National award for university and students' union partnership

The Students’ Union and Institution Partnership Award, is jointly awarded with the National Union of Students (NUS) to recognise and celebrate the collaborative development of strategic approaches to partnership working that affect change and enhance the student experience.

The awards were presented by Professor Philippa Levy Deputy Chief Executive (Academic) at the HEA, who said: “Congratulations to our award-winners this evening. The quality of submissions was very high, and it was exciting to see the volume and range of partnership working between staff, students, institutions and their student associations across the four nations of the UK.”

 The Award was presented at Aston University on 2 July to University of Exeter Student Engagement Officer, Will Page, English Subject Chair, Lilian Darvell and University of Exeter Students’ Guild Academic Representation Manager, James Smith.

The University of Exeter and University of Exeter Students’ Guild were highly commended for the same award in 2013. Reviewing the partnership’s 2014 award submission, ‘Strategies for Partnership’, the awarding panel said:

“Your work reflects a sophisticated understanding of the process of partnership and the values that underpin your approach. You demonstrate the benefits and impact of this work for both the Guild and institution. The panel would like to congratulate you on your sector leading work in this area.”

Collecting the prize of £1,000 professional development monies, Will Page, said:

“We are delighted to receive recognition for our approach to partnership working which has been developing over many years. The concept of partnership is deeply embedded within our philosophy and the institution, Exeter Students’ Guild, and Falmouth & Exeter Students’ Union (FXU) work in partnership at every level. Partnership is not a fad or a trend, and we have strategies in place to ensure that we will continue to develop the best possible student experience and retain our position as a top 10 UK university.”

Prof Janice Kay, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Education at the University of Exeter said: “Exeter prides itself on its close working relationship with both the Student’s Guild in Exeter and FXU in Penryn. Students are at the heart of everything we do here so I am delighted that this award has recognised the benefits working in partnership can bring to both staff and students.”