to those that haven’t yet experienced the fantastic services of Cardiff Students’ Union.” The statistics reflect areas of improvement in terms of attracting disengaged students. Of the 14,000 who use the Union, a vast 99.4% are full-time students, leaving 0.6% of users who are part-time. Similarly, 80.6% of users are Domestic students, leaving 13.3% which are non-EU and only 6.1% that are from the EU.
Fr
Laura Evans News Editor