Capturing the student voice: creating more effective mechanisms for listening
Keywords:
Student partnerhip Student Voice Student Engagement Student RepresentationAbstract
Having completed a review of their student representation system and committees, Kent Union has worked in partnership with the University to launch its first Education Strategy (2016-2020). A key objective of this strategy was to create the Kent Union Education and Student Representation Board, to be held regularly to discuss University-wide academic issues. With input from student/staff liaison committees and its Education Forum for student representatives and also by deploying a new online platform (Digital Rep) for gathering student feedback, Kent Union aims to provide an annual report to its Board of Trustees as well as the University, on key issues relating to the student experience.
To ensure that these mechanisms for capturing the student voice are heeded, the University has sought to align some of its own strategic priorities for education and the student experience with those of Kent Union and created more effective mechanisms for listening, by enhancing communication and feedback through its governance and operational structures to integrate better the University and Kent Union plans. In this case study, we have evaluated the initial impact of these changes on the ways in which the student voice informs educational enhancement from both student and staff perspectives.
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