Over the summer the Sabbatical Officers have been working hard on the RHSU Priority 8. Here’s an update from Matthew, VP Education, on his two priorities.
Over the summer the Sabbatical Officers have been working hard on the RHSU Priority 8. Here’s an update from Matthew, VP Education, on his two priorities.
OVERVIEW
During the 2025 Leadership Elections, the Priority 8 replaced Officer manifestos and students ranked 20 issues impacting them to decide the final Priority 8. Of these priorities, I am working to ‘Increase Social and Study Spaces’ and 'Reduce Deadline Stacking for assessments and coursework’. I want to update you about all the work I’ve done over the summer to drive impactful change for these two priorities, and I will be updating you over this year!
Increase Social and Study Spaces
These are all the ways I’ve worked with University staff on this Priority:
- The biggest change secured over the summer is the creation of two new Student Lounges in Wettons and Shilling. These spaces will be given additional furniture, hot water, and microwaves. With the University, I am also looking at more over term one!
- I am also discussing and advocating for the creation of Departmental Common Rooms. Some departments already have these, but others do not. I want to make sure the student experience is fair across the University and ensure everyone has access to a Common Room for their cohort - and more than one if you are Joint Honours student.
- For student groups, I have been speaking with performing arts student groups and relevant staff members about whether these groups could be allowed to book theatre space for events. I ran a survey over the summer, and the results showed there is a strong desire among groups to have access to these spaces.
- But it's not just Performing Arts student groups I have been working for! David, VP Sports and Societies, and I have been speaking to community centres in Egham about spaces. If this is something you’re interested in, you can reach out to the Egham Literary Institute or the Pride Hub to see what spaces are available to book.
- And in the meantime don’t forget Tommy’s Lounge is located on the ground floor of the SU building. We have lots of tables and chairs, couches, two microwaves and there are plenty of outlets. As well, Founder's Dining Hall will now be open for students to use as an informal space from 9:00–16:00.
Reduce Deadline Stacking for assessments and coursework
This Priority is something that is likely going to take longer to resolve because of how changes get approved at the University. Right now, I am looking at long-term solutions for this, but working on getting quick wins for students as well:
- For these quick wins, I am currently looking at how other Universities handle their extensions and extenuating circumstances policies as extensions could be used as a self-certified way to help alleviate deadline stacking.
- I am also exploring tools that show students the weighting and type of assessment in a one-stop calendar, rather than trawling Moodle pages.
- In Business and Management, deadlines were published for assessments when students chose their modules last year. This gave students more than six months before the academic year even started to know when work could be submitted. This helps planning and time management, and I want to see this across the University.
- For a more long-term vision, I will be holding focus groups in November once students have experienced deadlines for the first time this year. Using the comments students make, I'll be seeking to push University staff to rethink how deadlines are set next year.
GET INVOLVED
Go check out the Priority 8 Hub where all the Officers have action logs on our Priorities to keep up to date with our progress!
Priority 8
If you have any questions or feedback on my priorities, always feel free to reach out to me on email or on Instagram @rhsueducation. The more questions and feedback I get, the more I have to build my approach and make sure your student voice is heard!