Student Experience Team shortlisted for Enriching Student Life Awards

The Student Experience Team in the School of English, Communication and Philosophy have been shortlisted for the Enriching Student Life Awards.

The Enriching Student Life Awards (ESLAs) recognise the hard work of staff and students who make a positive contribution to the student experience. The awards are run in partnership between Cardiff University and the Students’ Union.

The team were shortlisted in the Learning and Teaching Collaboration of the Year category.

This year, a record-breaking 1,950 nominations were received across 16 categories.

Rob Meredith, Student Engagement and Experience Manager, said: “The ENCAP Student Experience Committee is composed of myself as Student Engagement and Experience Manager and Catalina Popescu as Student Experience Officer, and we are delighted to be shortlisted for the Learning and Teaching Collaboration of the Year Award.

“Over the last few years, we have both worked hard to improve the experience of our students within ENCAP through a number of actions and initiatives, including:

• In consultation with the Student Champion project, our implementation of a live and effective student feedback system that permits the submission of feedback at any time, 24-7-365.  Student feedback and School actions are visibly displayed throughout the department and soft copy media regularly resulting.
• Similarly, utilising Student Champions, we’ve produced an improved and more accessible VLE platform for the access of resources and submission of assignments.
• Participating in semesterly Internationalisation meetings, meeting with international students from across our department to understand the unique circumstances they face and implementing actions to improve experiences.
• Regular audit of survey data, from NSS/CUPTS/PRES to Module Enhancement, to provide an overview of data trends and produce recommendation reports to ESEC.
• The creation of an in-school PGT Buddy scheme much akin to the Student Mentor scheme at UG level, where MA students who were former undergraduates at the School act as senior buddies for those completely new.
• The creation of a soft-copy Dissertation archive, housing hundreds of works of best practice for reference and is available to students and staff at any time.
• A range of established events and initiatives to promote a sense of community within the department, such as our ENCAP Reading Week Festival, School-wide welcome socials of staff and students, numerous competitions and various trips to productions, landmarks and attractions.
• Coordinating a team of staff and students to fundraise and run the Cardiff Half Marathon, and more.
• The production and archive of a weekly ENCAP Newsletter to communicate events and opportunities within the department and beyond.
• Supporting our popular School Societies with promotion, and on occasion funds and organisational backing.
• The creation of our Student Experience Fund, so that students themselves may bid for monies to run events or initiatives to build community themselves.
• Regularly speaking at a variety of meetings for SVEN, College and more to provide suggestions of best practice.

“With these just a few of the actions we’ve taken, both Catalina and myself are proud of what we have built thus far, and with more ideas afoot, look forward to progressing improvements further.”

Elevating and celebrating student life is a fundamental mission of the university, and the awards play a key role in providing an opportunity to celebrate the contributions of the students and staff who go the extra mile.