Last term we informed you of some updates relating to the BAME Inclusive Student Experience policy inquiry. Now VP Education Kate Roberts is back to tell you about the launch of the final Student Voice Report and what happens next.
Last term we informed you of some updates relating to the BAME Inclusive Student Experience policy inquiry which was underway. Now I am back to tell you about the launch of the final Student Voice Report and what happens next.
What has happened so far?
This project has been on a journey since its first inception last academic year as part of a national piece of work entitled The Student Engagement Project (TSEP) aimed at looking at the experience of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic students at universities across the UK. The first stage of this project involved detailed qualitative research utilising our paid BAME student researchers who conducted 60 hours of detailed interviews and surveys, revealing the experiences of BAME students across their time at Royal Holloway. This led to us producing our initial briefing document, comprised of background context and findings from the research, alongside a number of recommendations for both the Students’ Union and the University to implement.
In November we opened up a new survey to sense check these recommendations and understand whether the findings in the report resonated with the experiences of BAME students at Royal Holloway and whether we had missed anything. 140 students completed this second stage of surveying; for the questions specifically concerned with the recommendations, we had anywhere from 33 to 68 student responses. These included some excellent suggestions for improving our initial recommendations and these changes have fed into the final Student Voice Report. The two students who won the prizes of £75 and £150 for filling in the survey have now been informed.
The project has occurred over a period of change at the Students’ Union. In 2019, we reviewed our approach to how we develop proposals that lobby the University for improvements to the student experience at Royal Holloway. Our Democracy Review introduced the concept of a Policy Inquiry, which is an in-depth, research-informed process that generates a high-quality Student Voice Report on a particular topic. The ultimate goal of a Policy Inquiry is for the Officer group to present a range of recommendations to the University which will have a substantial and long-lasting positive impact on the current and prospective student experience at Royal Holloway. Therefore this project has rightly manifested into our first Student Voice Report based on a Policy Inquiry into the experiences of BAME students at Royal Holloway.
When will the final Student Voice Report be launched?
The Student Voice Report will be launched at our Academic Rep Conference on Wednesday 29 January, which is themed around Inclusive Education. If you are interested in attending this event, to find out more about the recommendations and Inclusive Education as a whole please register below. Academic Rep Conference is open to everyone to attend, not just academic reps!
Register for Academic Rep Conference
What happens next?
The project is far from over, the next step is to ensure the recommendations are implemented, both at the Students’ Union and through lobbying the University. We will keep you updated on this work as it progresses.
In my role as VP Education, this has been a fantastic project to work on and shape over this academic year and I hope that education at Royal Holloway will start to become more inclusive based on the detailed insight from the student voice that we have collated. Thank you to every student who took the time to be involved in our interviews and surveys!
Kate Roberts // Vice President Education