Last Thursday was my FOURTH Education Awards, meaning so far I have been to:

• One in 2020 that was all online thanks to the pandemic that shall not be named
• One as incoming officer that was equal measures welcoming and intimidating, and also saw me rushing home as soon as it ended like Cinderella leaving the ball as I needed to submit my dissertation
• One in my first term – where we introduced new awards, had a case of missing OJ, but otherwise kept to the status quo
• And this one ! New venues, new food, new awards – all exciting and nerve wracking in equal measures

It was such a joyful night, and for the sake of my beloved archives (but also to give an extra shout out to those who couldn’t make it!), I wanted to make a post to celebrate all of our winners. Now, this is just a GLIMPSE into all they’ve done, but I hope it gives you a bit of an idea for all they’ve done.

Outstanding Contribution to Peer Mentoring (Student) – Janvi Mahtani Balani

Janvi is an amazing, highly engaged, and supportive leader – offering such invaluable guidance even when on placement. Being such a proactive mentor and providing continuous support for students made Janvi our winner.

Outstanding Contribution to Peer Assisted Learning (Student) – Rachel Legg

Rachel stepped out of her comfort zone to improve the confidence of her students. She created an engaging, welcoming, and all around stellar learning environment.

Outstanding Contribution to Peer Support (Staff) – Waleed Ali

Walled absolutely transformed peer mentoring in the Maths department by implementing additional checkpoints and creating a Python code to streamline matching for a whole cohort of student. This work led to increased engagement, and was shared with other departments for their own peer support schemes – highlighting his passion for collaboration.

Outstanding Contribution to Language Peer Assisted Learning (Student) – Senior Language PAL leaders (Vienne Hiu Yi Lin, Janvi Mahtani Balani, and Jovana Cuxac)

Vienne, Janvi, and Jovana absolutely EXCEL at supporting Language PAL leaders - creating valuable resources and fostering innovation in the program. They consistently contribute new ideas, engage with peers, and ensure the success and future sustainability of the language PAL schemes.

Peer Support Champion (Student) – Vienne Hiu Yi Lin

Vienne is a dedicated Senior Language PAL leader (I mean, her name has already shown up multiple times in the shortlist – isn’t this a good sign?) who has consistently demonstrated exceptional commitment to fostering a cultural community. Over the years, she has climbed the ranks from attendee to leader, and now Senior PAL, continuously supporting students with her passion for language and peer support. She’s not only made valuable contributions to training materials but also takes proactive steps to raise awareness for peer support, like sharing videos about the impact of being a senior leader. Additionally, Vienne serves as a Doctoral mentor, providing guidance and reassurance to peers - even across different time zones.

Outstanding Contribution to Academic Representation (Student) – Chaewon Seo

Chaewon has been a communication superstar, working to secure spare workbooks, making sure modules layouts make sense, and even secured an extension for the whole cohort – always a winner moves. Not only this, but she has also represented her cohort at a general council and has been an overall EDI superstar.

Outstanding Contribution to Academic Representation (Staff) – Ashleigh Curl

Ashleigh has been described as a true advocate – who goes above and beyond in everything that she does, and is also an “absolute inspiration to follow”. Not only this but she has truly met students where they are, making making an Instagram to advertise all things the students she supports might be interested in – and clocking in over 500 followers. Not only this, but she has also created a student neurodiversity network to promote a supportive and safe environment.

Outstanding Contribution to Faculty Representation (Student) – Ioana Mocanu

Ioana has been in the academic rep system for an ever-impressive half a decade – and during this time has organised community events, improved signposting, and even protected Wednesday afternoons off for integrated master’s students.

Postgraduate Representative Champion (Student) – Tianyu Xiang

A tireless effort from Tianyu has been made to bridge the gap between students and the university, ensuring that feedback is communicated to the appropriate channels. This has led to the development of meaningful initiatives aimed at improving the postgraduate journey. Through effective collaboration, positive changes have already begun taking shape, leaving a lasting impact on the program.

Academic Voice Champion (Student) – Huw Ford

The winner of this award has been all over the place for the past four years – at SUmmit, the Academic Exec, being a lead peer mentor, and chairing with impeccable timing and humour. There is a LOT here so to break it down to some bulletpoints, Huw has

• Shaped SUmmit standpoints
• Chaired the Academic Exec
• Served as Senate Rep
• Been a Lead Peer Mentor
• Advocated for the redesign of the ePortfolio system
• Enhanced employability tracking for students in Bio and Biochem
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Outstanding Contribution to Student Experience at Bath (Student) – Nadine Guerfi

Nadine has been an inspiring leader – advocating for gender equality and women’s empowerment, played a significant role in organising an Arab Society panel event that raised £2000 for charitable causes as well as leading the society to win Best Delegation at the world’s largest Model UN conference.

Outstanding Contribution to Education at Bath (Student) – Ahmad Alkuchikmulla

Ahmad is a key figure in education at Bath – in the last year alone he has co-created the POLIS Skills Diagnostic Tool which has expanded across five departments in HSS, contributed to assessment and feedback mechanisms, been published in the Journal of the Centre for the Study of Violence, sat as a panellist for One Young World, facilitated student led discussions on pressing global issues such as Gaza/Israel and Syria, organised artist led educational events and podcast as Chair of the Islamic Society, and contributed to the establishment of Palestinian scholarships.