university of manchester peer support newsletter autumn2014
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Page 1
October 2014
The University of Manchester
Peer Support Newsletter
Inside This Issue
Autumn Edition
Welcome Note 1
Meet Your Sabbaticals 2-3
Peer Support Activity 4-5
- Open Day and Start of
Year Fair
4
- Student Consultations 4
- Sabbatical Life 4
- Socials 5
Faculty Snapshots 6-13
- Engineering and
Physical Sciences
6
- Medical and Human
Sciences
8
- Life Sciences 9
- Humanities 10
End Note 12
- Resource Bank 12
- Competitions 12
- Social Media 12
- Next Time 12
Welcome
Hello and welcome to a brand new year of Peer Support
activity here at the University of Manchester, whether you’re
a new face or a familiar one!
There are lots of exciting things planned for the year ahead
including the introduction of the League Table. We’ve
already had a fantastic Welcome Week and a great start to
Semester 1, showcased in the following pages. Have a
look and see if you can spot your scheme!
Page 2
October 2014
Hi I’m Anest. During my time as a student I was a PASS Leader for two years and a Peer Mentor for one year within Religions and Theology. I wanted to be a Sabbatical Intern because I believe Peer Support is an integral part of the student experience and wanted to remain a part of it. My aim for this year is to develop the Peer Support Alumni project. Interesting Fact: I have starred on Welsh TV.
Contact - [email protected]
Hello, I’m David. I enjoyed PASS as a first year student, and wanted to help other students in a similar way to improve their transition into University life. I did this by becoming an FLS PASS Leader for two years and now I would like to make a bigger difference by overseeing the running of many Peer Support Schemes. I want every student and staff member to understand how Peer Support can be used to make time at University a more enjoyable, worthwhile experience. Interesting Fact: I have hiked up a mountain in pitch darkness.
Contact: [email protected]
Hi I’m Olivia, I was a PASS Leader in my second year and then in my third year, I was one of two Student Coordinators for the Religions and Theology PASS Scheme. I wanted to be a Sabbatical Intern to be able to enhance the engagement of students with Peer Support by providing creative and innovative ways to aid learning. I want to help the staff and students develop the existing resources they have, in order to create new ways of learning. Interesting Fact: I can play piano, trumpet and flute but all really badly. Contact: [email protected]
Hello, I’m Alastair. As a student I was a PASS Leader for Econometrics. I
loved the role and it became the highlight of my week when my academic
work started to get really heavy.
This year I want to see that Peer Support becomes a core part of what
Manchester offers and another real incentive for prospective students to
come to our University.
Interesting Fact: My housemate and I dream of someday setting up a fast food mashed potato chain in our spare time called ‘Old Time Mashers.’ Contact: [email protected]
Welcome New Sabbatical Interns
Humanities
Life Sciences
Page 3
October 2014
Hello, I’m Annabelle. During my third year I was a Peer Mentor Coordinator and experienced first-hand how Peer Support can enhance the student experience, facilitating communication between year groups. In my discipline an encouraging community environment was established in which senior years supported and shared their experiences with first years. I wanted to be a Sabbatical Intern to continue my involvement with Peer Support. I am excited to get more involved with PASS and training volunteers. I would like to develop the existing Peer Support schemes by encouraging the sharing of ideas and collaborations with other Peer-led Organisations within the University. I also want to motivate my schemes and support them to achieve their aims throughout the year. Interesting Fact: I studied abroad in Tennessee. Contact: [email protected]
Hi, I’m Maz. I have worked as a PASS Leader in Mathematics throughout my 2nd and 3rd years, and further I was one of the four PASS Coordinators in the Mathematics scheme in my third year. I have been involved with Peer Support activities from early on in my student life. I loved every aspect; seeing the students grow and sharing ideas with other leaders, building a community throughout Mathematics. For me, a Sabbatical was the logical way to continue being involved in something I love and developing a range of useful skills. I would like to make an impact on different schemes by organising big events, inspiring and helping them to reach new limits, along with the University as a whole. Interesting Fact: I have dual citizenship, for Britain and Canada. Contact: [email protected]
Hello, I’m Rachael Lewis. When I was a first year I had an amazing PASS experience which inspired me to become a PASS Leader, and eventually led to me being a Student Coordinator for the Religions and Theology scheme. I like to think that I made a difference during my time in Religions and Theology PASS, and hope to continue to make a difference in Peer Support as a whole. By the end of this year, I want every student and member of staff at the University of Manchester to be passionate about Peer Support. Interesting Fact: I spent the last year of my degree watching and re-watching Disney films to research for my dissertation. Contact : [email protected]
Hi, I’m Sophie. I was a Psychology Peer Mentor for the joint honours with Cognitive Neuroscience students in my 2
nd year, and a Student Coordinator
for the Psychology in my 3rd year. I really enjoyed being part of Peer Support as an Undergraduate student I’ve personally experienced how valuable it can be in enhancing the student experience and bringing a sense of community to degree programmes. This year I’d like to encourage schemes to work together more and share ideas, to help each other’s schemes to grow. I’d also love to develop the PASS Debriefs to ensure that PASS Leaders feel they have enough support to progress in their role. Overall I hope to make my schemes feel fully supported, encouraged and valued. Interesting Fact: I have held a human brain.
Contact: [email protected]
Engineering and Physical Sciences
Medical and Human Sciences
Page 4
Peer Support Activity
October 2014
Open Day and Start of Year Fair
The Peer Support team have been busy in the
past month meeting new and potential
students at Open Days and the Start of Year
Fair. The Sabbaticals worked hard prior to the
events to make a Wheel of Fortune to entice
students to the stall. We enjoyed promoting
PASS and Peer Mentoring and encouraging
visitors to spin the wheel and ask the
questions such as ‘How will Peer Mentoring
help you?’ ‘Have you ever been involved in a
form of Peer Support?’. This proved to be very
popular and we had many winners of the Book
Token Grand Prize!
A big thank you to those PASS and Peer Mentoring
Student Coordinators that helped out at the Open
Days. Faiz Farik, Larysa Lotockyj, Haya Shamas,
Fiona Walker, Carmen-Mirabela Dan, Lindsay Clayton,
Syed Islam, Zarah Zaman, Zainab Hussain, David
Rosen and Rosie Read.
(A pair of enthusiastic Student Coordinators Faiz Farik and Carmen–Mirabela
Dan)
Student Consultations Would you like to really make a difference and influence how key areas of work and policy develop at Manchester? Do you have thoughts about the student support on offer or how we could make our students’ experiences better?
Last year, more than 100 students (including many PASS Leaders and Peer Mentors) got Involved in Student Consultations as a way to feed their views into big projects across the University, and this semester we have 3 more opportunities for you to engage in workshops to discuss these exciting topics.
If you received post from the University of Manchester before arriving in your first year or have used any of the University Services since studying here, then we would love you to get involved and share your ideas.
Please click here for more information: http://bit.ly/UoMconsultationsOct14
Page 5
October 2014
Sabbatical Life
The work of the Sabbatical Team is diverse, busy but extremely rewarding. We each juggle lots
of activities which range from sending students emails, to leading Student Coordinator Training
Sessions.
For the first time ever, the academic year 2014/15 sees Peer Support extend the team to include
eight Sabbatical Interns. This means there is a larger team to assist with the ever growing
number of Peer Support schemes.
As well as supporting the PASS and Peer Mentoring schemes across the University, we are also
each responsible for a series of projects such as the Peer Support presence at Open Days, the
PwC Personal Development Course, and looking after the Peer Support Social Media accounts.
We are obviously all still settling into working life, but we are sure that we are going to have
fulfilling year.
- Rachael Lewis (Sabbatical for the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences)
Peer Support Social
The first Peer Support Social of the year
took place on Thursday 9th October.
Students and staff from across the
University came together, shared some
new ideas and experiences, whilst having fun!
The event got lots of people talking about
their experiences as members of the Peer
Support community. Check Page 12 out to
see the winners. There was a fun competition
called “#SelfieWithASabb” getting Leaders
and Mentors to take interesting photos with the
Sabbatical Interns.
The Prize was Book Tokens that the students can
you use to buy course books. Everyone enjoyed
socialising, networking and discussing future
collaborations. If you missed out don’t fear! There
will be a monthly meet up where all the students
and staff involved in Peer Support can come together
and talk in a relaxed environment. We look forward
to seeing you soon!
(Peer Support Social Team.)
Page 6
October 2014
Snapshot
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Material Science PASS
Material Science PASS devised an innovative way to prepare their Leaders for their first PASS
Sessions. The Student Coordinators organised a mock session to test the PASS Leaders
abilities to deal with the most difficult of students. Two Leaders were sent outside, and
unbeknownst to them, six of those remaining were given a potential PASS persona to role-play.
These ‘6 Nightmares of PASS’ were; The Shy Guy, The Hungover Student, The Phone Addict,
The Know-it-All, The Chatter-box and The Couldn’t Care Less.
As an added challenge before they could even get in, the ‘Leaders’ first had to deal with
one of our past Coordinators posing as a Grumpy Professor using the room scheduled for PASS.
Once they overcame this hurdle, the Leaders were then able to confront the nightmarish mock
session itself with extreme confidence, dealing with their peers’ antics superbly. Meanwhile, all
actors put in admirable performances; in fact, some may have been playing their parts a little too
naturally… (Material Science PASS Leaders)
Physics Peer Mentoring
After emails back and forth and much running around campus, the Physics Coordinators spent Friday afternoon of the 12th of September making 74 Packs. Each contained the five double sided pages that had been developed over the summer printed by the Sabbatical along with an AskMe Badge, for Mentors, and five Peer Mentor cards. Also included were University maps obtained from the Visitors Centre for them to hand out to their Mentees. In addition this included a “Volunteer to Help!” form as many hands as were possible were needed to put on these events. This was the FIRST Pack of its kind!
Physics also have a great Tumblr check it out! http://uomphysicspeermentoring.tumblr.com/
(Above Rory Clark & Stephanie Banes the Physics Student
Coordinators with the Peer Mentoring Packs)
Page 7
October 2014
Mechanical Engineering PASS
Mechanical Engineering created an Ice
Breaker designed to reflect group
challenges in assessment centres. The
groups were building a paper tower to
hold as much weight as possible, whilst
using as little resources as possible. The
constraints meant that the groups had to
first design a solution, this got
everybody involved especially as each
group wanted to acquire there team
working points in order to win the
Mechanical Engineering PASS League.
The winning tower held 3.5kg without
sign of buckling, at which point they ran
out of test weight. Well done to them!!
(Left Mechanical Engineering group and their paper tower)
Chemistry PASS Scavenger Hunt
Chemistry PASS organised a molecule
Scavenger Hunt for their first session in Week
2. Each group was given a molecule which
they had to build by finding the different atoms
around campus. They were then given a map
and cryptic clues to the locations of the atoms
so it wasn’t too easy!
Prizes were awarded for 1st, 2
nd and 3
rd place
and the first group completed their molecule in just 10 minutes! Although this was a fun introductory event, students had to use skills from their course such as working out the molecular formula and identifying functional groups.
Computer Science Leader Limelight
The Computer Science PASS scheme have been very busy as well
as having been a major part of the first Annual Book Fair, along with
a Console Night they have also come up with an innovative way to
showcase their excellent PASS Leaders. Using their Tumblr they
now have a weekly/bi-weekly feature on a selected PASS Leader.
Check it out: http://cspassmanchester.tumblr.com
- Sarah King (Computer Science Coordinator)
(Left PASS Leader Zac Hamid using the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset at the PASS leader social)
Page 8
Snapshot
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
October 2014
A Note from the Coordinators The Manchester Medical School Peer Mentoring scheme is one of the largest Mentoring schemes in the University, with roughly 400 Mentees and 130 Mentors it is a real task for the Coordinators to organise, and as with every scheme, Welcome Week is a busy week. This year, the Mentoring scheme held 3 major events, the Introduction Day, the Welcome Week curry and the Scavenger Hunt. The Introduction Day is where the groups of 12 are introduced to their Mentors. Traditionally this is done after a morning of introductory lectures. The curry night took over three venues on the curry mile with 600 mentors and mentees!! Finally, the last event organised was the Scavenger Hunt. This year this was greatly overhauled. Instead of having it over a month it was held in a 2 hour window on a Wednesday afternoon, using strictly University buildings around campus to prevent travelling. Many students participated and the prize of an £80 Primark gift voucher for the infamous Medics Pyjama Pub Crawl meant there was a real incentive for taking part.
This years events have demonstrated how key it is to promote Mentors in a clear and obvious, way to incentivise both Mentors and Mentees, above all to organise events that are great fun. - Samuel Hey (Medicine 3rd Year Student)
Manchester Medical Student Communities Peer Mentors held a lunchtime drop in session!
Manchester Medical Student Communities have Peer Mentors from years 3-5 of the Medical Programme. Year 4 Mentors in Chisholm Community met with their Year 3 Mentees to answer questions about their new Base Hospital.On Wednesday 1st October the MMSC Chisholm hosted an informal lunch at MRI for year 3,4 and 5 members. This was a great opportunity for everyone to get to know one another a bit better, to ask questions to those in other years about what to expect from the rest of our clinical years, and to eat some delicious Dominos pizza!
It was a very relaxed event, and one that everyone seemed to enjoy. Following the success of this lunch Manchester Medical Students Peer Mentors hope to host another similar event soon.
- Amy Price (Chisholm MMSC Year 4 Peer Mentor/ Student Lead)
(Above: Attendees at the drop in session!)
Page 9
October 2014
Snapshot
Faculty of Life Sciences
Welcome Week in Life Sciences
The Life Sciences PASS Student Coordinators (Semah, Chris, Ameenah and Bethan) spent their summer devising a Scavenger Hunt for all the new first year students! The aim was to get round 8 different buildings in the quickest time, with PASS leaders giving out clues and games to complete in each building. This event happened three times over two days in order for the groups to be small enough and to give the opportunity for different Life Sciences students to mingle and chat with those that aren’t on their degree programme. The Scavenger Hunt was a huge success, the Coordinators even saw one group running down Oxford Road to complete it in record time! Each group also took part in a photo competition to prove they had covered all the landmarks of the Oxford Road campus! Congratulations to the Student Coordinators and the winners of the Scavenger Hunt, you should all be very proud of yourselves!
FLS Book Sale
The Coordinators have also been busy organising the annual FLS Book Sale. It is a huge task to manage and organise, but as always in Peer Support, the fantastic Coordinators rise to the challenge. The Book Sale exchanged over 250 books at two different sales, and the dedicated PASS Leaders were on hand to make sure everything ran smoothly.
Optometry PASS Induction Talk!
Sabbatical Intern, Olivia, gave a talk to the first year students about the importance of facilitation and the power of peer engagement. This was delivered on the Tuesday of Welcome Week, and gave the first year students a chance to see how their University Education is supported from the beginning of their degree. They were given Optometry based questions to answer on their own, then were asked to discuss their answer with a pair and see if they got the correct answer. As expected, the amount of students with the correct answers rose when they had discussed their process with a partner. It was really great to see these new students engage and be enthusiastic about peer learning from the very first week of the Semester!
Industrial Placement Mentoring Welcome Event!
During Welcome Week, the scheme’s Student Coordinator, Carina, organised an event in the Stopford Building Common Room for returning Placement students in order to tell them about the Placement Mentoring Scheme. The event was a huge success and all that attended signed up to be Mentors. A Placement Mentor Alumni member, Holly Jones, also gave a talk on the importance of the scheme from the perspective of a previous Mentee and Mentor.
Page 10
Snapshot
Faculty of Humanities
October 2014
Sociology Pub Quiz
It was a huge success: Eight mentors attended and 40+ first years came and took part. All in all, there was around 56 people at the Quiz which helped raise money for future socials. The Quiz was written by Amy and Tilly, two of the Mentors and they acted as 'Quizmasters' for the night. The Coordinators and were really impressed with the effort that the pair put in to make the event a success. It was the biggest turnout that Sociology have had for a Peer Support social outside of the Welcome Week activities, and its really boosted enthusiasm towards the scheme!
- Rosie Driscoll (Sociology Student Coordinator)
Japanese Buffet and Film Night
The Japanese studies Peer Mentors were very busy during Welcome Week. They held an Asian
food Buffet in Whitworth Park. Alongside an exciting Japanese Movie screening in University
Place accompanied by many Japanese snacks!
- Lindsay Clayton (Japanese Student Coordinator)
Arabic Social
On the 29th September the Arabic Student Coordinators held the first Arabic PASS social of the
year. Since they were unable to plan any Welcome Week activities, they thought that it would be
a good idea to hold an early social event to bring everyone together. They decided to hold it at
The Ram, a popular pub that holds a Pub Quiz every Monday night. Students from first, second,
third and fourth year attend, and they all mingled with each other. This event was good for many
reasons. Firstly, it advertised PASS, getting students interested in coming to PASS early on in
the year is very important as once they start coming, they usually continue. Secondly, it brought
the small group of Arabic students closer, and now that they know one another, they will be more
eager to attend future socials. Finally, it allowed the first, second and third years to learn a bit
about Jordan and ask their questions in a relaxed atmosphere.
- Ali Bissoondath (Arabic Student Coordinator)
Page 11
October 2014
Welcome New Schemes
Linguistics and English Language PASS
This year, LEL is adding a PASS scheme to their repertoire to help students to engage with their material. There are currently only 10 PASS leaders, but we hope to have a strong recruitment this year so that the scheme can expand into next year. They are also hoping to run some joint socials to get all the members in Peer Support from LEL together.
SPLAS Peer Mentoring
This year we would like to introduce Spanish and Portuguese Peer Mentoring. The scheme consists of 30 mentors. Well done to the two Academic Coordinators who managed to recruit and launch the scheme. SPLAS Peer Mentoring held their first event in Welcome Week in the form of a Mentor Mentee lunch. Well done everyone and keep up the good work!
The First Annual Book Fair
This event has showcased just how well collaborative events can work. Over the summer the
BA Economics Peer Mentors worked hard to contact Student Coordinators across the University.
Their efforts led to a Book Fair which managed to cross faculties, schemes involved were: BA
Economics and Social Sciences (all pathways), Computer Science, Manchester Business
School, English and American Studies and creative writing, Politics and International Relations,
Psychology, Classics and History. The Computer Science scheme managed to create an
effortless online system containing all the books which were available in the sale. The book sale
was a huge success selling over 1000 books. Well done to all involved!
(Thanks to English, American Studies and Creative Writing and BA (Econ) for providing the pictures )
Page 12
October 2014
End Note
Social Media
We share all our best Peer Support activities along
with exiting news about socials, competitions and
additional opportunities on our various forms of social
media. So make sure you are following us!
Winter Edition
The National Leader Conference in
Edinburgh
- AskMe Thank You event
Thank you to all students that
contributed articles to this Edition.
If you would like to contribute to the
Winter Edition please send an
article to your Sabbatical Intern.
Competitions
ICEBREAKER WINNER
Winner: Lego Souls– Kevin Aerospace
Runners up: What did you dough over the
summer?- Greg and Luke, Aerospace
Interactive Map– Jan, Mechanical Engineering
#SELFIEWITHASABB WINNER
Ibrahim - Aerospace - Twitter
Melis Karabulutoglu- FLS - Instagram
Ask Me Badge Return
1.Chemistry 100%
2.Material Science 96%
Ask Me Photo Competition
Chemical Engineering
Have you done something with your scheme that is incredible beyond contemplation?
We want you to contribute the ideas, events and activities that you have devised, so the rest of the Peer Support schemes can see how creative and innovative our students are! We are establishing a new section of the Peer Support Website where your resources will be shared and judged by the lovely Sabbatical Interns! So, if you want your activity to be in with a chance to be included in ‘Sabbatical Favourites’, email Olivia at:[email protected] with pictures and descriptions of your PASS or Peer Mentoring activities and events.