Wow! The last few weeks have flown by as there have been lots of exciting meetings happening as we plan for Academic Council and the Academic Rep review.  I also had a few days off on annual leave where I caught up with lots of Netflix shows I had been missing!

Here’s a quick update from some of the things I’ve been involved in recently;

Exam results

Congratulations! Exam results are starting to be released, if you haven’t yet received them you should do shortly. As part of the No Detriment measures, we have asked the University to conduct an analysis of the results to ensure that the measures put in place adequately supported you, this will now start to take place. On Tuesday Francesco, Fritz and I will be meeting with Academic Registry to discuss the Semester 1 outcomes analysis.

The University have released a webpage explaining how to find and understand your results. If you have any queries please do get in touch with your department or The SU Advice and Support Centre can also offer additional help, including support if you wish to put forward for an Academic Appeal.

Faculty Forums

Once again, your faculty reps have been incredible! This week they have held faculty forums with you to discuss key issues that you may be having and around exams. I am so proud of all the work they have done! This information helps to support us when lobbying the university for changes. As we start to look at what semester 2 exams will look like it is crucial that we have this qualitative data alongside the exam issues survey data to help shape the future of online exams.

Access and Participation Plan (APP)

I’ve been working with several stakeholders from across the university to ensure that our access and participation plan (APP) 2020 – 2025 is being delivered. The APP focuses on how our institution can improve equality of opportunity for underrepresented groups to access, succeed in and progress from higher education. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been involved in discussions about how areas such as the SU, Student Services and the Library are working to engage with underrepresented groups and the targets they have set to achieve by 2025. One of the key requirements that we ask for is when the data is presented, that it must be disaggregated to allow for additional barriers to be identified and addressed. 

CSSU – Decolonising the Curriculum Paper

Yesterday I presented a paper on the work that has been done so far regarding Decolonising our Curriculum. We highlighted the progress that had been made so far specifically the importance of keeping discussions happening and monitoring progress across all departments. This was well received by the University. We emphasised the importance of progressing forward and our next steps which is to work with NUS, Faculty Reps and the University to create an action plan template for departments to fill out to include timeframes, progress so far and end goals.

On the 10^th March, Ruqia Osman, former Education Officer, will be hosting a decolonising the curriculum session at 6pm for Academic Reps and interested students. Find out more information and how to sign up here!