Rep Impact Update: Term Three

This year, academic reps have been working hard to ensure you receive the best academic experience possible as we face the new normal.

They’ve taken your feedback and worked with their departments and schools to implement changes to help you face this year’s challenges. Here’s a look back at the year and the incredible work accomplished by our reps.

• Business & Management School Rep, Toby Bates, constructed and helped implement a more concise and recognisable Moodle page for modules to allow consistency for students and make finding resources much simpler. He also supported his department in becoming AACSB accredited and won Rep of the Month in May! 
• EPMS School Rep, Joshua Yewman, investigated the lack of student input within EPMS for foundation year students and laid the groundwork for further discussions with CeDAS and the SU about foundation year student concerns.
• Humanities School Rep, Ananya Krishna alongside department reps wanted to create a better connection between students and their school. They took action by organising a Humanities creative takeover of the noticeboards in the International Building to showcase student work.
• Performing and Digital Arts School Rep, Olivia Earl, worked with the Music Department to introduce QR codes for easy attendance tracking. Olivia has also set up an Instagram account for her school, to keep students up to date with everything going on.
• Law and Social Sciences School Rep, Nalissa Wilkinson, worked with school staff to identify ways of integrating employability into the curriculum. She also took student feedback regarding module switches and feedback quality into account and met with staff to discuss this further.
• Life Sciences and the Environment School Rep, Leia Davies-Vale began conversations to support Women, BAME and low-income students in applying for jobs, undertaking postgraduate study, and networking with other underrepresented students.
• Psychology Department Rep, Elizabeth Beacon, organised a Moodle Forum for module options where students could ask questions about modules they're interested in taking and students who have taken the module can give honest feedback - which is one of the reasons they were recognised as Rep of the Month in March!
• Postgraduate Geography department reps, Alex Mattin and Jordan Carver introduced a Postgraduate Geography newsletter and drop-ins so they can regularly check in with students and make sure they are aware of important information and opportunities taking place within their department.
• Postgraduate Taught History course rep and April’s Rep of the Month, Kayleigh Fryer, successfully created ‘Rep Office Hours’ – a designated time and place where students in the History department can meet their course reps and share any concerns they have and increase communication with their reps.
• Philosophy Department Rep, Felix Poree, created questionnaires to collect student feedback. He was the first to recognise issues around the consistency and timetabling of January exams forcing the department to change its approach – which won him Rep of the Month!

This is just a small selection of the great work that’s being done across the University so we want to say a huge thank you and well done to all of our academic reps. 

If you’re interested in getting involved in academic representation next year, keep your eyes peeled in Term One as you’ll be able to volunteer to be a course rep and get involved in some great work like this!