Hi everyone! I hope you are all staying safe and healthy as we navigate back out of lockdown.
The start of April was busy with student consultations on Curtin’s Learning for Tomorrow Strategy. I want to thank all the students who attended the three student consultation workshops to provide their perspective on the entire proposal. There were students from all demographics – undergrad and postgrad, mature age and regional, online, and internal, and all the different faculties. You all provided a range of unique and insightful perspectives that we relayed directly to university decision-makers.
Over 2000 students gave their feedback in the Student Consultation Survey we put out. I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to fill it out and share it with your friends and peers. We requested Curtin’s help getting the word out about consultation through an all-student email or OCC, but they would not allow it. It was students who kept themselves and each other informed and spread the word as far as possible. That is something we can all be proud of!
In the second part of the month, the Guild team created the Student Consultation Summary 2021, which summarised all the feedback received through the workshops and survey. You can read the highlights here, and if you’re extra curious you can read the report here.
From your feedback, we made the following recommendations:
- Retaining in-person lectures – 61% of students disagreed with removing lectures and 58% of students felt podcasts, online videos and ‘digital objects’ were not appropriate replacements for lectures.
- Greater support for external (online) students – via improved learning resources and support and creating more interactive learning experiences.
- Increased in-person learning.
- Maintaining autonomy and choice for students with both in-person learning and online supporting resources.
- Improved lecture delivery to enhance engagement.
- More robust processes for student consultation with emphasis on bottom-up collaboration.
- Also, a strategy is needed to improve accessibility for equity groups impacted by the changes.
- and more information required in the Differentiated Delivery section.
We submitted this report to the university in Week 9, as part of the consultation period. So, what now? In weeks 10 and 11, the university will be reading all the feedback they gathered across the university and creating the next version of the Learning for Tomorrow Strategy. LFT Strategy Version 7 will be released in week 12, at which point we will know if Curtin has listened to students.
Students have made it very clear that we want lectures to stay, and we will not let them go without a fight! The ball is in your court, Curtin. Make the right decision!
Email Jesse on president@guild.curtin.edu.au
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