Thread by @OUstudents

Ever wondered what elected #OUstudents talk about in their meetings? 👀

We’ll be live-tweeting from the April student leadership team meeting today. Check out the meeting papers being discussed on our website: oustudents.com/cec-papers-apr…

First up is the welcome from @OUSAPresident 👋

Did you know the President writes a weekly blog on @TheHootStudents? Have a nose at the most recent blog: thehootstudents.com/presidents-blo…

@OUSAPresident @TheHootStudents Now the team are discussing the strategy performance report. This is a quarterly update on the Association’s progress on our strategy: oustudents.com/about-us/strat…

@OUSAPresident @TheHootStudents Faculty Association Rep for STEM congratulated the student and staff team on all their achievements over a few very difficult years including a move to working together at a distance.

Questions around the future of our Representation and Advice service were raised. It was confirmed that talks are ongoing on this subject.

An observer to the meeting shared how #OUstudents aren't always aware of everything being worked on on their behalf, but that it's great to see everything that is being done by the student and staff team.

The Faculty Rep for Business and Law shared the massive uptake and interest in our Tutor Awards 🏆

Nominate your Tutor on our site: oustudents.com/whats-on/tutor…

VP EDI emphasised the importance of supporting the sense of community and belonging for #OUstudents.

We’ve moved on to Student Voice Week 📢 The team are reflecting on an evaluation report of the event from 2021 and providing feedback which will aid the planning of the 2022 event. Find information about the 2021 event on the student community site: community.open.ac.uk/student-voice-…

VP Engagement praised the efforts of everyone involved in Student Voice Week and was keen to discuss how to further improve awareness and engagement in the event.

An observer to the meeting raised the registration process as a potential barrier to entry.

Faculty Rep for STEM explained how we could better explain the benefits of engaging in student voice events and activities. Using student feedback to improve as we move forward was also highlighted.

Faculty Rep for Business and Law suggested the date of Student Voice Week was a potential issue. Celebrating student voice more throughout the year was requested.

VP Community encouraged an examination of the types of sessions hosted throughout Student Voice Week, and recommended a variety of topics for future sessions.

Not sure what the role titles in this thread mean? Check out the student leadership team on our website👉 oustudents.com/about-us/our-p…

An observer to the meeting asked if we're clear enough on what the phrase 'student voice' means, and how student voice makes a real difference to the community.

Now we’re onto the Annual Membership Survey. Towards the end of the year, we email all #OUstudents to ask for their thoughts on our services, events and opportunities.

If you receive one this year, please fill in the survey! Your feedback really does impact on the way the Association operates (and you can win some fab prizes too 👀)

VP Engagement shared the huge number of responses to the most recent survey and praised the staff responsible for the brilliant progress on it.

Respondees to the most recent survey leaned towards being unsure if they will vote in our student elections.

Voting opens in six days, and is so important for all #OUstudents - the elected reps will be representing ALL OU students to the University 📢
oustudents.com/elections/

Faculty Rep for STEM shared a variety of ideas on how we could highlight the importance of voting in the elections, including getting more students involved in talking about the elections.

The Student Member of Council described how we could better demonstrate the tangible impact elected students make on wider issues for #OUstudents.

The Deputy President shared his thoughts on how to approach sharing our impact in order to engage interest in our democratic process.

VP EDI explained the importance of highlighting our values to show how friendly and approachable the Association is as a collective.

You can read more about our culture and values on our site 💙 oustudents.com/about-us/cultu…

In the most recent survey, only 3.6% of respondents were clear on what the Central Executive Committee (the student leadership team!) is or do. Discussion on how to ensure awareness of the team is increased begins...

Faculty Rep for STEM described how she felt all members of the student leadership team are accountable for the level of awareness of what the team do.

Area Rep for Wales shared how interactions between #OUstudents and the student leadership team could be less passive. Ideas around providing more opportunities for students to get involved were suggested.

VP Community explained how members of the student leadership team should be more visible on social media as that is where #OUstudents are.

The concept of role-specific social media accounts was raised to the team. The idea was generally welcomed.

VP EDI described her plans for helping the next student in the role thrive from the very beginning of their term.

The most recent membership survey showed that a majority of students would like to see more events relating to their area of study, with hobbies and careers advice also highlighted as areas of interest.

The team are currently discussing how we can provide a greater variety of events, collaborate with the OU and raise awareness of the Association via the events.

The Faculty Rep for STEM suggested that #OUstudents societies and clubs might want to host more events for students.

Check out our amazing societies and clubs on our site: oustudents.com/get-involved/c…

More work and collaboration with the OU faculties to facilitate additional study-focussed events on platforms widely used by students was suggested.

Conference 2022 doesn’t seem too long ago, but the team are now reflecting on the outcomes of the event evaluation.

Check out the Conference webpage to see what went on at the event weekend in January: oustudents.com/conference-202…

VP Administration raised the issue of attendance at Conference 2022 and wondered why a large group of registered attendees didn't make it to the online event.

Meeting observers suggested potential issues were a) event emails going to junk folders and b) the event happening at a very busy time of year.

VP Engagement agreed that the time of year might have contributed to a low turn-out as it can be hard to feel motivated in January.

VP Community suggested that we look into simplifying the registration process for students.

The Faculty Rep for STEM shared positive feedback on the 2022 event, highlighting that the sessions were varied and inclusive. However, a better solution for online chat should be found.

The differences between online and face-to-face events were emphasised by VP EDI, who encouraged the team to 'remember the human' when planning and running sessions online.

The Student Member of Council agreed with suggestions that Conference planning should begin much earlier and shared feedback that she felt the business of Conference should be more integrated into the weekend itself.

Findings from a recent review of #OUstudents clubs recommendations on how to improve them are being discussed now.

Have a nose through our fab clubs and societies: oustudents.com/get-involved/c…

There are currently 88 registered #OUstudents clubs, with a combined membership of over 14,000 🙌

VP Community shared the idea of a starter pack for clubs, containing information and advice. This would be available for all #OUstudents clubs.

The Faculty Rep for WELS and VP Engagement expressed support for all of the improvement recommendations. VP Engagement asked for more visibility of club activities on the Association website.

VP Administration expressed the importance of ensuring clubs do not bring the Association into disrepute as they are separate administrative entities.

The clubs review and recommendations paper was approved by the team.

Time for a well-earned lunch break! We'll be back at 2pm 👋

We're back and ready to talk about the rest of the papers this afternoon.

You can read all the papers we're discussing on our website: oustudents.com/cec-papers-apr…

Did you know we have a relationship with @austudentsunion? This informal partnership has led to the creation of the International Distance-Learning Student Forum, a quarterly meeting to discuss best practise in distance-learning student leading.

@austudentsunion The student leadership team have approved the continue the informal partnership arrangement 🙌

Moving forward, this arrangement will be reviewed every 12 months.

Now we’re moving onto a potential new @theHootStudents volunteer role.

This role would provide training for #OUstudents interested in content creation and enable them to post their content on The Hoot 🦉 thehootstudents.com

@TheHootStudents The Faculty Rep for Business and Law encouraged the team to review the role after six months to ensure it continues to be sustainable and provide benefits for both the students in the role and the Association.

@TheHootStudents VP EDI highlighted that the role would be incredibly useful for students hoping to have some writing experience on their CV. She also requested that flexibility would be available to ensure international students can attend training sessions.

@TheHootStudents The team have approved the role! 🙌

@TheHootStudents It won’t be long before we’re planning our next Freshers event 🙌 The team are now reviewing an evaluation of the most recent Freshers fortnight, and commenting on recommendations for the next event.

@TheHootStudents It’s 155 days to the next Freshers event… We can’t wait!
oustudents.com/freshers/

Our Freshers events are planned to welcome all #OUstudents, both new and returning. VP Community asked the team to share their feedback on any potential changes or improvements to the activities.

Inclusivity and accessibility were raised as key priorities for Freshers (and all Association events!)

VP Administration observed that Freshers events are hugely successful and attract more attention and engagement than our other events.

The Area Rep for Continental Europe asked for there to be sessions hosted at different times to allow more international students to attend.

VP Engagement suggested that there could be even more students involved in the planning of Freshers events. She also looked forward to the possibility of face-to-face events returning.

VP EDI encouraged the team to emulate the fun, friendly energy of Freshers for other large events the Association hosts.

The Faculty Rep for FASS suggested recording a welcome session prior to Freshers, with all #OUstudents reps in attendance to introduce themselves to the students they represent.

VP Community and the President praised the staff team who work on Freshers for their fantastic efforts.

The team are now moving into confidential matters so our live-tweeting has come to an end...

Thanks for tuning in! We hope this gave you an interesting insight into the meeting.

You can catch up on the papers from this meeting on our website: oustudents.com/cec-papers-apr…