What does a Student Rep do?  

Student reps work across courses and colleges to communicate best practices to each other.  

Student reps have two main responsibilities: 

1. Collect feedback from students, regarding topics affecting their student experience. 

2. Alert university staff of the issues students are facing. 

Additionally, reps attend several meetings with University and Bucks Students’ Union staff throughout the year, where they communicate their findings with staff and play a key role in finding solutions to problems within their cohort and the wider community. 

What kind of issues do Student Reps handle?  

Student reps can receive feedback on issues relating to the student experience. This includes areas such as: Teaching and Learning, Resources and Support, Assessment, Feedback and Progression, Experience and Community and Placements.

How can I find out who my Student Rep is?  

You can find out who your rep is by either searching for your course on this link https://www.bucksstudentsunion.org/yourvoice/student-reps/find-your-rep/  

Or emailing surepresentation@bnu.ac.uk and they will be able to put you in contact. 

What happens to the feedback students give?  

Students feedback may be shared at a course level throughout the academic year as it arises or more formally at a Programme Committee Meeting. Programme Committee meetings are organised twice per academic year by the University and is an opportunity for student reps to provide feedback on behalf of their cohort to academics and professional service staff to enact direct change on their student experience. 

Feedback from Student Reps is also analysed by our College Officers at a Union meeting known as Education Forum, where the College Officers, Representation Team, and Vice Presidents Education and Welfare, will address comments and concerns of a thematic level across the colleges and will take this to university committees (e.g. Teaching and Learning) to ensure feedback is actioned on.

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Will I be trained and supported?  

We will train you to be a rep, including; the purpose of being a rep, how to be effective and how to collective feedback. The Students' Union is here to support you through every step during your time as a Student Rep. 

We offer our training in person and online, if you ever have a question you need answering, head to one of our offices or email surepresentation@bnu.ac.uk and one of our team will get back to you!  

How do I sign up to be a rep?  

Student Reps are elected by their peers through an election period. These happen at the start of each academic year. 

We aim for one student rep per 50 students, in line with University policy. For pre-qualifying nursing students, reps are elected from each personal tutor group to ensure fair representation of large cohorts.

All Reps are elected through a democratic online vote hosted at bucksstudentsunion.org/vote. Voting in class cannot be accepted, as fairness must be guaranteed and students have the option to “re-open nominations (R.O.N)”

You can sign up during our election nomination periods by heading to the ‘Student Rep Election’ page alternatively, email surepresentation@bnu.ac.uk to find out when the nominations are open or enquire if there is a space. 

As a rep, how can I communicate with my course mates?  

You can have conversations before/after classes, message in group chats (if you have them – or set them up), you can tell them to email you (if this is something you are happy with) or create drop-in sessions for students to share their feedback with as well. If you are gathering feedback, you can create an anonymous survey for students to complete (we can show you how to do this too!)  

You can also use our Find My Rep messaging system to contact reps (covered in training once elected.)

Will I get any recognition for being a rep?  

Yes. Every month we accept nominations for ‘Student Rep of the Month’. You can be nominated for this by asking your peers to submit a nomination for you or staff can submit them too.

 
We also have the ‘Student Rep of the Year’ award – this is awarded at the end of the year at our annual Union Awards. This works similarly with nomination being submitted as to why you should be the recipient of the award.  

In addition to this there is the financial reward of up to £100, LinkedIn Reccomendations for completing the full role, priority acces to our Leadership Academy and much more!