Know your electorate: Who are Salford students?

University of Salford Students’ Union Elections 2013

Agenda

• Demographics – who studies at Salford?

• What do students think of the University?

• What do students think of the Students’ Union?

• Why is this important for candidates?

Demographics Quiz

1. How many students currently study at Salford?

2. What percentage of current students are on postgraduate courses?

3. What percentage are mature students?

4. What percentage have their home address within Greater Manchester?

5. What percentage are international students?

6. Which is the biggest College and School?

What do students think about the University?

NSS category % satisfaction2012

% satisfaction 2011

UK average2012

The teaching on my course 82 82 86

Assessment and feedback 68 64 70

Academic support 75 71 79

Organisation and management 73 66 77

Learning resources 76 79 82

Personal development 79 79 81

Overall Satisfaction 81 79 85

Retention and Completion

2009/10 figures Salford UK average

Retention rate 82.5% 89.3%

No longer in HE 14.3% 8.6%

Discussion: What factors affect retention?

What do students think about the Students’ Union?

• Rate your Union survey 2012:– 43% thought the Union had improved during their time

here. Only 4% thought it had got worse!– 73% were confident they knew what the Students’ Union

was– 76% awareness of the Sabbatical Officers– 69% agreed that the Union had a positive impact on their

lives

• NSS 2012 – new question– 60% satisfaction with the Students’ Union.– 30% chose the neutral response (3)

What do you think this means?

What do students care about?

• When asked to pick areas of campaigning, the top choices (2012) were:– Assessment and feedback times

– Careers advice and guidance

– Fees and funding

– Library and I.T. resources

• Other areas always illicit high levels of response e.g. timetables, facilities, building suitability etc.

Why is this important?

• Not all students are the same

• The most common areas students care about are within the academic sphere

• ‘Engagement’ is an issue for the University (and Union) and can be seen in retention statistics

• Knowing how students think will help you get elected!

• You need to know what to focus on when you do get elected!