Awards Category 5

Category 5: University course rep of the year

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Winner:

Kerry Perrie ~ University of Dundee

Kerry has been class rep since the beginning of academic year 2014-15. She always ensures that her classmates’ voices are fairly and honestly represented at student-staff liaison committee meetings, pushing for answers and providing feedback and solutions as soon as they are communicated.

As well as being an excellent class rep, Kerry has adopted the role of class mum. Her peers note that she goes above and beyond the role of rep, taking it upon herself to arrange extra clinical skills practice sessions, to create and distribute mock exams, book rooms for additional study time as well as taking the lead on party planning!

Kerry's nomination notes that she is always smiling and happy to help where she can, stating that "she is a credit to her class, a prime example of a genuine person. If she's even only half as good at nursing as she is at being our class rep, she'll be amazing!”

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Runner-up:

Caliana Jakes ~ The Robert Gordon University

Caliana began as a course rep, and in April 2016 became a Faculty Officer, following an institutional restructure, which resulted in the creation of a completely new school. This was a challenging time for the University, School and students, during which Caliana worked closely with the new Head of School to ensure students saw the change as an opportunity to create their own identity rather than something negative. She did this by gathering feedback from students and letting the Head of School know the concerns the students held.

Beyond the school, she has helped to shape the new School Officer role by providing a leading example of how well the role can work if it is carried out effectively, and how much students value having a student equivalent to a Head of School. She has actively participated in the student rep feedback sessions, 'Partnership in Action'. By participating in these sessions, she has demonstrated to student reps how to effectively communicate concerns and that although she has a title above their roles, she is still a student herself and understands their needs.

Caliana is also an Institutional Associate Trainer and helped to create the training materials by adapting the sparqs resources to suit the university’s needs. She successfully delivered 5 training sessions, with all reps recommending training to others. Additionally, she is a member of the Student Network for the QAA Enhancement Theme.

Overall, Caliana has been instrumental to the university and Union over the past year in all the work she has done. She approaches it all with enthusiasm and gives up her time as a fourth year student to contribute hugely to the student experience at RGU.

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Shortlisted:

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Mark Cameron ~ The Open University in Scotland

Linda Cupples ~ Glasgow Caledonian University

Hannah Thompson ~ University of the Highlands and Islands

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