College Hosts Student Engagement Awards

The evening began with a drinks and canapés reception and project display, showcasing the work of student-led ‘Change Agents’ projects that have taken place throughout the year. This showcase included projects such as:

• The Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology undergraduate blog, which publishes weekly articles and updates about staff and students in the department
  
  
• Global Exe – a project aiming to spread awareness of cultural diversity through non-forum education theatre performances
  
  
• ExeQtive – a collaborative project in conjunction with the Q-Step Centre, looking at different information systems across the University
  
  
• The Basics of British Politics – a project aiming to increase student engagement with the General Election by educating young people about politics with a short guide and social media campaign
  
  
• ‘From e-fail to e-mail’ – a project guiding students and staff on how to use email to communicate most effectively with each other
  
  
• The Bulgarian Elections – a project enabling Bulgarian students and local citizens to vote in their General Elections and upcoming elections in the next five years
  
  
• A project looking at the values of our College and what it means to be a student studying in SSIS
  
  
• The Law Employability video – a student interviewed Exeter Law Alumni who have pursued careers outside of Law to show students the wealth of employment opportunities that are available
  
  
• Women and Law – a project aiming to invoke change for women in the legal profession through talks, workshops and a continuing social media presence
  
  
• The NSS Action Group – a project chaired by the Law Subject Chair, Johannes Neumann, looking at how to improve the NSS response rate in Law and actions to improve the student experience.

These are just some examples of the excellent projects from the College that have been student-run this year. The evening then continued with an Awards ceremony to reward and recognise the hard work and effort of SSIS students.

The winners were as follows:

Student-Led Project of the Year

Global Exe

Legacy Award

Bulgarian Elections

Outstanding Postgraduate Chair

Simon Stevens

Outstanding Undergraduate Chair

Johannes Neumann

Most inspiring Representative

Jason Chang

Outstanding Commitment to Representation

James Winterbotham

SSLC of the Year 2014/15

Politics (Streatham)

You can read a full list of nominees here.

Students from across all three of Exeter’s campuses, undergraduate and postgraduate, attended the evening. Student reps shared the sentiment that it was a good way to reward students for their efforts over the year with Rory Burgess, current Politics rep, saying, 'The Awards were a brilliant way to highlight the outstanding work that many SSIS students have produced. It was great to see how much had been achieved.'  Gemma Joyce, founder of the SPA blog agreed that, “It was a great way to end the year, alongside such talented staff and students.”

Associate Dean for Education, Professor Wendy Robinson, commented that, “This has been a standout year for the College in the Guild Teaching Awards and in the representation of our students in a range of activities that are designed to help us make a difference to the quality of the student learning experience. Thank you to all those who took part and I look forward to us all continuing the work together in future years.”

Will Page, Student Engagement Officer, continued that, “It was great to see some of the brilliant work by students in the College showcased at the Student Engagement awards. The partnership between College staff and students has led to a wide range of Students as Change Agents projects, effective Student Staff Liaison Committees and high quality student volunteering. My congratulations to everyone involved!”

The celebrations will continue with a welcome event for all new reps and Change Agents in October. If you are interested in running a Change Agents project or becoming an academic representative for your department then please email E.Barrett@exeter.ac.uk  or A.Chalk@exeter.ac.uk.