University Staff answered students' Questions.
Every academic year we tend to have a series of events where we bring relevant senior staff from the University for a conversation with the academic reps (Course and Department reps). Before Covid, these events would have been taking the form of a lunch with a few refreshments, sandwiches or pizza, where for the first 30 minutes staff and reps would have had a nibble and ‘mingle’, after which we would have an hour where staff would have brought some of the general updates for student interests and reps would have asked questions that were not subject or Department specific, i.e. release of timetables univ wide, mental health provision.
As Covid put a damp in our social gathering we had an online event during the autumn term, and earlier in July we hosted two more events, one for the College of Social Science Arts and Humanities and one for the other two colleges: College of Life Sciences and College of Science Engineering. The below questions have been the main focus
- ASOS and Strike Action: How will ASOS impact graduation and progression (including the marking boycott)? Do they foresee any impact from 9th June Strike action, which could impede exam panels?
- Dual-delivery in the next academic year: Ignite’s dual-delivery method left some disparity between courses, in terms of online vs in person delivery. How are you ensuring that this won’t continue into the next year, allowing students who have to attend remotely to have the same experience as their peers?
- Developments from online learning: Online learning has increased the accessibility of many university courses. What developments from online learning are the executive board keen to take forward into the future?
- Mitigating circumstances: Mitigating circumstances have seen a huge change this year, with the removal of evidence requirements, and the wider categories for application. Are there any plans to change this in the coming year, and what would those changes be?
- Student wellbeing in the next academic year: What support is planned for students during their return to campus in October, considering the increased stress and anxiety, as well as mental health problems, many people are facing with the return to “normal”? While we in the UK will hopefully have had four months to prepare, what about international students who remained in lockdowns over the summer?
If you are interested to hear what the answers were, please check the recordings from each event