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FREE film screenings - Julian Markham and Will Wyatt
Report reccomends higher tuition fees at all universities in the UK
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President & Education Officer Ben Westhead |
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Studied BA Fine Art, Chelsea I’m realistic about the fact that I won’t be able to solve all of the universities problems in a single year, however I am really passionate about this opportunity and I will always work as hard as I can to try and move the university in the right. Change doesn’t always happen as fast as we would like it to in the university, partly I hope to be able to either set the ground work or steer the university in the right direction for major changes that will have a lasting effect in years to come. Last year we saw the Students’ Union do some excellent work around the issue of ‘contact time’, in basic terms the time you get to spend with your academic tutors being taught. I have been working hard to build on the excellent work from last year’s team and to shape the discussion about contact time not only around the amount of contact time any one student can expect to receive, but equally about having consistent high levels of quality that every student can expect when they sign up to study in this institution. |
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I believe that improved opportunity for students to provide meaningful feedback about their course is directly tied in with the quality contact hour discussion. In my opinion it is simple good practice for staff members, ranging from academic teaching staff all the way to top level management, to actively seek to find whether their students are happy with the education they’re receiving– and if their not, what needs to change. I will be campaigning not only for improvements for students to provide feedback to the university, but also for more creative feedback methods – after all we are a creative institution. I am well aware that not all the problems we face as students come directly from the university and in some cases we need to take the fight higher up the chain. The government’s white-paper plans and the move towards privatisation of the university system is a huge problem that we face as a nation. I believe that education is a social good; it has been proven as the number one factor for social mobility, and turning universities into profit hungry businesses is totally at odds with that ethos. I will be trying not only to be actively a part of the national discussion and fight for the education system, but working to influence mayoral candidates in light of next years election, to make improvements for London students. If you see me walking around any of the sites feel free to come over and talk to me – Switched-on active students are the way we can produce the most positive and speedy change in the university, so I’ll want to talk to you! Cheers! Ben
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//More Information >What does an Education officer do? (pdf) |
