This category is for activity led by students, including student representatives at course, programme or department level, students involved in enhancement projects, or any individual student or student group who have contributed to the quality of the learning experience.
Such activities might include work by course reps to gather and use student views, initiation of partnership work with staff, successful proposal of adjustments to the learning experience, work to engage specific groups impacted by the pandemic, or the work of student-led groups or societies that have impacted on the quality of learning within a course or department.
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Winner:
School of Life Sciences Academic Events and Social Media
~ University of Dundee
Recognising the particular concerns created by the pandemic about welfare and employability, the school president and two school vice-presidents, all student officers, at the University of Dundee’s School of Life Sciences undertook a number of projects to improve learning, wellbeing and community. The team worked with staff to revamp the social media pages for the school, and organised wellbeing events such as “welfare Wednesday” and online careers workshops. They reported increased engagement in social media, at events and in applications to be course reps within the school.
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Runner-up:
Learner Support for Protected Characteristics Focus Groups
~ Heriot-Watt University
This award saw a team of students appointed by the students’ association to gather evidence of current support provisions at Heriot-Watt for Black and Ethnic Minority (BME) students, Asian and Ethnic Minority (AME) students, Disabled students, LGBT+ students and Women studying in STEM subjects. The team of researchers, who crucially were drawn from each of those profiles, chaired focus groups and produced reports about the student experience, which was highly informative to both the university and students’ association and had a major impact on policymaking at Heriot Watt.
