Club & Society Committee Training - Students' Union UCL
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Every year we train club and society officers so you’re ready to run your club or society. We’ve updated our training, so all the key information you’ll need will be delivered through online modules like this one. You’ll be able to do them from the comfort of your own home, at a time that’s convenient to you! There will be a short quiz at the end of each module to test your learning. By completing the quiz you will automatically register your completion of the module. Training will be available on our website throughout the year so you can go back over anything you need a refresher on.
Get to know the Students’ Union: Our elected officers Our departments Your role: Your role and responsibilities How we support you: The Union website Room Bookings Storage, space and access
What is a Students’ Union Who leads the Students’ Union Our staff and officers What services does the Union offer Meet the Activities Team The Activities Officer and Activities Zone
Quick Activity Graba pen and paper (or your phone)… Write down what services you think the Students’ Union provides. Write down what services you think the Student Activities team provides. In the next few slides we’ll go through what a Students’ Union is, and what services we provide to students!
A students’ union is a charity, that is independent of the university it is associated with. Students’ Unions are democratic organisations – they represent the interests of their members. Students’ unions are student led. You elect your fellow students at the end of each year to lead on the activity we run, and decide the direction we take as an organisation. Usuallyyou automatically become a member of the Students’ Union when you enrol at UCL, but you have the choice to opt-out of joining. If you opt out you don’t become a member. Students’ Union UCL aims to advance education by promoting the interests and welfare of students; representing, supporting and advising students; and providing social, cultural, sporting and recreational activities for students’ personal development.
Each year you elect students to represent your views – full time! These students are your Sabbatical Officers – paid members of staff at the Union. Together, we look out for students best interests, working with UCL to make sure your views are heard. The roles below will look slightly different next year – check out our website for more information on changes to the way you’re represented. Your 2020-21 team Meet your 2021-22 team online!
As well as full time sabbatical officers, you elect part-time student officers who fulfil their roles alongside their degrees – representing your views. SabbaticalOfficers and Part-Time Officers work in three ‘zones’ – Activities, Education and Welfare & Community. These democratic structures make them accountable to you. The Activities Zone is made up of the Activities Officer, Arts Officer, Sports Officer, Societies Officer, Community Relations Officer and non-portfolio Sports and Societies Representatives. The Activities Zone discusses policy ideas to improve student activities at UCL, and makes decisions such as affiliations and disaffiliations. All our officers are supported by a full time staff team who deliver our services.
Societies Phineas Sports Clubs Student representation Mully’s Project Active Campaigning The Huntley Skills Sessions Liberation networks Institute Bar George Farha Gordon’s Free, confidential and Student-Led Volunteering Bloomsbury Bloomsbury independent advice One-Off Volunteering Fitness Print Room on academic issues, Community Research Initiative housing, employment, money We’ll tell you more about some Stone Willy’s Pizza of these services in this module! The Hanger and other areas…
The Students’ Union Advice Service has trained and experienced Advisors who offer free, confidential and independent advice on the following areas: extenuating circumstances, student complaints, interrupting or withdrawing from studies, disciplinaries, academic The Students’ Union Advice misconduct and the OIA (Office of the Independent Adjudicator). Service is located on the tenancy agreement checks, council tax, disputes with of . landlords or housemates, disrepair and return of tenancy deposit. : applications for student funding, applying for grants, welfare Daily: 10:00 - 16:00 benefits advice, help with budgeting, income maximisation and managing debt. Drop-in session: Wednesday 10:00 - 13:00 confidential platform to report hate crime/hate incidents and independent advocacy support. And , including employment rights, consumer advice, personal su.advice@ucl.ac.uk support and wellbeing (including referral to specialist services).
The Students’ Union Volunteering Service offers a range of volunteering opportunities which help connect students with the voluntary sector in London. You can get involved with: you can start your own volunteering project and get up to £750 of funding, help finding the right organisations to work with, and training from our dedicated staff to get your idea off the ground. The Students’ Union Volunteering Service is we can help connect you with located on the community partners or suggest volunteering opportunities relevant to your club or society. Our partner organisations have signed up to our of . service standards, so it’s safe and easy to get volunteering straight away. If you want to run a there are lots of one-off volunteering opportunities volunteering initiative which you and your members can get involved with while balancing other commitments, by just searching on our website. with your club or society, you can contact we can help connect not- volunteering@ucl.ac.uk. for-profit organisations with academic staff and master’s students who are keen to research a community need in the capital.
The Students’ Union Policy, Governance & Insight team help ensure we represent your views, and help you make the changes you want to see at UCL. We support you and We support you We support you to The Policy, your representatives to and your shape democratic Governance & transform the academic representatives to structures, and Insight team is experience at UCL. transform your develop active and located on the wellbeing and the confident student of We work with your broader student leaders to lead our . Course Reps, experience at UCL. democratic, Research Student representative and http://studentsuni Reps, Lead Department Check out some of campaigning activities. Reps and our campaigns onucl.org/make- Faculty Reps. here! change
Students’ Union UCL supports one of the largest student activities The Student Activities programmes in the UK! Reception is located on the of the We have over 330 affiliated clubs and societies. . Over 47,800 memberships were bought. 13,289 students have membership of a club or society. We’ve facilitated over 1000 external speaker events. : We supported you to run nearly 1000 online events and conferences. Monday to Friday – 10:00 to 21:00, and Nearly 10,000 tickets have been sold across student-led theatre Saturday – 11:00 to productions. 19:00. Sports clubs took part in 1280 BUCS fixtures and 995 LUSL fixtures. Our sports clubs won the London Varsity Series. su.activities@ucl.ac.uk
The Students’ Union Student Activities team helps you to deliver a wide range of activity – run by and for students. One of the areas we provide support for is society activity: we The Students’ : we support you we support a sector offer a range of drop- Union Societies to run a huge range of leading arts programme in skill development staff team is activity from award including student-led workshops focussing located on the 2nd winning conferences to productions in the on transferable skills weekly language classes. Bloomsbury Theatre, and which you can use to floor of the at the Edinburgh Fringe run your club or Bloomsbury General interest societies Theatre Building. Festival. Our student society, or in your cover: academia, media groups also future career. Topics altruism, culture, faith & produce leading include Running Find out our spirituality, finance & newspapers, magazines, Events, and How to dedicated drop-in enterprise, politics, journals, radio and film & be a Great Leader in hours on our common interests and TV productions. the New Normal. website. university departments.
The Student Activities team also provides support for a wide range of sporting activity: we offer drop-in beginner friendly The Students’ we support activities to help you get active in a way that we Union Sports some of the works for you… Get involved: provide high staff team is best sports performing located on the Join one of our weekly sessions ranging from clubs in sports teams Postgraduate Yoga to women’s only Barre 3rd floor of the London with and Fitness classes. Some classes are online now! Bloomsbury sports individuals a fixtures, Take part in one of our social sports leagues dedicated Theatre leagues, cup from Touch Rugby to Netball. Come along on programme of Building. competitions your own or bring your friends! support and large including Find out our scale events Run a Project Active Session with your club or strength and society, or take part in a Project Active dedicated drop- like Varsity. conditioning in hours on our campaign like This UCL Girl Can. sessions. website.
Societies & Media Manager: Carl Salton-Cox Societies & Media Coordinator: Johnny Glover Societies Development Coordinator (Events): Dan Fow Societies Development Coordinator (Events): D’arcy McGuinness Societies Development Coordinator (Departmental): Jo Swo Activities Administration Coordinator: Rupinder Sandal Activities Administrator: Ria Sareen Finance Administrator (Clubs & Societies): Tanisha Veerasawmy Check our drop-in hours on the Students’ Union website!
Sports Development Manager: Katie Sykes Sports Development Coordinator: Neal Hickey Sports Development Coordinator: Henry Warne Sports Administrator: Scott Dale Project Active Coordinator: Bikram Bains Project Active Coordinator (Post-Graduate): Andrew McClean Check our drop-in hours on the Students’ Union website!
One of the full time elected officers you vote for each year is the Activities Officer. They’re a student who takes a year out of studying, and is paid to work for you. They work closely with the Activities and Volunteering teams to help us make decisions and make sure your voice is heard. Your current Activities Officer is Ilyas Benmouna, who will be continuing for the 2021 – 22 academic year. The Activities Officer has a wide range of vital responsibilities including signing contracts on your behalf, authorising purchases for your group over £2000, sitting on awards and bids panels, representing your views to UCL, and leading the Activities Zone. The Activities Officer feeds back your views, makes decisions and sets policy with the support of the Activities Zone.
Why are clubs and societies important? Who leads our clubs and societies? Your role and responsibilities A timeline of your year Getting in touch with us
Clubs and societies develop supportive and inclusive student communities at UCL, where you can meet other people with the same interests. Students joining university can carry on taking part in their current hobbies, passions or interests, or develop new ones! You hold incredible events such as conferences, food festivals and trips abroad. Students can get involved with both competitive and drop-in sport and physical activity. Club and society activity has a positive impact on student wellbeing – students who take part in clubs and societies are more likely to feel part of the UCL community, and less likely to drop out of university. You and your fellow committee members become student leaders in the UCL community. Leading and taking part in club and society activity helps you develop new and transferable skills, that help enhance your CV.
Once a year, club and society members choose who will lead their group for the next academic year through an election. Every club and society must elect a President, Treasurer and Welfare Officer. Most groups will have additional committee positions like Club Captain or Social Secretary. An outline of your activities and role descriptions for your committee positions must be outlined in your club or society constitution. After you are elected, you take office from Saturday 12th June 2021 until Friday 10th June 2022. Clubs and societies must have at least 30 members by 1st November, following the Welcome period. If you do not reach this membership requirement, your group may be disaffiliated. After 1st November, all students taking part in your activities must purchase membership of your club or society through the Students’ Union website. You cannot take part in club or society activity without membership after 1st November. Membership lapses at the end of August, and new memberships will be available to purchase from the 1st September.
As principal officers, presidents and treasurers are ultimately responsible for Shall hold office from the day after the end of term 3 leading, organising and delivering club until the last day of term 3 in the following academic and society activity. year. Shall be a principal officer of the club or society and To ensure you’re fully equipped to take on shall ensure that the club or society operates within its this role, you are required to complete constitution and within these regulations. core training, and submit your registration Shall call general meetings of the club or society and documents. shall ensure that appropriate elections for the following year’s officers take place. Role descriptions for compulsory officers are set out in the Students’ Union Club & Shall be the primary point of contact between the Union and the club or society members. They must Society Regulations. ensure that the club or society is represented at all You are responsible for ensuring your relevant Union meetings. club or society abides by these Shall have ultimate responsibility for all the activities of regulations. the club or society, including joint responsibility for the financial affairs with the treasurer.
Shall hold office from the day after the Shall hold office from the day after the end of term 3 until the end of term 3 until the last day of term 3 last day of term 3 in the following academic year. in the following academic year Shall be the only officer of the club or society with access to the Shall be a principal officer of the club or welfare officer funding pot and is responsible for applications society and shall be jointly responsible for and initiatives using that funding. Note: expenditure all financial matters of the club or society. authorisations are the responsibility of the Treasurer. Shall authorise and record all expenditure Shall be responsible for the activity specified within the welfare on behalf of the club or society except for officer remit including collaboration with other welfare officers in when they need to reclaim money creation of demographic specific activity, recording of themselves. In this case the president demographic specific membership and aware of the wider shall authorise this expenditure. Union campaigns relevant to their club or society, specified or otherwise, on the welfare officer campaign timeline. The role of the welfare officer is not to Shall complete welfare officer training. counsel members, only to signpost them to the appropriate services. Please feel free to contact Union staff for further advice.
You don’t have to memorise all these dates, because we’ll stay in touch and The Student remind you closer to the time! Activities We aim to give you advance notice of upcoming deadlines, and we expect you to Reception is check your emails regularly. Key information and deadlines will be emailed to you located on the throughout the year. of the We mainly contact presidents and treasurers with key updates, information and deadlines. It is your responsibility to cascade this information to your members, and to feed back to us from your committee and members. . Other committee members must not submit forms or complete tasks we assign you, unless clearly specified. This is because you receive dedicated training Reception is which equips you to complete the relevant forms and tasks for your club or open Monday to society. Presidents and treasurers are ultimately responsible for all activities. Friday – 10:00 to 21:00, and To help answer your enquiries we have a dedicated Student Activities Reception, Saturday – staffed by students like you. Our Student Activities Assistants are part time student staff, trained to answer your questions, or get you the support you need. 11:00 to 19:00.
We will usually email you from Email su.activities@ucl.ac.uk as your su.activities@ucl.ac.uk. This is the email account first point of call. We will then be able to used by our Reception service, run by both our full- make sure the relevant member of our time staff and part-time student staff. team is able to help you! We may occasionally call you on the phone. You can also call the Student Activities Reception on 0207 679 7239. We will send you the Presidents & Treasurers Newsletter. This usually goes out weekly during term You can drop-in to the Student Activities time. We send out key updates in the newsletter, so Reception. Ask us your questions, or remember to read it regularly! book a meeting with a member of our staff team. Members of sports teams will receive the weekly TeamUCL Newsletter. Our staff team have dedicated drop-in hours which you can find on our You can also follow us on social media for the latest website. news stories and updates.
When you’re emailing us, tell us which club or society you’re contacting us on behalf of, and your committee position. Using acronyms such as UCL ABC Soc makes it more difficult for us to identify your club or society, so spell it out! This also applies to event names. We aim to respond to emails in 3 to 5 working days, but this can be longer during busy periods such as the start of term, and during elections. We deal with emails based on their urgency, and the date they are sent to us. We recommend you don’t respond to your own email, as your responses are grouped together under the date of your most recent email. It can therefore take us longer to get back to you. If you have submitted a webform through the Students’ Union website, you can log in and view the status of your form online at any time. Aim to submit your forms as far in advance as you can. You can also check your financial statement by logging in to our website.
We completely understand that running your club or society can be challenging – almost all of our Officers, full-time staff, and student staff led clubs and societies at University too! We have limited resources but also the second largest student body in the country. Because of the huge number of students we support, the easiest way for us to help everyone is for all our groups to follow the same processes and procedures. If everyone follows the processes outlined on our website and in this training – it speeds up everything for everyone. We know that sometimes you can’t plan in advance and need to submit an urgent request to us. We’ll do our best to help where we can, but keep in mind that other clubs and societies who may have submitted their requests earlier are also waiting. We’ve got a responsibility to all our clubs and societies, so the more notice you give us the better we can help everyone. When you’re submitting your requests to us – take your time, and include as much information as possible! Proof reading can help make sure we don’t need to follow up by email, or reject your form. You can give us your feedback at any point in the year, or you can effect change by voting in the Leadership Race in Term 2. If you’re brimming with ideas, consider running for a Sabbatical Officer position yourself...
The Students’ Union website Room bookings Post and deliveries Space and access Club and society development Awards
We provide clubs and societies support in a wide range of areas: Finance Sports club management Democracy Sports fixture management Membership Spaces & facilities Health & Safety Digital & online support Event management Training & development Most of these areas have their own dedicated training modules, which you’ll have access to if relevant to your role. In this module, we’ll look further at: spaces & facilities; digital & online support; and training & development.
The Students’ Union website is your first point of call for all the information you need. The President & Treasurer Hub has all the forms you need to organise your activity, and detailed how-to-guides for the processes you need to know.
As an affiliated club or society, you will have your own page on the Students’ Union website. Once you’ve completed your training, we will give you administrative access so you can edit this page yourself. This is a brilliant way to advertise your group to new students, so we recommend updating your website ahead of Welcome Week! Students will be able to purchase membership of your club or society from this page. Remember – students have to purchase membership to take part in your club or society activity. As an affiliated club or society, you also gain access to an @ucl.ac.uk email address, which you can display on your webpage. You’re expected to check this weekly! You can also link to your social media pages on the Union website, to help students find out more about joining your club or society. We will ask you to submit important forms through the Union website – this also lets you track the status of the forms you have submitted.
Click on ‘Edit’ to update your summary, description, social media details and more…
We recommend downloading this list when you need to contact your members to make sure you include new members too! Click on ‘Members’ to view and download a full list of your members…
As an affiliated club or society, you will have access to a ‘bank account’ which you can use for any purchases or income for your group. This isn’t like a real bank account, so you won’t get a debit card or account number. You can use the Students’ Union website to view your club and society financial statement. You can add events to the What’s On calendar, and sell tickets for these events through the Union website. Membership fees and ticket sales from the Students’ Union website go directly into your club or society account. You can also use this account to make purchases and receive money such as sponsorship. You’ll find out more about this in our Finance module.
Once you have completed your training and your registration documents have been approved, presidents are granted access to the UCL Estates Room Bookings system to book UCL rooms for club or society activity. You can find a guide to using the UCL Room Bookings system on the UCL website. You’ll need to log in using your UCL username and password. Once you have access to the system you’ll be able to search for bookable spaces and view your room booking history. If you have an external speaker associated with your booking, your booking will not be approved until your external speaker request has been approved. Rooms are released on a termly basis, so you will only be able to book rooms for the current term. Remember – if you don’t follow the terms and conditions for booking UCL rooms (in your Annual Registration Contract), your booking rights will be revoked.
You can contact the UCL Room Bookings Team via email at roombookings@ucl.ac.uk. They are happy to discuss any room details or queries you may have about rooms available, the process of booking rooms and guidance regarding future events. If you are hosting an event in a UCL space which includes attendees who are not UCL students, and charging an attendance fee – you may be charged for use of the space. Please email our Societies Development Coordinator (Events) – Dan at d.fow@ucl.ac.uk, and we will get in touch with UCL Conferencing Services to support you with organising your event.
We have a number of rooms available in the Students’ Union which can be booked for club or society activities and events. Union rooms can only be booked by a club or society president or treasurer, and bookings must only be used for club and society activity. You can either make a ‘block’ booking – which is a regular booking during term time, or an ‘ad-hoc’ booking – which is a one-off booking. If you breach the terms and conditions of using Union rooms, your room booking privileges will be revoked. You can find details of the rooms we have available (including capacity, equipment and opening times) on our website. The availability of these rooms is subject to change. Additional rooms may be added later in the year, so keep an eye out!
Ad-hoc (one off) bookings can be made through SimplyBook online: https://uclstudentsunion.simplybook.it/v2/. You will be given access to SimplyBook once your registration documents have been approved. Clubs and societies can request a ‘block booking’ (regular booking) once a term. We will email you a form to complete closer to Term 1. Please note, due to the high demand for rooms, you are not guaranteed to receive the booking you request. When making a block booking you are allowed to request a maximum of 6 hours of block bookings per week. Due to the high demand for rooms, we cannot guarantee 6 hours of bookings per week for all clubs and societies. If you have booked a room, but no longer require the booking, you must notify su.activities@ucl.ac.uk as far in advance as possible. Once you’ve made a booking, you’ll be able to pick up the keys for the room you’ve booked at the Student Activities Reception. As with UCL rooms, external speakers must be approved in advance of your booking.
Once block bookings have been allocated, you can view a live timetable of the spaces we have available on our website. Check our timetable before getting in touch to make ad-hoc bookings. Block bookings are shown in blue, while ad-hoc bookings are show in green. White spaces show room availability, while grey spaces show when rooms are not available to book.
You can also book Sports Clubs additionally The Students’ Union also has two small , have access to which can be booked by any and in the Students’ member of the Union. the Union gym – Each room has an upright piano, and is located for club and , which can be above the Huntley Bar in the Lewis Building. society events used for core activity. online. Block bookings for these Bookings can be made by contacting the spaces will be allocated Student Activities Reception (by email, phone or Find out more at the beginning of the dropping in). about the Union year. bars and cafés These rooms are only suitable for individual available to book, Ad-hoc bookings can be practise, and cannot be booked by clubs or and our online made by emailing societies for group practise. Music Practise booking forms Bloomsbury Fitness Rooms can be booked for a maximum of 6 hours over on our Team Leader – Ashley at per week, and cannot be booked more than 1 website. a.lennox@ucl.ac.uk. week in advance.
Where possible try to book rooms in advance – Never block fire exits or escape routes. popular rooms are often booked early. You must leave the space at the end of your UCL Estates can provide portering and A/V booking – not finish your activity at this time. support for UCL rooms. You can also book A/V Respond positively to requests from users of equipment for Union spaces from the Student spaces nearby. Activities Reception. Alcohol is not permitted at club or society Cooking food in UCL spaces is prohibited, and room bookings. serving food is not allowed in lecture theatres. If you book an external venue or space, You can only book rooms through UCL Estates for never sign the contract yourself otherwise club and society activity. If you use the UCL this makes you personally liable. The Union Estates Room Booking system to book rooms for should sign all contracts on your behalf. external organisations you will be charged. If you breach the terms and conditions of Don’t move equipment or furniture between rooms using Union or UCL rooms, your room without permission. Remember to return furniture booking rights will be revoked. to its’ original set up at the end of your activity.
Clubs and societies also have access to dedicated storage spaces for equipment. While most storage space has already been allocated to those clubs and societies who require it, there is some limited space remaining. You can submit a request for storage space by emailing su.activities@ucl.ac.uk. If you have dedicated storage space we will be in touch with further information. Presidents and treasurers of clubs and societies with storage space will be able to access these spaces during our opening hours. Keys are available at the Student Activities Reception. You’ll need to provide your UCL ID Card as a deposit to book out any storage or room keys. If you would like any additional committee members to be allowed access to your storage space, please email su.activities@ucl.ac.uk to request this. Access to spaces is subject to change in line with Covid-19 regulations. We’ll update you by email to let you know of any changes you need to be aware of.
: Jazz & Folk Cupboard : Small Society Storage Room Archery Range Music Cupboard : Sports Storage Costume Cupboard Lockers Bloomsbury Fitness Storage Room C Bloomsbury Fitness Storage Room D Bloomsbury Fitness Storage Room E Please check our website for more information about all of these spaces. Mountaineering Cupboard
Club and society presidents and treasurers can have post and deliveries for their group sent to the Student Activities Reception. We can temporarily store items in our parcel store, for you to collect after delivery. Once your parcel has arrived, we will notify you by email. Once we have notified you, you must collect your parcel as soon as possible. Your members cannot collect individual items from a larger order from the Activities Reception, it is your responsibility to distribute any items you order. When having items delivered to the Activities Reception, please use the following postal address: Student Activities Reception (2nd Floor) Remember to Bloomsbury Theatre Building clearly indicate we’re based on the 15 Gordon Street second floor of the Bloomsbury Theatre London Building, to avoid lost deliveries! WC1H 0AH
We have dedicated staff on hand to help you develop your club or society, and help improve the events and activities you run. As well as one-to-one support, we’ll run additional Club & Society Committee Training workshops throughout the year, which will include sessions such as Safeguarding. You can book a one-to-one meeting with You can book a one-to-one meeting with Johnny, Dan, D’arcy or Jo to discuss Neal or Henry to discuss your club opportunities for your society, your development plan, and your aims and development plan, and how to develop objectives for the year. your events. Email TeamUCL@ucl.ac.uk or call our Email su.activities@ucl.ac.uk or call our Reception service to book your Reception service to book your appointment. appointment.
At the end of the year we host awards ceremonies to recognise and celebrate your hard work and achievements! You can nominate your peers for awards and colours in these categories: With thousands of students involved in our Activities programme, winning an award is a huge achievement which recognises you have gone above and beyond for your group or the wider UCL community. It’s definitely something to put on your CV to make you stand out from the crowd and to demonstrate the skills you have exhibited as a club or society officer. We have a huge range of awards for both individuals and groups, from a commendation for your involvement in a club or society, to an award for best sports club, society or arts society of the year. Each year a panel of elected students decides who wins these awards, and we even give a select few students Honorary Life Membership of the Union!
The Welcome Fair aims to introduce new students to your activities, help you gain more members and welcome UCL students to our incredible community. We’re aiming to have both an online and in-person element to our 2021 Welcome Fair. Our main priority will be to provide opportunities for your club or society to showcase your activities to new (and old) students. More than ever our welcome programme will be student-led, with clubs and societies delivering activities for students to get involved with. We’ll be on hand every step of the way to support you with this. As soon as we have more information we’ll let you know, so keep an eye on your emails over the summer. In the meantime think about the events you can run or the digital content you can create to engage more students. Get in touch if you’d like to chat to our staff team about your ideas!
We’re still not completely sure how the next academic year will look, but we’ll continue to work closely with UCL to make sure you can deliver both in-person and online activities for your members. Some of the information in this training module such as our opening hours and room bookings system is subject to change, but we’ll keep you updated. We’re looking to re-open the Activities Reception and as many of our spaces as possible for you, so you’ll be able to use our dedicated spaces for some of your activities over the Summer. Keep an eye on your emails in the lead up to September, because we’ll email you about all the important information you need to know – room bookings, Welcome Fair, Grant funding applications, in-person activity and more!
Please complete the following quiz to register your completion of this training module.
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