The Priority: Protecting fundamental opportunities and student experience throughout the university’s restructure. Seek to expand opportunities based in Cornwall to support employability and graduate outcomes, as part of giving you a fairer Exeter experience.
Context: Over the summer, the university entered into a consultation process with staff on academic staff redundancies. I submitted a report to the university outlining what problems this would likely create for our Cornwall Campus and a set of eight recommendations to help protect the student experience. Work has been happening at pace on each of this over the summer and beyond. Alongside this, I’m exploring new methods and tools to give students the employability skills and experience they need to graduate into a difficult job market.
What I’ve Achieved
Key Outcomes:
- £4,000 secured from the university for all student groups and societies to run additional opportunities during the welcome period to help rebuild belonging
- £1,000 secured from the university for academic societies to build academic community and run extra-curricular activities
- New links for academic societies with Exeter careers and alumni teams
- Commitment from Exeter to embed student feedback more thoroughly post-restructure, including new digital feedback routes.
By the Numbers:
- 35 student group applications for the Welcome Funding
- 19 student group applications approved with events and activities either having already been delivered or underway
Why this matters
The restructure is already having a wide variety of impacts on the student experience and we’re working hard to address them. We’re also trying to break the idea of the Penryn campus being of ‘second status’ compared to its Devon equivalents by ensuring you can participate fully in all the opportunities that come with being an Exeter student.
What’s Next?
Immediate Next Steps:
- Meeting students individually and in groups to try and address any challenges they’re facing because of the redundancies.
- Pushing the university to guarantee at least a minimum standard of employability and extra-curricular activities they can expect this year
- Working with the university on new resources to support AI literacy, establish a consistent baseline of knowledge for all students and ensure students can make informed decisions around AI use, based on understanding of the ethical challenges and opportunities.
Accountability Check: Updates on these actions will be shared at our next Forum and through direct communications with Exeter students.
Your Turn!
Want to get involved? Here's how:
- Stay Updated: Stay up-to-date via the news articles on our website, and make sure to read your SU's weekly newsletter for all the latest info!
- Make a change: submit your idea on Make a Change. If it gets enough votes, it could become a Union Priority!
- Take Action: if you have feedback about your student experience at the Cornwall campuses, please get in touch.
Questions or ideas? Get in touch via presidents@thesu.org.uk - we'd love to hear from you.