Last week’s joint message from our Faculty Vice-Dean for Teaching, Learning and Students, Fiona Smyth, and the Student’s Union Faculty Humanities Officer, Katie Jackson, reiterated the importance of all colleagues helping to make our students’ time with us as positive and rewarding for them as possible. 

An important way in which we are working to improve student experiences across our Schools is the Faculty’s local National Student Survey (NSS) action plan, based on the University’s 15-point plan. 

While recognising the good work staff are already involved with across many departments, using the NSS 2024 results as one of many forms of student feedback, the NSS action plan focuses on two key themes in particular which need improvement – ‘assessment and feedback’ and ‘student voice’. 

For assessment and feedback, the University plan identifies three areas of focus: clarity of marking criteria and communication, timely feedback, and understanding and use of feedback. The Faculty action plan sets out commitments to address these, such as using discussion boards in Blackboard, clearly signposting students to My Learning Essentials resources and staff office hours, ensuring feedback is released on time, and implementing a mid-semester course unit survey. 

For student voice, the key areas in the University plan are student representation and engagement, communication and the student voice feedback loop, and student voice feedback opportunities. The Faculty action plan translates these into activities including promoting the responsibilities of Students’ Union representatives (reps) to students across the semester; inviting reps to School Board and department meetings; discussing identified areas of improvement at Student Staff Liaison committee meetings; and Heads of Department holding regular drop-in sessions for students. 

Academic and professional services colleagues who are directly involved in this work are being contacted by Heads of School, Heads of Department, Directors of Teaching and Learning and Programme Directors with further information on the plan and to agree next steps. 

An example of work already under way is in SALC, where Director of Teaching and Learning Camden Reeves has held the first of a series of weekly drop-in sessions with student reps. Reps raised a number of issues that we are now looking to resolve as quickly as possible. This is just one illustration of the excellent activities taking place across our Schools promoting the opportunities for students to have their voices heard and acted on, and to improve assessment and feedback. The University senior leadership team will be reviewing progress on the Faculty’s action plan between now and the end of January. 

Beyond the NSS action plan and staff whose roles and responsibilities involve regular contact with our students, whether it is through a simple act such as helping a new student find their way to a lecture or work on a major project, all colleagues have a part to play in helping and supporting students to enhance their University experience.