Our second article of the week is about our Academic Reps! We have over 200 reps across all 17 departments who were elected to role in October. You should already know who rep is, but if not, you can find out and contact them by going to Find my Rep.
What is the role of Academic Reps?
Academic Reps are students on your course who are elected to act as a key point of contact if you have any feedback about your academic studies and University experience.
Their role is to share your feedback, issues or ideas with staff from your department or the Students’ Union to help create change and improve the quality of your education. The changes they help to make can be big or small, but they always try to make changes for the better, as they know the issues that affect students.
Why have students chosen to become an Academic Rep?
Here’s what our current Academic reps have to say…
Lucy Platten - I chose to be an academic Rep because I wanted to be my best self at university and take every step to further my career after it. I felt being a rep was a good fit for me and my future.
Charlie Pugh - I decided to become an academic rep to represent the views of myself and my peers, in order to try and achieve the best education possible.
Ffion Taylor - I chose to become a student rep because I wanted to be able to talk to my fellow classmates and help to sort out any issues which they faced. I also wanted to be able to gain more confidence as I knew I'd have to talk to a number of people and to talk to tutors and this would help me to gain more confidence.
What have Academic Reps Changed?
Academic reps attend Staff Student Consultative Committees 3 times a year, which is their chance to raise feedback, issues or ideas with staff. Timetabling, assignment deadlines and panapto recordings are all issues that have been raised and addressed this year by your reps. You should already know what your reps have achieved so far, but if not, make sure to ask your rep to get it publicised.
This year C22 has been on the agenda of many reps. As a result of this being raised across departments, our Academic Affairs Officer has now had talks with senior staff to finally get this lecture room refurbed!
What benefits have our reps gained from Volunteering as an Academic Rep?
Lucy Platten - "The benefits I’ve gained from being an academic Rep is that extra push to meet new people and learn from the students around me, in and outside the classroom."
Charlie Pugh - "I have become a lot more confident since becoming an academic rep. I’ve also been involved with a number of staff and peers that I most likely wouldn’t have spoken to."
Ffion Taylor - "I have gained a lot from being a student rep so far, my confidence has increased and I feel much more comfortable talking to people. I have also been able to meet new people and gain new friends from being a student rep whether this has been other student reps or my fellow classmates."