Monday 25th January sees the launch of this year’s National Student Survey (NSS) at St Mary’s.  The NSS is aimed at all final year students and is your opportunity to give your opinions on what you liked about your time at St Mary’s, as well as things that you felt could have been improved – let us know what you think, and you could win some great prizes (see below).

By completing the NSS you can provide feedback on a range of your experiences at St Mary’s, including what you thought about the academic support you received during your studies and how you felt about the organisation and management of your course.

There’s also space at the end for any positive and/or negative comments you have about your whole university experience. Were you satisfied with the way cancelled lectures were handled?  What were your thoughts on the advice and support available through your course?  Write it down and let us know!

---

The survey can be completed at www.thestudentsurvey.com and only takes about 15 minutes. The success of the NSS depends on your feedback so please set aside a few minutes to get involved. 

During the week starting 25th January 2010 eligible students will be sent an invitation email to complete the survey online. Later, those students who haven’t yet completed the survey will be contacted by post or by phone.

Your responses will be anonymous – so you can be honest. No need to worry about your contact details being passed on because they will only be used for the purposes of the NSS and are destroyed shortly after. To find out more, visit www.thestudentsurvey.com or contact the National Student Survey team at Ipsos MORI directly at thestudentsurvey@ipsos.com.

St Mary’s will be putting up several prizes for grabs to every eligible student who completes the survey.  Fill out the survey to be in with a chance of winning one of these great prizes

2 x Summer Ball tickets

The Students’ Union will also be giving away additional prizes to those who complete the survey in the Students’ Union shop on the dedicated NSS laptop.

---

You can find the results at Unistats.com to help prospective students decide where and what to study. St Mary’s and the Students’ Union also use the anonymised data to identify areas where the University College performed well and not so well in order to help effect change and improve the student experience for future generations of students.   As a result of past surveys, the following improvements have already been made at St Mary’s:

In the LRC

• Simplified Wi-Fi access, easier password access, quicker speed on PCs, extended opening hours of the IT Helpdesk, changes to the zones and improved signage, self-service of borrowing and returns.

Around the campus

• Improvements to the pathways from the white gates to the running track, access ramps have been fitted at the back of the Cafe going onto the decking, improved lighting especially around the halls of residence.

Changes to the academic year

• Exam periods brought forward to December and May for a longer Christmas break and in finishing earlier for the summer, PDP weeks for your personal development and assessment feedback.

Assessment

• No formal assessment for first years in semester one, we are seriously looking at changing assessment for all students.

Your involvement

• The Student Experience Committee is a dedicated committee for listening to students with Student Reps.
• Student Representatives received training on how to give feedback on programme boards.

Students’ Union

• New common room area with Wi-Fi and free laptop loan service, new office and hot desking facilities for SU Officers and members, expanded range of merchandise, careers service training in employability advantages of participation in SU activities and volunteering, improved social events in the Bar, new student contact database for your feedback and opinions,  new terms and conditions of membership of our clubs and societies, new student newspaper, new look SMUC radio and redecoration of the Bar.

Careers Service

• More volunteering opportunities including volunteer opportunity of the week, new volunteer register, volunteer for your career, better library and resources; more access to PCs, plasma screen and study area, Facebook group to enable you to make appointments and keep up with job vacancies and events. 

Induction

• More variety in induction activities for networking and settling in, current students helping new students move into halls, a dedicated help desk is available in the Refectory in the first week.  

To top

Click here to complete the survey!