“By creating we think, by living we learn” Patrick Geddes
The following provides details of the achievements of recent School Presidents during their periods of office together with observations from the relevant School Deans.
The role of Humanities School President has been an entirely different experience for me than I had expected. I anticipated a year of attending the odd meeting here or there and not much else; to my delight, it was the opposite. As well as being the "go-to guy" for any students with queries about their classes, their welfare and how to get involved with the various humanities-related societies on campus, I established an academic parenting scheme within the School akin to that in Law and Medicine that has forged links between different years and different subjects. This not only helped new students to settle into Dundee, but also played a central role in the stronger feeling of School unity.
Indeed, one of the best aspects of being School President has been seeing the tangible difference one can make to student life here in Dundee. From assuaging the concerns of international students about the rescheduling of exams due to inclement weather conditions through to bringing complaints over the central timetabling system to the SRC, I have seen the key role that a School President can play in liaising between students, the University and the School staff, who have gone beyond the call of duty to help and assist me this year. The experiences I have had over the past year in the realm of representation have been very rewarding and I cannot recommend getting involved highly enough.
Gary is of real value within the School bringing to a clear focus many of the burning concerns of the student community, concerns which many senior staff can easily overlook because of a different generational perspective. Since his entry into his present position, Gary has helped us in formulating a whole number of policy directions which are of some considerable consequence for the School's development. The realism of both Gary and his colleagues is most impressive.
Student involvement in the academic community is of increasing importance. Investment in academic careers is becoming ever more demanding. The student community must have a direct say in how their education evolves and how it relates to changing community requirements. Gary's willingness to partake in these complex and demanding debates is praiseworthy indeed.
Within my position as President I have been privileged to be a figurehead for all students who felt they had issues needing resolved. Working alongside the School's Vice President, we maintained and built upon the School's mentor programme introduced last year. This allowed senior students to pass on their knowledge and experience to first and second year students to facilitate the demanding academic experience. I also worked alongside the staff involved in the level 3 course in trying to improve the experience for the Junior Honours Students. Due to it being a new course, there appeared to be a number of issues, but working closely with staff we managed to implement a number of new ideas that would benefit the experience of level 3. Finally, working alongside the School's Social Society I helped to not only advertise the social aspect of psychology life within Dundee University but also to enhance the awareness of the School of Psychology itself.
I have gained quite a number of skills and achievements from the role, namely, political experience - through chairing school meetings and also as a member of the Student Representative Council. I have gained knowledge of what it means to be a voice for students and to represent the student body. Whether it is concerns over timetabling or lecture material, knowing I was the person that students could depend on and would come to if they had problems was a great feeling. All these aspects have given me excellent experience for the future, but what I have found most rewarding was knowing that I have made a positive difference to the Undergraduate experience.
It is with great pleasure that I support the case for Andrew McKenzie, our School President. He is one of the best School Presidents I have known. He works extremely hard to represent his constituency, in soliciting student opinions, in representing them at the School Forum, at School Board and on the DUSA Executive. He chairs the Forum effectively yet kindly, giving everyone a fair chance to speak their mind, encouraging the shyer and more junior members of the Forum, but without letting meetings run unnecessarily long.
I have been most impressed by his fairness. He strives to see both sides of the problem most unusually for a student he sees and understands the staff point of view. He is proactive. The result of this is that he is often able to pre empt problems, or solve them on the spot. He uses his experience as a student in previous years to understand the problems of current students in Levels 1 3. Hence his emphasis has been on solutions not always compromises that manage to keep everyone as happy as possible.
He puts in a great deal of extra work beyond the immediate remit of the role, in talking to staff and students, and in writing emails of support for various important causes. His contribution both during and prior to Week 0 was invaluable and he was a very positive role model for our entrant students. He has helped develop our undergraduate mentoring system, which we think will play a role in improved retention.
Awarded the annual Prize for School President of the Year for academic session 2009/10 by the Dundee University Students' Association (DUSA)
During this role I worked with many different people on various projects, which I found to be both enjoyable and challenging. I sat on the SRC, School of Life Sciences Learning & Teaching Board, College of Life Sciences Board and also the College Academic Standards Committee. This ensures that the students have representation at every level within school and college, and sitting on the SRC gives the opportunity to speak openly with the Exec, to exchange ideas and advice with other School Presidents and this gives us the opportunity to influence policies within DUSA. We also held regular student forum meetings where the students could speak openly to other Life Science reps and any issues would be worked on.
In addition to this, the Life Sciences careers conference was set up by myself, the President-Elect, the President of the Life Sciences Society and the University Careers Service. This was the first event of its kind and we organised it as a reaction to student demand. This achievement demonstrates the great things student reps can achieve.
Lynsey-Ann has impressed me in her ability not only to listen to student issues but also to take action and deliver as exemplified by the success of the first University of Dundee Life Science Careers Conference which she and her team of key life science reps organised.
In my role as President of the School of Psychology, I have had the opportunity to make a lasting difference to the lives of students by installing a mentor programme. Recruiting fourth year students to mentor first years allows senior students to pass on their knowledge and experience. By mentoring a first year group, new students get to know others in their class, this makes the transition to university life easier and hopefully allows them to feel part of the School.
Knowing I have made a difference has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my years at university. Being a School President has given me great insight into how the School of Psychology works, given me excellent experience for the future and I've gotten to know many great people. students and staff alike. I am proud to have had the opportunity to get involved in student representation and to have graduated as a Psychology student from the University of Dundee.
Katy has carried out the role of School President in an exemplary manner. She has chaired the School Forum meetings with an even-handedness and maturity beyond her years. These meetings, held monthly throughout the two semesters, are attended by undergraduate student representatives from all years and by academic and support staff, and Katy has impressed everyone with her ability to steer these meetings through sometimes difficult discussions. I think she has been one of the best chairs of these meetings that we have ever had. She has represented the students fairly and responsibly and represented them on the DUSA SRC, and has had good rapport with the School's staff. She has been reliable and unfailingly hard-working on behalf of the students, remaining as enthusiastic at the end of the year as she was at the beginning, selflessly continuing her liaison work into the exam period.
In addition to her School President duties, Katy was the driving force behind the School's introduction of a student mentoring scheme. In this scheme, Psychology entrant students are mentored by fourth-year students. The scheme was Katy's idea, and she was pivotal to its successful introduction and operation. She came into the School on various occasions during the 2009 summer vacation to discuss its organisation with the School Secretary, she recruited the fourth-year mentors, she drafted the advisory notes for the mentors, she oversaw the running of the scheme, and she also mentored a group of entrant students herself. The scheme has provided another means of supporting entrant students and the School will continue to operate it in future - Katy has already recruited a current third year student to take over her organising role and is providing training for the student. This scheme is a model of how current students can work with new students to integrate them into the life of the School and University, improving academic performance and increasing retention.
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