Monash Student Association (MSA) is the peak student body of Monash University based at the Clayton campus. Alongside its counterparts at Caulfield, Peninsula and Parkville campuses, MSA offers a variety of opportunities to get involved with activities outside of academic pursuits, with the most popular form of participation being student lead clubs.
In pre-Covid times, MSA engaged with some 15,000 students on a regular basis, the majority through the 100+ student-lead clubs at Clayton that it supports with grants and business compliance advice. Memberships could be bought online and in person with the split of purchases around 30/70 for each channel. However, as Covid drove all memberships online, MSA realised that participation was dropping off as students faced a lengthy application form to first register an account before they could join a club.
MSA needed to find a streamlined digital solution fast and, turning to their Caulfield and Peninsula colleagues for ideas, they found that solution in the form of the MSL System already proven at the two Monash Students’ Union sites.
Digital engagement without reinventing the wheel
The MSL System came thoroughly tried and tested and, crucially, was designed to work with existing student data and a single sign on process. As Sylvia Francisca, Finance Director and lead for the digital engagement project, explains:
We already had Single Sign On in place so it made sense to find a solution that made use of our SSO and was also an established system designed around the unique digital engagement needs of students. The MSL System fitted the bill exactly and meant that we didn’t have to reinvent the wheel to make everything happen.
The new platform would help MSA achieve some additional goals hastened by the pandemic - moving to cash-less transactions, using QR codes to help students quickly find clubs and membership information, and removing the need for staff to be on hand to manually process membership applications.
MSA set a tight implementation plan of three months from selecting a solution to having the system ready for students to use. So in October 2020 the MSA and MSL teams began work together and by February 2021, 107 student-lead clubs were welcomed to their new digital home with all the resources they needed to promote activities, sell memberships, club items and engage directly with members.
Developing hands on skills in a digital environment
The clubs at MSA are independent organisations, supported and mentored by the MSA team but not run by them.
It’s our mission to give committee members the opportunity to develop new skills and leadership experience to take with them beyond university and so MSA offers training to these student leaders to help them with the basic skills of running an organisation. - Sylvia Francisca, Finance Director
Historically, the University hasn’t formally recognised the skills that students gain through the voluntary hours they put into clubs alongside their academic achievements. So MSA makes use of the reporting available from the MSL System to demonstrate the impact of clubs on participation, engagement and skills development.
To further support this impact reporting, MSA has prioritised the implementation of MSL Attendance which will allow MSA and the clubs to track individual members arriving at and leaving specific events and activities, and the split between under- and post-graduate engagement with activities.
The enthusiasm shown by clubs for their new online presence has really shone a light on everything student committees do and so the MSL Volunteering & Employability module is likely to be implemented in the not too distant future. We really want our student leaders to be able to showcase the skills they gain and this will help them to do that as they prepare for life outside university. - Sylvia Francisca, Finance Director
A digitally-connected future
With the MSL System now in place and positive feedback from student leaders, committees and staff, MSA has plans to add more digital engagement tools to their platform.
First on the list are online elections for both club committee and sabbatical officers to ensure ease of participation for both nominees and voters. The next elections will take place during September and October 2021 and so plans are being formulated for a smooth roll out of the next phase of MSA’s digital transformation using the MSL Elections module. This may include the students’ unions at Caulfield and Peninsula joining forces with MSA to offer a truly connected experience for all Monash students wherever they are based.
And after that?
With the challenges faced by all in higher education during the pandemic, advice and advocacy services provided by MSA have been busy handling many new types of issues faced by students. New requirements and regulations have come into force to ensure the continued wellbeing and safety of MSA students and the team is now considering how MSL Student Case Manager can support these obligations.
MSL has provided MSA a platform to engage and interact with students whilst developing the student Office Bearers skills. At current stage, we have more than 20,000 memberships and the list continues to grow as we continue to deliver and improve our services in this challenging time. - Sylvia Francisca, Finance Director
News
With your Welcome and Orientation Weeks just around the corner, whatever it might look like this year, we've created some top tips to help you prepare.
Ahead of your upcoming elections, here are some of our tips to help you prepare for this exciting time of year, making the setup and running of your election through your MSL System as easy as possible!
With only eight days to go until Black Friday, if you’d like to offer your members a Black Friday deal on your products then you’ve come to the right place!
Harper Adams Students’ Union has taken advantage of the MSL System® for the past three years, broadening its service provision and digitising many of its processes to keep pace with the changing demands of members. The MSL System has helped the Union deliver impactful Student Voice campaigns, hugely popular digital engagement programmes and utilise the data it now has at its fingertips to shape the next five-year’s ambitious development strategy.
"MSL Student Group Finances has had a huge impact on the way we operate student opportunities. It has created an easy and consistent approach to managing student group budgets which students have really embraced and, for staff, it has eased processes and reduced the paperwork." - Keele SU Activities
Edinburgh University Sports’ Union (EUSU) joined the MSL community in 2016, following a search for the digital resources needed to support the diverse requirements of their clubs, members and recreational sport participants. Read how the MSL System® has helped EUSU grow club memberships, promote events, sell tickets and increase participation in non-BUCS sports by 90%.
"We’re excited about our journey with MSL as we continue to work towards creating a fully resourced online community through our website." - Nyasha Takawira, Communications and Marketing Manager
In 2020, the Heriot-Watt University Dubai Student Council chose to launch their brand new digital presence with MSL, the largest provider of digital student engagement solutions in the UK, Australia and Ireland.
"MSL has provided MSA a platform to engage and interact with students whilst developing the student Office Bearers skills. At current stage, we have more than 20,000 memberships and the list continues to grow as we continue to deliver and improve our services in this challenging time." - Sylvia Francisca, Finance Director, Monash Student Association
The democratic process at University College Cork Student's Union has always been at the heart of the Union's activities; traditions have grown up around officer elections from nominations, on campus campaigning, voting and the all-important count. So when the Covid pandemic halted life as normal on campus, a planned future move to online elections became an urgent priority for the March 2021 elections.
"We’ll be able to maintain quality control of all material that goes onto the website through the approval process within the MSL content management area. We want to ensure that all content posted is relevant, useful, of a high quality and follows our branding guidelines so that students really benefit from their representatives’ work. Work is also now underway on a Student Voice Forum in collaboration with the University which will be hosted on the UCLan SU website."
March 2021 - From using a shared, university-owned ticketing system, to driving a digital communications strategy, managing a 250% increase in cases and growing the team during a pandemic, the Advice Centre at the Royal Holloway University London Students’ Union has come far in the two years since it implemented MSL’s Student Case Manager system.
Volunteering at University of Plymouth Students’ Union has always been a popular activity, with lots of opportunities from a wide variety of charity and community based organisations offering fantastic roles for students to learn new skills and discover their hidden talents. As the pandemic took hold in 2020, the UPSU web team accelerated their roll out of a revamp to the volunteering area to create a new Volunteering & Recognition showcase using MSL Volunteering & Employability.
"Harper Adams Students' Union has typically been a very events and commercial services driven organisation, with expectations of the SU to only provide events and balls for our members. Over the next three years, developing our student voice structures and programmes will be our key priority. Unlocking the potential of MSL will allow our small union to push the boundaries at Harper Adams and really engage and support our students."
March 2017 - Sam Medhurst, Web Developer & Digital Platform Coordinator at University of Brighton Students' Union shares a student engagement project which made use of core MSL functionality to great effect. After the whirlwind that is Freshers was over, the Brighton Students' Union Marketing and Communications department huddled together to decide on the content we wanted to create to maintain digital engagement over the Christmas period.
May 2019 - University College Birmingham Guild of Students will underpin its growing service provision for student members with the MSL System®. The new membership management system will provide the Guild with a new website, student groups resources, integrated online elections and the StudentLink® app.
25th March 2019 - City of Glasgow College Students’ Association has implemented the MSL System® to increase opportunities to reach more of its members. The new online facility includes a website, clubs and societies resources, events and ticketing, student voice tools and integrated elections.
MONSU Peninsula – the students’ union for the Peninsula campus of Monash University – will use the MSL System® to support its primary objective of enhancing the university experience of their student members through events, services and support. The Students’ Union new membership management system will include a website, the StudentLink® app, volunteering and employability resources, online elections and venue management.
6th April 2018 - Chester Students’ Union has implemented the MSL System which provides its website, online elections facility, advice and advocacy management system. The new membership management system supports over 17,000 students on the university’s Warrington and Chester campuses with digital engagement, clubs and societies tools, messaging, community and feedback resources.
The University of Chester’s volunteering service has chosen MSL’s Volunteering and Employability System to support its drive to encourage more students to develop their career skills, improve their CV and to give something back to their community through volunteering.
10th August 2015 - Aston Students’ Union has selected Membership Solutions Ltd (MSL) to design and implement its new website and complete membership management system, further strengthening their relationship established in 2014 with the Union’s use of the MSL online elections platform
KeeleSU Volunteering aims to provide diverse volunteering experiences to students during their time at Keele University, supporting their volunteers as they make a difference both on and off campus. But with more and more students registering to volunteer each year, their old system had become unsustainable. The Volunteering team chose to implement MSL Volunteering & Employability primarily to cut down on the amount of admin they had to carry out and, in doing so, now have a solution which has h
21st June 2016 - Coventry University Students’ Union has chosen Membership Solutions Ltd to supply their new membership management system together with Elections and Volunteering modules to enhance their student engagement activities.
25th July 2016 - MSL is delighted that Bishop Grosseteste Students’ Union has chosen to replace their membership management platform with the MSL System®. The new system will incorporate website, clubs and societies resources, messaging and online elections to support the Union’s primary objectives of promoting student welfare and providing social, cultural, sporting and recreational activities for those members.
March 2021 - The Australian National University Students’ Association first chose the MSL System to underpin its burgeoning digital engagement requirements. The digital transformation had started back in 2016 when MSL Elections was used to run online voting for the first time - a move which resulted in the highest number of votes placed and posts filled for five years. Encouraged by their members’ enthusiasm for participating online, the decision was made to implement the core MSL System.
UCLan Students' Union launches a new digital user experience with the MSL System
Encourage transferable skills, build social circles & support student leaders
This release includes the Bulk Refund and Message Centre Stats roadmap items.
13th January 2017 - The Australian National University Students’ Association and the Postgraduate and Research Students' Association have selected the MSL System to support their growing digital membership management requirements. The new system will provide new websites, clubs and societies tools, messaging, e-commerce and community resources for both associations as well as a shared online elections platform.
September 2021 - MSL's Chief Executive, Gary Bryant, relishes seeing the return of in-person Freshers Fayres and Welcome Weeks for our UK clients after what has been a tough year for the student experience.
WATCH THE WEB TOUR! - transforming your Volunteering & Skills programme
In August 2016, the Australian National University Students’ Association ran their Student Representative Council and National Union of Students’ Delegates elections completely online for the first time. The Association utilised Membership Solutions Ltd’s elections module which enabled the elections process to be managed through the Association’s own elections website. The move to digital resulted in the highest number of votes placed and posts filled for some five years.
WATCH THE WEB TOUR! - Run engaging & secure online elections
This release contains improvements to AdminWeb, Events, Messaging, POS, Profile and Community, Volunteering, Voting, Website
With Welcome Week just around the corner, to accompany our "Getting ready for Welcome Week" online training sessions taking place w/c 16th August, we've created some top tips to help you prepare.
See how Royal Holloway SU transformed their advice team into student champions!
Securely and safely maintain staff and visitor records to your premises
It's less than a month until results day and only a matter of weeks before we're in the middle of your welcome week preparations. MSL is on hand to provide guidance and support with any queries you might have; here are some of our top tips to help you prepare for your events.
Bringing together the MSL community at venues around the UK & Ireland in 2020
A summary of the changes in version 6.4.323
We were proud to sponsor SU21 Digital - the digital learning event for Students’ Union staff and officers. You can watch back our session with UCLan Students' Union: Review, Reimagine and Revamp the student experience....
We’re updating all sites over the next couple of days. There’s plenty in this release, including lots of improvements to Memberships Admin, and additions to the Jobs and Voting modules.
A summary of the changes in version 6.4.329
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Ahead of a hopeful return to more normal campus life, here are six ways you could improve your purchase process for your members - for both face-to-face and online sales to make buying from you a little easier.
A summary of the changes in version 6.5.346
Need more ideas to help manage your Student Groups? After the popularity of our last "top tips" post, here are some more ideas to help you manage your Student Groups, and make your members' experiences with joining your Sports Clubs and Societies easier!
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May 2021 - The MSL Big Day Out brought together awesome speakers, shared ideas and inspiring discussions all about student engagement and the student experience in this ever-changing environment.
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Need ideas to help manage your Student Groups? Look no further.
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January 2021 - We're delighted to have welcomed so many new members to our MSL Community in the last few months. Look out for some great news stories and case studies of how these organisations are making digital engagement really work for them.
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Sending our best wishes to the fabulous MSL Community...
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BLOG - December 2020: Tis the season to be jolly and we know how hard our MSL community is working to get students and staff into the festive spirit, even as students start to head for home. We’re especially delighted to see Christmas Fairs going ahead – virtually, of course – giving a welcome opportunity for talented students to sell their products over the festive period. Read how our creative clients are using resources in their MSL System to build attractive and engaging fairs...
A summary of the changes in version 6.6.440
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Autumn 2020 release round-up: Our hard working development team was especially busy over the summer so we are pleased to bring you details of some of the newer features and improvements released over the last few months which you may have missed. Many of our developments are driven by the MSL community and so we're always excited to release new features that have been requested by our clients and their teams.
A summary of the changes in version 6.6.463
A summary of the changes in Release 6.7.525
Sept 2020 - MSL has recently completed an accessibility review with AbilityNet to ensure our website design components help clients to create accessible websites for all their users. Read about the review process, the insights we gained and how we're using the findings to inform our product roadmap.
A summary of the changes in Release 6.7.540
August 2020 - The MSL 2020: You've Got This! series of briefings, training, knowledge exchange and community events has been shaped by the MSL community. We were delighted to welcome colleagues from the wider SU community to join in the discussion with three fantastic guest speakers in August. Digital transformation, student societies and representation at this time of unprecedented challenges and uncertainty were all on the agenda and each session is now available to view.
August 2019: Harper Adams Students’ Union is set to reinvent itself by taking advantage of the MSL System® to broaden its service provision, digitise its manual processes and develop staff resources to keep pace with the changing demands of members.
A summary of the changes in Release 6.7.547
June 2020 - The student engagement and participation challenges we're facing are unprecedented. Plans change almost on a daily basis and we know that everyone in the SU community is looking to each other for ideas and support as we approach the start of a new academic year that will be like no other.
A summary of the changes in Version 6.7.557
31st March 2020 - The University of Buckingham has chosen the MSL System to support the Students’ Union services it delivers for its 3000+ students. The University will use the core MSL System™ which includes events and ticket sales, clubs and societies, feedback resources, and the StudentLink™ app to increase engagement with students both on and off campus and in work placements.
A summary of the changes in Version 6.7.571
March 2020 - In light of the developing health crisis, we would like to share some important information with you. Our focus remains on “business as usual” and providing an uninterrupted service to you, our valued customers, whilst remaining diligent and responsive to government recommendations and guidance to protect the health and well-being of the MSL team.
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We're sorry to advise that MSL will no longer be attending the Secret Life of Students, WONKHE’s annual student experience. However, the conference sessions will still be going ahead with live streaming available and we are sure the WONKHE team will deliver fantastic content with great speakers at this difficult time. We look forward to working with WONKHE at future events.
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12th February 2020 - If you've been to one of the MSL Big Days Out (Birmingham and Glasgow so far...) you'll have already seen our fabulous new animation up on the big screen, telling all you need to know about what it is we do here at MSL Towers. Not seen it yet? Here's your chance.....
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November 2019 - We are very excited to bring you news of the MSL Big Day Out which will see us touring the UK and Ireland from January to April, bringing the MSL community together in regional user groups. We are in the planning stages now but more details of dates and locations are in this edition of the newsletter.
A summary of the changes in Version 6.8.606
20th November 2019 - Instant access to everything, at any time, no matter what it is – that’s the mantra by which your student members live; from travel information to fast food, gig tickets to current affairs. Your website is a hub of information and opportunities to participate that many students rely upon to support their university and social lives - and so they expect that same feeling of immediacy from your site as they get from ASOS and Amazon.
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23rd October 2019 - MSL was delighted to see so many of our Australian clients and new contacts recently on a whistle-stop tour of Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane. Here we share a few images of the great campuses we visited.
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This is a summary of the changes in version 6.8.693, released on 18 March 2009.
This includes release notes for version 6.8.659, which was a limited release.
9th October 2019 - Everyone is getting into the swing of the new year and we guess all those shy freshers have thrown away their inhibitions and are queuing up for every event and club night going. To help you manage the logistics of large numbers of 18 to 25 year olds turning up en masse to your venues, we’ve made a change to MSL Door Entry & Venues which reduces the time it takes to redeem tickets on the door.
This is a summary of changes in version 6.8.697, released on 2nd April 2009.
This release includes significant updates to the Jobs module and the Shop admin tools. Also the Election Count application can now export ballot data in OpenSTV's BLT format.
1st October 2019 - A new academic year invariably means new staff members, new roles, new tasks and lots of things that need to be done right now to support your members as they settle into the new academic year. This post looks at development work we've done to help simplify the process of assigning permissions and get your team working as quickly as possible.
This is a minor update which fixes a few issues reported since last week's release.
18th September 2019 - New MSL Chief Executive, Gary Bryant, introduces this issue of our news update which includes: an insight into the digital transformation of long-standing MSL member, Harper Adams SU; the first in our new blog development blog series; and topical training and support ideas to see you and your team into the next academic year!
This is a summary of the changes in version 6.81.735, due for release on Wednesday 17 June.
This release contains the page loading code improvements as detailed in this article, as well as a number of other fixes.
6th September 2019 - We’re sure you appreciate the role data plays within the MSL System; you work with data every day and it drives every decision made in your organisation. But just in case you were in any doubt, data also underpins everything that the MSL System does for you. Read about one of the most important projects in MSL's history and the benefits it will bring...
A few more items have been included with today's 6.81 release.
24th July 2019 - Campus is buzzing with smartly dressed parents, friends and family and the ocassional roar can be heard from the graduation ceremonies taking place this week. So we know that it's only a matter of weeks before we're in the middle of your Freshers preparations and the excitement that surrounds Results Day. The MSL team is on hand to provide guidance and help with all those annual tasks that will be coming around again soon and Knowledge Base support is just a click away!
This is a summary of the changes in version 6.82.744, release date 15 July 2009.
This release features a number of improvements to the website, several bug fixes and some new customer-requested features.
This is a summary of the changes in version 6.82.748, release date 23 July 2009.
This update includes some new features in the Messaging and Forum areas.
2nd July 2019 - This month, we welcome Gary Bryant to the MSL team - he joins as our new Chief Executive and will be meeting many of you over the coming weeks and months. If you plan to be at this week's NUS Trade Show, you can meet Gary then as he will be in attendance on our stand B76.
This is a summary of the changes in version 6.82.759, due for release on Wednesday 12th August.
This update includes a number of improvements to the widget editing system, an update to handle NUS Extra 2009, and some new properties on the News List widget - as well as a number of other minor fixes.
18th June 2019 - The University of Cumbria Students’ Union will use MSL's Student Group Finances system to improve the support services provided to its clubs and societies. With a growing number of student-led groups the Union has recognised the need to streamline their finance processes for committees and so encourage more activities and participation. Student Group Finances will support this initiative by enabling finance requests to be quickly and easily carried out online.
This is a summary of the changes in version 6.82.765, due for release on Thursday 17 September.
This release includes the ability for organisation admins to set up their own events, a Merge People feature for resolving incorrectly registered guest accounts, the inclusion of the transaction receipt text and collection information on the transaction confirmation page, and a number of fixes for reported problems.
11th June 2019 - It is with great pleasure that MSL announces the appointment of Gary Bryant as our new Chief Executive.
Version 6.90.783 is released on Friday 9 October.
This update includes a new Page Comments widget, several performance enhancements, and the ability to integrate with Shibboleth identity providers - this allows your users to use their University login details to access your site. Contact us for further information.
June 2019 - Not that we want to worry anyone but you have started to plan for Freshers, haven't you? Your student members might be tripping off soon to enjoy a long summer break but we know that you'll just be getting started on plans for the busiest time of year. So we're pleased to bring you details of summer training sessions timed to get your team ready with a skills refresh and top tips to make the next few months go smoothly.
This is a summary of the changes in version 6.91.786 released on Wednesday 21 October.
This release includes several updates to the Referendum admin screens. There are some changes to the Event list, event calendar and news list widgets - these now show members/admins only items even when child organisations' items are included.
There are also a number of bug fixes.
3rd June 2019 - The Royal College of Art Students’ Union has chosen to work with Membership Solutions Ltd on a brand new website incorporating a student voice platform, club and society resources, online elections and StudentLink® app. The new membership management solution will help bring together students from the College’s three campuses in London.
Summary of the changes in version 6.92.802, published on Wednesday 16 Dec 2009.
May 2019 - Edinburgh University Sports’ Union (EUSU) joined the MSL community in 2016, following a search for the digital resources needed to support the diverse requirements of their clubs, members and recreational sport participants. Read how the MSL System® has helped EUSU grow club memberships, promote events, sell tickets and increase participation in non-BUCS sports by 90%.
A summary of the changes in version 6.93.813, released on Thursday 28 Jan.
16th May 2019: The year is slipping by so quickly - spring has arrived, your students are preparing for exams and you're there as always to support them with advice, space to relax and, no doubt, a full calendar of events, parties and celebrations to look forward to. The MSL team has already seen a number of hugely successful ticketed events promoted on your websites and StudentLink® and we've enjoyed working with many of you to make sure everything goes smoothly.
This is a summary of the changes in version 6.94.827, released on Thursday 4 March 2010.
As well as a few enhancements and fixes, this release includes support for SMS messaging and enables international characters in email message subject and body.
Latest update ready for release.
We're rolling the latest update out over the next couple of days. Many improvements to elections & surveys!
March 2019 - We know a few of you are still in the midst of nominations, campaigning and voting but the frenzy of activity that comes at this time of year is gradually reducing. We hear snippets of great stories about fantastic engagement from nominees, innovative campaigning from candidates and best ever voter turnouts; please send us your highlights so we can share them with the community!
This update went live back in November, and we're just filling in the blanks...
March 2019 - Did you notice anything different about us? No, we didn't get a new hair do - but we did just launch our new branding! We'd love to hear what you think about the logo, colour scheme and the new website. Thank you to everyone who gave us feedback before the launch - we value your input.
We'll be updating all sites over the next day or so. There are a couple of new features in this release but it is mainly to fix bugs that have cropped up since the last update.
December 2018 - We can't believe this is our final news round-up for 2018: we've welcomed new clients from the UK, Ireland and Australia; you have embraced our new developments and improvements to your MSL System; and your year-round endeavours in supporting members and engaging with the hardest to reach students are awe-inspiring. We are proud to play a part in what you have achieved this year.
We’ll be updating all sites during the course of this week.
The latest update includes improvements to the Seating Plan, new options for Product Customisations, and a number of additions to reports. There are also two new widgets – Voter Popup and Tag Cloud - and various other improvements and fixes to the site and the applications.
This is also the first official release of the touch screen enabled Polling Station application – thanks to those who’ve been trialling this.
December 2018 - We’ve been spending some time thinking about MSL's brand and identity: what does it mean to you, our MSL community; how do prospective users of the MSL System view the MSL 'brand'; and how do we demonstrate our commitment to providing easy-to-use products that support an inclusive, diverse, accessible and engaging member experience? It's an evolving process - but we've made a start with a new logo, corporate style and, coming soon, a new website.
November 2018 - Whilst Freshers 2018 was the usual fun and occasionally frantic ride we have all come to expect, the MSL team continued with developments and updates and we're pleased to announce that the newest version of StudentLink has been released to the stores. This version will offer users an even more streamlined mobile experience for buying tickets, placing votes and generally interacting with you.
24th August 2018 - Still got loads to do for Freshers' Week? Need some tips and advice? Look no further than our Freshers' Top Tips infographic. Your very own cut out and keep 10 step plan.
8th June 2018 - MSL is officially certified by an independent assessor as compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards PCI DSS v3.2 for Service Providers.
June 2018 - As exam fever begins to abate and ball tickets go on sale, it can only mean one thing - Freshers is just around the corner! No, we can't believe it either but we're looking forward to a summer of helping you get ready for arguably the most exciting time of year for your teams and your brand new student members.
23rd March 2018 - With the dust starting to settle from elections excitement, we've been delighted to hear that so many of you experienced your best voter turnouts, making use of real-time stats and voting on the App to keep engagement up and encourage members to get involved. Well done to everyone who works so hard at this time of year and congratulations to your new officer teams!
The University of Dundee and Dundee University Students’ Association (DUSA) have selected Membership Solutions Ltd’s online elections system to support their staff and Students’ Association elections. The new digital solution will ensure all staff and students at the university can stay informed about and take part in key elections.
16th March 2018 - This update links to the ICO's comprehensive information on the six available lawful bases for processing data (legal reason and legitimate interest being particularly relevant).
12th December 2017 - The Christmas wind down might have started already for your students but we that know for their students' union the focus continues on all the member engagement, commercial, academic representation and democratic activities that make your organisation such an important part of your members' time at university. We're proud to support you all with your day-to-day activities and would like to share a final round up of our latest news, developments and events.
October 2017 - Keep up-to-date with MSL's news and updates on GDPR, helping you to stay informed and assist with your preparation for GDPR compliance.
July 2017 - With so much exciting/important/engaging stuff going on this summer, we've filled another newsletter with goodies - and many of the following items need your input! We're gearing up to attend Comms By The Coast on the 3rd and 4th August, hosted by the lovely people at Sussex Students' Union. We will see you at the MSL User Group on the 4th, won't we?
July 2017 - “Adopting MSL for our student intranet has been pain free... bespoke elements have been delivered on time. Although the directory search and user profiles are bespoke to us I am sure they would be of use to many other membership based organisations." Caroline Persaud, Registrar, Goodenough College
July 2017 - " Our aim is to keep the student community connected and up-to-date with what is happening in and around their campus and the new website affords us the opportunity to do this on a channel we are sure students will embrace." Calvin Hepburn, President, University of Strathclyde Students’ Association
June 2017 - MSL Towers has been enjoying the summer weather and, whilst the call of a refreshing drink at the Dirty Duck is strong, the MSL team is staying put not least because we've had such a busy spring and early summer. We're working on a number of new client implementations (watch out for news on who else has joined our happy band of MSLers), the modernisation programme continues to gather pace and Student Group Finances has proven to be very popular.
April 2017 - "The integration, professionalism and advice from the MSL team has been outstanding and we’re looking forward to providing a great experience for our students.” Jon May, Communications Manager, University of Westminster Students’ Union
April 2017 - British Summer Time has arrived and that can only mean one thing.... you're planning for results day and all the things you need to have ready to showcase what a great student experience looks like. We have tips and offers to get your website looking its best and another of our popular web briefings lined up to get your team raring to go.
20th February 2017 - “The MSL System will allow us to maintain the strong working partnership we have developed with the clubs over the past 12 months.” Richard McGloin, Director of Commercial Services , Sheffield Hallam University
16th February 2017 - Looking for some fresh ideas to promote your MSL App? Still considering the benefits (there are so many!) of giving your students an App full of engagement opportunities? The MSL Top 10 countdown of promotional ideas for your MSL App will help you reach more of your members on the move.
13th January 2017 - The Australian National University Students’ Association and the Postgraduate and Research Students' Association have selected the MSL System to support their growing digital membership management requirements. The new system will provide new websites, clubs and societies tools, messaging, e-commerce and community resources for both associations as well as a shared online elections platform.
December 2016 - As 2016 draws to a close, the team at MSL is still a busy bunch which is why we've squeezed in one last round-up of our news before everyone in the MSL community goes off for their well-deserved breaks. We bring you details of more developments to the MSL System, a heads-up for a hotly anticipated new feature on the App and a warm welcome to another new client to MSL.
November 2016 - It's never too early to be prepared.... Our winter missive has lots to help you prepare including details of December's Refreshers web briefing and January's Elections training, featuring not one, but two ways to get your team up-to-speed on all things voting related. We also want you to share your knowledge and expertise via the hardware forum on MyMSL and we'd like to welcome UEA Students' Union who are already doing amazing things with their new MSL System.
Sept 2016 - "Looking towards the future, we are excited to see how we can leverage MSL to enhance our engagement with the student body, not only for elections but throughout the entire year.” Benjamin Gill, President, ANU Students’ Association
23rd September 2016 - “Our digital capacity is a crucial component of our overall transformation strategy - we just can't realize our ambitions for education or students without it. So when we reviewed this area last year we set out to find a partner that could inspire confidence - faster moving, more straightforward to do business with and more understanding of what goes on in SUs than our previous provider. MSL fits that bill.” Jim Dickinson, Chief Executive, UEA Students’ Union
September 2016 - OK, so we know summer is officially over but the promise of a mini-heatwave this week means we're clinging onto the flip-flops and shorts for as long as possible. We've had so much good stuff to share with you over the summer months, we're pleased to bring you a final round-up of our news and want to ask you to share some of your successes from the last year.
Still got loads to do for Freshers' Week? Need some tips and advice? Look no further than our Freshers' Top Tips infographic. Your very own cut out and keep 10 step plan.
August 2016 - Summer may mean holidays to anyone who doesn't work in students' unions but to the MSL team and all of you out there getting ready for the new term and Freshers, we know the summer months are a time to put new ideas in place, refresh websites and get excited about bigger and better participation projects.
July 2016 - In September 2015, North East Scotland College Students’ Association (NESColSA) chose to implement a new membership management platform. The move to digital engagement was planned not only to help the Association better support their students, elections, clubs and societies activity but also to drive the organisation’s development over the coming years.
May 2016 - We're guessing there's one big thing on everyone's mind right now - Freshers. The opportunities this presents for engagement, doing business and of course celebrating achievements at the start of the student journey are huge so we hope that the following news, solutions and support activities will help your preparations.
April 2016 - Having worked with a restrictive and cumbersome financial management system for several years, the University of Nottingham Students’ Union (UoNSU) set out to upgrade to something that could automate processes and streamline workflow more easily.
March 2016 - You're all busy with elections which can mean only one thing - summer term is nearly upon us. It's been great to see the real-time elections stats in use and initial feedback is that many of you have seen your best turnout in years. You're obviously doing a great job engaging your students!
KeeleSU Volunteering aims to provide diverse volunteering experiences to students during their time at Keele University, supporting their volunteers as they make a difference both on and off campus. But with more and more students registering to volunteer each year, their old system had become unsustainable.
December 2015 - The end of Autumn term has crept up on us and we're looking forward to finishing off all those last minute jobs so we can enjoy the forthcoming festivities. With that in mind, we bring you our final round-up of news and events for 2015 along with our best wishes for an enjoyable festive break.
October 2015 - Wishing everyone a successful Freshers' Week! We know Freshers' is keeping everyone busy but we also know how keen you are to stay up to date with our news and developments so we've squeezed in this short but sweet late summer newsletter for you to enjoy before the new year starts.
13th August 2015 - The new Student Case Manager module from Membership Solutions Ltd (MSL) is proving popular with students’ unions who run advice centres to support their student members. The new facility – developed with case management experts, Iizuka Software – is designed specifically to manage the diverse welfare issues faced by many students in tertiary education and to streamline the workload of their advisors.
June 2015 - As promised, we're pleased to present the second edition of our Summer 2015 newsletter....
June 2015 - We're pleased to bring you the first installment of our early Summer 2015 newsletter; look out for the next one in a couple of weeks when we have even more news to bring you.
3rd June 1015 - MSL has been chosen to provide the elections platform for Central Students’ Union (Central SU) which represents students at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, part of the University of London.
24th April 2015 - Membership Solutions Ltd (MSL) is delighted to see many of its students’ union clients and universities appearing in the top 10 of the this year’s Whatuni Student Choice Awards, where Loughborough Students’ Union was rated as the best students’ union overall.
This article explains how to run your election in line with this guidance using your MSL system
We have new staff to tell you about, lots of updates and new developments and a website admin training session coming up.