SLT Priority Areas Update
The Student Leadership Team are still actively working on 17 different priorities, with support from other volunteers and the staff team. The priority sponsor(s) for each will provide updates at the upcoming meeting on 27 April 2024, and details will be shared in the minutes shortly after.
For more information on the work being done in the Student Leadership Team’s four priority areas, please visit the ‘Our Priorities’ area of the Association website.
SLT Approvals
Appointing External Trustees, vote needed – March 2024
SLT Statements & News Stories
Conference – tell us your policy ideas! (oustudents.com)
Elizabeth Scully leaves Student Leadership Team (oustudents.com)
OU Students Association elections are here! (oustudents.com)
Welcome to our new Trustees (and new Deputy President) (oustudents.com)
Students Association Deputy President gives evidence in Parliament (oustudents.com)
Gareth Jones to step down as Deputy President to join staff team (oustudents.com)
Student Issues and Concerns
The outgoing Deputy President received queries relating to the degree pathway for the newer version of the Law Degree. Gareth gave advice on this based on his experience but advised the student to get in touch with the Student Support Team for advice particular to their circumstances.
VP Student Welfare assisted a student concerned about a lack of help from their Student Support regarding a final TMA and Exam timed around an expected due date. The student believed that they would have to repeat the module again if the exam was not taken. VP Student Welfare contacted Student Support with the complaint and requested help for the student in outlining the available options. As requested, a female member of the Student Support team contacted the student and ensured that they were clear what choices they had.
VP Engagement has collated issues sent in by students expressing concern over the new format of invigilated exams.
An international student reached out to the International Area Representative about the website students need to use to nominate themselves in the OU Students Elections. The student reported that the website is not very compatible for screen readers and mentioned she cannot navigate the website and find the buttons. The staff team is going to take this up with Civica Election Services, the company that manages the elections.
An international student raised an issue on the OU Students Association website about the reachability of the Student Support Team in case of problems. This issue was discussed at the Student Leadership Team meeting on 10 February 2024. To understand the scale of the problem, the International Area Representative is holding a survey to get feedback from students on how and when would they like to contact the Student Support Team. The survey will close mid-April 2024.
The Student Member of Council raised the issue of no student involvement in the Faculty of Business & Law Scholarship projects, even though this is listed as part of the Teaching and Learning Plan. The Associate Dean took note and will investigate.
SLT Achievements
The International Representative and the outgoing Deputy President are the SLT sponsors for imbedding both Volunteer Recognition and the Tutor Awards into the annual cyclical calendar of the Association. Provisional plans have been made to run the process through the year and ending in the autumn, and initial conversations have taken place with the OU on areas of collaboration.
VP EDI has been working with the OU EDI team in the creation of an EDI survey that will be going live mid April 2024. The survey is designed to capture student opinions and experiences of EDI at the OU, and the data will be collated and feed into work being carried out around Race Equality, Disability support and Gender Equality. As a part of this there will be some focus groups held on the 9th & 10th April as well as an online form to capture the views of those students who were unable to attend. The information from these will be used to inform how we support neurodivergent students going forward.
The new Deputy President is leading on a project, that was started when Mark was VP Student Welfare, to create a help-guide for students to assist them on their study journey. The guide will consist of tips and advice almost entirely from other students. The project aims to prepare students for what to expect and any potential barriers and issues that students may experience on their student journey. It is hoped to create, in stages, the entire journey: from after module registration right through to preparing for the module; and studying the module; TMAs/ EMAs/Exams; Degree Ceremony; and even Careers. The Deputy President is currently leading on the work to create the first part (Studying), to be delivered in a Podcast.
VP Engagement has been working on the production of the latest black and white print-version Hoot for Students in Secure Environments (SiSE) newsletter. Due to publish our 5th edition in May with more student submissions than ever before!
The VP Engagement and the Student Member of Council were part of a panel evaluating demonstrations of online invigilation bids for proctoring software, which will allow exams to be held online. Online proctored exams are a requirement by some external bodies, if face-to—face exams are not possible. Successful bidders were chosen for final detailed evaluation, however as both Lou and Matt have reservations and require further information, particularly on how students declaring a disability are affected, VP Engagement is going to ensure there is student representation in any final determination.
VP EDI has worked with the association EDI staff team to create a new role within the Student Leadership Team (SLT) for a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Student Rep. The role has been included in the current SLT elections with results to be announced on 10th May 2024. The post holder will work with the Black, Asian and Minority ethnic student group, as well as liaising with the OU, to tackle barriers facing students and increase representation.
New Student reps have been recruited, gone through training and are getting to grips with their new roles.
The new Deputy President led a project to improve the amount of effort (i.e number of clicks) to get to the Help and Support Information on the Association website. This has now been completed and the number of clicks needed in order to find the information wanted have been reduced.
The outgoing Deputy President attended the Houses of Parliament to give evidence before the Education Select Committee on the effect of industrial action on the student experience. At the hearing, Gareth raised the issue of increased anxiety due to uncertainty, the wider impact on mental health and how the Students Association worked with the University to put in place mitigations.
The International Area Representative hosted monthly online meet-ups for international OU students. The number of attendees varied from 5 to 15 people. The International Area Representative also hosted social events, like Bingo games and quizzes.
The Spring edition of the International OU Students Newsletter was sent on 18 March 2024. It got a high number of opens, namely 69.7%, which is similar to the open rate of the Autumn 2023 edition. The click rate was 5%. The most popular links were the articles in The Hoot, the survey about Student Support Team and the Association Events page. It was noticeable that the articles promoted in the newsletter were subsequently trending on The Hoot website.
SLT Social Media Conversations
The outgoing Deputy President shared a post on his attendance at the London Consultation as part of the Student Voice Festival.
VP EDI shared her excitement at the start of graduation season and how Natalie is using it as motivation to get to the end of her module!
The outgoing Deputy President shared the Students Association's elections announcement, offering to answer any questions potential candidates might have on the roles.
VP Engagement shared about spreading the Sustainability word and that Lou and the Faculty Rep for WELS will be “going bananas” and hosting the “How Bad Are Bananas” game on the 23rd April 2024.
Gareth shared a post ahead of giving evidence at the UK Parliaments Education Select Committee on the impact of industrial action on the student experience.
We Need You!
We really want to know about the issues affecting you, as OU Students! Use our Student Issues reporting tool to submit your issues, comment on the issues of others, and up/down vote the issues important to you!
Other News
Campus 2030
The Student Member of Council is working on one of the most significant changes to the OU since its inception over 50 years ago - a proposal from the Vice Chancellor, called Campus 2030, to move to a new site in central Milton Keynes which could introduce in-person teaching. There is understandable concern from student leadership, as well as staff, as to how this will affect distance learning, amongst other things, and is being closely monitored by the OU Council who will make any final decision. The President and the Student Member of Council have ensured the student voice is clearly heard at Council and have already done so. The project cannot meet the original timescale of 2030 due to questions which have not been able to be answered satisfactorily to date so this will be a long term issue requiring regular reporting.
Neurodivergent support
VP EDI, VP Engagement and the Association EDI and Student Welfare staff team are working on our provision and support for Neurodivergent students.
Mental Health Awareness Week
The new Deputy President is taking part in the preparation for Mental Health Awareness Week and will also be contributing to the week itself. The project will contribute to positive effects on OU students’ mental health.
Single tutor modules
Some modules with low student numbers have a single tutor assigned. The Student Member of Council is requesting the Faculty of Business and Law to push back against this university-wide directive, given it is an unacceptable risk if the single tutor is unavailable. There is support for such a push-back from Associate Lecture representatives and the FBL Head of Student Experience. Although the issue has arisen in an FBL Board of Studies report from their Head of Student Experience, this is a much wider OU issue and will need to be raised in all faculties and escalated.
VP Student Welfare
The new Deputy President is continuing work from his role as VP Student Welfare. Mark is working with the Association’s Student Advice and Individual Representation team to assist students when they feel they have issues. The aim is to ensure that the Student Advice and Individual Representation Service continues to improve and develop, in meeting the needs of students.
Student Consultations and Conference
The Faculty Rep for WELS and the Faculty Rep for STEM attended an in-person student consultation in Manchester in March, which was well attended. The event with Nicola and Nigel was successful in gaining feedback that will then feed into the Students Association conference in June 2024.
Secret Life of Students Conference
The Faculty Rep for WELS attended the Wonkhe Secret Life of Students Conference on the 12th March, to gain insights of what is being done within students unions around the country regarding the issues that students are facing. Nichola was able to contribute to the discussions from a distance learning HEI perspective!
Responsible Futures Sustainability audit
An external Responsible Futures audit will be taking place 23-24th April, of the Association’s student led sustainability action plan, that will hopefully lead to accreditation.
Earth Day
VP Engagement will be running a student poster competition on 22nd April and Lou and Nichola will run a “How bad are bananas?” game session on the 23rd.
Student consultations for international students
The International Area Representative liaised with the OU Student Voice team to try and organise Student Consultation Meetings dedicated to internationals students during Student Voice Festival. The International Area Representative was informed that the OU did not have any plans for holding such consultations, as there is currently no-one within the OU with overall responsibility for international students and any feedback received from international students cannot not be addressed specifically.
Association event and meet-up hosts consultation
The International Area Representative hosted a meeting for Association Event and Meet-Up Hosts, together with the Projects Officer from the Community Team. The aim was to discuss ideas for hosting events and get feedback from hosts regarding any barriers they may be facing in running an event. The International Area Representative also suggested the idea of a survey to be sent to Event and Meet-Up Hosts to ask for their feedback. This was implemented by the Projects Officer, who will collect all the feedback. The survey will close mid-April 2024.
World Higher Education Database (WHED)
The International Area Representative has been in touch with the OU Strategy & Insight, Marketing and Communications Unit about the World Higher Education Database (WHED) (https://www.whed.net/home.php) in order to get the information about The Open University updated on that website. The WHED, in collaboration with UNESCO, is recognised as an official source of information on higher education institutions by national higher education authorities, governmental agencies and/or national academic bodies at global level. International students might be able to use the information on that website to get their OU degree recognised in their home country. It is therefore important for the information to be up-to-date.
BAME Group co-operation with international students
The International Area Representative met with the Chair of the Association Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Support Group to explore any areas for cooperation, as a lot of members of the BAME Group are also international students.
Appointments Committee Selection
The International Area Representative was a member of the Appointments Committee for the selection of the new Committee Members of the Association Disabled Students Group.
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)
The International Area Representative attended the Mental Health First Aid course from MHFA England and is now a Mental Health First Aider.
Support for International Students
The International Area Representative has been in touch with the Student Support Team about the ‘Call back’ option. The International Area Representative was informed that it is available for international students, but that this functionality is not routinely placed in all areas of the Help Centre. Instead, it has been embedded within specific types of queries, such as struggling with studies, cancelling, deferring, withdrawing and mental wellbeing.