Institute of Sport and Human Sciences Updates

I hope everyone is enjoying the lovely weather!

As school reps we took part in the sports facilities meeting, where we discussed ideas for the renovation of city campus gym so that these could be put forward to apply for budgets.

Me and Steph, the two Insitute reps for IoHS, had an end of year catch up where we discussed what to take forward to the end of year meeting. We had the end of year meeting with the director of IoHS to summarise feedback we had recieved over the year and make sure all actions were closed.

I finished my second semster after submitting all my assignments!

I attended the following SPEED workshops: Business stragery & start-up, intellectual property and marketing. They were delivered by business consultants and i found them really interesting and informative! 

Me and the School of Business represenative ran the student rep drop in, look out for these as they are weekly and ran by the school reps to help answer any questions students may have.

As univeristy finished I was able to open my mobile pizzeria back up for summer and start personal training again. 

EU Settlement Scheme Deadline is - 30th June 2021 

We have sarted planning for welcome 2021 (freshers).

I with Clare Dickens arranged mental health training for school reps which she will run these include: Three Minutes to Save a Life, Suicide Awareness & mitigation for professionals and Self-harm awareness.

I completed the final rewards and recognition tracker which looks at the engament of course reps in their role and gives them rewards and recogition. 

Finally I collected international student feedback and female sports student feedback. 

Other meetings ive been involved with are Student/Staff Interaction, FEHW Institute Rep meeting.

Finally as school reps we undertook E-recuritment training.

As chair I approved the council minutes and set about completing the actions logs by contacting course and module leads, speaking to course reps, meeting with the other IoHS representative (for physchology) and meeting with the head of the IoHS. I am happy to say that all these actions are now closed, I worked quickly to do this as this was a priority of mine! It is great to see how receptive staff are to feedback!

As staff of the SU we received deaf training, this was made up of 3 x 1 hour sessions and was a great introduction to sign language which taught us some basics. I think this was an extremely important training session and definitely something I will continue to practice and learn. 

As the end of the semester is just around the corner I have been collecting lots of student feedback and speaking to many lecturers.

Last Tuesday Julia Clarke ran the Vision 2030 conference where questions could be asked by students in regard to the plan. It was really interesting to hear such an array of questions, Julia did a great job answering them and it was extremely useful to attend!

Finally we finished the week with an inclusivity conference, again very eye opening and something we are honoured that the university has asked us to be involved as SU staff!

Today marks my last Live HIIT class, I have been teaching live classes for the SU since January!! Its been great to so whilst the gyms have been closed and I hope everyone keeps up being active!

As the semester draws to a close we will begin planning for next year and reflecting on this year, if you have any questions or feedback(positive or negative) then do not hesitate to contact me.

For me finishing university means getting back to my business- a mobile pizzeria!

I will still be available to contact over the summer period.

Good luck with any assessments! I too have assessments! 

I started last week by having a 1 to 1 with my boss. We discussed important things that are happening within the university and students union. 

As school reps we were fortunate enough to meet with Julia Clarke to discuss the universities substragery, from a student’s perspective. This is a fantastic opportunity and I was very excited to be involved! The university is very receptive to students and the SUs feedback, which is a great quality of theirs!

We had an overall team meeting with all the course reps, where we discussed all kinds of things!

I had my own course’s committee meeting. As a course rep its extremely important to attend, your feedback is extremely valuable and its a great chance to speak to key members in your department. 

I had several business meetings this week for my business which have all been extremely exciting! Hopefully I’ll be able to tell you all about it soon! 

As school reps we were invited to a university branding meeting, again extremely exciting and I’m so glad the university is receptive to our feedback. We had a look at new designs for a new project! All will be revealed soon!

I produced by FASEC report! The last one of this academic year! 

As I’ve been super busy with work, assignment and running my own business I thought id give some good productivity tips: 

• Laptop notifications on do not distrub so I do not get interpreted by emails and only do them in my allocated working hours 
• Ive put limits on apps such as social media and clothing shops! I’ve found that limiting my time on instagram has improved my wellbeing. 
• I now start the day by reading some of my book (make sure your book is not related to your course this is important) this gets me in the right mindset!
• REST! Yes being productivity means taking the time to rest!
• I make sure I allocate enough time to work out, this makes me feel good!
• When cooking dinner I prepare lunch for the following day.
• I always have water nearby to ensure I get my 2 litres a day.

During easter I had 2 weeks off of lecturers and work for the SU, this gave me chance to work on my assignments, my two businesses and take some time to relax! 

On our first day back we had a very important meeting regarding the Universities Access & Participation Plan. In particular the phrase “BAME” was discussed, if you have any views on how this impacts you as a student then please get in touch, your opinion is extremely important!

On Monday I also started a new block of live classes, these are now a 30 minute HIIT workout every Monday 17:30-18:00, it would be great if you got involved! They are live-streamed on both the SU instagram and Facebook, and uploaded afterwards for you to have a go any time!

On Wednesday I chaired the Insitute of Human Sciences council. This meeting had a great turn out and very important points were raised by the course reps. Please make sure you inform your course reps of any feedback you may have its extremely important!!!

After the council meeting I met with the director of the Insitute of Human Sciences to discuss the feedback that was raised at the meeting and we worked on an action plan for this.

I finished this week off by meeting with our business consultant from SPEED. If you haven’t already check out the university of wolverhampton’s SPEED project! We got to chose our business consultant and have 6 hours free consultancy with them its a great opportunity if you are a university student with an SME.

I started to read Grace Beverly’s book which was fantastic, in the first chapters she really focuses on how our work-life balance has become distorted. If anyone feels the same way there’s lots of services the university and SU offer to help, and just know many of us feel the same way including me! Taking time to rest is extremely important and stops you from burning out!

Have a great. weekend!

Hi All,

Since the last update I have been involved in the UWBS revalidation as part of my role with the SU.

This Monday was my 7th live classes! 

This week the institute reps, myself included under went mandatory training on effective communication. 

As institute reps met with key members of FEHW to receive updates, highlight concerns and give recommendations. 

I submitted my FASEC report for the sports courses, this is taken to faculty meetings and any problems, recommendations or positives are raised. 

I met with the chair of the disabled network to focus on inclusivity. 

Additionally to my studies and work for the SU, and  met with the universities SPEED project who provide students with businesses, like myself with support.

Have a good weekend!

Rep blog update 17th of feb 

I started this week by instructing my 5th live exercise class for the SU, I cannot believe its already been 5 weeks!

I had a meeting regarding Walsall campus with the SU CEO and the SU project manager. Here we highlighted the need for SU activities that add to a students portfolio and discussed different methods of collecting student feedback. 

I also attend the Faculty board meeting for FEHW, where relevant updates in this faculty were discussed. 

We had a Team meeting which include other institute reps, the SU CEO and the SU project manager. Here we discussed our Rep Logs/ blogs, Faculty Board/ FASEC meetings and an update on the SU’s Strategic Plan.

I am involved in the new student success project which looks at recognising achievements of students at the university and creating a testimonial for them highlighting their skills and emphasising their employability. These testimonials will then be published on the SU’s social media to recognise the work of students. 

I have had a catch up meeting with the other institute of human sciences representative- Steph; who oversees the psychology course representatives. We discussed updates that are happening in the institute and any key communication points that we will relay to our course representatives.

As the SU we are currently looking into financial issues that students are currently facing and gaining feedback on Academic Integrity (Misconduct) Campaign. If you have anything to feedback on these then please don’t hesitate to contact me.

I have started drafting my FASEC report that is due at the end of this month which provides a summary of the semester so far Summary, reflects on previous issues and provides a general update on what I am currently looking at now and for the next 6 weeks until the FASEC meeting. I also raise any Key Student Issues for Attention and any recommendations.

We have agreed on a date for the Institute of Human Sciences Semester 2 Council- 14th of April 14:00-16:00. This Council is an opportunity for students of the Institute of Human Sciences to share their experiences of their course and their courses’ wider student experience. The agenda and invites for this meeting will be sent to course representatives of students at the Institute of Human Sciences nearer the time.

Additionally to my studies and work for the SU, this week I presented to the Health and well-being committee and the Employees engagement committee.

Have a good week, 

Olivia

I started the week by baking some muffins!

• I followed up all the actions from the council meeting and closed the feedback loops with staff and students.
• I also attended the my course and more which will be happening virtually this month! It’s very exciting as it offers students the chance to do some extra qualifications/ training (it is replacing careers week).
• I attended a mindfulness session with other staff members at the SU, this gave me lots of resources and advice that I can give out to students if needed.
• I spoke with the head of the PCRC to under how they work and what they can offer to students in terms of counselling and mental health support and advice. The PCRC is run by doctoral psychology students, its an amazing project at the university!
• I taught my 3rd live workout class this week! If you haven’t already make sure to Gettings involved they’re on the SU Facebook and Instagram.
• I also delivered the course rep training to the sports course reps, discussed Walsall events with the events team and met with the new student voice assist as our SU grows even more.
• On Monday I was lucky to be apart of the curricula development for the 2-year pre-registration Masters in occupational therapy, physiotherapy and podiatry which will be delivered at Telford campus as of September 2022. The aim of this was to include sports students who may want to progress into one of these masters. If this sounds like you then please message me and I can provide you with more detail! These courses are not fully developed yet. 
• To finish the week off I pitched my business idea to SPEED, they’re based at the university of Wolverhampton and offer business advice and support! Take a look if this interests you!

Don’t hesitate to contact me if you would like access to the mental health and/or mindfulness resources. I also have the links to the live classes if you have missed them and I am happy to offer support regarding nutrition, training and lifestyle. Or if you have any academic or university issues I am here to help.

Have a great weekend,

Kind Regards,

Olivia

Hi all,

My name is Olivia Simpson, I started the role of sports school representative the beginning of this academic year! As it’s a completely new role I have had to raise awareness about my role. To do this I have dropped into lecturers to introduce myself to students and similarly to staff. I ran the council meeting for SEM1, and it had a really good turnout of course reps it was great to see! Students provided us with positive feedback and raised any issues or concerns they had. From this feedback I went to the relevant staff members to help implement changes were needed. I keep students in the loop the whole time, so they knew how their feedback had helped to contribute. I also attended the course committee meetings in which the course leads and relevant staff members for each course meet with the course reps and obtain feedback etc. I regularly meet with the head of the IoHS here we discuss student feedback and ideas to improve the student experience. In fact, I am meeting with them today!

After dropping into lecturers and emailing students I managed to recruit 24 course reps, then with my manager we co-delivered their training so they knew what was required from them and what they would gain from this role. I set up a group chat for all the reps so that I could drop in important messages and they had a platform to ask queries on and contact me. 

I have also provided the SU with some quick, easy and tasty recipes that are budgeted to suit students! In addition to this on Monday I began my 6 weeks of live exercise classes that are streamed on the SU Instagram and Facebook. I really care about student’s wellbeing and I keep this central to my role. If you have any ideas in mind of what you would like to see implemented then please drop me an email!

Please feel free to reach out and contact me via e-mail at: olivia.simpson@wlv.ac.uk if you would like to get in touch.

Have a great weekend and stay safe everyone!

Kind Regards,

Olivia

Hi All,

I hope you are all well.

I am looking for some feedback from students relating to views on the learning structure for the next academic year, if you have any views/opinions or experiences you would like to share please email me on stephanie.brady@wlv.ac.uk.

Stay Safe

Steph :-)

Hi everyone,

I am looking for some feedback in relation to involvement in University life.

Please send any feedback you wish to give to s.j.brady@wlv.ac.uk

Stay Safe

Steph

Hi All,

I hope you are all well and making the most of lockdown.

Everyone at the university is working incredibly hard to ensure students are supported through these uncertain times. If you have any concerns please get in contact.

Stay Safe

Steph :-) 

Hi All,

Just checking in :-)

If anyone has any issues they wish to raise please drop me an email on Stephanie.Brady@wlv.ac.uk

Steph

Hi All,

My role as school representative was due to end today (24/04/2020), however due to the current lockdown situation we have found ourselves in the university has extended out roles until the end of July.

If you have any issues regarding your student experience please drop me an email and I will get back to you.

Stephanie.Brady@wlv.ac.uk

Stay safe everyone

Steph

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are safe and well.

Everyone at the Student Union is working incredibly hard to support all students through this difficult and uncertain time.

On Friday I hope to share a link so all students can come together to support each other and be reminded despite the odds we can all succeed and enjoy our graduations.

Steph :-)

Hi All,

Just a quick blog to ask if anyone is having any online issues? This can be anything from access to Canvas, mywlv, Panopto or software access.

Stay Safe

Steph

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are all safe and well.

I will be remaining in my role as School Representative for the Institute of Human Sciences.

If you need help resolving an issue please contact me on Stephanie.Brady@wlv.ac.uk

Kind Regards,

Stephanie. 

Hello Everyone,

My name is Stephanie Brady and I am the school representative for the Institute of Human Sciences (including Psychology and Sport). I have been a student at Wolverhampton since 2015 completing foundation and undergraduate degrees in psychology and I am currently studying a forensic psychology masters.

I wanted to let you all know I will be at City campus on 16/03/2020 in the MC building between 11:00-13:00 for psychology students to come and share their student voice, I will also be at Walsall Campus on 23/03/2020 in the sports hall between 11:00-13:00 for sports students to share their student voice. :-)

Student Voice is key to improving the student experiences at the University of Wolverhampton. Changes already implemented include auto renewal for library books and changes to library opening times.

I know I would not be the person I am today without the journey I have taken through the University of Wolverhampton so come talk to me and together we can not only make our university stand out but improve current and future student experience :-)

See you all soon

Steph.