Inclusivity and Accessibility Toolkit

We have now updated our Equality and Diversity Handbook for all student groups here

We know that for many students at university, alcohol plays a part in socialising and events – and while we don’t condone the use of drugs, we recognise that some people may choose to experiment with substances.

We want to make sure that everyone has access to resources and support so that they can make an informed decision about drinking responsibly, substance use and most importantly, staying safe and well.

Our Night to Remember page contains information, guidance and links to support services, helping students make an informed choice, promoting a safe campus and student community, and making sure everyone can have a great night out.

For guidance on how to create online accessible content for your members, download our guide.

uea(su) can provide your club or society with anti-racism training. Please email union.societies@uea.ac.uk to request this.

White Privilege

Through what we have watched, what we have read and what we have heard, often without realising it, we have absorbed some of these prejudices, which later develop into implicit or unconscious bias. This impacts how we view the world and interact with others. The biases can be reflected in many ways, with one of them being our language. Certain phrases and questions are repeated that has become too familiar for people of colour. These type of phrases, are microaggressions and are one of the ways that people of colour can be made to feel alienated or out of place:

• "But, where are you really from?"
• "How is your English so good?"
• "But you don't LOOK black."

Microaggressions

A microaggression is a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group (often a racial minority).

Some examples of microaggressions:

• Touching someone’s hair e.g. touching afro-textured hair
• Crossing over to the other side of the street to avoid someone from a different ethnicity
• Being treated less favourably or with more suspicion in a shop than a white person
• ‘Where are you really from?’
• Offering more support or help to white students
• Talking over people with lived experiences of the issue

How could you tackle racism in your student group?

• Listen to people with lived experience.
• Don't talk over someone sharing their lived experience.
• Challenge subtle forms of racism (such as microaggressions) that you witness taking place.
• If someone has experienced racism and want to report it, let them know how they can report this. Such as using the report and support website. If they want to report the case in person you could offer to go with them.
• Celebrate and run events that are culturally diverse. For example, run an event as part of Black History Month.

The Report and Support portal is a place for students and staff to report incidents of harassment, assault, abuse or bullying of any kind, and is a place to seek support if this has happened to you.

What is a hate crime or hate incident?

Hate incidents and hate crimes are acts of hostility and violence directed at someone because of who they are or who someone thinks they are.

• Verbal abuse like name-calling and offensive jokes
• Bullying or intimidation
• Physical attacks
• Threats of violence
• Hoax calls, abusive phone or text messages, hate mail
• Online abuse for example on Facebook or Twitter
• Displaying or circulating discriminatory literature or posters
• Malicious complaints for example over parking, smells or noise
• Microaggressions

Who are Commuter Students?

Commuter students could be:

• anyone that doesn’t live on campus,
• anyone who lives at home during university, or
• anyone who lives outside of a student area in Norwich.

It is important to note that commuter students are such a diverse group of people and it impossible to generalise across it. You may have some commuter students that choose to live at home because of family, caring and employment responsibilities.

Tips to reduce challenges commuter students face

• Promote the benefits of being a member of your student group. If a commuter student has a lecture at 9am and your session is at 6pm, think about what is going to make them come onto campus again later in the day or potentially wait on campus until the session.
• Highlight some existing commuter students in your student group and share their experience of being a member. Raising the profile of commuter students will help engage more within your student group.
• When you run an event you could share information about travel e.g. is there parking at the venue or nearby.
• A mixture of times for social events, including some daytime events. Keep clear communications about events, especially last minute changes to plans, especially if someone has to travel from a further distance. This can save time and money and keep people interested in being involved.
• A variety of event locations, such as having events in Norwich and events on campus. Sometimes students will have to travel to Norwich before they travel to UEA. If you can make some events in the city that cuts out that additional travel time. Liftsharing can also help reduce the environmental impact and costs associated with travel, which benefits all members of the group.
• Think about how you can make your activities and social events as flexibility as possible. Can there be some flexibility with dropping into the session, arriving late or leaving early?
• Do a mixture of in-person and online events to help all students to be able to access them.
• Commuter students won't have moved into a flat on campus and potentially haven’t got to know many students when they are considering going to a taster session. Therefore, it is key to make all students feel welcome and develop activities that allow students coming on their own to make friends.

What is a clique?

A clique is a small close-knit group which tends to exclude outsiders from joining.

We all fall into the trap of being comfortable and sticking to our small little groups. Whether this is your committee or your friends - it happens to all of us.

For example, at society meetings, all the committee members usually sit next to each other and don't integrate with members. This can be seen as cliquey by new members of society and make it seem like you don't want to include them.

Of course, this is not the intention of the behaviour, but it can still prevent new members from coming back.

Read this document to find out some tips and tricks to avoid a clique!

The first initial experience a potential member has of your club or society may determine whether they join or look for alternatives. This first interaction could be before they have even attended a session and could be through messaging the student group or viewing the promotion of your student group. Especially in this new climate where there is going to be online activities, it's more important than ever to support the integration of new members with existing members to make sure no one feels unwelcome or out of place within your student group. Consider looking at doing the following;

Before your first session

• Discuss with your committee how you would like to welcome new members.
• Promote information about your club or society.
• Ask people to let you know if they have any special educational needs, supports or questions. If so, Inform the people involved in welcoming new members.
• Don’t just use social media to promote activities. For those that are not on social media, they may miss important information and potentially feel like an outsider.
• Plan a welcome event to integrate members.

During your first session

• Get the new member involved in an activity as quickly as possible. This will assist the transition and help break the ice. This also shows the new member what your club is all about.
• Introduce the new members to other people in the club or society. Including all the committee members and what each one does.
• Create a welcoming environment.
• Don’t let anyone be isolated or no one speaking to them.
• Ensure someone from the committee is there to greet new and existing members. This also works online as you could have someone welcoming everyone that joins the call.

After your first session

• Follow up. This could be a mixture of general statement after the first session or sending some individual messages. It is important to ask the member how their first session went and find out if they need any additional help to settle in. This shows that you care and increases the likelihood of the individual becoming a member.
• Involve your members in some of the decision making. E.g. Polls for the best time for a social event.

The benefits of all of this:

• Increased membership for longer.
• Open doors to students who may not have thought to join your student group.
• Continue to make your club or society welcoming and inclusive for all.
• More engagement in your social events.
• Tackle isolation and loneliness.

• For international students, they are a long way from home and many have come to the UK without friends or their family. It is important to contribute to an international student home away from home and help them feel settled.

Tips for supporting international students

• Think about what activities you can do during your welcome week events to help students feel settled, find their way around and provide a warm welcome. If your activity is in the sports park, could you arrange to do a quick 15-minute tour of the sports park to help students to get their bearings on campus?
• Create a peer support network with your student group. You could look to do this through the buddy(su) scheme allowing students to have someone to help them feel settled during their first couple of weeks as a member of your student group.
• Explain what a club or society does, what are the benefits etc. For some international students, there may not have been clubs or societies at their previous university and this might be a completely new concept.
• As coronavirus has spread around the world, there have been many reports on increase harassment and hate crimes directed towards international students. There is no place for harassment and hate crimes at UEA and you should report anything that you see. You may want to refer back to the anti-racism section to understand what microaggression is.
• During the winter and Easter break, check-in with international students in your club or society. Many will not of had the opportunity to go home during this period and may be feeling isolated or experiencing homesickness.
• Adapting to a completely new culture and social structure is difficult. Cultural differences and language problems add another barrier for international students. Consider this when you are planning events and activities.

Gender and Sexuality Terminology Guidance

Norfolk LGBT+ Project have created a booklet on A-Z of gender and sexuality terms.

LGBTQIA+ Inclusion Guidance

For some supporting guidance on how to promote LGBTQIA+ inclusion within your group activity for your members, download our guide.

Mature students are defined as undergraduates aged over 21 years or postgraduate over 25 years. There may also be students who identify as mature because of experiencing significant life experiences at a younger age.

As a committee, there are some actions you can take to ensure students of all ages feel welcome at your club or society.

Tips to include mature students

• BE WELCOMING – for some mature students, coming to university can be an isolating experience. They may be the only mature student on their course and commuting to university which reduces the time they have to meet other students. It is important you break the ice and make the first move to introduce yourself to make everyone feel welcomed
• DO NOT IGNORE – some mature students sometimes feel they are too old to join a club or society. Their first encounter may be through the clubs and Soc fayres during welcome week. There are multiple examples of where a mature student has gone to a stall or an event and been asked to prove they are a student or even worse, they have been completely ignored as people have assumed they are a member of staff. If someone shows an interest in your club or society, please be as welcoming as you would normally
• VARIETY OF EVENTS – not all students want to go to events where the focus is drinking or clubbing (this isn’t to say that some mature students don’t want to do this). Make sure you put on a variety of events, including non-alcohol focused socials and utilise the A Night to Remember campaign to support you with planning this. It is important to do a mixture of online and in-person events as online events allow for more flexibility for parents/carers as they do not need to find childcare/care for the event Please follow the SU events guidelines for in-person events this academic year. You could offer some opportunities for parent/carers to bring the person they look after to an event. Lastly, it is important to give details for events in good time to allow mature students to plan for getting to and from the activity etc
• AVOID ASSUMPTIONS – mature students are not that different to the wider student population. All students come to UEA for the same reasons and experience similar issues such as high and lows on courses and in general life. Being able to feel included within the whole university is important for everyone, not just the majority
• PROMOTION – the messages you have on your webpage and social media are important at reducing any fears mature students may be feeling about joining or going along to a taster. If you are taking steps towards making all students feel welcomed, then include this as part of your promotion. A simple note such as ‘We do our best to make students of all ages feel welcomed at our student group and we are happy to talk to you more about this’, can have a massive impact for students who are worried about their age preventing them from joining. It is important to understand that not everyone uses Social Media, so it is advised to consider other modes of communication for promotions, such as a shared calendar or a mailing list

Clubs and societies are open to everyone, but for some postgraduate students, they don’t feel as though they cater to them. There is significantly lower participation of postgraduate students in clubs and societies than the number at UEA. Postgraduate students are a diverse range of ages, so you may want to look at some of the guidance on mature students part of this booklet. Mature postgraduate students are anyone aged 25 and over when they start their PGT or PGR degree.

Tips to include postgraduate students

• It is important to promote that your club or society is open for everyone on your webpage and through your social media. Specifically, talk about postgraduate students and their experience of your student group. You could do this by highlighting current postgraduate students through case studies or sharing quotes. This also applies to the imagery that you share on your social media and webpage, are you showcasing postgraduate students as part of this?
• The move to fewer contact hours and greater independent study can be an isolating experience for many postgraduate students. Consider icebreaker tasks to integrate members. Everyone that has come along to your student group event or session is there because they have a shared interest
• Postgraduate term dates do not follow undergrad ones, consider if you could do some activities outside of undergraduate terms dates to welcome postgraduates and reduce isolation
• Do a poll on times and dates for events. This lets students know that you are considering their commitments when planning events
• Consider if you could add a postgraduate Students' Welfare Rep or a similar position on your committee. Alternatively, you could look to share an email address that postgraduate students can get in touch with if they have any questions
• Promote the benefits of a work-life balance and the importance of doing extracurricular activities at University
• Plan and run campaigns, awareness-raising events and activities for the benefit of postgraduate students

For people looking at joining your club or society, taking that first step of coming to one of your sessions or events can be nerve-racking. Here are some steps that your club or society can do to reduce anxieties and support the integration of new members;

Reducing Anxieties - Committee members

• Provide the opportunity for students to meet in small groups before going to your main session or social event. This will help new students to get to know each other and encourage them to come to the event together
• Add photos of your committee members to your club or society webpage and for events link to this page to let members know who is leading the event. This allows new students to be able to put a face to a name
• Let people know as much information about the event as possible e.g. where are you going to meet, what they should expect from your session, what they need to bring etc. E.g. will they need to bring their own sports equipment, or will it be provided? What shoes do they need to wear?
• It is important that your club or society part of the website is up to date and has adequate content on there about what happens at sessions
• Let people know what ability they need to come along e.g. all abilities welcome, those that have never played before are welcome
• If your event is in the Sportspark consider meeting people outside and let new students know how to get their card registered for the turnstiles
• Consider linking with buddy(su) to match your existing members with new members
• Give the opportunity for new members to chat with someone online before attending
• You could look at spitting this responsibility across all committee members and some members
• Plan integration and icebreaker activity to support existing members and new member to have discussions
• Split committee and existing members up to speak with new members. Actively speak to new members and check in with individuals afterwards
• On your club or society webpage and social media, include what your student group stands for e.g. Inclusive of all students, friendly and welcome environment

Template you may wish to use for promoting an inclusive session and reducing anxieties;

This event is organised by……You can contact…………. by emailing………………… If you would like to put a face to a name, you can see the committee member here……. (link to your club or society webpage) …... During the session this will happen…. You will need to bring…. Don’t worry if you haven’t done the activity before everyone is……. (friendly/welcome/beginners/all abilities). Most people that come along to these events do not know anyone else to begin with, but If you are feeling nervous about attending alone, please let us know by contacting the main lead for the event. We can arrange for some to talk or meet with you prior to give more details about the event and do our best to reduce any anxieties you may have about coming along. This event is (fully/partly) physically accessible for wheelchair users (please communicate if a part of it is not accessible e.g. the pit in the LCR). If you have any accessibility needs or would like further support to attend, please let us know and we will try our best to accommodate you. The committee looks forward to welcoming new and existing members to this event.

Reducing Anxieties - Existing members

As a member it is important to think back to your session. How did you feel? Was there anything a member could have done to make you feel welcome and at ease?

Here are a couple of tips you can do as a member to help new members to the club or society feel welcome and continue attending;

• Talk and engage with new members. Introduce yourself and ask them questions about themselves
• Try to not just talk with your usual friendship groups within the club or society.
• Invite new members to chat or meet up before the next event
• Follow up and ask them how they found the session

The nature of clubs and societies means that everyone is different, and the worries and barriers are therefore different too. This means that there is no one size fits all but doing something that encourages your club or society to examine the issues people may encounter specifically to your club or society is a good starting point.

Potential barriers for students with a disability joining a student group

• Their own perceptions
• The perceptions of others
• Physical barriers
• Lack of provision
• Not wanting to “Put other out”
• Confidence

Potential areas your club or society could focus on to make your activities inclusive for ALL students

• DISPEL MYTHS – explain how people can participate if from the outside they may have assumed they wouldn’t be able to
• CONTACT – have a specific person a potential member can contact to discuss solutions for more specific accessibility enquires. With personal matters, people are often more receptive to a designated committee member rather than a general email. This could be a good role for your equality and diversity officer. Keep their disability confidential, as a student may trust you with the issue or need you to know to help them participate but they might not want all members knowing
• SHOWCASE DIVERSITY – make all students feel welcome to join by creating a promotion that showcases the diversity in your club or society

General tips and videos

• COMMUNICATION – This is key. If you put on an event and there are barriers (e.g. part of the building is not wheelchair accessible) then clearly communicate this. Commute on your webpage and your social media that you can support all students to take part in your club or society activity, students just need to let you know how you can best do this. It is important to note that not everyone will feel comfortable revealing a disability, so if someone does it is important to reassure them and try to be accommodating with the activities you organise. If you are ever unsure of how best to do this, please get in touch with the SU, including the physical and invisible disability officers. If you are a club, your uea+sport coordinator is a good person to get in contact with.
• DISABILITY IS ON A SPECTRUM – It is important to remember some conditions are a spectrum, with symptoms that vary from person to person. Therefore, do not presume you know exactly what one person’s needs are because you know someone with the same condition.
• CLUB GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLE – SUB AQUA – Sub aqua started a campaign called “I want to scuba dive, but…” This series of social media posts will pick common accessibility issues, groups that may be more apprehensive than others, common worries, and explain how the club makes sure that those things aren’t a problem for members. We’re starting with things like – I have a physical disability, I have an invisible disability, I have a mental health condition, I’m transgender, I’m worried about wearing swimwear, I can’t swim very well.

Some disabled people may use controversial language when talking about themselves. That’s their choice, but it doesn’t mean they’d be happy for you to use it.

There are some words that many disabled people find hurtful or harsh because they:

• suggest disabled people are helpless
• are pitying
• are often used abusively

Here are some tips on language that most people prefer:

There are also some terms that people commonly used conversationally that have origins discriminating against disability- consider whether you would like to keep using these words after discovering they may cause upset to some... These include dumb, cretin, insane, maniac, psycho, moron, batty, daft, delusional, gimp, hysterical, imbecile, junkie, lame, thick.