What are your main duties as Undergraduate Education Officer?
I represent all undergraduate students on academic issues, that’s anything from course costs, assessment feedback and curriculum but also how you feel during your degree, extenuating circumstances and things like that. As well as being the voice of undergraduates for the university, I also run campaigns externally on national education.
What is your favourite thing about your role?
My favourite thing, it sounds really cheesy, but it’s talking to students. There are some points when I’ve spent all day talking to university staff and I get home and I’m exhausted, but then I just need to go to a student event and I’m re-energised. Through this job I’ve found different people and stories and parts of the university that I never would have encountered before. It gives me a lot of motivation to keep going. I’ve been really lucky to be able to take on projects where I’ve had to do loads of student consultation, doing things like student focus groups and speaking to people on campus. That’s the most exciting part of it.
You’ve had quite a different experience to most students; do you see this as a negative thing as well as a positive thing? Are there times when you wish you had a “normal” student lifestyle?
Oh my god, yes! I think I was unusual because in first year I needed a part time job and I got one in the Students’ Union just because it was living wage, I didn’t know anything about the Union. I was working within the representation team, so I had this really interesting insight, first of all into the union which wasn’t very well used in 2014 as the SU was being done up, but also student representation and campaigns and how student reps change things. Now I’ve gained a huge understanding of how the university works. It takes up a lot of time. When people are going out and I have a 9am because of work I can’t go. But on the whole I find it so fulfilling and I feel like I’ve made the most out of university life.
Do you have any tips for balance studying with a job or other responsibilities?
I think something really important is that you’re flagged with people that you’re doing a lot of stuff, whether that’s your personal tutor, your flatmate, your friend. Be comfortable with communicating what you’re up to because there are points where you could be overwhelmed. It’s easy to go into a spiral of “no one understands” so you don’t tell anyone that you’re doing too much. Prioritisation is also important. This role has forced me to be discerning and say no to things.
Recently you’ve been calling for students to boycott the Nation Student Survey. Why is this so important?
The reason we are asking students to boycott the NSS is because the government is introducing the Teaching Excellence Framework. The TEF will rank universities against each other and they will be awarded gold, silver or bronze medals. Each medal then gives them a range in tuition fees. The university, in order to get their medal, have to submit a series of metrics, one of which is the NSS. Not only will this raise tuition fees but it means some universities will be more expensive than others and they will compete against each other like supermarkets rather than trying to deliver quality education. There have been demos and lobbies; we’ve lobbied our Vice-Chancellor day in, day out for the last few months and were unsuccessful. Our final action is to withdraw participation. If you’re a final year and you don’t want to be complicit in the act of raising tuition fees simply don’t fill out the survey.
(Photo credit: www.nus.org.uk)
Do you think that raising tuition fees results in a better university experience? Would raising tuition fees mean that there would be more funding for things such as mental health services?
I think there are two answers to that. The first one is that any more resources for a university is a good thing. But I would argue that it should come from central government funding and the people who are the least able to afford it are students. We are graduating with more debt than any other country, except America, which is ridiculous. I am very disappointed with the lack of mobilisation from the Vice-Chancellor to ask for more government funding. The second answer is that the TEF doesn’t measure teaching quality, it uses metrics that have nothing to do with it and experts have said this. The tuition fee rises will not necessarily go towards improving the student experience; it’s much more likely that money will go into “how do we perform better on random surveys”.
What are your plans for the future? After university do you have any career goals?
I have two years left of my degree. I have a year abroad in Canada next year and I think I will learn a lot about myself in the next two years. But what I’ve found about myself is that I love working in a place with high energy and in a team and that’s something I struggle with as a student because it’s actually really lonely. Work is a lot better than studying!
What is the best way for students to get in touch with you?
Message me on Facebook or email me at zoe.backhouse@bristol.ac.uk.
If you want to run for Undergraduate Education Officer or as another Union rep, applications opened on Monday 30th January and you can find out more here!
Zoe says: Even if you’ve never done anything with the Union I would highly recommend going for it, it’s the most fun thing I’ve ever done in my life. I’m very open to people asking about it and I can give advice on how to run a campaign. Before me, I’m pretty sure there wasn’t a female Undergraduate Education Officer for about seven years, so if any women are thinking of running and are not sure if it’s right for them I’d be very happy to talk to them.
If you don’t want to be complicit in the raising of the tuition fees, join the students of Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester and many more and simply don’t fill out the National Student Survey.