Merry ChristMark everyone!
Well it’s time for Winter break – so no two week rundown for me, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been up to a lot in the last two week so strap in! As always if you have any questions please email me, or contact your Student Parliament Representative who can hold me to account at Parliament.
Introduction
Merry ChristMark everyone!
Well it’s time for Winter break – so no two week rundown for me, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been up to a lot in the last two week so strap in! As always if you have any questions please email me, or contact your Student Parliament Representative who can hold me to account at Parliament.
Too Long Didn’t Read
- Referendum Meetings
- Student Parliament
- AGM
- WiFi Everywhere
- Education Committee successes
- Ethics Committee
- Student Voice strategy
- Bounce Back Education Steering Group
- Regular meetings
Overview
Well, firstly, as I’m sure you have seen – I posted in extraordinary post the other day running through projects that I am prioritising and those I am having to put to the side for the moment. Over 4000 of you spoke and told us clearly that we need to work on tuition fees – so that’s what I have been doing some work on, as well as planning on doing another big push on that in the new year. I’ve been spending some time looking into the future and working out what I can do to improve Student Voice over education in the coming years and how we can ensure that students get a say over their education. I, of course, attended Student Parliament and much more!
Policies
Disappointingly, Student Parliament decided to renew a policy that, in my eyes, doesn’t do anything. It says nice things, but it fails to do what policy should do – do anything. If I was asked whether I agree or disagree with the resolves element of the policy – of course I would agree, but who wouldn’t – it doesn’t ask us to do anything that the SU isn’t already doing and will continue to do. This policy was written to specifically bring to attention what an Officer had said – this Officer is not a member of the Union and has not been for many years. Renewing this policy adds nothing and that is why I asked Student Parliament not to renew it – frustratingly it did – and I respect that decision that it made.
The Liberations Budget policy was also passed with amendments and goes to the Trustee Board for final approval.
We also successfully changed the VP International role to include further oversight of the Big Plan going forward.
Big Plan
Last week, Adrian and I met with the WiFi everywhere team and got some fantastic updates around WiFi both in Colchester and Southend. We have also got positive news about the tender process for the accommodation WiFi which we want to be a part of, as well as our involvement in discussions with Southend Borough Council about WiFi in the Learning Hub.
On COVID Learning, we’ve also made some good process in the last couple of weeks. With exams online by default and Education Committee recommending Senate for Open Book examination to become the normal – we are really pleased with the progress the University has made with regards to examinations. 84% of essential readings are online and we expect this to be improved as we move into Spring term. The best practice work that I did with the Education Team and the Departments has been well received and has been requested to be done again in other faculties. The University continues to listen to feedback and we are working with them to ensure that it is acted upon.
Referendum
We had the referendum result last Tuesday and over 4000 students voted – overwhelmingly agreeing with the statement: “We believe this term the university experience has failed to meet our expectations and tuition fees should be reduced to reflect this”. We have published our 5-point plan, met with the University on two separate occasions and with the referendum organisers another two times. Molly and I will work closely on the outcomes of the referendum to get the best possible outcome for students. This will be a recurring part of my updates.
Committees/Groups
As mentioned in COVID Learning Big Plan; Education Committee recommended, on our endorsement, a suite of new proposals to make examinations fairer and better at actually measuring student ability – through open book becoming the normal. These now move to Senate for full approval in January. There was also a recommendation going to Senate around uncapped reassessment for those who couldn’t make exams and there will be more information on this soon. Disappointingly, Education Committee has agreed to ask the Assessment team to look into online proctoring, and although we have firm agreements that this will be done with input from the Students’ Union and that this will not be passed by Chair’s action up to Senate.
I also attended, for the first time, Bounce Back Education Steering Group (BBESG) where I shared student views on educational delivery – something I’ve been able to say with confidence based on the huge amount of information (over 5000 pieces) that students have given the Students’ Union about University so far.
In addition, I hosted a meeting with the GTA Campaign where we discussed next steps.
I also attended Ethics Committee, Student Parliament, and the AGM.
Regular Meetings
I had my regular weekly meetings with the PVCE, ITS, on the Big Plan, as well as my weekly catch up with the rest of the Students’ Union including the weekly insight meeting with the rest of the Sabbatical team.
Other
I enjoyed Christmas staff day (although cut short by needing to attend Ethics Committee, as well as meeting the University Challenge team. I also did my Q&A with Madeline Eacott (PVCE) which can be found on our social media and was published on Wednesday and looks at Spring term!
I also attended a lovely social event for our Student Reps hosted by our amazing Education Manager – it was great fun and lovely to see everyone!
Next two weeks
Christmas!