Academic societies are unique to other societies in that they work with both the Students’ Union and academics from the University, whilst remaining fully student-led.
The aim of this Big Idea is to provide clear guidelines to both academic societies and the schools they originate from. Some groups already benefit from collaboration with lecturers, who provide support, funding and advice to help the society succeed, whilst others operate completely independently and would perhaps benefit from a bit more support.
We understand that committees are made up of student volunteers, so we want to ensure academic groups have the freedom to decide how they run their society without academic pressure or feeling unsupported.
We want academic groups to remain student-led.
What are academic societies?
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A society is a club ran by students, for students
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They are a good way to meet people with similar interests away from a strict educational atmosphere
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They can run things like study groups, field trips, conferences and social events to amplify learning
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They also teach students how to lead a group by themselves and strengthen their CV
Why do we need this Big Idea?
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Some academic committee members have reported feeling pressured by academics to run events in a certain way
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Academics may prevent students from being their authentic selves in a social environment
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Others feel that their school doesn’t see the impact their societies have on student experience and wish for more input
What schools could do to support academic societies
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Provide funding and resources
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Signposting for events (e.g. who to talk to, etc)
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Promote events held by academic societies, and
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Advertise membership
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Invite them to collaborate
How will we achieve this?
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Additional training for academic society committees
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Outlining best practices for both the society and academics
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Optional training for academics on how to support academic groups
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Encouraging students to ask for help when needed, but to also be autonomous in their decision-making