How your voice has made a difference
This page provides an opportunity to see the valuable feedback received from students across a wide range of communication channels, and to see what the OU has done in response.
Please note this video is now a couple of years old so some people no longer have the same title. The current Students Association leadership can be seen on their website.
Choose a topic from the drop-down list below to see how students can have an impact on their university experience and be empowered to help shape the University. Next time you are asked to give your opinion, you know that the OU is taking this feedback seriously and will respond.
You said...
Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport - Full time study We would like to see examples of the assignments that we are being asked to submit.
We did...
We will work with colleagues across the school and try to get this in place for 2020.
Student Consultations
Posted on:
You said...
Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport - Full time study. A lack of consistency in some areas of modules, such as the use of titles or a 5% word 'buffer' is really confusing and an unnecessary confusion.
We did...
We agree and we will be reviewing all the modules for 2020.
Posted on:
You said...
Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport - Full time study Having one tutor for both your TMAs, access to an extra 'support' tutor, spacing the TMAs and EMAs further apart, joint study calendar and establishing a FT student community would all help students choosing to study full time.
We did...
We have worked to set up forums for students studying full time but need to ensure that this is consistent across the school. We will do what we can regarding the other ideas, but would need some OU wide changes to address some but we have represented your views at the OU Level group exploring this. We will also be sharing the hints and tips for full time study that students shared with new students studying full time.
Posted on:
You said...
Scholarship Plan Consultation:
We would like clarity on the different types of scholarships and how they are covered by the plan. Does the plan address only Scholarship of Teaching and Learning or other forms such as Scholarship of Integration?
We did...
The revised version makes clear that the Plan primarily addresses the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, apart from the initial section which explains how staff may engage with other types of scholarship. However, following a number of discussions - and in recognition that the opening section addresses all forms of scholarship - we decided not to change the overall title.
Posted on:
You said...
Scholarship Plan Consultation:
We would like clarity about student involvement. At Education Committee, student involvements should be brought together in one section and we should identify how it will be resourced.
We did...
We have included a work stream on ‘student engagement’ within the implementation plan which will clarify how students can be involved in scholarship projects, groups and committees.
We will begin with the feedback from the student consultative forum and working closely with student representatives and OU Students Association we will create guidance for the Centres to inform their working with students, ways of engagement and indications of possible resources.Posted on:
You said...
Scholarship Plan Consultation:
Scholarship outputs are important for professional development and career progression and would like the external focus to be improved.
We did...
We have included specific reference to the importance of external recognition for scholarship outputs that will align with promotion criteria and practice.
Posted on:
You said...
Scholarship Plan consultation
We do not need to the focus on employability as many may not wish to focus on career progression.
We did...
We removed the appendix focussing on employability as we felt this distracted from the overall intention of the document. Instead this is used as an example in Section 6.3.
Posted on:
You said...
We don't like it when there is a longer than expected delay in receiving a response to a query
We did...
We have put checks in place to ensure an appropriate response time is mentioned in automatic message and that these are being met.
Posted on:
You said...
Information on the Help Centre isn't clear enough to explain the differences between TMAs, emTMAs and EMAs, and we don't understand the important distinctions between them.
We did...
We have flagged this as a priority area that needs to be addressed; we are working closely with colleagues in Assessment, Ceremonies and Qualifications and the faculties, given the level of student concern.
Posted on:
You said...
We would like more ways to communicate directly with the Student Support Team at a time convenient to us
We did...
We extended the opening hours of Student Support Teams to 8:00am-8:00pm Monday to Friday and 9:00am-5.00pm on Saturday. We also expanded our use of web-chat across different parts of the service, so that students could get immediate information and support.
Posted on:
United Kingdom and online
At home / online
