Student Voice and Student Consultation Newsletter August 2025

There's lots of OU responses to look at:

• Student Consultation Meetings
• Student Consultation Forum: The Future of Learning and Assessment
• Student Consultation Forum: TMA and iCMA Policy
• Student Consultation Forum: Fitness to Practise Policy
• Student Consultation Forum: ECYS - Gen AI
• Student Consultation Forum: ECYS - Men's Voices
• Student Consultation Forum: Maths and Stats
• Student Consultation Forum: English and Creative Writing

Plus:

• A reminder about Open SU
• Psychology student ambassadors urgently wanted for paid opportunity in August

Student Consultation Meetings

In April of this year, staff in the Open SU, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Students' Office (PVC-S), Learning and Design Services, OU in Ireland and Northern Ireland, Equality Diveristy and Inclusion, and staff working on AI wanted to hear your thoughts.

All staff involved have written a response to your feedback, which you can read in full on the Student Consultation VLE.

Open SU Response:

• They have shared your feedback with your Student Leadership Team at the Open SU.
• They will use your insights to draft position statements on Academic Student Experience and Student Support.

PVC-S Student Charter Response:

• They have your feedback to design a new Student Charter that use themes as headings, in which the values sit beneath.
• They have ensure the use of Plain English/Cymraeg Clîr principles in writing the new Student Chater.
• The new Student Chater will launch in September 2025.

PVC-S Turnitin Response:

• They have updated guidance on Turnitin.
• They have introduced group academic integrity tutorials in WELS and FASS, and working on setting them up in STEM and FBL.
• The have signposted students to the All My Own Work academic integrity course on Open Learn and are creating a Turnitin Open Learn course.

Learning and Design Services Student Support Content Response:

• They have shared your feedback with design teams at the OU to incoporate it into their design decisions.

OU in Ireland and Northern Ireland Funding Response:

• They will utilise your feednack when engaging with the Department for Economy's upcoming review on Higher Education funding.

Race Equality Charter Response:

• They have extracted the key themes from your feedback to help inform the OU Race Equality Charter.

AI Digital Assistant (AIDA) Response:

• They have revised guidance around AI and how it can be used as an assistive technology.
• They have used your ideas and concerns for AIDA into a current project to design and test an initial AIDA on two Open Learn courses.

Student Consultation Forum: The Future of Learning and Assessment

In October 2024, the Future of Learning and Assessment Project team wanted to hear your thoughts on what the OU would look like in 2034 and beyond.

The Future of Learning and Assessment Project team have written a response to your feedback, which you can read in full on the Student Consultation VLE.

They have responded that:

• The ideas on a student passport and profile is helping them consider what future systems the OU might need to give students a more joined-up experience.
• The idea of a success coach has been especially helpful the OU imagine ways students might stay connected with someone who understands their journey.
• Your ideas on assessment are being fed into the current discussions regarding flexibilty in assessment.
• Your ideas on the use of Virtual Relity to attend lectures, the library and graduation are futuristic! We will keep them in discussion when we talk about the future of the OU.

Student Consultation Forum: TMA and iCMA Policy

In April of this year, staff in Tuition, Assessment, Curriculum and Quality wanted to hear your thoughts on the TMA and iCMA Policy.

Tuition, Assessment, Curriculum and Quality staff have written a response to your feedback, which you can read in full on the Student Consultation VLE.

They have responded that:

• They have deleted any repition as pointed out by the students.
• They is a pilot for testing out the single submission deadline to avoid confusion around the 'grace period'.
• More clarity has been given in the policy on resubmissions before the deadline.

Student Consultation Forum: Fitness to Practise Policy

In January 2024, Academic Services wanted to hear your thoughts on the Fitness to Practse Policy.

Academic Services staff have written a response to your feedback, which you can read in full on the Student Consultation VLE.

They have responded that:

• They included a summary of the Policy when they published the new version of the Policy.
• They renamed the 'Further clarifications' section to 'Support and information'.
• New wording was added to improve clarity around what support is available from the Open University Students’ Association (now Open SU).

Student Consultation Forum: ECYS - Gen AI

In April this year, ECYS staff wanted to hear your thoughts on AI tools, your experiece of using AI tools, and the impact of AI on learning, teaching and assessment.

ECYS staff have written a response to your feedback, which you can read in full on the Student Consultation VLE.

They have responded that:

• The feedback is being shared with module teams, curriculum planners, and ECYS Digital Champions to inform ongoing discussions about responsible and inclusive integration of AI tools in learning and assessment.
• Suggestions for clearer and more accessible guidance, including practical examples of responsible AI use, are being shared with teams developing study skills and support resources.
• The School is reflecting on this feedback as it shapes future policies and practices to support students in using AI ethically and effectively.

Student Consultation Forum: ECYS - Men's Voices

In March this year, ECYS staff wanted to hear your thoughts on men student voices in our women-dominated school, including what influenced their choice of degree, their module experiences, challenges related to identity, and ideas for making the programme more inclusive.

ECYS staff have written a response to your feedback, which you can read in full on the Student Consultation VLE.

They have responded that:

• They will share the feedback with modules teams for an inclusive curriculum review, focusing on role models and case studies.
• They are developing tutor guidance to support inclusive, respectful discussions.
• They will pass on the student feedback to those responsible for tutor recruitment and module planning.

Student Consultation Forum: Maths and Stats

In March this year, the Maths and Stats staff wanted to hear your thoughts on the Maths and Stats Study Site, the support offered in modules, and understanding/researching our own teaching.

The Maths and Stats staff have written a response to your feedback, which you can read in full on the Student Consultation VLE.

They have responded that:

• They have and will continue to pursue the slowness of the Study Site with IT Services until resolved.
• They have set up an Adobe Connect room for students to use on the Study Site.
• They extended the modules in which TMA Rapid Response forums are offered.
• They have advised staff to make use of the module news sections.
• They will ensure that when staff propose ideas they wish to research, they will check these against student recommendations.

Student Consultation Forum: English and Creative Writing

In February this year, the English and Creative Writing staff wanted to hear your thoughts on the surprises in your study, what was missing from your degrees, the relationship between literature and creative writing, and what it is like studying literature and/or creative writing with other subjects.

The English and Creative Writing staff have written a response to your feedback, which you can read in full on the Student Consultation VLE.

They have responded that:

• They will continue to develop exciting and relevant modules that allow for personal choice.
• They will have a focus on how to improve forums in their modules.
• They intend on developing a Shakespeare course on Open Learn that can be used by any student.

The OU Students Association has become the Open SU!

"For years, we’ve worked like a Students Union in everything but name. We represented, we campaigned, and we supported, but it became apparent that the term ‘Association’ wasn’t immediately familiar to a large amount of current OU students."

Students have been involved in the change to the Open SU. In 2024, at our annual Student Consultation Meetings, the Open University Students Association asked your opinions on the change to the name Open SU. 62% of you said you wanted to see the change.

The Open University Students Association to the idea to their 2024 conference, where students passed a motion that would see them become the Open SU by 83.3%.

The Open University Students Asociation have been working hard ever since to develop their new brand. You can see their new brand and find out more about the story of how they became the Open SU on their website.

"A new name with the same aim, and a decision powered by students, for students."

Psychology student ambassadors urgently wanted for paid opportunity in August

We are urgently looking for psychology students to be ambassadors in a short-term telephone campaign this August from our Milton Keynes.

The campaign will involve making outbound calls to recent OU applicants to share your student experience about studying at the OU.

The work will take place at our campus in Milton Keynes with flexible shifts of 20 hours a week during w/c 18 August and w/c 25 August with rate of pay of £12.62 an hour.

Please read the Job Description for full details.

If you're interested, please express your interest asap by emailing: openuniversity@pertemps.co.uk with a copy of your CV.