As an Academic Rep or Department Officer, you’ll need to be an approachable person and a good listener who proactively seeks out the thoughts and opinions of students throughout the whole academic year regarding academic and student experience matters in your subject area. More than this, we want you to be a changemaker, which means that together with support from the Guild and University staff you develop actions which improve Exeter students’ academic experience. You have a unique position that is invaluable; students can share their thoughts and opinions with you, knowing that their voice will be heard and acted upon.

We encourage and support you to develop positive relationships with all students and staff, ensuring that you are proactive in representing a truly diverse range of voices from your subject area. Being proactive can mean a number of things from emailing students regularly and posting on social media, to organising informal coffee sessions for students and getting to know University staff.

If you would like support in reaching out proactively, why not chat to the Academic Representation team? We can help you develop strategies to be proactive and put you in touch with other Academic Reps or Department Officers. You can contact the team on representation@exeterguild.com.

Working outside of meetings

Once a term, the University hold meetings where Department Officers meet with department and faculty staff to discuss what you have been working on as reps. Remember that your role as an Academic Rep or Department Officer is to proactively seek out and act upon views and opinions from students all year round; if you wait for the meeting to be scheduled before you start thinking about all the feedback you have collated, then there won't be anything to discuss! You can find out more about the meetings in the next section.

Where to take non-academic feedback

You may also receive feedback which is about the general student experience in your department or the wider university, rather than about a specific course or degree programme. We have other ways of dealing with these topics outside of meetings, so if you receive ideas or concerns about things like wellbeing and welfare, accommodation, shops and services, money and finances, catering outlets, or the Students’ Guild in general, then please pass these items along to your Department Officer or PGR Officer so they can raise this with the staff team.