STUDENT COMMUNITY FEBRUARY 2024 END OF SEMESTER ROUNDUP
The January Exam Period brings us officially to the end of the first semester, so here’s a roundup of some of the fantastic things our students and academic colleagues have been getting up to within their subjects, the School and across the Faculty.
Welcome Week
We welcomed over 3000 new students to the Faculty in September, with a varied programme of information based and social sessions. There were a fantastic mix of social activities hosted within Programmes and at School level to help students make connections and explore their new subjects, including quizzes, buffets, video competitions, arcade games social and sandcastle building!
Student feedback shows us the importance students place on connecting with their cohort and getting to know their lecturers.
It has been a busy start to the year with a wide range of events. It has been great to see so many of our students getting involved in these activities, which have included ‘Crafternoons’, board game socials, coffee mornings, lunchtime music sessions and our first SOM ‘Pub Quiz’
Having our student resident DJ’s support some of our events has been a bonus. They have played a variety of music from different cultures, creating a fantastic atmosphere and we look forward to seeing them perform across the university soon.
The introduction of table tennis has been a huge hit and we are delighted to see our students coming together and competing. Reacting to student feedback, we have now introduced a pool table and look forward to watching our students continue to build our community through some competitive fun.
Having the opportunity to win one of our ‘School Bears’ has turned into quite a quest and many of our bears are enjoying their new homes!
Our student societies have been active and engaged this term. They each receive a budget from the faculty and have come up with some creative ideas to spend this. Tourism arranged a trip to St Fagans to embrace Welsh culture, this was unfortunately postponed to a later date, and they hope to confirm this soon. SWIB and SUBS have been working together hosting joint events which has been a great way to build community. They have been present in our SOM events, have been a great help, taking the opportunity to raise their profiles attracting new members. SUBS were part of our Welcome Week ‘Scavenger Hunt’ and were an energetic, enthusiastic part of it, giving our new students a warm welcome. SWIB are busy organising an Alumni event that is planned for February. SPOTLIGHT ON..... SOCIETIES
We have an enthusiastic team of subject reps, and they have already been generating positive change to student experience. We worked with the Students’ Union to have subject reps in Y2 and Y3 elected during the summer term so that they could hit the ground running in September.
Many Reps were active in supporting subject and School events in Welcome Week and were excellent role models. Some took part in our ‘Welcome to Wales’ event. They now feature in a short video promoting this cultural event.
We have had a successful student/staff forum and look forward to future ones that kick off later this month. Our reps have provided us with photos and short bios which are displayed on the screens in SOM. The slides help them to be identified by staff and students and raise their profiles. Selina and Owen, our School reps are very engaged and have had a fortnightly presence in the atrium. They have had a feedback focus each week, they have encouraged subject reps to join them and really building up a strong student voice. The School reps are arranging socials with the subject reps to come together and share their ideas. We hope that this joined up approach will enable us to gather as much information and feedback as possible, to ensure that we can react to our student voice and give our students the best possible experience.
Across the Faculty, we have hosted a programme of activities that support student wellbeing. Creative activities such as mug painting have been particularly popular with over 100 attendees, as well as four Makers Markets comprised of a majority of student and staff stalls. We’ve engaged with other teams across the university to run joint events, including crafts with Discovery, and study skills sessions with the Centre for Academic Success.
At “Welcome to Wales” on Bay Campus, students were treated to an afternoon of Welsh music, storytelling, food and traditional Welsh crafts. All these events provide an opportunity for students to meet new people, take time out from their studies, and try something different. Our Faculty Festive Fiesta was a Christmas spectacular, with carnival stalls, buffet, music, snow and a visit from Santa Claus himself!
The Student Information Team kicked off the term with “Making the Most of Your Year”, an event for students who were repeating the year or repeating failed modules. The session delivered advice and information around study skills, wellbeing, and personal development through employability and volunteering. To tackle period poverty, free period products are
available from our Student Information Offices in the Digital Technium and School of Management Reception. Anyone who feels uncomfortable asking explicitly can ask for a bag for “Penny” and a discreet bag of products will be provided.
Looking ahead to Semester 2: There’s plenty to look forward to, with a busy Semester ahead. During the term, we’ll continue to run student engagement events. Mark the dates in your diaries, and keep an eye out for announcements on the School Canvas Hub.
Games & Bingo! 1st February, 5.30pm SoM Room 011
Jewellery Making 8th February, 2pm Studio, Taliesin Create
Get Creative! 14th February, 1pm SoM Room 011
Lunar New Year 15th February Taliesin Create
Soup Social 19th February SoM Atrium
Scrapbook Making 22nd February, 11am Mall Room, Taliesin Create
St. David’s Day 29th February SoM Atrium
Mug Painting 5th March, 2pm Mall Room, Taliesin Create
JOIN US FOR OUR: ‘MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE EVENT! Hosted by your Student Information, Support and Experience Team
FREE PIZZA
This session will provide information on services, resources and activities at the University that will help you to make the most of this academic year, and the remainder of your studies. This is chance for you to identify any areas of your studies, university life, employability or student community where you might want more support or information. It’s never too late to start making the most of your year, so pop along, enjoy a slice or two of free pizza, and find out more!
Singleton: Tuesday 6th February, 1pm Union House, room 301
Bay: Thursday 8th February, 12.30pm School of Management, room 239
If you have any questions about the event, please contact community-humanitiesandsocialsciences@swansea.ac.uk
12TH MARCH
KEEP IN TOUCH!
Your Reps will next be meeting during this term at the next Student-Staff Forum. If you’ve got any feedback or suggestions to improve your student experience, remember to get in touch with your Rep. You can find a list of your Reps here. If you can’t see a Rep for your subject it means the position is vacant – perhaps consider becoming a Rep yourself?
If you’d like to nominate yourself as a Rep, or would like to pass on feedback where there isn’t a course Rep in place, contact community-management@swansea.ac.uk
Follow your School on Instagram @som_community
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