Student Representation and Engagement
We are passionate about making sure the University of Exeter works for everyone. We encourage you to get involved in making a positive difference while you’re here, both in terms of your education experience and in your contribution to society more widely. Many opportunities can also contribute towards the Exeter Award and your HEAR (Higher Education Achievement Report), so are also great ways to enhance your employability.
All students are encouraged to offer in-module and end-of-module feedback. We consider every piece of feedback submitted through module surveys, and use the results to review and update module and assessment design that take students’ experiences fully into account. It’s your chance to influence how we deliver education in your Faculty.
For those of you who want to engage in more regular activity to ensure the student voice is heard, there are two main ways you can get involved in student representation: becoming an Academic Representative, or working with other students and/or staff on a Students as Change Agents project.
Student Voice
Student representatives are trained by the Students’ Union to share your feedback. Within the Faculty itself, each subject department has student reps to represent your academic needs at every stage of study.
In each subject discipline, the reps are led by a subject chair. These representatives work closely with the Student Union’s Exeter President, a post held this year by Connie Chilcott, to ensure your views are taken into account at every level of the University.
All students are eligible to apply to be a rep for their programme. The main elections for Academic Reps will be running in late September/early October. You can see more details about applying here.
If you want to be able to give feedback about your course but you don’t want to stand as a student representative, elected programme representatives can pass on feedback to staff on your behalf.
Later on, you can find out who your student representatives are via the Find Your Rep page on the SU’s website. Information will be updated shortly after the elections have taken place.
Students as Change Agents and Partners is the University’s philosophy and pathway for empowering students to actively improve the University experience for themselves and their peers through a project-based approach. There are two main routes to becoming involved in a project; applying for one of our internships or setting up your own project.
Students’ involvement in a Change Agents project can take different forms, but fundamentally students must take a leading role in the direction and management of a project. The project can make use of one or more students in a partnership-based role with other staff leaders, or students can be delegated to lead the project by themselves.
Students working on Change Agents projects are supported to deliver effective and measurable change, and become part of a community of sharing practice in student-led enhancement. Students receive support and access to training to better develop and demonstrate their ability in a range of valuable personal skills such as leadership, teamwork and project management.
For more information about how to get involved, visit the Students as Change Agents website.