Hi there, I am a first-year Life Science student who’s gotten heavily involved in university life. I am a Student Ambassador, as well as a Student Representative, which has involved gathering feedback from my peers and reporting it back to lecturers and administrative teams during Student Voice Groups. Not only has this role given me an insight into the bureaucratic processes that go into decision-making, but it also encouraged me to find out more about the university services here on campus. From the library to Essex Food outlets, to departmental common rooms, I have explored these spaces and asked for different people’s opinions on them to make sure that I am representing a variety of views, not just my own.
Essex Food
Many international students told me that cultural foods offered on campus aren’t considered very authentic. Given the high number of international students on campus, and the comfort of home-tasting food when you’re living in another country, this is something that needs to be improved.
£2 meals
In addition, the £2 meal has been a massive help to us, but the nutritional value, and portion size of these meal vary greatly. In some outlets, the ‘dish of the day’ includes a main and a side, whereas in others it can be a tiny wrap, or toasted sandwich. A bit of consistency in size and quality (as well as correlation to what is says the meal will be on the website) would be beneficial to students who are relying on this as their main hot meal in the day.
Common Rooms
Another issue I have found are the common rooms; some departments (such as Health and Social Care, Psychology, and Mathematical Sciences) don’t even have a proper common room, in others the facilities, seating, and decorations are of very different standards. Again, the problem seems to be consistency; every student should have access to equally well-equipped spaces.
Library
The library is a fantastic resource to both undergraduate and postgraduate students. The group study rooms, individual study pods, and postgrad research room, are readily available and high-tech. The volume of books, DVDs and online study resources that the library gives us access to is very helpful, but the reading room is going to be used as a teaching space during the weekdays from next academic year onwards (which will significantly limit student access to an area used by so many) , so I would work to make sure that student views about this are represented in parliament, and that we are given alternative spaces that offer the same atmosphere and resources.
Getting the word out
Finally, there seems to be a major difficulty in communicating events, elections, and general departmental information to students. The sheer number of emails that students receive means that most are never opened, let alone read. Posting news on social media may be a better way of reaching students, but not everyone has an account on these sites. Maybe a big electric noticeboard in Square 4 (rather than multiple ones alongside the stairs which all show the same, often out-of-date thing), that flashes up current events would be more effective in keeping students in-the-loop.
Thank you for considering my manifesto, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you want to give me any of your own feedback about university services.