Imaani Mitchell

July

• Introduced to the new role and worked on transitioning from President to Education Officer.
• Began planning for the ‘Study Smart’ Campaign
• Continued Chairing the SU’s Management Committee
• Worked with the Student Voice Team to set subject rep targets and to plan the year.
• Met with 4 Students to support them with any casework eg) suspected breaches, Appeals or Complaints.
• Attended the UCAS Student Advisory Group to discuss the process of applying for higher education (Undergrad, Postgrad, Teacher Training and Apprenticeship) and to share current issues students are facing and how it may affect access to higher education.
• Met with the University Executive Team to discuss concerns around potential changes within Humanities.
• Attended all scheduled university committee meetings and shared the student voice.

August

• Supported Planning for Welcome 2020.
• Met with 1 Student to support them with any casework eg) suspected breaches, Appeals or Complaints.
• Took some Annual Leave to recharge and be ready for students arriving in September!
• Attended all scheduled university committee meetings and shared the student voice.

September

• Caught up with the Student Voice team around Course rep election and how that would work
• Updated the ‘Study Smart’ campaign material from last year, making sure the info reflected any changes due to COVID.
• Supported the Subject rep training days talking about current student issues, how to effectively gather feedback during COVID and how to close the feedback loop.
• Met lots of lovely students during Welcome 2020.
• Sat on the University’s digital exam board where the implementation of digital exams is discussed, I ensured that student views and concerns were heard in this space and we meet regularly to keep on top of any issues.
• Supported Luc (SU President) with his ‘Get Involved’ campaign and joined him for an Instagram live to talk about the course rep scheme.
• Started planning Black History Month with the other officers.
• Supported the SU’s first Subject Rep meeting, which raised some great feedback.
• Attended all scheduled university committee meetings and shared the student voice.
• Met with Students to support them with any casework eg) suspected breaches, Appeals or Complaints.

October

• Ran the ‘Study Smart’ Campaign to make the Academic Regulations more accessible to students and provide information to help students study smarter.
• Attended all scheduled university committee meetings and shared the student voice.
• Met with 1 Students to support them with any casework eg) suspected breaches, Appeals or Complaints.
• Looked at what events we could continue to provide for students after Welcome 2020 had ended.
• Started discussing any potential changes ready for the SU Referendum – including officer roles.
• Interviewed for new External Trustees and Student Trustees for the SU’s Board of Trustees.
• Met with the Student Voice Team to continue forward planning for the academic year.
• Shared ideas on how to bring students together with the current guidelines.
• Filmed some cooking videos to give students some ideas of cheap meals they can cook with their flatmates/housemates.

November

• Attended all scheduled university committee meetings and shared the student voice.
• Met with the SU’s BME Experience Officer, Paris to discuss the plans she has for the year and how I can support her.
• Acted on feedback from students around the University’s relationship with the racecourse and discussed how we would approach this moving forward.
• Gathered actions from feedback fortnight and started planning how to make these changes for students.
• Had informal discussion with University Council Member Candidates to help inform the university’s recruitment decision.
• Met with Graham Parton, Head of School for Education and Humanities, to talk through student concerns and to look at next steps.
• Met with Amanda Pill, Director of Quality Enhancement and Jenny hill, Head of Learning and Teaching Innovation to share student issues around Digital Poverty and what the university could do to support students through this.
• Attended a training day on how to lead well during the pandemic and how to look after myself as an officer in order for me to represent students in the best way.

December

• Started conversations about the existing No Detriment Policy and Collate student feedback around the request for a new one.
• Started planning Welcome for January starters and looking at how students will return to university and how we can support them
• Interviews candidates for some vacant subject rep roles.
• Hosted a subject rep meeting focussing solely on value for money and passed this feedback directly to the university.
• I am sitting on the panel for the recruitment of a new deputy vice chancellor in the new year, so I contributed to the longlisting process of candidates.
• Met with Amanda Pill to discuss the current synchronised teaching offer so that changes can be made for semester 2.

January

• After the announcement of the current lockdown, the officer team creating a new campaign ‘new year, new challenges’.
• I took the lead in the education challenges including the need for a No Detriment Policy and Support for students around digital poverty see here for updates.
• I met with Prof David James (Dean of Academic Development) and had a continuous email correspondence to raise your concerns around the new No Detriment Policy and ask for a clearer explanation to students and to ask where students can go for this – Please contact your personal tutor for any course specific questions about the policy.
• I have also been working with students who study a Humanities subject to gather their feedback to share with the university and to continue lobbying on their behalf to ensure their voices are heard, again you can read more here.
• I have continued to support students with any casework including support for Academic Breaches and Complaints.
• As an SU we have begun a review of our feedback systems to ensure we are gathering feedback in the best way to benefit students and the work we do.
• I sat on the interviewing panel for the recruitment of the university’s new Deputy Vice Chancellor – I was particularly looking for someone who would invest time into finding out more about the student experience and who would want a strong working relationship with the SU.
• We held an induction event for January starter students, giving them the opportunity to meet their full time officers and ask any questions – this was carried out following all Covid guidelines.
• I have been working with the university on an updated ‘Interruption of Studies Policy’ , making sure that the process is as accessible as possible for students and that the process is fair.
• Working with your Mental Health and Disability Experience Officer, katy, we have begun a process to look into the University’s current Lecture capture Policy and to see if it is appropriate with the way education is currently.