This month's Rep Council saw a great deal of discussion of feedback from students on topics that hadn't reached us before - so here's a quick run-down of the work your Subject Reps and Officer Team are doing to make sure your university experience works for you.
Work to secure extended campus access in London, particularly on weekends, is ongoing: several London reps have organised a petition to demonstrate the number of students who would stand to benefit from such a change. If you're studying in London and want to sign the petition but don't know how to get involved, please get in touch with Connor Clarke or Joseph Knight.
Reps in both Product and Industry Design and Forensics flagged the availability of specialist software as a concern, both due to machines being occupied by students doing non-specialist work and during unsociable hours. While the Beacon computer availability feature can help identify machines that are available for some programs, not all are covered and not all will be accessible due to timetabling and building opening hours. Leah and Precious will be looking into improving the coverage of Beacon, the extent to which software is deployed, and the provision of software in 24/7 rooms. It was reported that some students have had trouble accessing specialist software due to society events, which our Engagement Team will be looking into - societies and student groups are reminded that their room bookings are not exclusive, and students who need the room to work should still be allowed to do so.
We also saw concerns about student workload raised in Product & Industry Design and Midwifery, and these have since been echoed in Games as well - examples included stories of students not having a break during the day, and only sleeping 3-4 hours a night. Subject reps will be gathering further evidence to allow us to demonstrate the extent and impact of these issues, and Precious will be coordinating this effort to raise with the University.
Other points of discussion include:
- Recent unreliability of the campus internet connection, which should have been resolved: any further issues should be reported via solve.staffs.ac.uk
- Concerns about the Extenuating Circumstances timeline not being met and confirmation emails not arriving, which Joseph will be raising with the Regulations & Compliance team
- Reported undue influence on assessment requirements from a third party organisation in Product & Industry Design, which Scott Ferrar will be raising with the Head of Department
The next meeting of Rep Council is due to take place in the near year, on January 22nd 2025.