On Tuesday 21st January 2025, the Students’ Union hosted the second Student Open Meeting of the academic year 2024/25 to discuss the next Discovery Week. University representatives shared the proposed plan and gathered feedback and suggestions from the student community to ensure the plan is representative of what students would value most.
Those in attendance included:
SU staff:
- Oli Horne (Director of Student Experience (Advocacy)
- Tracy Priestman (Representation and Democracy Manager)
- Charlie Atkinson (Representation and Engagement Co-ordinator)
The 2024/25 Sabbatical Officers:
- Dindu Okechukwu (SU President)
- Darcie Jones (VP Education)
- Joshua Frost (VP Activities)
- Krupa Naik (VP Wellbeing and Diversity)
University staff:
- Siwan Tyack (Head of Careers Service)
- Emily Taper (Student Development Consultant)
- Josh Manning (Peer Learning Specialist)
Ten students also attended the Open Meeting from a diversity of Schools.
Discovery Week came from the redesign of the Academic Year, for students to experience learning from outside their programme/curriculum. The aim is to provide a broad selection of activities, linked to Plymouth Compass which supports graduate skill development. Whilst the concept of Discovery Week remains the same, already the proposed programme has been built from student feedback from the pilot Discovery Week which took place in May 2024.
This year, more time to plan has allowed for more student voice and the ideas presented are on the back of student feedback, with clear areas for graduate development to be embed in the programme. - University of Plymouth representative
After an overview of why the Discovery Week takes place and initial plans, the Open Meeting allowed for those in attendance to then give their opinion on the draft programme, being asked what they see as valuable or what should be added to enhance the student experience. This led to discussions on how Discovery Week events will be advertised to students and how sign-ups will work, Alumni panels, and whether events could be recorded and circulated for those unable to attend. Other ideas brought forward during the discussion included sessions on eco living, managing finances, and sessions which look at how students can volunteer whilst studying, trying to work and managing the ‘cost of learning’.
It was shared that this year, there are plans to introduce more wellbeing and ‘imposter syndrome’ sessions to help support students who might be concerned about their mental health and general wellbeing.
It was also shared that the sessions which were popular last year will be running again - with some being expanded, such as sessions on professional skills and supporting students to transition from undergraduate to postgraduate studies.
For some of the new proposed ideas, such as behind the scenes tours around teaching spaces, there has been interest from Course Representatives to help run these, with the hope more will come forward and get involved.
The next Open Meeting is currently scheduled for Tuesday 4th February 2025.
*Dates and times are subject to change, please visit upsu.com/ents/ for the most up to date information.
For any questions or if you would like to get in touch with your thoughts and ideas about how the SU can help students have their voices heard at University, please email: studentvoice@su.plymouth.ac.uk