What are UCSU planning to achieve during this academic year?

UCSU focused on identifying and connecting with Class Reps during 2022-23 (you can read about our performance in our End of Year Report here). During 2023-24 we want to strengthen our connection with Class Reps and improve the quality of support we provide for them. We’ve set ourselves these broad aims:

 

1. To raise the profile of the Academic Representation System – and UCSU’s role within it – to UoC students and staff,
2. To improve support for Class Reps through a) increasing uptake and quality of training and b) raising awareness of formal and informal support available from UCSU. 

It was identified that students over 25 were less likely to volunteer as Class Reps during 2022-23, so a project aiming to identify and remove barriers for this group of students will also run through this year. 

As a result of this we hope that:

• Students will be more likely to raise issues with Class Reps,
• More Class Reps will access the support and training available from UCSU,
• UoC staff will have a greater understanding of UCSU’s role within the Academic Representation System and be more likely to approach UCSU for advice and support. 

How do we plan to achieve this?

We will raise the profile of the Academic Representation System by:

• Running a Rep Recruitment campaign during the peak period of Class Rep elections to encourage students to engage with the opportunity,
• Improving our support for academic staff involved in recruiting student reps by providing training, resources and advice,
• Running a ‘Tell Your Rep’ campaign to encourage students to provide feedback to Class Reps ahead of Term 1 Student Staff Forums,
• Providing training for academic staff to support them in running Student Staff Forums and handling feedback,
• Celebrating the successes of UCSU’s Class Reps through the Rep Awards, publicising their achievements throughout the year and during Student Volunteer Week,
• Actively promoting training, support and opportunities to Class Reps,
• Improving our presence at Student Staff Forums,
• Continuing to collaborate with UoC on a full review of the Academic Rep System. 

We will aim to improve support for Class Reps by: 

• Reintroducing in-person induction sessions, alongside Teams sessions and Blackboard modules for those unable to attend, advertised in advance through multiple channels, 
• Introducing a short refresher Blackboard module for returning Class Reps, 
• Regularly promoting training, support and opportunities to Class Reps.

 

How will we measure our impact?

For the first time, UCSU will track the total number of Class Reps and staff who engage with us over the academic year to provide an indication of the scale of our impact. We have also set ourselves the following targets:

In 2022-23, 39% of Class Reps engaged with the training. We want to train at least 50% this year.

During the End of Year survey, 55.7% of Class Reps knew what support was available from UCSU and 61.5% knew how to contact us. We want to see both these figures at 70% by the end of this year.

 

To find out more about Academic Representation, being a Class Rep or to share your views on our work get in touch with studentvoice@cumbria.ac.uk