This semester, I made lots of progress within the school, particularly by making myself available and well-known to as many students as possible. It meant I could receive lots of feedback and act on it accordingly. I was part of the School’s focus group which was working to develop a School-wide AI policy and support for both staff and students. I attended meetings with staff and collated feedback from both staff and students via course reps and programme committees, culminating in the creation of a SoBMS AI policy and statement, and Generative AI workshops for all stages and courses in the School, as well as a workshop at the end of Semester 1 for staff as well. In addition to this, I allocated ten new Subject Reps and met with most of them in person (and other virtually). I also worked to ensure that the School newspaper is geared towards what students want to see; each issue will also have short introductions from three Course Reps. I plan to keep developing the newsletter and working closely with both Subject and Course Reps in the coming weeks of the new semester.

I in FoSE have received lots of feedback and questions about changes both in the university and nationally, such as the potential fee change. I have raised this several times at FTLQCs, with little recent progress, but this was minuted and is something I have continued to have questions on from Course Reps on behalf of their cohorts. Whilst we don’t have an answer yet, we continue to work hard to make sure that we receive it when there is one, and personally, I am making sure to reassure the Reps who have been in touch that I haven’t forgotten and will make sure they are updated when we are. The biggest issue raised by students has been Discovery Week; from content to visas and student input. I have been working hard to take feedback and queries to FTLQC, to ensure everybody stays informed and has the opportunity to contribute to the development of the event. It has been difficult at times, and I have tried to ensure that people know that I am sharing the opinions of students rather than my personal thoughts, to remain objective and to ensure progress could be made. This is something I will continue to work hard on next semester.