On Monday 28^th November 2022, the Student Experience Committee held their third meeting of the academic year. The Student President, Adam Morrow, was present chairing the meeting; along with the rest of the Student Executive, Faculty Reps, and Strathclyde staff representatives. A big welcome to all newly elected Faculty Reps! 

The Student Experience Committee meet multiple times during the academic year. The main goal is to improve student experience through proposing ideas and motions to support, represent, and listen to students, so they can flourish at the University of Strathclyde.

This meeting, the overarching theme was the cost of living, and the increased burden of this on students. Our Student President, Adam, raised an important point concerning the high cost of room booking fees for societies and other groups use at the weekend. 

There is a fee of £95 for four hours to book a room, however, some societies will only use the room for half that time or even less. With around 13,000 signed up members to one or more of the wide variety of societies available at Strathclyde, abolishing room booking fees would vastly improve student experience and make this much more accessible to all societies. 

VP Community, Justyna Kardasz, added, “The ‘find a society’ page is the most viewed on the Strath Union website...we need to ensure there is enough space for societies to grow and develop outside of their studies.”

The Strath Union Food Drive is now underway, encouraging all students and staff to donate if they can, to support those through challenging times. Donations can be dropped off at the Strath Union welcome desk, any dried or tinned foods i.e., soup or pasta, are ideal.

VP Inclusion, Yu-Chu (Kathy) Doong, informed the committee of the events which occurred during October’s Black History Month. She raised the point that “many challenging, but necessary conversations” took place during events such as that of Decolonial Conversations and alumni visits discussing their experiences and the challenges they face in the workplace. 

These conversations highlighted the challenges faced by minority and ethnic groups. They also discussed the huge topic that is decolonisation and Strathclyde’s historical ties to colonisation, as well as what steps can be taken to deal with these pressing issues. If you would like to read about this in more detail, Decolonial Conversations Event Recap can be read on the Strath Union website.

Onto the Strath Sport update VP Sport, Ronan Welch, gave insights into Strathclyde Sport’s yearly membership target, highlighting that memberships are “up 300 from last year and they only need 60 more members to meet the end of year target.” Strathclyde Sport was open over Xmas and New Year to ensure all students have access to a space which is good for their wellbeing over the festive period. 

Finally, the Faculty Reps raised an important question about awareness of the range of support services available to students at the University of Strathclyde. The university can provide support and guidance to every student on a range of topics such as, disability and wellbeing, financial, academic, and support for international students are all services offered to help students make the most of their time at university.