University of Exeter Students’ Guild has demonstrated best practice across all areas of their activities. This was underpinned by a new strategic plan and ensuring student feedback is obtained and acted upon.
The Guild has put into place a strategic plan with a renewed focus which directs its activities and has allowed them to deliver for their members.
Student feedback is at the heart of everything the Guild does. They have analysed more than 12,000 responses to polls, surveys and focus groups. Students are actively encouraged to complete comment cards on all areas and receive responses from sabbatical officers. Mystery shoppers regularly visit the Guild’s outlets with results actioned and incorporated into the business plan.
All results and recommendations of the research are communicated to students using a number of communications channels.
Within the scope of the Guild’s website development, they are creating a bespoke system to help improve feedback mechanisms and measure impact. This will link in with the University of Exeter’s system.
In order to continue to represent their ever changing membership the Guild’s sabbatical roles were reviewed. Students were fully consulted, and outgoing officers and staff were also involved.
The result was a new structure with four full-time officers and a forum of part-time officers. The subsequent elections attracted 27 candidates to the four sabbatical positions and a record turnout of 36 per cent.
The Guild’s 147 student societies boast over 10,000 memberships and all are encouraged to stand for committee elections. In academic representation the 620 course representatives contribute to the Education Officer’s work.
This year there has been a number of achievements through the representation system. These include an extension on library opening hours, increase in periods of short-term library loans, a reversal of charging Business School students to sit exams and launching teaching awards.
The University of Exeter also agreed in principle to a block grant funding formula, which would increase funding by around £500,000 over five years.
A survey of University of Exeter students revealed that nearly 90 per cent of students believe that the Guild makes a positive difference to their University experience.
Other examples of Exeter’s outstanding success this year include:
- Encouraging more than 800 students to register to vote. 2300 students were automatically registered via Halls of Residence
- Hosting a PPC question time, attended by 400 people
- More than 500 people signed their postcard petition against increased tuition fees. These were delivered to Exeter Labour HQ on May 5th
- More than 1100 people attended their Chinese New Year celebration in February, which united international and home students with members of the local community
- As well as £30,000 compensation for halls residents disrupted by construction work, the Guild also secured a long-term reduction in halls fees
- They arranged for 15 students to meet cabinet ministers. Issues raised featured in the post-event report
- Advice Unit enquiries are up 101 per cent on last year.
- 7014 students registered with The Works, the student job shop, compared with 5612 last year. Student satisfaction with The Works is 99 per cent
- They established a lettings agency which 89 per cent of users believe is a valuable service