We know that our students are particularly aware of the climate crisis, and some of you have told us about the anxiety this causes you. Our students are at the centre of everything we do, so we have worked together with you to produce the Climate Anxiety Forum.
‘The idea came about when I was on the Costa Rica fieldtrip chatting with one of the students. We started talking about our climate anxiety and the things we do to calm ourselves given the enormity of the issue. This made me realise there were probably more people who could benefit from this type of discussion.’ Dr Helen Pheasey
Bella Sabin-Dawson, explains how the group came about: “I am the president of the Mindfulness society, and also the Student Lead of the SAC Sustainability Working Group (SWG), so with my interest in eco-anxiety this tied together really well.’ Helen Pheasey got in touch with Lorraine Millard (a counsellor at the University and mindfulness instructor) and myself to discuss the need for an eco-anxiety support group. Helen felt that the school had a responsibility to provide support to students that may need it. We spoke about the kind of thing/structure that would be most helpful and decided on the support group. The sessions are run on the last Wednesday of each month. There are hot drinks and biscuits available and it provides students with a chance to share these difficult feelings with others that feel the same way, whilst being supported by academic staff. The Mindfulness Society have an in-person session that runs every Wednesday, so we planned the support group to finish just before mindfulness so students have the opportunity to attend that straight after.”
With lockdowns and remote learning increasingly behind us, we have worked with you in other ways to build our community and to find more opportunities for staff and students to interact. We made funds available for our various societies to work together with staff to run a SAC staff-student Christmas party, and it was fantastic to see so many of you there. The communal spaces upstairs and downstairs in Marlowe are often bustling with SAC students and staff. The Sustainability Working Group brings students and staff together to help make SAC, the University, and the community more sustainable. And we’ve been working with academic societies and the wider learning community to support an offer of activity which represents your interests.
We are always being asked to provide more opportunities for skills development or exam support, so we have improved and developed our offering from SLAS to meet your requirements and concerns, we’ve developed very well received exam preparation sessions, and last term was the launch of our new APM group study sessions, including support from SLAS and our Library Liaison to help you improve your referencing and make the most of library resources while you study.
There is so much more to mention and not enough space! But for a quick overview the Student Voice Forums this year have been full of enthusiasm and activity, and it has been great to have them face-to-face after covid. To ensure marking criteria is as clear as possible, we developed generic marking criteria and have been tailoring that to specific assessments, and have been increasingly pointing out the Learning Outcomes that are assessed by a given assessment. To help you make the best use of your feedback, we’ve implemented a policy that feedback should clearly state how you can improve on your work.
We couldn’t have focused on the changes you needed without hearing your feedback through the various channels available to us, including the NSS and Student Voice Forums. SO we’ve asked one of our Division’s reps to tell us about their experience so far this year.
What it means to you being a rep?
It means that I can have a platform to share concerns or proposals to improve our relationships with our professors and to do better in our modules.
How have you enjoyed the journey so far?
I have enjoyed it a lot since I met new people through being a rep, whom I can work together to help our fellow students.
What is the most rewarding experience, so far, being a rep?
The most rewarding experience for me personally is the opportunity to attend staff and academics meetings, where I can listen to various internal problems or suggestions and that way, I can understand better the situation and propose new effective solutions.
How did the Student Voice Forum go and what you feel it brings to the school community?
The Student Voice Forum went well and I appreciated the effort being put by our Student Experience Coordinators. They really care to listen to our feedback and they do try their best to make a change for the better! Without them it would have been really hard for our voices to be heard.
Do get in touch with our reps if you have any concerns or suggestions, consider becoming a rep yourself, and make sure you complete the NSS so that future students can continue to benefit from the feedback!
Find your reps here: Find My Rep | Kent Union
Complete the NSS here: National Student Survey : National Student Survey (thestudentsurvey.com)