Students’ Association

When you choose to study at North East Scotland College (and if you are over the age of 16) you will automatically become a member of the Students’ Association, unless you choose to opt out. You can decide your level of involvement – some students are very heavily involved in the SA, whereas others choose not to be. It’s entirely your choice.

Throughout the year we organise a timetable of events and awareness raising activities. Helping to support these events or getting involved with the Association gives you the chance to learn new skills, gain work experience and boost your CV all whilst spending time with enthusiastic, like-minded people and forming lifelong friendships!

Getting involved in the Students’ Association is a fantastic way to meet new people, boost your CV and have a say in your educational and overall student experience at North East Scotland College.

If you want to get involved, there are lots of ways to do so.

Elections

The NESCol Students’ Association is run for students by students! This means we are led by the work of elected Sabbatical Officers, our Regional President and Depute President.

You can find out more about what they do by reading the job descriptions for the Regional President Role and Depute President Roles.

If you are a current student, you can also find out more about our elections by heading to My NESCol. 

Voting takes place each year. In the 2023 elections Carrie Beaton was selected as President, with Alina Zaharia chosen for the Depute President role. The new officers began their duties in July 2023 and you can get in touch with them via the contact details at the foot of this page.

Class Representatives

Every class in the College has a Class Rep. They are normally elected within the first few weeks of a class starting. Class Reps represent students by talking to their peers about all aspects of life on their course. They then attend meetings with key staff and provide them with feedback and also attend monthly themed meetings with the Association. Students are asked to suggest improvements or discuss what is working well and topics covered might include things like:

• Ideas from the class on how to improve life in the classroom.
• Use of technology in class rooms.
• Resources and facilities in College.
• Comments on how courses are taught and their content.

Officer posts

Our Presidents are elected in March each year and take up their posts on 1 July before the beginning of the new academic session.  To support our Presidents we have a team of Officers who form our Executive. These are voluntary, part-time roles.

Executive Officers help make major decisions alongside the Presidents of the Students’ Association when it comes to shaping the direction, aims and ambitions of the Association. Several positions become available during elections, where you can become involved in areas that are of specific interest to you, such as:

• Communications
• Equality and Diversity
• Environment
• Health and Wellbeing
• Activities and Events

Executive Officers may help to organise events/campaigns to raise awareness of different issues. They can also represent students and various student issues via their membership on key College committees. Executive Officer posts will be advertised around September each year and posts will start in October.

Volunteering

You don’t have to be a Class Rep or an elected Officer to help with the Students’ Association. Volunteers are encouraged to come along on a regular basis to help out and support Officers at different one-off events, fundraising days, campaigns and initiatives. As an Association we are keen to benefit from the many different skills you are developing at College, as well as your motivation and enthusiasm! Please let us know if you can help out or keep an eye on MyNESCol and our social media channels for any opportunities that we might have – we’d be happy to have you on board.

Events and Activities

During the College year, the Students’ Association runs a range of events promoting Health and Welfare, Equality and Diversity and general social events – because everyone deserves some fun!

We publish an events calendar each year so you can find out what is on offer. Your first introduction to these will be through our Freshers’ activities in September. Freshers is an event to welcome you to campus, where you will find information on student support, health and wellbeing, catering on campus, volunteering opportunities, local entertainment/leisure facilities, and often student offers and discounts from local shops and businesses.  We really hope that you can join us for this key event in the Student Association calendar.

The Students’ Association are always on the lookout for promotions and benefits for students, and these will generally be promoted on our social media channels, My NESCol (our student intranet) or at our events and activities.

Clubs and Societies

As an Association it is important to us that students have a positive social experience at College and so we can support you in setting up and running a club or group on campus that reflects your interests. These groups are run by students for students and we have previously had gaming clubs, music clubs and a socialist society running on campuses. If you are interested in putting a group together, get in touch with us and we’ll let you know how to go about it and support you to get it up and running.

Food insecurity

The Breakfast Club, The Pantry and our Student Kitchens are three Students’ Association initiatives designed to combat food insecurity among students.

The Breakfast Club

The Students’ Association runs a Breakfast Club for students at our Aberdeen Altens, Aberdeen City and Fraserburgh campuses between 8:30am and 9:30am, Monday to Friday.  Students can enjoy a free  breakfast of cereal and tea.

The Pantry

The Student Pantry is our foodbank at each campus. Students can come and collect non-perishable foods, toiletries, laundry and household items. It is open throughout the day and deliveries are received weekly to ensure this service is always available.

Student Kitchens

Students have access to free hot water and microwaves at each of our three main campuses.

Having access to free hot water and microwaves allows students to prepare simple meals such as instant noodles and soups, make hot drinks and heat microwaveable meals while on campus.

The rooms are open freely during campus opening hours and are stocked with cleaning supplies for students to clean up as they go. The rooms are also maintained daily by College staff.

End of Year Meeting

We have Annual Meetings where we report to students on our activities for the year and our work on your behalf. We encourage all members to attend this meeting so that we can hear more about what you want from us.

Partnership Agreement

North East Scotland College and the Students’ Association agree to work in partnership to achieve shared priorities outlined in the Partnership Agreement.

Both parties will work collaboratively to ensure that all students can get involved in actively shaping and influencing their College experiences.

If you would like to provide us with your feedback on how we can improve our partnership working, please email nescolsa@nescol.ac.uk.

If you have any questions about the Students’ Association or would like some more information about becoming part of the team, please don’t hesitate to get in touch — we’d love to hear from you. The Students’ Association are here to help, face-to-face, via email or social media.

Email

nescolsa@nescol.ac.uk

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