It’s been a busy term, and we just wanted to fill you in on what we’ve been doing for you! Guild Officers and staff are always working to improve your student experience, and here are some of our key wins from January – March.
Your Priorities: here’s what your Guild and Officers have been working on for each of the priorities you confirmed for us in January:
Health& Wellbeing:
· Pip is planning ways to include health and wellbeing information into Welcome Week activities.
· Mia has been working on ways for peer support groups to be better supported by University Wellbeing.
· Pip has set up a Student Gender Safety Group to discuss community and safety in Exeter.
· We launched our Wellbeing Hub, full of helpful resources.
Job Prospects:
· Rhys has been working on an accessible employability campaign for neurodiverse students.
· Re-working the Exeter Award with the University and the Guild, so that it feeds in more to pre-existing society activities.
· More promotion of paid work opportunities via email, website and social media
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:
· Mia has been working to push forward accessibility improvements, including a map, a bookable ramp for society events, and accessibility icons and information on Guild events.
· Pip and Mia have been looking at ways to encourage more students to undertake Bystander and Consent training.
· We’ve hosted a 4-day cultural festival, bringing together students.
· International student research – see the update below on this research project.
Living Costs:
· Pip delivered a Feed your Flat event at St Luke’s giving out meal packs to feed 1000 students.
· Pip & Mia are working on a student community cookbook providing recipes, tips and budgeting advice.
· Alex and Pip have delivered a Community Fridge on Streatham and are working towards one for St Luke’s.
· Alex has been campaigning so that students don’t have to pay for books in reading lists – hoping for this to be approved by the University this week!
Campaigns, Initiatives and Activism:
· Emma is making sure the £2 meal is here to stay following the campaign last year.
· Emma and the Officers have been supporting the Shell Out campaign.
· Our campaigns hub is live, giving you support and resources to enable you to campaign on issues you are passionate about.
Events and Activities:
· Rhys has been working to organise a family social for postgraduate students in April.
· Alex has run academic rep networking events and the Big Rep Hello
· Officers have been thinking about new events and activities to welcome students in September 2024.
· We’ve hosted 54 Give it a Go events this term!
International Student Research
This year we’ve been asking international students how we can improve their student experience.
We collected more than 850 pieces of feedback from students from 67 countries across 6 continents throughout this research project. The research highlighted four key areas that international students were finding most challenging:
· Practical and local information
· Community building and meeting people
· Settling in and adapting to British culture
· Academic support
Thanks to every student who contributed to the project, your feedback will go directly into actions for both the Guild and the University, which are now being planned.