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SU Student Voice Awards 2020
Welcome to the second annual Student Voice Awards! Welcome to the second annual Student Voice Awards! Each year hundreds of students step up to be democratically elected to represent their peers. By doing so they help co-create a thriving educational and social experience for current and future students. During the ceremony we celebrate the successes of those who have gone above and beyond; working with fellow students, staff, external partners, and the SU to make everyone’s experience that bit better than they originally found it. We want to congratulate everyone who has been nominated and shortlisted, and hope you enjoy the evening.
Our Student Representatives play a key role in ensuring that the voices of our students inform all that we do across the University. Thank you for your exceptional efforts, and congratulations!
We cannot thank you enough for the hard work that you, the Reps, do to keep our University doing the best it can for its students. We couldn’t do it without you, Thank you!
Callie Edwards
Joe Rigby
Allie Guy
Sarah Redman
SU P RE S ID E NT FA LM O U T H
SU P R E SIDE NT E X E TE R
SU P R E S I D E N T WE L FAR E & I N CLUS I V I T Y
SU P R E S I D E N T STUD E N T E X P E R I E N CE
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SU Student Voice Awards 2020
The SU Student Voice Awards are an opportunity to appreciate the input of students and staff of the University of Exeter Cornwall Campuses and Falmouth University.
The awards are our chance to show our appreciation of the pro-active and hardworking students who do so much outside of, or in addition to, their studies. These are the people who go the extra mile to shape the future for themselves, the Students’ Union, and the Universities.
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Shortlisted nominee text in this booklet has been taken from student and staff nominations.
Award winners are chosen by an external panel of judges.
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Representation Awards
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Falmouth Course Rep of the Year This award recognises a Falmouth SU Representative that has contributed to academic improvements and/or the development of the SU’s profile through their elected role.
The shortlisted nominees are:
Grace Kelsey Grace’s approach to the representative process has been professional, goodhumoured, proactive and attentive. She has made the process easy and rewarding for both students and lecturers. As well as representing the students with enthusiasm Grace has acted on behalf of the students beyond her role. When the student body wanted more peer review sessions in the first semester, Grace found out free times, researched how to book rooms, and organised it all herself. This is above and beyond expectations but is more remarkable considering she had only been at the university a few weeks at that stage. This is all on top of outstanding performance and perfect attendance, and her attendance at just about all extracurricular events around the department.
Adam Rockley Adam has absolutely dedicated himself to the role of rep, not just to represent his fellow students consistently and actively, but to do so with an ethical approach. Adam takes his role seriously, and has taken it upon himself on multiple occasions to go well beyond the call of duty. He is known to ensure a student issue is raised even when awkward or difficult, to make course staff aware of things that could become problems even before they do, to lead in facilitating meaningful conversations among students in his cohort to help clarify and distil issues so they can be brought to the course team in ways that are easier to action.
Sean Kirby Sean is constantly a positive face. He’s organised and keeps everyone motivated. Alongside his studies he also balances socials, his injury recovery, and his passion for DJing. He can always be counted on to put students’ ideas forward and ask everyone’s opinions before approaching a decision. He attends the meetings he needs to and feedbacks to lecturers frequently.
8 Representation Awards
Exeter Course Rep of the Year This award recognises an Exeter SU Representative that has contributed to academic improvements and/or the development of the SU’s profile through their elected role.
The shortlisted nominees are:
Maria Watson Maria has worked tirelessly to improve the representation of MRes students, including highlighting wellbeing issues and organising regular social events. This work has led to a definite positive and tangible impact on MRes students, who now benefit from being recognised as full members of the Department.
Genevieve Midworth and Matt Dowdall Matt and Genevieve have continuously provided relevant and helpful feedback to the running of their course. Above all, they are approachable and dedicated to best representing their peers to improve all of their student experiences.
Katie Finnimore Katie has been a wonderful course rep for Marine Biology this year. She has gone above and beyond the call of the rep role and has really made students voices heard. She tries hard to find solutions that work for everyone, and has an unfailingly positive outlook,
Martina Feltracco Martina has been keen to undertake new ideas to help increase student engagement, including taking on a leadership role with the new ‘CGES Newsletter’, volunteering more of her time to recruit students to get involved, and is really motivated to make positive change.
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Falmouth Department Chair of the Year This award recognises a Department Chair that has contributed to academic improvements and/or the development of the SU’s profile through their role.
The shortlisted nominees are:
Occy Crowe Occy stepped up to the role with relatively late notice, embracing the role and being conscientious in her approach, reading through previous SSLG minutes and navigating a tricky first Departmental Forum, showing a clear ability to lead. She has established, alongside her peers, a positive culture of sharing, allowing for successful feedback.
Rebecca Hardess Rebecca has attended every forum and meeting that has been arranged and has endeavoured to move her commitments to fit the role into her busy third year Animation schedule. She has increased change within the department and has looked to make changes that will benefit all courses within SoFT, particularly in the interests of wellbeing. In the next year of the university structure, after the review of the workload over SoFT, it will be reviewed, thanks to Rebecca, to ensure that students are not overworked and can produce more quality work, rather than quantity work, in the study blocks.
10 Representation Awards
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Exeter Subject Chair of the Year This award recognises a Subject Chair that has contributed to academic improvements and/or the development of the SU’s profile through their role.
The shortlisted nominees are:
Valentine Douady and John Brereton Val and John exemplify Student Voice. They have achieved a sustained, outstanding record over two years, championing their course, their colleagues, their subject, and their University. They manage the staff-student liaison process with balance and aplomb. Always organised, always up to the minute, always on the ball.
Amelia Banton & Jack Wilkins Amelia and Jack have shown huge dedication to their Co-Chair roles this year, working closely with the department and The SU to minimise the impact of strikes on students. They always show full support in communicating with their peers and fighting for their best interests amid the difficulty faced due to strike action this year.
Mia St Terra Hill Mia has worked tirelessly to make sure the views of her department are represented. She has been proactive in mitigating the impact of strikes on students and has given every ounce of her effort to improving the student experience within the department, and making it a welcoming, inclusive space for all.
Catherine Lee Hing Catherine has done a fantastic job as PGT Subject Chair for CLES. She is extremely proactive in collating feedback from her own programme, as well as working with the other student Reps to pass on suggestions from the cohort as a whole. This has resulted in some really important changes, including a better distribution of deadlines, improved support for international students, and the launch of an inaugural Women in Conservation day.
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Lottie Warren Lottie is passionate about ensuring that every student gets the most possible out of their university experience, and her work this year has made tangible positive changes to CGES. She has been integral to starting a peer mentor scheme within CGES, and has both recruited participants, organised training, and attended the first sessions. She is proactive, professional, and highly engaged, and has excelled in her role this year. She is a star!
Lizzie De Lusignan and Becky Thomas Lizzie and Becky have been fantastic Subject Chairs this year. They have worked hard to find new ways of collecting feedback and are also very proactive about suggesting improvements themselves, and in ensuring that we work together to find solutions for any issues raised. They have made a huge contribution the experience of our students this year and have been a pleasure to work with throughout.
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Dedication Awards
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Falmouth Dedication Award This award recognises students who go above and beyond their duties as a Rep.
The shortlisted nominees are:
Sophia Rodyakin Sophia has taken on her duties as a rep with zeal and enthusiasm since day one. Combining her roles as Ambassador and student representative for the brand new BA Game Art course, Sophia has been instrumental in evolving the degree to become something much more cohesive and synergised now than when she began as a student three years ago. The excellent thing about Sophia as a Rep is that she comes up with ideas or actively goes and sets up working groups to investigate issues which come out of student consultation. Running departmental forums, contributing to departmental committees, and getting to grips with some really tough subjects, such as the increasing mental health referral incidents on campus, and countering ‘crunch culture’. She leaves a legacy of a BA Game Art course which has a much stronger identity and fit within the community of the Games Academy, and she will be missed!
Chloe Burrows-Bryan Chloe has been the Popular Music Course Rep for three years. Renown for approachability, honesty and friendliness, she has been a wonderful and dedicated course representative. Highly committed, she takes time to collate student feedback, providing very detailed course reports that aim to represent the full cohort and all the varied perspectives. On many occasions, Chloe has discussed potential solutions and largely led a course chat group where she gathers information and helps communicate responses. She can be called upon to consult regarding any emerging issues related to the course and is brilliantly dependable and generous – balancing the demands of her degree with this representative role.
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Exeter Dedication Award
Sophie Gray & Rebecca Hardess Their commitment to improving SoFT courses and the experience that students have on them, and in their time at Falmouth, is evident. As Department Chairs, they clearly form the link between courses, Departmental Committee and The Students’ Union. They are always happy to take on committee actions themselves and see them through to resolution, taking all responsibilities of a committee member seriously and with ease. Their attendance at Departmental Committee and SSLGs is flawless - they’ve both even confirmed their attendance for the summer 2020 committee, after term has ended (and Rebecca will have finished her third year)!
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Exeter Dedication Award This award recognises students who go above and beyond their duties as a Rep.
The shortlisted nominees are:
Gee Roberts Gee has gone above and beyond what would usually be expected or required of a student representative. She takes an informed and evidence-based approach to her representation activity and has been particularly influential in working up plans for enhancing the student common room and facilities at the Knowledge Spa in Truro.
Mia Terra St Hill Mia has provided a supportive, insightful, and critical eye with regards to the ongoing development of the department. Her input has been invaluable as we developed the Teaching Excellence Framework and the Student Manifesto, and she consistently contributes her energy and enthusiasm to helping academic staff to find solutions to enable better working together between staff and students.
Becky Thomas Becky is always looking for areas to improve and has great solutions for many of the problems students face. She is very approachable and therefore receives feedback from her peers as well as the Reps. She engages with all the Reps and members of staff in a friendly manner and is always present at meetings.
Maria Lambert Maria has been an extremely dedicated first year student Rep, who works hard to collate feedback from her cohort and liaises with Subject Chairs and DOEs to come up with solutions that benefit all first years. She has been particularly keen to support students that struggle to integrate in to University life, coming up with a number of suggestions to help us improve this transition.
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Innovation Awards
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Falmouth Innovation in Representation This award is for a Falmouth Rep who has introduced a new and different way of representing their course mates.
The shortlisted nominees are:
Sebastian Davis One of Seb’s amazing achievements this year is the cross SoFT collaboration group that he has created called SOFT+. SOFT+ has been created by Seb to encourage the use of the facilities at Falmouth to the maximum and ensure that students are getting their ‘value for money’. To date, the group has begun regular meetings on Wednesdays, where everybody is welcome, and also the collaboration with MAYN Creative. Seb is the Director of SOFT+ and has begun to develop many skills, including a whole directory of students with different roles in productions. The scheme is inclusive to all and he has the full support of all of the staff within SoFT, particularly TV. Sebastian is new ‘fresh blood’ to SoFT and has encouraged both staff and students to open up and engage with more extra-curricular activities which will make a difference in university and when each year group comes to graduate. Long may the scheme continue!
Adam Rockley As well as being an excellent Rep and Department Chair, Adam has given up a huge amount of his personal time to develop Gallos, the School of Entrepreneurship’s digital marketing agency. Adam has been an excellent leader and his colleagues enjoy working with him.
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Exeter Innovation in Representation This award is for an Exeter Rep who has introduced a new and different way of representing their course mates.
The shortlisted nominees are:
Lizzie de Lusignan and Becky Thomas Lizzie and Becky have implemented a few new ideas to try and increase student engagement. They implemented a scheme to provide ‘feedback boxes’ and encouraged Course Reps to take these boxes to lectures to collect anonymous feedback. Lizzie also created a Powerpoint slide, that can be shown at the beginning of lectures by Course Reps, which details what the SSLC had completed so far in the academic year.
Maria Lambert Maria instigated a new project to set up weekly ‘study sessions’ to provide a relaxed place where students can come and work with members of their year group. She has made a big impact on first years.
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The Teamwork Awards
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The Teamwork Award The shortlisted nominees are:
Freddie Foster & Peter Bennett Freddie and Peter worked collaboratively with The SU to scrutinize the draft CIO Students’ Union Constitution (a lengthy document), ensuring the student members’ powers were clarified and strengthened within the top governing documents of The SU. This work has now produced a draft constitution which is robust and further encompasses the student members’ voices at the heart of its governance.
Valentine Douady & John Brereton Val and John are an exceptional team. They complement one another’s skills and styles making a stronger and more effective combination. They are very diligent, ensuring actions are closed down and communicated effectively to their cohorts. They have both been huge contributors to the Department and University community, giving their time, enthusiasm and ideas to try and make the best student experience for everybody.
CGES SSLC This year, the CGES SSLC has seen an amazing collaboration between Reps and staff to create a new low carbon alternative to the third year California field trip. This is an example of how well the SSLC works together to create a better experience for students.
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Special Recognition Awards
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SU Executive Officer of the Year This award is for members of the SU Student Leadership Team who have had significant impact in their role.
The shortlisted nominees are:
Ellen Monaghan One of her biggest successes is co-writing of the Environment & Climate Emergency Working Group White Paper, and then working on the University’s Climate Emergency Working Group to encourage the Universities to be more sustainable, alongside successful lobbying of the University of Exeter to divest from fossil fuels.
Jamie Cranston Jamie’s diligence and determination has meant that we have seen a real development in the connection between the SU and the PGR student community, and this has meant that, as an SU, we can be far more representative than we have been before for this student community, whose needs are often different to the ‘standard’ SU offer.
30 Special Recognition Awards
SU Committee Member of the Year This award is for SU Committee members who have had significant impact in their role.
The shortlisted nominees are:
Nicola Cowper Nicola has been amazing in her role as Fundraising Officer this year, putting in countless hours to help out with things, enhancing the student experience by running and promoting Giving Week, and gave more time by becoming a diligent and engaged member of the Elections and Democracy Committee.
Ellen Monaghan Our Environment and Ethics Chair is our Green Bean of the Year! Alongside her role on Student Opps and operating as Co-Chair for Penryn Produce, a veg box scheme encouraging students to be more sustainable, she also worked with the current Presidents to lobby the University of Exeter to divest in fossil fuels, which succeeded!
Frank Gough & Daniel Rowson It’s the little things that make the biggest difference. Frank and Dan have worked to change the Guest Speaker form so that now societies can have a speaker approved for up to a month. This is beneficial for students as it allows us to broaden the range of speakers we can invite in who will contribute to the rich fabric of student-led events across our campuses.
Jess Bouron Marine Watch would practically grind to a halt without Jess’ dedication to the society and leadership. She manages to make all the events run smoothly and coordinate the committee despite all her deadlines and being on the committee for other societies. All the behind the scenes work she does - emails, coordination, paperwork - is amazing and she deserves recognition for this.
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Falmouth & Exeter Students’ Union is a registered charity in England and Wales No.1145405
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Join in with the celebrations! We look forward to seeing you at the SU Student Voice Awards Thursday 7 May 2020, 7pm Online We will be showing the event on Flipgrid at flipgrid.com/svawards
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