Each month we gather student thoughts and opinions on various topics through a project called Survey Superheroes. In February, we focused on gathering your ideas on societies, accessibility, and empowerment. Thank you to everyone who participated! This project has been crucial in shaping our initiatives and implementing change to enhance student experiences at Exeter!
In February, we explored student society experiences, from both the perspective of a member and part of committee. A large majority of students engage with at least 1 society, with many reporting that their club experiences have positively enhanced their university life.
Key contributing factors included sense of community, society socials, and experiencing new things. First year students reported the highest society engagement rates, with common barriers preventing participation being time restrictions, costs and workload. Motivations for becoming a committee member included career and personal development and having a positive impact within the society. While many students feel satisfied with their society experience, suggestions for improvement included, lowering society costs, including more varied society events and activities, and better communication and reporting structures.
We also explored student opinions on accessibility at university and support structures in place. Generally, students feel as though the University and Guild care about accessibility. Many students exhibited satisfaction with the accessibility of resources and services available, however some faced challenges with the application process.
Physical accessibility is a key concern for students, with many highlighting the need for improvement within teaching and social spaces on campus. Emphasis was placed on re-evaluating lecture room layout and lift locations, adding more ramps around campus, and improving lecture recordings.
Many students feel empowered at university, with confidence, support mechanisms, and opportunities playing an important role. Students feel confident about creating change on a smaller scale, such as societies and modules, however this decreases when thinking about affecting change on a government level. Frequent challenges mentioned included bureaucracy, poor feedback mechanisms, and not feeling heard. To minimise these barriers students suggested providing more surveys and feedback systems to promote open discussions and problem resolving.