21 November 2023 meeting report

There were two top-rated responses to this question:

1. Timetabling
2. Accommodation / Residency Advisor Support. 

On timetabling, the students feedback centred on a desire for flexibility. They recognised that some students want a timetable that requires them to be on campus every day while others would prefer to cluster their teaching, so that they don’t need to be on campus every day. There was a suggestion that students would like to pick their own seminar group, or at least make a preference known, before being allocated to a group by Timetabling/their School. 

On accommodation and residency support, the feedback focused on lack of contact and availability. Some students noted that, in previous years, they had not met their RA at all and wanted more information about how their RA can support them. Other feedback on this topic was about being able to contact the accommodation team and the restricting nature of typical operating hours.  

The theme of restrictive operating hours followed to another service the students raised: Careers and Employability. Students fed-back that while they really value the service by Careers and Employability, they find the operating hours of the service to be limiting. The example was given that students cannot book an appointment for the next day after 5pm on the previous day. When asked if having longer operating hours with an online service only would be a good idea, the students were clear that in-person appointments were their preference. 

Another topic which generated a significant amount of discussion was on-campus laundry. Students expressed a clear frustration for a variety of reasons. Some examples given include: 

• Students with an international sim card are unable to use/pay for the (app-based) laundry system.  
• The swap to a new laundry system left some students losing money that they had already paid to the previous system. 
• Tumble dryers often needing to be run twice. 

The Keele App was another service students noted as frustrating. While there were some positives and the students stated that the App was useful, they also noted that it is glitchy and logs them out regularly. Students fed-back that they often forget to use it to check-in for attendance. 

The final piece of feedback on this topic was a general frustration with services not talking to one another and the ‘ping-pongy’ nature of being passed between services. There was a recognition that not every service could handle all topics, but students want to be redirected correctly when necessary and given accurate advice on the right service to use. 

The two top-rated responses to this question related to:

1. Access to health and wellbeing services
2. Support settling into the local area. 

Students described their dissatisfaction with the gym and sports facilities on campus, the cost of the gym membership and opening hours. Students noted that many of the gyms available in local areas are 24-hour, 7 days a week at a competitive price. Students who are members of the Athletic Union (AU) within Keele SU particularly noted a dissatisfaction at having to pay for both AU membership and gym membership; friends at other universities get free gym membership with their AU or sports club membership.  

Students were also keen to be able to access more help and support in getting to know the local area. It was noted that the Global Opportunities team often run activities for international / study-abroad students and similar ‘get to know the local area’ activities would be beneficial to UK-based students who are not from the local area.  

Other suggestions made by the group included: 

• Development of more awards and recognition for academic performance for non-final year students 
• Increasing the use of card access for services and building 
• Adding the Keele Card to your phone wallet or Keele App 
• Greater support for international students in securing work to fit alongside their studies 
• Drop-in option at ASK 

The students at the event were clear in their feedback that student-facing services that involved engaging with a member of university staff should be in person wherever possible, this included counselling, pre-arrival events and Student Services drop-ins. While online options are appreciated and are important for flexibility and to support students who are not or cannot be on campus every day, the preference for face-to-face service delivery was emphatic.  

There was a further call for more induction services to be available in the Library, particularly in week 0. 

Due to time constraints, the discussion on this question was limited. The students gave feedback that online attendance monitoring is something they can struggle with, often forgetting to sign in.

To finish the session, the students were asked for examples of services that they like in a quickfire round: 

• The Exceptional Circumstances procedure 
• Academic mentors 
• Staff at Keele, across the board, being kind and helpful.
• Bus timetable screens 
• SU events and publicity of the events